Sundance Vacations review: possible scam 14

I guess I purchased a time share without any knowledge...I financed $8000.00 at 9 percent interest, and each time I book a reservation I have to pay an additional $800.00 and my $325.00 a year maintenance fees for something I don't even own...its wasting your money..don't purchase the package...

I got that call..and responded ..went in ..its a time share situation. If you don't purchase they get pushy, and rude and dismiss you. I registered for the gift a ( cruise) which I did not receive ..im currently looking into it..

When I first got the phone call that my name had been drawn for a "free cruise, " I was skeptical. When the woman explained that I would have to attend a presentation that would be about 45 minutes long, I knew that it was another one of those "timeshare" marketing schemes. Cruises do not cost much at all and I've been on quite a few. What intrigued me was the free airfare. The woman on the phone told me that I HAD TO schedule for the presentation right then, so I did, thinking that I could always cancel or not show.
My boyfriend and I attended the "45-minute" presentation but were not told that we would have to sit through another hour of sales pitches. We were curious about how the company worked and did the calculations and figured that it is not really that great of a deal in the long run. I believe an actual timeshare would be a much better deal using the point system. Anyway, after taking a whole evening of our time, since it was a two hour drive to the presentation alone, we were finally on our way to a free cruise and airfare...so we thought.
I got online to register and thought that someone would be contacting me via email or phone call, but I did not hear anything. I tried to call the number given, but the office was closed (on a business day during the day). I got back online and was able to figure out how to select the dates, which there were not many to choose from. The website told me that I would be contacted 45 days prior to sailing, so I let things be for a couple of weeks. Yesterday was 45 days until the first date chosen, so I called the number again. I was on hold for about 15 minutes when a woman answered and told me that I would need to go back to the website and "click on a few things, " and I would be given the reservation number to call. I went to the website with no directions and figured out how to "click on a few things" and get the number to call. By the way, the woman was not able to give me the number to call, which is ridiculous.
I called the reservation number and was on hold for 43 MINUTES until someone answered. Then I was told what information I needed before booking and that this would take up to 45-50 minutes for the call (after I had spend a total of about an hour on hold already between the two phone calls). Every time the man would put me back on hold to "check" for available dates, I would be on hold for another 10 minutes. Then I find out that the interior room that was promised me on the 3-night cruise had BUNK BEDS! I'm already paying about $400 for the "port fees, " which I know if excessive, because I have booked cruises for that INCLUDING all the port fees and taxes. I really did not want to sleep in a bunk bed with my significant other, so the other option was to upgrade to the Choice Option, which started at $650. Now I'm paying more than an actual 3-night cruise costs and not even from the port I want or the date I want. I saw in the fine print below on the website that I could add another night onto the cruise for $100 per person and get a free interior room upgrade. I did not know why the man I was talking to on the phone did not suggest this, because it would have save us money and we would get an extra night. He stated that there would be ADDITIONAL port fees for this extra night. After being put on hold yet another 10 minutes, he came back and said the cost would be an additional $511 on top of the $200 that was already put down! Now this "free vacation" has turned into $711! Also, he was not able to get us a flight on the same day as the cruise, so we are now going to have to pay $100-$150 additional for a hotel the night before and also have to pay transportation from the airport that is about an hour away from the port.
Overall, this experience has been the worst ever. I've gone through a couple of other presentations such as these and things turned out fine and still considering buying a timeshare in the future. After this experience with this company, I will run its name into the ground as much as I can, because it is a SCAM, and I will make sure everyone I come in contact with knows that. I could have booked a 4-night cruise WITH airfare for cheaper than this "free vacation." I also would not have spent this much of my time booking it either. I have now lost hours of my life that I will never get back.

