Information on a Ramada Plaza Resort Luxury Vacation Accused of Being a Scam
Hi, this is Robyn Jenkins with Direct Reservation Center. I'm sorry for the message, but my previous tries with getting in touch with you have been unsuccessful. However, I do have some good news. You've been invited to celebrate Disney's 100th anniversary, a 4 day 3 night vacation stay at the Ramada Plaza Resort in Orlando Florida, near world famous Disney World.
Plus you will enjoy 3 days and 2 nights on the sunny golden beaches of Ft. Lauderdale Florida, all for only $99 per person. Kids under 18 stay for free. When you call to confirm your invitation, you will also receive two complimentary day passes to Disney. Congratulations.
The confirmation number for your invitation is Disney 714. Now you're gonna need this, that's Disney 714. And you need to call the Direct Reservation Center, at 800-490-4601. That's 800-490-4601. Now we can only honor your confirmation for 24 hours, so please call as soon as you can and enjoy your Orlando Disney experience. The toll free number, once again is 800-490-4601.
Call on behalf of: 9113-7992 Quebec, Inc d/b/a Corporate Travel 06/21/02
From: "Michi Moniz"
Subject: Help Requested / Advice Needed
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002
I have a lengthy story and really hope you can help me. My boyfriend and I were scammed by a Florida Company called Ramada Plaza Resorts.After it was too late I found out that Connecticut was previously involved in a class action suit against this company. I am writing to see if you can help me get a refund from this awful company.
Back in August 2000, my boyfriend Aaron was called by Ramada Plaza Resorts trying to sell him this "Romantic Vacation Package". They claimed to be selling this in partnership with his credit card company. Unfortunately, he believed them.
They painted a picture of blue skies and moonlit nights - all for a complete package price of $598. This was to include two nights in Fort Lauderdale, a two night all inclusive cruise to the Bahamas and three nights in Orlando, and a rental car - all first class luxury accommodations. All we had to pay was airfare.
Wow! What a deal! We got the package in the mail and looked at the video and brochures. It all looked okay, but being the skeptical one, I still didn’t trust it. We tossed it aside and kind of forgot about it for a while.
Then, in October 2001, we decided we wanted to go on vacation to Florida and remembered this "package" we had. I called the reservations number printed on the materials and spoke with a person named Adrian who informed us that the $598 Aaron had originally paid was for ONE PERSON .
If he wanted a guest (real romantic alone, huh?) it was to be an additional $598. I requested a refund since this was not made clear at the beginning and they insisted we could not get one.
So I asked a million additional questions - including: There is nothing else we have to do except pay this additional $598 and we buy our own flight tickets and go? He repeated yes. I said, okay, lets do it for the week of February 9, 2002 to the 16th.
Now the fun begins, starting with the rental car. You only get a little vehicle - about the size of a Geo Metro - to travel around with a week's worth of luggage. So, I agreed to pay for an upgrade for a larger, better car for an additional $170, not including gas.
Then I enquired about taking the complete vacation in Orlando and skipping the Fort Lauderdale portion. "No problem", he says. We are to fly to Orlando, get our paid rental car, go the LUXURY RESORT hotel and have a good time.
We then move on to the Luxury Cruise portion of the trip aboard the Ocean Breeze cruise ship from Imperial Majesty. This is to be an ALL INCLUSIVE LUXURY, ROMANTIC, FIRST CLASS CRUISE. We are to have an Inside stateroom cabin with a double bed. All port fees are paid for. All inclusive, as we cruise to the Bahamas to spend a fun-filled day in the city of Nassau.
Closer Isn't Always More Romantic
Adrian then tells me we can upgrade our cabin to the Outside State Room for $99 extra per person and he can guarantee a double bed in the cabin. "What? Guarantee a double bed? What do you mean? What do we have if we stay with our Inside stateroom without paying extra?"
Adrian tells me we have 2 twin bunk beds. "WHAT? You people sell this to me as a Romantic Get-Away and are going to put me and my boyfriend in a room with twin bunk beds?"
