Travel Club International - Horizon Travel News Story!! Fraudulent Company not honoring written contract Dishonest heart breaking results Comany is unresponsive to phone calls ripoff Tempe Arizona

PLEASE READ - although lengthy...my family is struggling to get what is owed to them: A Disneyworld Vacation - per our contract!

On September 2, 2006, my husband and I attended a presentation by Horizon Travel in Norwalk, Connecticut. Considering all of the traveling that we have done over the years, we were convinced by Tab Ferguson (Salesman) through very high pressure sales to join this vacation club, as it will save us a lot of money, as well as, pay itself off in the next year. We were promised a lifetime of worry-free travel products and vacation experiences.

After nearly, being there for 3 brain-washing hours, we decided to go ahead and join. He started the price off at nearly $8000 and after negotiations, we ended up paying them (via credit card) a whopping $3978.00. (Not including $179/year dues..) (We feel so stupid!)

**We were also given 2 free gas vouchers (for traveling such a far distance) each one values at $50 from freebeegas.com. We mailed our gas receipts in, along with the provided materials and to date, we have still not received any monies back. This is the least of our worries - see below!**

One of the written contractual agreements made was that Horizon Travel DBA: Travel Club International would pay for a Free week Condo inside Disney; good for 1 year; for up to 5 people (2 BD). For this deal alone, we agreed that the membership fees would basically be dissolved because of how costly it is at the Disney properties. They even sat us on their computer and showed us the Disney resorts and verbally mentioned that we could choose between the 2 bedroom villas (Home-Away from Home) at either the Beach Club Villas or Boardwalk Villas - or a few others on sight.

As a family we had planned on going to Disney in 2007, and when this presented itself it was the perfect opportunity. We were told that we would receive our membership packet,identification cards, etc within 10 days.It wasn't until October 27th, 2006 when our card finally arrived.

The following is a detailed record of phone conversations:

09/25/06: I called Travel Club International (TCI) and spoke with Keith Friend (Manager): Gave us options of villas available. He authorized the Beach Club Villa to be booked and Randy Siverson (another Manager) will call us back to confirm reservation. He clearly stated that there would be no money out of pocket expenses from us for the 2 BDRM Villa, as per contract they will honor it as a free rental.

09/25/06: Randy returned call and stated said that he would put a hold on the Villa and will have Dae (their Disney customer service expert) call me on Tuesday, 9/26th @ 11:30 with reservation numbers, etc. Now, in the meantime, per Randy, if he had any problems with putting the Villa on hold, he would call me back. NO CALL BACK.

09/26: No calls from either Dae or Randy. Left messages for both.

09/27: Called TCI, spoke with Tamara Friend (Executive Vice President/Customer Service Manager) she would research and get back to me. Because the contract stated that we must book the vacation within one year from the date of the contract, we decided with Tamara, on May 12-19, 2007.

09/28: Tamara said that due to the cost of the 2 bedroom villa, they could not honor the contract blaming Tab and Horizon Travel associates in Connecticut for making promises and selling something that they could not honor due to the high cost of the rental. Per Tamara, the cost of the 2 BDRM unit would be between $4,000-$5,000.and they would not honor it. She asked if we would we consider a 2 bedroom adjoining suite at another property inside Disney? At that point we were extremely disappointed, because with three children we definitely need a condo-type unit which would include a kitchen (for all of our meals), plus a washer and dryer. She was absolutely determined not to honor the hand-written contract.

When I asked her what recourse I had, she fired back at me stating that if I even mentioned legal action or Better Business Bureau, that we would have no chance of getting the trip or any of our money back. She said that people have a very difficult time getting their money back and good luck trying to get your money back. SO, with that scare tactic, we were so frightened to loose the near $4000 invested that we decided to agree on accepting the offer for 2 adjoining rooms. At least we would still be inside the Walk Disney World (WDW) park, which was really important to us for WDW experience.

09/28: My husband spoke with both Randy and Tamara they said no problem to honor the contract. She has several properties in Walt Disney World that could work, again, as adjoining rooms. The Villas were not an option. We requested a list of properties available for May12-19th, 2007.

09/29: After leaving messages, Tamara finally returned our call with a list of properties inside Disneyfinally we agreed upon the Port Orleans, French Quarter.

10/03: Called Tamara: Port Orleans, French Quarter reserved for May 12-19, 2007; 2 adjoining rooms. Confirmation #: 16776890. We agreed to pay for the Dining Plan (8 day Meal Plan), R/T Airfare and Disney Hopper passes. Tamara provided pricingbut wanted to call WDW back to re-confirm pricing (?).ultimately, she said that we would pay them for these extras and she said that we would pay WDW the balance due as the trip came closer. TCI would handle all Magical Express transfers, etc. (all pieces of the reservation are indicated on the confirmation letter).

