Direct Buy Travel Membership Traveling Scam Show!

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Complaint

0
Pete
Country: United States
I was invited to a "Town Hall Meeting" from Direct Buy by mail.  I have a Direct Buy Merchandise membership already.  This letter from DB stated that I would be able to attend this meeting and discuss the new member program and how improvements were now occurring to the member benefits. The meeting took over 2 hours and during the 2nd half of the meeting the presenter "Ross Oltorir" offered and presented a DB travel membership upgrade.  The presentation posted that average discounts on accommodations for members to be roughly averaging 30% + below all the big travel sites such as Hotels.com and Orbitz.com, pretty much across the board on his slide show.
I just tried my first booking with DB Travel, which I purchased at the meeting at the Residence Inn, in Roseville, CA. on Februrary 26, 2015. However, I just tried to book a nice hotel in Monterey with DB Travel.  I found out the hard way that these savings were quite exaggerated and incorrect.  I had the Hyatt Regency in Monterey, CA on Hotels.com posted on my screen for around 190/night .  DB Travel’s price was about 10% less, even with my “discount points" figured in.  The presentation portrayed about 2 1/2 times that discount pretty much across the board on the slide show.  They also pressured me by stating that if I signed up for this upgraded membership that day, I would receive an additional 1500 points. I have not been credited those points yet.

This $2000 + initial cost and extra yearly costs are exorbitant and ridiculous to charge member who will only get a pitiful percentage of discount on accommodations.  AAA or AARP will routinely get me the same percentage discounts on travel.  This program is a scam and his presentation was hyperbolic and false.

Comments

  • 0
    Fred Robinson
    I agree. This is a waste of money.  I was told I would get a free cruise or two free resort stays anywhere in the world. The cruise is only 4 days. Really! The resorts are only when available and off peak times. I have had this for almost 2 years and still haven't found a place I want to go to that is free. Better off using one of the on line travel websites.
  • 0
    Gilles
    Thanks for confirming what I thought to be the case at the presentation, Also when I shop DB in general I find that the MSRP is 5-15% higher from what retailers sell for and savings depicted are usually exaggerated Thanks for your post.,
  • 0
    Karm
    Thanks for the heads up. We were going to become members but held off for 24 hours to do our research. Will not sign up for this.
  • 0
    Steve
    | 2 replies
    I bought the Travel Membership and used my free cruise for a 10 day western Caribbean cruise...we upgraded to a balcony and it was about $400 each...we used our points for an Alaskan cruise and it bought down $800 for 2...it was 1600 each and we got a balcony for 1200 each...we used our resot certficate for the Ventus El Cid in Cancun...7 night all inclusive for 416.00 for 2 of us..we do save about 10% over Travelocity etc...
    • 0
      Leia replies to Steve
      | 1 reply
      Would you recommend this travel membership? My family and I are contemplating it. And we aren’t sure. The fee is now $50000
      • 0
        Leia replies to Leia
        Sorry it’s $5000
  • 0
    Lori
    | 2 replies
    We have had great success with our Direct Buy Travel membership.  Our son used one of our certificates for his honeymoon which he said was fabulous.  We then used our Quarterlly specials to travel to cancun with friends for 99.00 for the week plus food.  Then we took our whole family (7) to Cancun El Cid All inclusive over Christmas (most expensive time to travel) and had a fabulous experience.  The only draw back is being from Canada and everything needs to be converted to Canadian Dollars as everything is in US funds.
    • 0
      Cindy replies to Lori
      | 1 reply
      Hi Lori,
      Also from Canada.  Can I ask what you paid for your Travel option?  We are thinking about it...called today and was told 3700US....would get 140,000 pts, 2 - 7 days stay in Mexico, one being all-inclusive and the other not....200 travel cash....is that good or bad?  And is it worth it?  Thanks
      • 0
        Ali replies to Cindy
        I got the same offer but the sales person (ruby) was soooo rude and she said if i dont get it today that promotion is not available no more....I will really like to get a feed back as well....
        Thanks
  • 0
    Troy
    These posts were helpful in determining whether to look into the travel benefits of DB. We bought a DB purchasing membership in 2005 that was well worth the cost, but mainly because we were building a house at the time. Most recently bought a leather sectional for a fraction of what it costs in stores. We wouldn't buy appliances or electronics through DB since many appliance and electronic stores can easily beat their prices. Otherwise we have loved the membership; however after reading some of the reviews here, we will forego DB Travel. Thanks for your heads-up everyone.

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