I too went to a Pacer's game on Oct. 31st, 2014. Within a week I was getting calls from this number for SmarTravel telling me I had won a free trip for 2 that included airfare. After telling them that I wasn't available on the "only" dates they had for appointments, I finally relented to a day just to shut them up. I did not show up for that appt. and thought it would be over with since my time to take advantage had "expired". Well it didn't take even a week before my phone was ringing again. When I explained that my time "had expired", they were glad to tell me they had new openings available and this time they were "excited" to tell me that this time I would have the choice of 3 vacations. That was 4 days & 3 nights to one of the following.. Cancun Mexico, San Juan Puerto Rico or Montego Bay Jamaica. Also, if I attended the appointment I would receive a food voucher worth $20.00 just for my time that can be used at any restaurant.
I asked how long this presentation would last and they said approx. 1 hour. I was going to be in Indy and not far from Keystone at The Crossing on 12/10. Imagine my surprise when they just happened to have an opening on that date and time!
So I arrived at their office 10 minutes prior to the appt time and showed the very nice receptionist 2 pieces of ID. She did not make copies or take any information from my ID. She just made sure that I was who I said I was. That was it. Then she gave me a clipboard with some questions to fill out. And to their credit, it was a very very basic questionnaire. My name, vacations I've taken in the past, my dream vacation, etc...
There were no questions asking personal information. No questions asking where I worked, no questions asking about family, absolutely nothing invasive. As I was sitting in the lobby, another super sweet lady introduced herself, handed me a folder, offered me coffee, cookies, water, everything but a back massage. As I opened the folder expecting something to throw every red flag imaginable that a person would expect at a "Vacation/Time Share" presentation, I was shocked to find the improbable.. An actual registration coupon with my name on it, a package code and a travel Certificate #. All of this was up front. Even before I went into the presentation.
At the exact time my appointment was scheduled, the few of us in the lobby were escorted into a nice presentation room with a large screen TV with their logo on it. And within a minute the lady from the lobby began their scripted PowerPoint show. It lasted approximately 30 minutes, maybe not even that long.
In it she explained the blah, blah, blahs of SmarTravel. How the trip was ours no matter what we decided and if 3 people out of every presentation signed up with their company then they considered that a success. After her part of the show, she concluded by saying "this is only my 3rd presentation and if you would give me an applause so the people out there can hear that I did a good job, I would appreciate it". And right on cue... At the applause... 1 salesman for each attendee came in the door announcing our first name, introducing themselves and asking us to follow them. Here's where the real work starts, at least on their part. I had already made up my mind I wasn't buying anything. Period!
The salesman did his spiel, I wasn't buying it. Then he called his supervisor over to sweeten the pot, I wasn't buying it then either. THEN the supervisor gave the prearranged signal to the salesman to leave the table and guess what? Come on, guess... You're right, the Supervisor sweetened the deal even more! I still wasn't buying but they were trying!
Finally after about 30 minutes or so, they gave up on me. Or so I thought! They thanked me & escorted me to another supervisor's office to validate my voucher. In that office, the "Manager" thanked me for attending. Handed me the "food voucher" & explained how to use it. THEN he offered me even a sweeter deal than the supervisor on the floor said was possible! WOW, these guys are just giving away vacations, aren't they! Simple answer - NO!
