Vacation Club Membership

ComplaintsCruises & ResortsMonster Vacation Club/Monster Resorts Group

Complaint

0
Unhappy person
Country: United States
We went to a presentation for what we thought was a membership in a vacation club. If we joined this club we would be able to access condo, cruises, and resorts that we could rent for $299 for a 7 night/8days visit. Sales pressure was very high and we were never left alone to discuss joining this club. When we asked for privacy to discuss, the guy left and another took his place. They told us over & over this was a vacation club membership and they were not connected to a Timeshare group. MVG would even finance our loan at 0% interest and if we were not happy then they would refund our money. Great!! We were taken to an office and documents were presented to us to sign. Just a lot of legal steps(right). We would have to sign a license agreement to be able to use the software to search their listings. The software upgrades were to be $199 per year. So we paid $2,500 down and financed $3500 at 0% interest. No mention that we had three days to cancel(knew we were leaving the next morning).

Sounds pretty good doesn't it. Well here is the truth of the matter.
There is no club membership. You are buying a software license to search listing where the $299 places are out of the way places that no one wants to visit. MVG does not finance the load they outsource to Universal Account Servicing, LLC (rudest people I have ever had to chance to speak to). Software upgrades are $299 for the first year with a 10% increase every year. When I asked to cancel the club membership(written, certified letter)they did not pick the letter up. Next I sent it in a letter and Ian called and when asked about refund statement was "you do not have that in writing".

We are still trying to get out of this but I do not know if that is possible. Bad thing is that the lone person in the Welcome Center at Myrtle Beach sent us over to this group. Does anyone have any suggestions about canceling this?  Yes, we know we are stupid people to have fallen for this scam.

Comments

  • 0
    tj
    | 2 replies
    File a complaint for fraud with the state Attorney General.  If they were required by state law to notify of your right to cancel in 3 days, then include their failure to provide such notification in your complaint.

    If your payment was made by credit card, and it is still within 60 days of the statement showing their charge, dispute it through your credit card company due to fraud.


    "When I asked to cancel the club membership(written, certified letter)they did not pick the letter up. "

    Doesn't matter if they picked it up.  If the contract allowed for cancellation by letter, then mailing of that letter would be provable by your certified receipt.  The post office sending it back stamped to indicate they did not pick it up would be proof that they could have been notified should they have chosen to.

    "When we asked for privacy to discuss, the guy left and another took his place. "

    That was the time to walk out the door.
    • 0
      Gayle replies to tj
      | 1 reply
      I was just taken by this group as they hit me at a vulnerable time.  My husband hit the roof when I told him about it (4 hours later upon arriving home) so I promptly called MRG to cancel as I was within my Federal Contract law 72 hour right of recision.  They did not back down.  So I called my credit card company to dispute the charge the same day & cancel my credit card.  Checking my cc co. just now I see that they have processed the charge.  GRRRRR....!!!!
      • 0
        Gayle Areheart replies to Gayle
        It may be time to file a class action lawsuit against these misanthropic [***].  The threat of a class action lawsuit just may cool their jets.  I had been receiving calls, bounced off of numerous phone numbers, daily.  It did not mtter that I blocked them as they would always persist until they catch someone at a low point (can you say vultures?).  Is anyone out there with me to lauch a class action lawsuit against these predatory [***]?
  • 0
    tj
    This may be their BBB report.  BBB claims they may be out of business since their mail is being returned "undeliverable".

    http://www.bbb.org/utah/business-reviews/trav ... ity-ut-13002365
  • 0
    tj
    If they are out of business, they will be in no position to refute your fraud dispute through your credit card company.

    You have 60 days from the statement showing the charge.  If they are out of business, their own bank or payment processor can get stuck for the refund.
  • 0
    too good to be true
    | 1 reply
    yes, we also stopped in to the Welcome Centre and after picking up a map, the fellow at the centre (his name was Lou Mallon) convinced my wife and I to attend this 60 to 90 minute presentation, I said I wasn't interested in a high pitch high pressure sell speach.  He assured me that was not the case that we would just sit in an auditorium and listen to a presentation with a group of people then we could leave.  When we arrived there were only two other couples and we were led into a small meeting room with erase boards that showed Myrtle Beach Condos for $299 per week at the new Wyndham Hotel or the Bayview Condo's (also brand new), we watched the presentation with our salesperson who happened to be the owner, then a slick talking young man by the name of Ian gave a very polished speal.  After which the salesperson at the other two tables talked to their respective couples and our guy talked to us.  We said it was not for us, even though they showed how much we could save from the RCI catalogues.  The other couples got up and left and we were left with our guy and the guy given the presentation.  Too make a long story short, my wife got caught up with the idea of being able to go anywhere in the word with this group.  So with everyone putting pressure on us I gave in. To date we have been unsuccessful in finding a trip, they tried to book a cruise, but found that their cruise was more expensive than what i could get at home thru my regular travel agent.  We tried to book a condo in one of the units they said we could get as long as it wasn't in the busy season, but guess what no luck.  I have been now told that I should go thru "Consumer Protection Agency" 1-800-328-6189 in case there is fraud involved. I was also directed to the BBB of Myrtle Beach which I did before i went to the seminar and they gave them a good report.  Anyhow if anyone has any ideas or success in getting anything satisfactory from these people I would be glad to hear about it.
    • 0
      Lilly replies to too good to be true
      Did you ever get printed material linked to RCI , membership #, or travel magazine of resorts and hotels available, on short notice, or with a $500 deposit?
  • 0
    Freida
    They are not out of business; they received my FedEx (at their address in Myrtle Beach) revoking any further withdrawals from my bank.  I got a call back after that (today); never got calls back before.  Hmmmm!
  • 0
    Andrew McGill
    | 2 replies
    I am the owner of Monster Resorts and Vacations Group in Myrtle Beach, SC.  For any issues with our company please call me directly @ 843.457.6161 or our toll free # 866.737.6211.  We have an excellent program and stand by it 100%.  We do not dodge calls and take full responsibility for making our customers happy.  Please call so we can work out these issues.

