Sundance Vacations Consumer Reviews

ILLINOIS -- In October 2009, I fell hook line and sinker for what was presented to me as a fabulous deal. Unfortunately, much to my dismay, here I am 2 years later and trying to cancel my contract and finding that this contract was misrepresented and had so many omissions to begin with. Some may consider it not even a valid contract.

I remember clearly asking the salesman several things, first I asked if this was a Time Share, I was told No. I also asked if this was a BBB accredited business, I was told yes. After much research I have found that not of those things are true. Not to mention that this whole started from a telemarketing call about a cruise I won.

My phone number has been on the DO NOT CALL registry since 2007. The relentless messages left by the "Sprint Incentives' caused me to call just to get these people to stop calling. I made an appointment to meet at their Downers Grove Location and cancelled my first appointment with several calls to reschedule.

At the second appointment, it turned out to be a high pressured sales pitch where so many things are thrown at you that you really are spinning a bit and quite unclear of what they just told you. Nonetheless I signed, only after trying to contact them to cancel did I research this place. Unfortunately this was 2 years later and due to financial difficulties I have been counter offered to lower my packages and payments but have not been able to reach an amicable agreement with these people.

I was last told today in an email that if I cancel, I will not receive a refund? I have paid to date $2194 to Tri State Financial (which is owned by the same people) and $450.53 to Travel Advantage. I am supposed to just walk away from over $2500 and let them keep my money when I have never used their services? I am a little irked how they think this may be fair or that it should be acceptable. By all means if I used your service to begin with, maybe there would be some sort of money I would owe them.

I did attempt a few different times to try to book some weeks. You are told up front that there is a $99 booking fee and if you choose to go in "peak season" this would be $30 a day additional. What they fail to mention is that most of the time you are in "peak season" and the majority of the time the place you want to go is unavailable for the time you want. I have seen so many others with the same situation with this company or companies, since they are all the same. I wonder how it is that they get away with this.

I have worked customer service for almost 20 years, I know for a fact that contracts can be cancelled and full refunds can be given. I am wondering why they think I would be foolish to just give up that money? As a single parent and a soon to be student I surely do not have the means to throw money away like that. Since I can't seem to get anywhere with this, I think the next step it to contact a consumer rights attorney. I have also been in contact with someone in the same near area as me and they have offered her the same cancellation agreement, I am sure we can get together when I speak to this attorney. Unfortunately she was taken for a lot more than me.

It's really sad when a company takes advantage of the unknowing and feels they can just take money from people. My advise when you hear about these companies: Sundance Vacations, TAN Travel Advantage Network, Tri State Financial, and Sprint Incentives, run as fast as you can... The contract is not at all what it seems.

WILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA -- ***************************
Review has been published in other websites.
First part (until "copy and paste..."): http://uscomplaints.com/traveling-tourism/297967-better-business-bureau-revokes-sundance-vacations-business-accreditation.html
Second part (from "This company is a FRAUD"): http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-309-6500/5
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THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU HAS REVOKED SUNDANCE VACATIONS' BUSINESS ACCREDITATION!

http://tinyurl.com/ye9e5jn

(Copy & paste the above link into the browser)

The following are the very restrictive terms and conditions required to use the Sundance Vacations "promotional cruise." In addition, that "promotional" cruise could ultimately cost you hundreds of dollars. More or equal to the costs that you would incur by booking the cruise on your own without all the detailed restrictions!

"This company is a FRAUD. I also got suckered into going down to pick up the free cruise I had been given as a 'gift.' Now, the customer service agent was correct in that they never use the word 'won'. It's just a matter of wording to keep their scams on the border-line of legal. And I understood that I had to sit through an hour of a sales pitch. which I was fine with. What I was not fine with were the LIES that they had told me in advance about this free cruise.

LIE #1: I could go on the cruise at ANYTIME during the year. I was told repeatedly by the woman on the phone about how I could basically go whenever dates I wanted to, anytime during the next year. Well, that is a lie. When I received my vacation voucher, I looked at the fine print on the back page. You CANNOT use this cruise during the months of June, July, August, or any week of which there is a holiday.

LIE #2: If I didn't use the cruise, I could do with it whatever I wished. I could give it as a gift or sell it. The fact is, you CANNOT. It clearly states that the name of the trip is non-transferable and cannot be sold.

LIE #3: I was told airfare was included and that I could fly from my local airport. which is a major international airport. That isn't true. They tell you where to fly out of. For example, they mentioned Newark, New Jersey as a possibility. Plus, the fine print says it only includes 'base' airfare. I'm not even sure what the fine print is on base airfare.

LIE #4: I was told I would simply have to pay minor taxes on a trip which values at about 1, 200 dollars. Well, the taxes start at $225 dollars per person (35 percent tax???????) Plus, there are all kind of registration and booking fees on top of that.