OK, I do have a confession. My time in the office could have been shortened by about 20 minutes. But I played their game. I hemmed and hawed. I got their lips so moist they were licking them like a 16 oz. Porterhouse Steak from St. Elmo's was in front of them.
What all the sales reps and management didn't know, and only because they never asked, was I am in the hospitality business myself. If they had asked, I would have been honest. This is why I was surprised when there was no "where are you employed" question on the sheet of paper they asked me to fill out. I was even more surprised that the salesman and the supervisors didn't catch on when they read off back to me all of the places I have traveled. And I listed many. They didn't even catch on when they asked how much my last "vacation" cost for the 4 people in my family to fly and stay at a condo in Fl. on the beach for less than $1200.00 over the July 4th, holiday. I really thought I gave enough information to them without being too specific that they would at least ask something about my work. Anyway, I ramble...
The Manager I went into see gave his sweeter offer to me, but he was a very smart man. He knew I wasn't buying, so while his door was partially closed we talked about watches. He was actually very nice & told me that when I registered my trip, if my traveling companion and I wanted to extend our stay from the 4 day, 3 night trip, it was possible for an "up-charge" (which is reasonable) but I had to request it at the time of the actual reservation. And I appreciated that.
Also, regarding the $20.00 Restaurant voucher, he explained how it worked. You go to ANY restaurant you choose, submit your receipt with the form to a company in Pa., and they will send you a check for the amount of the receipt up to the $20.00. He was also very nice to say "don't go to Wendy's Drive-Thru and use this. Go someplace and get your money's worth. If you send a receipt with $5.95 on it, you're getting a check for $5.95, not $20.00".
So at this time my rating is going to be neutral.
Reason #1. I haven't registered or made reservations for my trip yet. You have 60 days to register. It cost's nothing to register, however, it is stated that you will have to pay a $100.00 refundable fee at some point prior to reservations. This $100.00 WILL be credited to your taxable fee's (which is the only thing they say you are responsible for) when you actually book your vacation.
Reason #2. Although they say you are not going to be "pressured" into buying a vacation package, you are pressured! Not to the point where you are throwing them your wallet, purse, grandma's credit cards and your 2nd cousin twice removed, but a pretty good pressing none the least.
Reason #3. And most importantly, IT IS EXPENSIVE! They offer you two choice packages, so they say. But in reality, they are offering one $15, 000 vacation package. The first offer, which they say that they really don't try to push, is $20, 000 up front. Yea, TWENTY THOUSAND CASH! The 15 grand vacation package though is their top of the line. Explain please where 15 is greater than 20? Only in the Travel/Time-share business. Of course, they can finance the 15 grand package, and they try their hardest to get you to take it.
So this is my review, so far. Tomorrow I plan on registering my confirmation #. You can do it online or by mail. But remember, you have 60 days from the day of your appt. Also, you have 1 year from the day of your appt. to take the trip.
One more tip that the final Manager gave me. Of the 3 trips offered, 2 of them require passports. One does not. The trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico does not require a passport because it is a United States territory. It's also probably the cheapest of the 3 trips. If you don't have a passport already, It can take up to 6 months to receive one. And getting a passport is also expensive, especially if you're only going to use it once in your lifetime.
So there you go. Thanks for reading and I'll update you on my progress with this company. So far for the 1 hour and 15 minutes or I spent there, I can't say it's not on the up and up. And if it is, I'm going to be drinking rum on the beach of San Juan soon.

