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I purchased a Vacation Plan on 3/31/05 from Ameri-World Group, 845 Brook Street, Rocky Hill CT 06067 for $4, 995.00. I've submitted complaints with the BBB here in CT and in CA, I've also filed a complaint with CT state Consumer Protection (Sr. investigator Patricia Brown). This has gone all the way the the State Attorney's office on Elm Street in Hartford. Yet have not not received any updates or refund.
I attended a sales presentation for the Travel To Go Travel Club in Rocky Hill, CT on March 31, 2005. The presentation was about 60 minutes and highlighted that there are three levels of membership of course the more expensive membership which I purchased would provide a total of 4 8day/7night luxury (4 to 5 star) accommodations (travel expenses not included) to destinations around the world per year to the VIP members. The vacations could be gifted/willed to family and friends or sold. There is a yearly membership renewal fee $147.00. The 8 day/7night vacations could be combined to be taken in any combination as long as the stay does not exceed 30 days and there were accommodations available. The luxury accommodations available: studio (sleeps 2), one bedroom (sleeps 4) or two bedroom (sleeps 6 to 8) condos/townhouses. Depending on size of accommodation the cost of each 8 day/7 night vacation would range from $199 - $299. I was also told that membership included the following additional benefits:
40% to 70% discount on hotels
40% to 70% discount on rental cars
40% to 70% discount on airfare
Discounts at specific restaurants (Percentage varies by facility)
40% to 70% discount on cruises
Weekly specials called “Hot weeks” which are last minute 8 day 7 night accommodations to locations like the Bahamas, Jamaica, Hawaii, etc. from $199 for travel within 14 days.
Unlimited mini-vacations 3 days/2nights
10% off RV Rentals
Member only discounts on Attraction Tickets
Travel Insurance
During the presentation we were told that the VIP package was only available that evening and would be offered to one couple/guess for half-off; therefore, we were encouraged to consider the benefits and be aware that the offer would be given to the first person to raise their hand. The membership as it was describe sounded reasonable and half off made it affordable. So I raised my hand and was assigned to Clarence to review payment plans/option. I leather binder of the benefits and conditions of the vacation plan were passed around and we were given a few minutes to peruse it. I purchased the VIP package for $4, 995.00. My credit/debit card was taken and I was asked to sign the receipt as well as a couple other documents. One of which included a release stating that I cannot simply change my mind about my purchase and request a refund. At the time I thought the release was a bit strange since a single 8 day/7 night vacation to Hawaii could cost me the same amount of money if not more. I was given a leather bound three ring binder that I was told contained all the information I would need to schedule and enjoy my vacations.
I contacted customer service/reservations at [protected] in April (discounts on Disney, Universal, and Sea World Tickets), May, and Jun, (discounts on weekend stay in the Poconos) and July (discounts available for airfare and hotel accommodations from Hartford, CT to Las Vegas, NV, as well as, airfare from Hartford, CT to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico). The prices quoted by VIP member services were all significantly higher than prices I found on the Internet. I attempted to locate deals on the VIP website (vipvacationplan.com) as well, and the packages available were also significantly higher than vacations and airfare available on the internet. Summary of the attached more recent examples include:
The following examples were accessed via the vipvactionplan.com and Travelocity via Yahoo.com on 9/29/05 the actual print-outs are enclosed.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
This is a complaint regarding business practices by Travel To Go and Tommy Middaugh.
www.traveltogo.com
My complaint is about a vacation club contract signed in July 2011 with Travel To Go, AKA SKY TRAVEL, 7964 Arjons Dr. Ste B San Diego CA 92126.
I filed a complaint with the BBB and the response I received from Tommy Middaugh, Travel To Go’s
Vice President, not address the problem. I was yelled at by an employee of Travel To Go for filing theoriginal complaint and told that I had no right to do so. There's reason tobelieve that Travel To Go closed their doors in San Diego because they were being harassed by unsatisfied clients. Another story is that it was Tommy Middaugh that sold these memberships on behalf of Travel To
Go /Sky Travel. I am unable to verify why they closed their San Diego doors. I requested the location of their office and they sidestep the question constantly.