LIE #5: I was specifically told on the phone I would even receive free gift cards to Applebee's, Red Lobster, and Olive Garden if I came to the 5pm presentation. When I inquired about them, the girl gave me a funny look and told me that 'they didn't give them out anymore because people don't use them.' What??? I was told only the DAY BEFORE I would be getting them. So, they gave me this piece of paper and said to go eat somewhere (anywhere), attach the receipt to the paper, send a self addressed stamped envelope, and I could get up to 15 dollars for my meal. I'm not holding my breath. Bottom line, this company is a fraud. They told me out and out lies about the cruise just to get me in. They are very shrewd. They have people designed to search these very blogs just to tell you how wonderful they are. There is an old saying. 'Me thinks thou protests too much.' If someone has to over and over again tell you about all the awards they won and how great they are...makes you wonder why...doesn't it?????"

The following links will offer substantial information about Sundance Vacations and their sweepstakes giveaways used to induce the consumer to attend a $15,000 high pressure sales pitch for a vacation club membership. Copy & paste each URL into the Google search engine.

http://sundancevacationssweepstakes.blogspot.com/

http://sundancevacationsmanipulation.blogspot.com/

http://www.ripoffreport.com/travel-services/sundance-vacations-t/sundance-vacations-tan-spir-j3ccj.htm
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The following was posted by Gina, of Baltimore, MD. an ex-employee of Sundance Vacations. Here is the link to that post

http://www.ripoffreport.com/travel-services/sundance-vacations-t/sundance-vacations-travel-adv-47de8.htm

What Gina says:

"I am an ex- employee of TAN, or Travel Advantage Network. Everything negative that you are saying is true. They are a rip off and a scam. The salesmen make it look nice while they are giving you their sales pitch, but they don't tell you the whole truth. The resorts that they show you at the presentation are VIP resorts, or they could be VIP units. They don't show you what you will be getting if you sign up as a regular TAN client. The regular units, most of them suck and are out of date and dirty. I have walked through many of these units, and most of them are not clean and roach infested. The fees that they charge is also a lie. They tell you at the sales presentation that you can travel to anywhere you want for 99.00 dollars. Yeah, if you want to go the beach in the middle of January in 20 degree weather. This is considered non-peak season. For peak season you have to pay 30.00 extra per night, and also if you want to upgrade to a 2 or a 3 bedroom unit, you also pay 30.00 per night extra, per bedroom. If anyone is thinking about joining TAN, or Sundance Vacations, you need to think twice about it. I worked in customer service at TAN and I was a vacation reservationist and I had to deal with a lot of angry people that felt they got ripped off, and they did. Don't think that you can't get your money back, because you can. I have seen it a million times. Don't give in. They will try to reduce your package so that your monthly payments are cheaper, don't do it because you will wind up paying the same, or more money for the package, because they add on more finance charges, and they stretch your loan time out to be longer. DON'T DO IT PEOPLE, DON'T JOIN TRAVEL ADVANTAGE NETWORK OR SUNDANCE VACATIONS, BECAUSE IT IS A SCAM, I WORKED THERE FOR 2 YEARS AND GOT FIRED BECAUSE I TOOK A CLIENT'S SIDE!!"

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Review already published here:
http://www.topix.com/forum/business/direct-marketing/T8VSBNPQLLGPOFK94
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Sundance Vacations is repeatedly telling the consumer that the “sweepstakes” is not a scam because one (1) grand prize is awarded yearly. That may be accurate. However, the issue is not whether a grand prize is awarded, but rather the purpose of the sweepstakes, which is an end run around the Do Not Call restrictions. In addition, the odds of winning are approximately a million to one (1:1,000,000) and what you sacrifice for those astronomical odds is your privacy! Once you enter that sweepstakes with your phone number you will be hounded by Sundance Vacations' relentless telemarketing calls attempting to induce you to attend a high pressure sales pitch to purchase a very restricted and impractical to use $15,000 vacation membership. Sundance Vacations says that the sweepstakes entry form waives any privacy rights that the consumer is guaranteed under the Do Not Call regulations, but that is simply not the truth. The following blog clearly explains the DNC issue:

http://naskiewicz.blogspot.com/

Those Sundance Vacations telemarketers are unrelenting and if you decline their offer they become indignant and start interrogating you as to “why” you are not interested. (Their commission is based on persuading you to attend the high pressure sales pitch!) What right do they have to invade your privacy and then question your decision to decline their offer? Consequently, if you entered the Sundance Vacations sweepstakes and you are registered on the federal or state Do Not Call lists, you should call the FTC at its toll-free hotline at: 1-888-382-1222 because that's the only way to stop the unwanted and uninvited telemarketing calls!