| rev:text
| - I've had the misfortune of getting calls from this place ever since I went to The Magical Forest last month (For the record, I don't blame Opportunity Village), as they had one of those contest forms to fill out, and ever the naively trusting soul I am, I filled one out.
Last weekend, I got a call from Resort Stay, saying that I was "in the running" to win the money (so they called me to let me know I had a chance to win? Isn't that the point of submitting to the contest in the first place?). Anyway, while I was in the running, I apparently won a treasure trove of magical and wonderful gifts that if true, would well go past the prize money. Plane tickets for two to anywhere in the United States. A resort stay in Orlando. A resort stay in Hawaii. A $50 gift card to any restaurant on the Strip. Show tickets....
All I had to do is listen to a 90 minute presentation. You guessed it: Timeshare.
But! They didn't need any financial information, they swore. They would need to verify I had a credit card, but wouldn't need to look at the number. The missus and I would just bring in mail with our address to prove we lived where we lived, and if we weren't sold on the timeshare, no hard feelings, and I could walk away with all my gifts. No charge. All free.
Okay, here's one of the things that just sat with me: Why in the wide world of sports would I even CONSIDER owning a timeshare in Vegas when I not only live here already, but OWN my own place? But free treasures, remember. Aladdin's Cave of Wonders had opened up to me, and I probably would have been promised a free monkey at this point to complete the experience and get me in there (Oh, I'd TAKE a monkey. Believe you me). And they recorded the whole conversation to ensure I'd come. Even offered to pay for parking. They just wanted me to see the place.
So I told the missus, who told me that very same day, she got a call regarding a timeshare from a company called Starpoint Resort Group.
We compared numbers. Starpoint and Resort Stay called from the exact same number.
And then I read every review I could online, each warning about the conditions, and hidden fees, and that the tickets have blackout dates, and reported instances of blank valued gift cards at SELECTED restaurants. Not the run of the Strip that I was told.
And then I read the e-mail. Those numerous free trips? Each had several hundred dollars worth of taxes, and government fees and surcharges, and processing fees, and tax deposits. And EACH TRIP had its own share of fees. "B-but they were all free", you say! The nice man on the phone said NOTHING about these little extraneous fees!
Two rules folks: When someone offers you something for free, there's always some hidden little catch. Also, ALWAYS read the fine print. That's how I discovered the numerous fees they so conveniently forgot to mention in all those phone calls.
I called and told them I couldn't make it.
They didn't get a dime from me, they don't have my financial information, and they call fairly often now, but it's really sad that you can't even fill out a contest form anymore to fool yourself that you might have a chance of winning something. It seems that all these drawings do now are just cleverly worded traps to sucker people who hope for a free vacation.
I guess there's a third tip: Stop filling out contest forms. This is the second time in a year that hopes of winning something has tried to get money out of me for a fool's gold treasure.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)