Preferred guest resorts bestvacationsever.com Preferred Guest Resorts - Masters of the double speak and mis-information Winter Park , Florida

In June 2011, I received a call on my cell phone telling me that the travel package I had bought and paid for in April of 2008 was about to expire but that I could get additional travel packages (4/5 cruise to the Bahamas (port fee not included) + 4/5 trip to Costa Rica (airfare not included) + 4/5 trip to Cancun (airfare not included) for up to 6 adults and unlimited children under the age of 6) for an additional $198.00. I was told a Quality Assurance agent would be calling me back to verify all the info I was given and confirm that I was purchasing the package for the 198.00. He called an hour later and reiterated everything I was told so I agree to be charged on my credit card.

Since I did not have vacation time until my one year anniversary at my job, I did not book the vacation immediately. Unfortunately, I got laid off on August 1st of 2011 so, I called back to cancel and was told that the 30 days grace period for a cancellation had now turned into 10 business days and that was why I could not get a refund. I checked the invoice I was sent and the date on the invoice was 07/13/2011 which means I had missed the deadline by just a few days. I decided I could always take the vacation now that I was un-employed and had the time.


In May 2012, I called to book one of the packages (the trip to Orlando) I was told I could not take 5 adults. When I argued that I was told I could take up to 6 adults, they told me I had misunderstood. I checked the paperwork I had received and their website (special-t-travel.com) and both stated that I could travel with up to 6 adults. I called them back and was given double-speak but not allowed to travel with more than 4 adults, according to them the occupational laws did not allow more than 4 adults per room. I looked it up and found that it was true so I decided to rearrange my plans to travel with one 4 adults.

On June 25, 2012, I called to book my Orlando vacation with 3 adults and one minor child. I was told that the call was being recorded and was asked questions like "Was I single, was mu household income $55,000, had I been previously married and other questions which I answered truthfully. I am divorced and my daughter and her fianc live with me and between the two of the they make over $55,000 so that was the income that could be considered the "household income" since it goes into my bank accounts and all the household bills are paid from that. I was also told that I needed to pay $15.00 per day for hotel taxes and was asked to provide a valid credit card, which I did. I was told a travel agent would call me within 10 business days to confirm my travel arrangements and after I spoke to them I would receive a confirmation letter in the mail. I was then given another website (bestvacationsever.com) where I could check on my travel arrangements once I receive the letter and this new website would give me "up to the minute" information in case there were unforeseen changes.

When I went to date website, in order to bookmark it so as not to forget it, I got a pop-window with a Google search showing all kinds of complaints about the company. Some said that the sales agents were rude when people told them they were not interested, others shared stories of being billed extra for a trip because they refused to buy the timeshare, and still others stated they were charged without permission and were unable to get a refund. So I got worried and called Special-T-Travel to make sure I would not get charged extra. I spoke to customer service and the nice lady told me that since I had become unemployed I didn't qualify for the tour so I couldn't get the theme park tickets and my daughter and her fianc younger didn't qualify either because they were not older than 25 years old. I stated that this was not told to me at the time of purchase and they again referred me to the original documents, which do not state their meaning of "household income" as my personal income or that of a partner that I was cohabitating with. I was then told that she did not see that I had two packages (one purchased on April of 2012 called the DJ package and another purchased on 07/13/2011) so in order to verify the booking they had to travel me to another department.

I was then transfer to another individual, which I had to recount my story to (that makes it the third person I was telling my story to and she told me that not only would I not qualify for the theme park tickets but they could not take my reservation because I did not qualify due to the change in my income. At this time I asked to speak to a supervisor in the customer service department, who just repeated the same thing and told me they could not give me a refund because they did not sell me the package, even though I have an invoice from Special-T-Travel for the sale. He said he had to transfer me to the Quality Assurance department of Preferred Guest Resorts who actually sold me the package. I argued that the charge on my bank statement said Special-T-Travel as well as the invoice; he became impatient and told me that he had other guest that needed his attention and only the Quality Assurance department of Preferred Guest Resorts could give me a refund.

I then spoke to a supervisor of that department that told me they could not refund my money just because my income changed and to make matters worse, they have the date of purchase as 06/2012 and have no record of the purchase of 07/13/2011. The only resolution I was given is to call back after I get a job and try to re-book my vacation but I have to do that before 04/05/2013 or the offer will expire. I guess now I have another reason to get a job as soon as possible.