10/18: Received reservation confirmation from Tamara Friend everything as stated during our discussions.

All throughout October November December 2006, I left several messages on Tamara's voice mail and even spoke with customer service representatives who said that Tamara was handling our case and that they would advise her of my concerns. NO CALL BACK.

In the meantime, I took it upon myself to call Walt Disney World (WDW) Reservations (407-939-6244) to confirm our reservationand that is all they could do for me. Yes, confirm that we were booked for the time as indicated above and that a deposit has been put down on it. WDW reservations stated that TCI owned the reservation and that WDW could not discuss it any further with me nor, could I book the Dining Plan or obtain Hopper passes through them TCI would have to handle.

Since I had a reservation number I decided to go forward and spend hours on the phone with WDW planning out entire week of dining, outings, etcAll of the dining reservations are based on the Magical dining plan, which Tamara said she would coordinate as the agent for us. We surprised our 3 children (ages 8, 4, 2) with the great news about the trip.the excitement is unreal!

12/13/06: Spoke with Heidi Tamara not available suggested I leave another message; advised not to book airfare yet. Too early. Plus, she told me that they do not save any money on airfare and suggested that I should go through Expedia.com or travolicty.com. (Another disturbance, b/c Tab at the presentation, indiacted that TCI would save us money on our entire travels.) SO we decided to book the air ourselves through Jet Blue for a little under $200/pp.) Heidi to discuss with Tamara and get back to me. NO CALL BACK.

01/10/07: Spoke with Amy, Lead Agent; Would get back to me as soon as possible after she researched it and spoke with Randy or Tamara. NO CALL BACK.

01/16/07: Spoke with Paul: No problems, things have been very busy on their end a lot of changes (?). Confirmed that resort stay is in good standing. He said he would call WDW Travel for pricing on meal plan and hopper passes. He did call me back to let me know that WDW travel co. was too busy to get through to and that he would call first thing in the morning and get back to me. NO CALL BACK.

03/05: Called TCI: Spoke with Glenda: Stated that Tamara Friend is no longer there she was terminated due to some Shady dealings. Things will get better now for all customers. Glenda assured me that she would get back to me once Randy is back in the office on Friday. I reconfirmed my telephone numbers, address, etc.Glenda would call me back later and definitely on Friday. NO CALL BACK.

03/15 03/19: Left messages for Glenda to call be back; indicated that the balance of the payment was due on March 28th. NO CALL BACK.

03/19: Spoke with Amanda; Glenda will be back in the office within an hour will call me back immediately. Asked to speak with Randy he was unavailable. NO CALL BACK.

03/20: Spoke with Amanda: left message for both Glenda and Randy. She said that things were real hectic Glenda will call laterRandy unavailable. Left a detailed voice mail on Randy's machine. NO CALL BACK.

Left another message on their generic customer service voice mail NO CALL BACK.

03/21: Once again I contacted WDW Travel company; confirmed that reservation in system, however balance has not been paid. Must be paid by 03/28th or else reservation will be released cannot discuss with me.

03/21: Spoke with Amanda: Randy not available, on a conference call and cannot be interrupted. He stated to Amanda that he did receive my message and would call me be before he left the office (open for another 3 hours). I left detailed message on his voice mail (per Amanda's request) NO CALL BACK.

03/22: No one answering phones during their normal business hours: Left message on voice mail indicating my disappointment and specific dates on reservation payments, etc. NO CALL BACK.

Now, we don't know where to turn or who to turn to? We cannot afford to pay another $4000 towards our Disneyworld vacationwe have purchased non-refundable round-trip airfare to Orlando ($1000)plus, and most importantly, the disappointment that our children have now that they are realizing that their dream might not come true.

Since the month of October 2006 the day we surprised our kids - they have been continuously watching the Disney DVD sent to us by WDW anticipating their big trip. My children are literally in tears and there is nothing that I can do about itbut reach out to others to help spread the word about this company.

Lastly, another really sad part of this devastating ordeal is that I used all of the money which was left to me by my recently deceased father (who died extremely suddenly) to purchase this vacation club plan, thinking that for years to come - he, in a sense, would still be with ushelping us out as he always did. Shame on this company for playing with the hearts of our family and causing this much turmoil.

I wish there was something we could do to stop this from happening to other innocent families. Consumers please aware do not buy into this planplease, save your money - book your own travels. No more hearts need to be trampled on.

Lynne
Ansonia, Connecticut
U.S.A.