At this point I was upset and wanted to speak to a Supervisor. I was put on hold for a bit and finally Don, Adrian’s Supervisor, came on the line. I explained the situation and he started apologizing. It seems Adrian made a few mistakes.
#1) There are double beds in the Inside State Room and since we were booking early enough he could reserve one, #2) If we were to take the upgrade to the Outside stateroom (which meant we had a window) it was only to be $99 total, not per person, and #3) the ONLY additional charge on the LUXURY CRUISE TO THE BAHAMAS would be if we wanted to do any "extras" on the island like snorkeling or a boat ride.
That seemed reasonable and I felt the he was being honest. He seemed sincere enough and continued to apologize for Adrian’s misleading words. He then asked for our flight arrival and departure times which he needed for the hotel and car rental information.
Don then transferred me to a "Confirmation Specialist" who confirmed the trip and payments with Aaron and charged his credit card $768 for the remaining balance. The total for this all inclusive first class luxury vacation was now up to $1366, which I guess isn’t too bad for a LUXURY VACATION.
Booked and Not Ready To Go
We called Delta Airlines, bought our plane tickets and were ready to go. Delta tickets: $670. Total is now $2036 as of October 29, 2001
About 4 weeks passed and hadn’t heard anything from Ramada Plaza Resorts about our vacation so I called and spoke with a rep who informed me that we would receive our confirmation information approximately 4 weeks before we were to depart. I sat and waited until about the second week in January when we got a letter with an itinerary. I decided to make a few calls and confirm again what I was told.
A coordinator by the name of Nick seemed nice enough and answered my questions. He confirmed we were staying in the Ramada Plaza Resort in Orlando in a double Queen Room. He also confirmed that we had a double bed in our Inside State room cabin on the Ocean Breeze. He also confirmed we had the rental car upgrade and had paid all associated fees.
I was ready to get off the phone when he jumped into his sales pitch on selling me the Outside State Room package for $99. He went on and on about how HE would feel more comfortable on the top of the boat and have a window to be able to see outside - basically giving me a Titanic scare. I advised that I was not interested in paying anything additional and that my only concern was that we did not have a twin bunk bed.
Now, I forgot to mention, that also in this wonderful package is the ADDITIONAL BONUS WEEKEND GETAWAYS! Sounds great! I was told that once we took our initial Florida / Bahamas vacation, we had two years to take advantage of these Bonus Weekends. Well, guess what, that too was misrepresented.
I find out from Nick that we only had two years from the date of package purchase to take all of the vacations, including the weekend getaways - and it was to expire on February 16th 2002, the day we are returning from Florida!
Now, let’s say they are correct in saying that they told me it was two years from the original date of purchase, not from the date of the Florida trip, that still should bring me to August 2002, not February.
So, Aaron called reservations back and a supervisor came on the line who stated all conversations were taped and they would pull the tape to prove that it was disclosed that it was two years from date of original purchase and not two years from the initial trip.
We hung up waiting to hear back from them but instead we got a letter stating that the package will now expire on February 16th 2003. How nice of them - I guess there was no tape, huh?
A Word or Two From Your Sponsors
On February 6th 2002, three days before we were to leave, I was reading on the confirmation letter where it states that we are to pick up our Hotel Vouchers for our Resort Hotel Room at the Welcome Center.
It goes on about the rental car and then it states we are to present our Cruise Vouchers to the Port Ticket Counter. Nowhere did it state where we get these Cruise Vouchers.
So - I call again to ask a rep if I was going to get the Cruise Vouchers with the Hotel Vouchers at the Welcome Center which I understood, was at the Ramada Plaza Resort. He stated "No - you get the cruise vouchers after the presentation".
Presentation? What presentation? He said the Time Share Presentation. "What? We were never told of a Time Share presentation!" All of sudden, the computers there suddenly "went down". He took my name and number and said he would call me back when they came back up.