When I call, I receive a price that is higher than other travel sites, they claim a place is a 5 star resort and the other travel site says a 3 star, though the other credible travel website (Expedia or Hotels.com) confirms it's the same resort. Their customer service is horrible at best on a good day and downright rude. They would rather not deal with me if I don't accept their price and pay right away. They also seem to avoid sending quotes or prices via email. I can only assume that they don't want anything in writing. They claim to have been in business for 28 years. According to the BBB, they have been in business less than 2 years. They are deceitful in their practices. I read the
warnings regarding vacation club scams on the AG's website, but that was a few months too late. I need help.
I was approached on Arjons Dr., yes on the street while on vacation. This was not a package deal
offering to fly me to attend some timeshare presentation like some others do.
This Vacation Club indicated the following at its presentation:
“Exclusive members only” discounts on the follow;
1. Vacation rentals such as villas, homes, condo, domestically and abroad.
2. Cruise.
3. Hotels.
4. All-inclusive vacations as in resorts in Mexico, Jamaica of the Dominican Republic.
5. All-inclusive vacations rentals, villas and condos which in this context, all-inclusive means it comes with a kitchen and not the same as all-inclusive as in Mexico, Jamaica of the Dominican Republic.
6. Prices shown on main page is what you get as a member only.
On Point 1:
I asked for a quote for a condo and I have received no quote. I think it's reasonable to receive a quote via email in writing. I filled out the request form online requesting a condo/home/non-hotel style. I requested the quote via email. I like to confirm I am getting the best possible price. I have received no response. When I called, I was told that she had 150 bookings to take care of
that day. That's more than 15 bookings an hour in an 8 hour day. I find it difficult to believe. I sent several requests for the quote because I wanted to book the flights which were at a good price at the time. Again, no reply was received. I have not even received a reply acknowledging they received my email. I request an email just to say that she was working on it. Not even a reply to that. Needless to say, the prices of the flights have increased. So I decided to move on and research another vacation.
On Point 2:
All prices for the cruises found on their website are available to the general public at other travel sites. Because the prices of the flights increased on my 1st request I checked their website for cruises. I look for a cruise on Carnival and Royal Caribbean. I then checked the price on the respective Cruise Line companies own websites. The prices were the same. During the presentation
we were told that we would receive members-only exclusive discounts on all cruises on their website. This was obviously not the case. The prices on Carnival and Royal Caribbean's websites require no special membership. When I entered my past cruiser number on Carnival, I received the same discount as the one reflected on Elite's website as a repeat cruiser. I am finding no real
advantage to this membership. Elite's website also offer deals for the flexible and last minute traveler, but these are the same offers that the cruise line companies offer to fill up their boats. I have since discovered that the sight portals to the travel.com website.
On Point 3:
Prices for hotels are the same as Hotels.com and travel.com which are available to the general public. At the presentation, they said that they receive special deals on hotels on their website. These deals are exclusive to members. I looked for a hotel on Elite's website and did the same on Hotels.com and found that the prices were the same. When I asked why they were the same, they
explained that Elite purchase rooms at these hotels, resorts and condos and then pass the savings to the members. She then instructed me to search hotels on Travel To Go website and lead me to some rooms that had prices that had a strikeout line through a price and a discounted price right next to it. This was Elite's exclusive price for members. Hotels.com has the same scenario on
the same hotels on the same days. Then I clicked on the hotel on Elite's website only to find out that it's a portal to travel.com which is a travel website. No membership fee is needed to book on Travel.com. I feel that I paid for a membership that guaranteed exclusive discounts that are the same as offered to the general public.
On Point 4:
At the presentation, I was told that they members receive special deals on all-inclusive resorts (the kind with alcohol, food and accommodation included with the price is found in Mexico and the Dominican Republic). All prices received from Travel To Go were higher than what was available on Expedia.com and Expedia.com does not have a special membership fee. After a several lengthy
conversations with the Elite employee they then told me that I the quote incorrectly, which lead me to believe that they did it not to deal with me anymore. I requested that they send me the correct price via email and I received no such email.
On Point 5:
I request quotes and received nothing. I have requested quotes for condo resorts and villas as well as all-inclusive resorts by email and call asking them to send it by email, only to be ignored. They told me I requested too many quotes. When I receive no reply in 2-3 days, I generally send another. This is not unreasonable.
