Ramada Plaza Resorts Scam

[jamesq]

I got a call a few weeks ago from Ramada Plaza Resorts saying I was eligible for a vacation draw if I answered a survey. Being kind of bored at the time I figured "what the hell". Sure enough, next day I got a call saying I won. Yippee, a free vacation.

Except of course, it wasn't free.

I figured, Ok, scam. They haven't gotten any information that wasn't easily found on the web anyway, so no harm done. A few minutes of my time was wasted but nothing else. I ignored the email.

Flash forward to today. I get a call from them again. Their story was changed to it being a promotional vacation that they give people in certain demographics. They told me it gave them tax write-offs and that it became cost-effective because they were counting on me becoming a repeat customer.

I confided that I'm not a trustworthy person and they countered with lots and lots of security features to ensure that I wouldn't be ripped off.

blah blah blah. Everything I was told fell into three categories:

1. This insanely low-priced vacation isn't really that insane.
   
2. This is not a scam.
   
3. So, can we book your vacation?

And it all had the ring of truth and lots of flashy security features that weren't at all secure. And there was a cool web site that looked professional. And the operator sounded very professional.

It was around the time they mentioned their website (http://www.vacationmoments.com/) that I came to my senses. I googled vacationmoments +scam and got many many hits. Same with their phone number 800-203-9783. Clearly this was a bunch that did not have a lot of satisfied customers.

At that point I terminated the call. At no time did they receive my credit card info.

I called up Ramada hotels (the real Ramada hotels).

"Ramada customer service, how may I help you?"
"Yeah, I got a call from someone using your name that I think is a scam."
"Ramada Plaza Resorts is not affiliated with Ramada Worldwide", Said the operator who was now decidedly chilly, "You can reach them at 800-203-9783."

Exactly the terse brush off I'd expect from a corporation that wants nothing to do with some crackpots, but also doesn't want to get sued for calling them crackpots. Interestingly, they also knew who I was talking about without me spelling it out for them. Ramada Worldwide is clearly well aware of vacationmoments and wishes they'd just go away.

So yeah, sounds like a big damn scam. What the exact nature of the scam is - not getting anything for your money, or getting something a lot less then you think for your money - I don't know. Be warned though.

Too good to be true can go two ways: Not actually that good or not actually true.

Crossposted to calgarians.

Comments

[pandorasbox.livejournal.com]

yep. I still can't believe that people fall for this kind of scam. I am always telling people that you should never ever give you CC# to ANYONE.

[catalytic.livejournal.com]

Good to know. Yeah, I'm very leery of anything too good to be true. I find, like you, it's either not actually good or, more often than not, it's not actually true.

This is one of the strong foundations of my stubbornness and my strong inclination to dig in deeper the harder someone pushes. I've learned over the years that if someone is pushing really hard for something that should be a good thing anyway quite often there's an ulterior motive that I'm missing. And I hate being made a fool of, so I dig in and resist.

Now, sadly, it's become a knee jerk reaction and I will often resist the good just as much as the bad, fearing some hidden catch that will embarrass or humiliate me in the long run.

[jamesq]

I just try to remember that strangers and corporations don't have my best interests at heart, but my friends probably do.

[canadianknight.livejournal.com]

The scam is that you go on your "fabulous" vacation, and it's not so fabulous. The hotel is a flea-bag joint, the cruise ship is a reconditioned 50-foot yacht, and you get nickeled and dimed to death, as you are trapped on their properties, which are appropriately out-of-the-way. (I've read a few reports from people who got conned. They are, without exaggeration, horror stories.)

Unbelievable that people can do this to other people...

[jamesq]

Yeah. Next time they call, I'm going to spend the time trying to convince the operator to quit.

[mommaquilter.livejournal.com]

Or, like what we ran into at Disney is that they will then try to sell you a "timeshare" that isn't. It looks awesome on paper, but apparently they up their service fees year after year - your monthly payments always stay the same, but all of a sudden your service fees are thousands and thousands of dollars per year.

I used to be a telephone sales person (I know - SHOCK, DISMAY, DISGUST) - but I came to my senses. The secret to get off their lists is to flat out interrupt them and tell them, politely hopefully, to "Take Me Off Your List". Those 5 words save the salesperson breath, and you from going insane from their calls - it is against the law for them to contact you again within a year. If they do - you can technically sue them, or they can get a major fine. Hopefully the salesperson will be appreciative that you didn't waste their time on a non-productive call.

[jamesq]

I'll do that when I get tired of the game.

[jamesq]

True, but calling the cops makes them pay attention to me.