Cruise 'prize' refunds elusive, winner discovers

[wahyinghung]

A number of people have been contacted in the wake of Vancouver's Auto Show to be told they've "won" a cruise vacation. As CTV first showed you Wednesday "winners" are being told they need to pay to claim their prize. At least one unlucky winner found getting his money back wasn't easy.

When James Thiessen was at the Auto Show he entered to win a prize trip and then he got a call at home saying he'd won.

"The guy was very enthusiastic saying congratulations quite a few times just to sort of get my heart going I guess," explains James.

James says the telemarketing company Florida Bahamas Cruise Vacations told him he'd have to pay $299 to claim his prize. He gave them his credit card number and a couple of days later he had second thoughts. "I called my credit card company to ask if they could cancel payment and they basically, sent me an e-mail that said sorry we can't do that."

So James contacted Florida Bahamas Cruise Vacations on the 1-800 line and asked to cancel.He says he had to tell them repeatedly he wanted to cancel. "Probably a good six or seven times before they finally realized I am serious about this and I really want to cancel it."

James was told he was getting a refund but wasn't confident. "So of course I'm skeptical. So at this point I'm just waiting to see if they are going to follow through."

After our interview James says he checked on the status of his refund and found it never went through.

He had to call again and says the company only offered half his money back.Under Florida law James is entitled to a full refund -- all of it -- and when he pointed it out the company agreed. "They basically made me feel like I was making a mistake trying to cancel this vacation."

So he's gone on-line to the Florida government consumer services web site and is filling out a complaint form. Under Florida law he has 30 days to cancel and in case the refund doesn't go through he wants it on the record.

The Florida government warns people about being "selected for a trip." It says 'If you are told you've won a free trip or travel package, Florida law stipulates that you cannot be charged anything other than the cost to get your prize to you such as postage or a courier's fee."

And when we checked out the website of the actual owner of the ship Celebration Cruises, we found it regularly offered suites for $299 -the same price you'd have to pay to "win the prize" through the telemarketing company.

The Florida government also warns people that when they go to book the "prize travel" they sometimes find it's unavailable and have to pay an upgrade fee. Or they find the accommodations are unacceptable and then are told 'what do you expect for the money you paid?'
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/l...shColumbiaHome

[BlackV62K2]

Paying to claim a prize? That was his 1st mistake.

[El Bastardo]

I had a girlfriend fall for this after entering one of those prize barrels at the night market. I guess everything is fake at the night market, even the contests.

The contest she "won" charged her about $900~ and she wasn't being told she was being charged, she was told she had to give her CC# for "verification". (I told her never to use eBay. They'll see her coming from a mile away)

I told her to get the charges reversed but she wanted to work it out with the company. After enough bitching and complaining she got most of it given back to her, save for just over fifty bucks but she was just glad it was over.

[InvisibleSoul]

You know how I sign up for all those online freebies and stuff?

I still never enter any drawings at stuff like auto shows or PNE unless it's from a reputable name that I already know of, because otherwise it's probably a scam.

[quasi]

They always have this crap at any type of trade show including at the PNE. Never, ever enter your name for those free vacations 97.4% of them are just a way to get your info and try and get you to buy one of these things.

[fliptuner]

As stated, this scam's been around for years and years. So much so that I've seen reports on the news about them. The most recent report was at the Wedding Fair.

What I don't get is why the promoters of these shows still allow these scammers to rent space. It obviously reflects poorly on them in the end.

Let's see if they're at the Tattoo Convention this weekend.

[rb]

My brother won the Nascar VIP Package/trip from Code Zero at the Auto Show and i thought he got scammed. He actually won hah

[WingHang]

i won a trip to vegas from edgewater casino...

it says i have to write a 40$ cheque and mail the certificate back to "redeem" my prize...

and that i have to pay my own airport taxes to go to vegas (which is fair i guess)

but the 40$ cheque wtf man n i will have to "wait" for them to call me back to schedule a trip and they only have certain seats or seasons that they can send ppl

diamondgetaway is the name of the company

and it says on the website.."The dates for Summer 2009 were released April 15th. With the high demand for those dates, all available travel dates for Summer 2009 are now full." so wtf the seats were all booked within 2 days of the release of their "trip dates"

[Graeme S]

Read the entry sheet or entry form. In most cases, it's not "Win a prize", it's "Get called for a crazy deal!"