We received a post card in the mail letting us know that we won a
7 night, 8 day trip to Hawaii, Carribean, Las Vegas or Florida (among a
few others) - and if we call immediately, we'll receive a $100 Dining
Gift Card. It was with VNI, Inc on Hwy 6 @ Memorial Dr in Houston. I
made the appointment, did some research and saw that they had an F
rating with the BBB ( at several locations that have been open long
enough to have a rating). I also saw several issues and complaints
through pissedconsumer and ripoffreport.
We went on 2/20/2010 with an open mind but loaded
with the information. We'd like their side of the story as to why they
have an F rating. After listening to the one-hour presentation which
was condensed into 35-40 minutes, I asked (at the end of the session)
"why do you have an F rating with the BBB?", the presenter
immediately said "that must not be us", I then pulled out the Contact
Us page that I printed from their website that had their address on it
and said "The Sandy Spring Georgia address is what's listed on the
webisite and the one with the BBB rating here". Instead of explaining what
issues they had, he got very defensive and explained that everybody
such as Sprint or AT&T has a negative report with BBB and/or
Rippoffreport. I explained that they also have millions of customers -
you have a state investigation pending with the Attorney General and an
F rating. He then asked me why I came then, I explained that I wanted
to see for myself what the deal was and of course for the free
trip/Dining Card. He then called me a "Freeloader", the sales people
immediately started pulling the clients into private rooms. He left
momentarily then came back with our certificate and "Dining Card" and raised his voice stating "Get your *** out of here" - I replied that I feel everyone here
should know what you guys are up to then he said "go on and get your
Fat *** out of here, Freeloader". We simply walked out arguing with
the guy all the way out the door. After further review, we know why he
got so defensive.
The $100 Dining Gift Card - it's a Restaurant.com
Discount Card to limited restaurants. Basically, if you spend $200
total, you get $100 off excluding alcohol.
The
Vacation: Not Free - You have to send in a regstration card with
$19.95, wait for the response then send in $398 for the travel
certificates to cover fees. All fees must be paid by Money Order or
Cashiers Check and are non-refundable. When you send in the $398 there is no guarantee of
where you will go or if your dates will be available (you have to
submit 3 sets of dates 90 days out, within the next year but not within 7 days of a national holiday). When
your dates are accepted then you are sent your tickets and confirmation
- btw, you have to pay $25 per night to cover Taxes, Gratuities and
Surcharges ($175 additional). Trip costs almost $600 for 2 (including accommodations and airfare). We are tempted to try it to see if that's a scam....but we don't know if it's worth $600 to find out.
Here's the deal with Vacation Network, they say you
will have access to Time Shares and resorts around the world without
buying one. Anyone can always buy the membership for $9,995 then $295 Registration Fee (one time
membership fees). After that it's $299 per
year plus $499 per week for one bedroom accommodations and $699 per
week for 2 bedroom accommodations. For the $9,995, you are allowed 3
weeks per year and unlimited "excess inventory" weeks ($399 per week).
If you signed up at the presentation, you get 5 weeks for your $9,995
and 3 weeks for $7,995 (plus the weekly rates for weeks you use and annual fees). You
don't have to pay for your weeks if you don't use them. They also say there are no black-out dates.
Good luck
everyone, I'd love to hear if anyone actually went on the "free" trip or use this service with success (photos would be great).