Resorts Plus International, Inc. In business with Reservation Services International, Inc. THE DEFINITION OF UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES -- BEWARE!!! Orlando, Florida

On March 31, 2012 I PAID $3500 FOR MEMBERSHIP IN A VACATION CLUB (THOUGH OTHER UNSUSPECTING PERSONS PAID $7000) AFTER BEING FOOLED BY A BAIT-AND-SWITCH PRESENTATION AND BEFORE GOING HOME AND DISCOVERING THE EXTENT TO WHICH I HAD BEEN DECIEVED.  The fact that I signed a contract in Resorts Plus' favor does not excuse the deceptive practices employed by Resorts Plus to get me to do so and does not make me (or you stupid).  That is why there are consumer practice laws against fraudulent marketing, because they don't win simply by getting a victim to sign a contract. 

Whether you are a doctor, lawyer (like me), or other competent person, you can be lied to, bullied and decieved like I was SO PLEASE CONSIDER FIGHTING BACK WITH ME - make yourself known so that our claims can be evaluated and something can be done. This report can only address a few of the issues experienced with this company - but there is definitely grounds for a class action based on the outrageous inflated price for services and non-refundable $274 fee taken from consumers even after fraud is discovered and contract is rescinded. 

I recieved a call to attend what I believed would be a sales representation for membership in a vacation club offering certain access rights to vacation properties. My husband and I attended the presentation on March 15, 2012 in West Palm Beach and were induced into a contract with Resorts Plus International by various false statements and promises. 

The presenter stated to everyone in the room that if we signed up that day, the $274 deposit would be waived and the first 3 couples to sign up would get an additional 4000 points (to make 8000) and a reduced membership rate of $7000 (not a good deal at all of course - twice the average amount paid).  In the small huddle with the sales representative, we rejected the $7000 and wanted to leave (they were holding us hostage as we indicated we wanted to wrap up and go twice prior to this point).  The presenter then came by and said that if we accepted we could have the deal offered to the first three couples at $3500 rather than $7000.  

I told the sales representative that the presenter made offers very different from the contract terms on the single page sheet she had and repeatedly asked her whether the offer made by her or the presenter trumped.  She repeated that the presenter was one of the owners and could do what he wanted to do so whatever he said trumped though she did not know what he had offered.  I specifically told her that the presenter said the $274 deposit would be waived and I wanted to confirm that as well as the fact that we would get everything he promised during the presentation for the $3500.  The presenter came back and confirmed that we would get what he promised, including the 4000 additional points and waiver of the $274 deposit, at $3500 if we accepted.  I told the presenter at that time that the offer made in the presentation and on the powerpoint was different from what the sales representative had and that we wanted to be absolutely clear on what we were agreeing to. 

Knowing that we were tired and wanted to leave and would have left had the presenter told us that we would have to pay a $274 deposit, he confirmed the terms as we understood them and announced to everyone that they had another (second) buyer.  He then asked us to go to another room with the sales representative because the couple next to us had just purchased the same thing for $7000, twice as much as us and far more than the services could be said to be worth. 

After going to the other room with the sales representative, we discovered that the offer made during the presentation (and accepted by us) was nothing more than bait to get us to a negotiating table where they ultimately told us after another hour or so that what was previously offered was not available and that we had to sign an entirely different contract if we still wanted what they had spent an additional hour or two discussing. 

As we went through the contract to document the agreement we had just made with Resorts Plus, the sales representative, a second sales rep and the presenter each fought with us in trying to unilaterally change all of the terms we had agreed to.  Though they agreed to give us the 4000 additional points as promised (they had originally put an additional 2000 points in the contract rather than the 4000), they refused to waive the $274 deposit as previously promised.  Tired, and having invested between 3 to 4 hours on the subject matter, we signed. 

Almost immediately, upon getting in the car, I started thinking about all the things the presenter had said that did not seem right, the fact that the contract we signed was nothing more than a software license and did not even promise the services every single attendee believed they were purchasing, and the fact that the period to cancel the contract would expire long before any attendee would have the opportunity to even try the product or verify the truth of the statements made. 

Upon getting home, I searched for Resorts Plus on the internet and found various complaints confirming my belief.  I immediately drafted a letter canceling my contract and sent it the next day.  Resorts Plus did not merely breach a contract with me (the oral one reached before they unilaterally changed it), they defrauded me out of my money.  That means they owe me back everything, the contract is void.  That does not mean they get to profit from their misconduct in keeping my $274 deposit. 

To date, Resorts Plus has refused to return my $274 deposit and, most likely, has not returned the deposit of any of the other attendees who heard the same false promise of a waiver that I did.