    Sincerely,

    Andrew McGill
    • 0
      Brenda simmons replies to Andrew McGill
      If everything is so great with this comany,why will no one answer phone calls.I just finally had a chance to use a vacation,no one will help on this.Had this so call vacation for two years,
    • 0
      No longer a member replies to Andrew McGill
      Really?  I agree with the original complaint ... you folks are nothing but shucksters, taking advantage of people.  The program is definitely not "as advertized," and never has been.  Luckily for us, we chalked up our $4000 initial membership to stupidity on our part, and changed our credit card number, so good luck to folks who continue to be "taken in" by high pressure sales, and no amount of deceit.
  • 0
    Miss Jackie
    | 2 replies
    We visited Myrtle Beach June 21-23, 2009 and made the mistake, stopping at the "Official Myrtle Beach Visitors Center."  The slick talker at the desk was Rob with the tickets to Good Vibrations for attending a presentation.
    The short presentation turned into a 2 1/2 hr ordeal.
    Selling price of $5,000, for internet access to many destinations, cruises and short trips.  All of this sounded good to me but my husband wanted to go..Well, long story short there were many clues that we should go, but Ian Fenderbosch kept talking and I fell for the okie-dok.
    As is described in other complaints they donot leave you alone, rotating in and out at all times and all the papers that are photocopied, nothing original which was my clue to leave, but Ian explained that this was a cost cutting measure...the bells were ringing and lights flashing but I ignored.  No discussion that you have 3 days to cancel.  BUT, they called us on our cellphone on the evening of the 22 and the morning of the 23. Now I know that they were tracking and making sure that we were still in SC
    Here it is July 27 and I have not received an access code to get on line to look at their secure website. Which is what I thought we had purchased
    What I did receive today was a call from someone at Monster Vacation/Resorts Group trying to sell me something.  We will not buy anything from this group.  After looking on line at their various websites they are "a piece of work".  What is their real name? What can they do for you as traveler?  We will take every precaution and measure to stop them from accessing our accounts.  Down payment 1250.00 for absolutely NOTHING!
    Will be contacting the BBB of SC and the Attorney General's office.
    Ian, Andrew, Marle, Tom I see you monitor this website, maybe you should be more diligent to take care of true business.  
    Ian, TRUTH and TRUST go together.. What a 37th wedding anniversay gift...
    • 0
      Brenda simmons replies to Miss Jackie
      I too have falling for this scam,just wondered if you got through to BBB in south carolina and attorney generals office.would like to know if you got anywhere on this scam.
                                               Thank you,
                                           Brenda and James simmons
    • 0
      Lilly replies to Miss Jackie
      They are still at it !!!! class action suit is needed. People, while on holiday, never plan your next one, with cash you meant to spend on this one.
  • 0
    Couple from Maryland
    Thanks everyone for the information.
    I recently sat through a presentation as well, and purchased.
    Thankfully, we are still in the 3 day window.

    I will see what they have to say about some of your comments when I call right now.

    God Bless,
    Couple from Maryland
  • 0
    Couple
    They are closed on Thursday and Friday....does this put Saturday as your 3 day window if you purchased on Tuesday???
  • 0
    Couple
    How come no one from MVG ever answers the phone???  Marle, Ben???  Hello???? Ian, are you there??  We stopped payment on our check and have already disputed the credit card charge. You didn't tell us about the 3 day cancellation window.

    We will be notifying the Attorney General and seeking information from an attorney about what further action should be taken.

    I wish I had done my homework before I went.  I will be notifying our hotel about your salesperson.

    Thanks for making suckers out of us
  • 0
    Jane
    | 1 reply
    This is the website to file a complaint with the BBB.



    http://www.bbb.org/myrtle-beach/business-revi ... 20467#complaint
    • 0
      Beverly Houston replies to Jane
      Hello, I Beverly Houston and my sister Brenda Artis both brought a Monster vacation on 4/29/11. She brought one and I brought one, but we was unable to use them. We have made many phone call and trips down to Myrtle Beach to check on them, but they always give us the run around. They will tell us that they will look into it and will call us back, but every do. And when we call them back they will tell us, that the person don't work there anymore. So if anyone can help us please call Beverly at 919-394-4496 and Brenda at 919-736-0317. Thank You very much.
  • 0
    Jane
    Why does the BBB list Andrew Fenderbosch as the owner/VP?

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