So the free trip to the Bahamas is tht a scam?!

SmarTravel is located in suite 200 at 9000 Keystone Crossing. I was recently just in that building and spoke with a representative. The address is correct and that is the current location of that company. For the rest, you can decide for yourself.

I have just received a call from a [protected] ext 200 telling me I have won some tickets to go to the Bahamas by filling out a ticket in a Pacers game back in March. I do not remember filling
anything out so I think this is definitely a scam. It sounded too good to be true . They had also offered me to win 1000 when I go to their office. They gave me an address of 9000 Keystone Crossing Blvd Suite 200

. Has anybody actually gone to their office ? This sounds to me like a scam ...

I got the exact same time to that pacer game and I also received a phone call. Now that I heard someone else got the exact same phone call I believe it's a scam too. That's just too big of a coincidence and that's really terrible to do to someone too we just had our first child and we got really excited about the break away for a few days.

Also I had a chance to win $1000 lmao ... To good to be true... right

I receive a call today from a rep name Jane @ Smart Travel [protected] ext 318 stating I won a free cruise from putting my name in a drawling at a Pacer game back in February. He gave me a conf number and appt time that will last about an hour their address is 9000 keystone crossing blvd suite 200. Now after reading these reviews this a def a SCAM!

Have you ever been scammed, Harassed by any company that wanted to sell you something for no reason, and tried to get you an hour of your time? Well your in Luck and i wanna bring this urgent matter to your attention Thousands of People local/ Nationwide has been receiving Phone calls from a Scamming company called Sundance Vacation/ Sundance Smart travel. Ever since August of 2011 and even before that People all over the united States has been receiving unwanted phone calls known as scamming. The Number that keeps calling is [protected] as well as [protected] They have been calling People landline, Business/ Personal cell phone, u name it. when doing a reverse phone number look up on Google.com it turns out that other People has been receiving Phone calls from the same two numbers as we all do.

Thousand of people have made Several Complains to the government, FCC, u name it and Thousands/ Millions of people including myself are tired of receiving Phone calls from the company we all have tried to make several attempts to contact the company concerning this matter but they failed to reply to mine or even anyone messages concerning the scamming.

When receiving a Phone call you are getting a recorded Message that kind of sounds like this “Mr. Jon DoeThis is such and such calling from Sundance Vacation and or Sundance Smart Travel we meet at the Cleveland Indians game, etc you won two Free tickets to a concert, or you won a Free cruise with everything paid for Plus air fare Please call us back so we can arrange for your 1 hour orientation and u would be walking away with 500, 000 dollars or so in your pocket.

From my understanding my self and everyone was told that they had until for example Sunday morning sometime for to come down and do the one hour or so orientation. The Pressure was on and customers yes but not realizing it was a scam. Most people like my self kinda know it was a scam well here the funny thing a week or so later they called me or that person again saying the exact same thing. I did not answer the phone and wrote down the number and reported it to the government as well as the FCC. Thousand/Millions of people are tired of getting Phone calls from these people.

The site that I found all the information from on people that have reported the number is http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/8003097000/2#p312092740284621035 here is a YouTube video that a news agency went undercover in the company and investigated and see what happens when she goes to the 1 hour thing with Sundance smart travel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvWoqlqsx4g&feature=colike

The Goal is to find out why Sundance Vacation/ Sundance Smarttravel is scamming thousands local/ nationwide and stop other people from getting scammed and being a Victim It could also be determine that the company tries to drive you away from your residence/Business u name it to attend a 1 hour training to where you could be burglarize/robbed why your not around and at the 1 hour orientation. You know its interesting the number that Sundance Vacation/SmarTravel is calling people from does not even match the number on either website. Law Enforcement action has already been taken against Sundance Vacation/ Sundance SmarTravel. They are responsible for all of this and what mess they got people into. They Owe so many people money for calling their personal/private mobile phones as well as Personal/Private Land line.

I am having problems where my girl friend am I actually tried to do it, but signed on only because we were told that it wasn't a time share. That there was a way out if things happened. Well there was a lay off and when I called the company to cancel I was told that I had to sell it to someone. That makes it a time share, that means that this company purposefully lied to get me to sign documents stating otherwise. They are so bad that the day I called was 2 days before money was to come out. That same rep told me that she so happened to be going on vacation and would refer me to another person who never called resulting in a stop payment. Then you get the financial people calling you telling you that is between that part of the company and you, that you have indeed taken out a LOAN for a vacation that you have to PAY money into BEFORE using it! First time I was given a LOAN that I was NOT ABLE TO USE FOR MY BENIFIT! A loan on a car, you get the car right then and there, loan on house, never had a problem, loan through them pay into it for some years then you get to use it. Save the headache people, me and this 2 different companies under 1 roof are going to have it out!

There is a reason one of your head honchos got arrested and a reason you lost your Better Business Accredidation on January 25, 2010. http://www.bbb.org/wisconsin/business-reviews/travel-agencies-and-bureaus/sundance-vacations-in-brookfield-wi-6000212/

Hi,

This is Scott Carey, communications director, from Sundance Vacations. I wanted to say that I am very sorry for what you were told by one of our telemarketers. "Won" or "free" is not in our script and all telemarketers are trained not to use the word won. In fact, we regularly monitor phone conversations to insure a quality, truthful message. We sincerely apologize and if you send me a message at Scarey@vacmail.com or personally call me at [protected] x1182 so I can get more information I can look into this matter further. Once again I apologize for what you were told.

Thanks
Scott Carey
Communications Director
Sundance Vacations