On point 6:
Prices shown on main page is never available for your time frame. On the website, the comparison prices of what the public pay vs. what a member pays are displayed. There is no indication for which week or for which dates those members’ prices are good. When I call, a different price (higher price) is offered and when I ask them why it's not the same as the price online the answer is always, that's for a different week.
Other discoveries: Travel To Go operates under other names. The websites are identical. I believe there is more. I believe there is more.
www.traveltogo.com (Travel To Go)
http://www.facebook.com/TravelToGoVacations (Travel to go facebook)
There’s is nothing exclusive about its services. You can get better at other websites without a membership fee. I was scammed.
STAY AWAY FROM THESE LIARS
I am looking for a hot week in sept 2016 on travel to go...we;ve been members for years, having paid a ton of money for it and keeping up with our dues, and haven;t used it . Now that we;re retired, I decided to use it rather than rent a motel room for a few days in the area. I am sadly disappointed, as the hot weeks they have available are in "Resorts" that are from the 60's and so terribly dated. I read the reviews that were all horrible, and I wouldn;t put my dog in one of those dilapidated, dirty, units. Shame on you Travel to Go, Vacation Fullfilment...you should be ashamed!
We went to the presentation and so far Travel To Go is a scam. We listened for 60 minutes to the sales pitch, got a personal sales pitch twice and then sat for 30 minutes waiting for our "computer." At this point we were told they were out of computers despite the fact that they had two more planned seminar sessions that day. We were told more computers were being ordered or they could mail us a computer. We were told -rather shadily-to return to the Hampton Hotel on Thursday to pick up the "computer." No place to get the computer or contact name was given, After pressing for details we were assured that Travel To Go would still be at the hotel on Thursday, but I have my doubts. The scam is they want you to spend between 2000 (low end) up to 10, 000 for membership in a travel club which supposedly gets you discounts that justify their upfront fee. This from a business that can't even fulfill its basic deal. The deal was I listen fro 90 minutes and get a free laptop computer (granted laptop computers can be found online for as little as $144.00). Well we listened for 90 minutes and got NOTHING! Unless you have tons of vacation time and/or LOVE cruises don't bother with this scam because it won't pay off. And they claim great customer service!
I was also scammed by travel to go in rocky hill connecticut for $8, 000.00 and when ever I book a place with them now I recieve nothing better than a apartment in the projects. This is such a disappointment since I paid for five star treatment and all I get is garbage. I am going to file a lawsuit against them.
How sad that this company can continue to do "business"! Please be careful with your hard earned money and your time. What they offer is NOT worth the effort you have to give to listen to. They are taking more and more from hard working people and giving us nothing in return! If they want complaints to stop, they should refund what we gave them!
Uhh! Travel To Go is a total rip off, they are a total scam! 3 years and still no refund, Tommy Middaugh was the sales person who scammed us! he said that he owned the company, after some research I found out he didn't he was just a cheap impersonator. Jeanette Bunn & Diane Sharp are the owners and there company has taken money from hard working Americans and given us a product that save you absolutely no money at all, save your money with a simple Google search you can find all you need to know about these fraudsters. Our family has spent $3349, all down the drain, no scene in trying to sue them they already have 16 judgments and not one of them have been paid!
We "bought in" to Travel to Go on 8/7/2009. Talk about throwing
$10, 000.00 down the tube. Against our better judgment, we went to a presentation in Branson, MO at Foreve Grand Vacation. We really should have known it was "too good to be true". The "hot weeks" are really a job. I just today went online to one hotel advertised by them for $99.00 per night. If you go directly to the hotels site, they say $84.00 per night! Of course, we wrote letters and received phone calls wanting to work our what we perceived as complaints. Not once did they offer to return our money...even when we said that's the only way our "complaints" could be resolved. Please save your time AND money. No matter what they offer or how good they make it sound...It is not worth one or two "free" nights to sit and listen to their scam!
We "bought in" to Travel to God on 8/7/2009. Talk about throwing $10, 000.00 down the tub. Against our better judgment, went to a presentation in Branson, MO at Forever Grand Vacation. We really should have know it was "tood good to be true". The "hot weeks" are a joke. I just went online to one hotel they said was available for $99.00 per night and the hotel's webiste says $84.00 per night! Of course, we wrote letters to them and received phone calls to try to work out our complaints (except they not once offered to return our money to us)! Please save your time AND money. No matter what they offer, or how good they make it sound...IT IS NOT!