I didn’t believe him so I called right back.A girl answered and I asked if their computers were still down. She said they never were - I thought so ... Anyway, I again explained to her that I wanted to know where I got the Cruise Vouchers and she said that we have to go to a Time Share presentation to obtain them.
I told her this was never mentioned in all the conversations, confirmations, nothing! She said it was in the material we received originally. I had all the material and video with me and asked her to direct me in the literature where it states that. She told me to hold.
I waited about five minutes when a man named Attura came on the line. He said he was a supervisor and asked me what I wanted. I told him I didn’t ask for a supervisor, just merely wanted to know where and when I was supposedly told about this Time Share presentation.
He said in the original conversation, in all the material we were mailed, when we made our reservations, and it was again confirmed when they charged our credit card.
I insisted that there was no way that it was ever mentioned because we get those type of calls all the time and would have hung up right away. I also said that I had read that material front to back and didn’t see where it states a Time Share Presentation was mandatory, even in the Terms and Conditions.
He then directed me to the last page in ONE of the books where it states "THIS ADVERTISING MATERIAL IS BEING USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF SOLICITING SALES OF A VACATION OWNERSHIP PLAN".
One line in four booklets and a video! And does that ONE LINE state: To go on the cruise you must attend a Time Share presentation? When I SPECIFICALLY asked Adrian, Don, and Nick if there was any catch or additional requirements on my part I was told NO!?
Recorded For Our Protection, Somewhere
Now I was mad and so was Aaron who took the phone. Attura just insisted we were wrong and would have to attend this presentation to go on the cruise and there was ABSOLUTELY NO WAY to get a refund of the money already paid. He then said he could pull the tape of the conversation.
Angered at the fact that we were leaving in three days and we were basically stuck at this point we still took his offer and demanded the tape be pulled. "Oh, um, well, that will take at least 7 days," Attura stated. "Fine - we still want the tape. We want proof that we were told." Today, eleven days after that conversation we still have not heard from them about the tape.
On the day before we were to leave, I was so uneasy about this trip that I decided to call the Welcome Center in Orlando directly to ask more questions. I asked about the Cruise Vouchers and this Time Share presentation. We were to go to the presentation on Sunday, but they couldn't tell me how long it would be.
I then asked if I could get a confirmed cabin number and confirm the double bed we were told we had. They didn’t know but gave me the telephone numbers for Imperial Majesty’s Customer Service. I had found the Imperial Majesty web site by then and from the photos the boat really looked nice. It also had a boat layout with the cabin types and numbers
I called the customer service number first but they told me they wouldn't have that information. They told me to call Ramada Plaza Resorts who, since they booked it, would know. I called Ramada’s reservation department and was told they would have no idea. They just book the reservation and then pass that along to Imperial Majesty who actually does the assigning of Cabins.
I told them I called Imperial Majesty’s customer service and they directed me to call Ramada reservations. She again told me she didn’t know and couldn’t find out and to try the Welcome Center in Fort Lauderdale.
Okay, so I called them. They, too, said they didn't know and then gave me the telephone number for the Imperial Majesty’s Pier Check-In saying they would definitely know - they are the people that check you in and give you your cabin info. I called that number and it rang and rang with no answer.
I AGAIN called Ramada Plaza Resorts Reservations department in complete frustration and spoke to Rose. Rose again stated she didn’t know and couldn’t find out. I told her I was leaving the next day and did not want anymore surprises. I spoke WAY too soon for that one!
She put me on hold for about ten minutes or so, then told me that I had two twin beds in an inside cabin on the cruise.
I advised her that I had confirmed a double bed! She said there was nothing she could do except advise me to get to the port early and maybe I could get a free upgrade. A FREE UPGRADE? I was SUPPOSED to have the double bed already!
By now I was not confident about this vacation at all. We then noticed in the literature, in tiny print, that all taxes and gratuities were not included. Uh oh - what does that mean?
This time I called the Customer Care Department and spoke with a Rob. I told him the story of all the misleading information and that I felt completely lied to and scammed. I wanted him to be straight with me on all of the additional charges that he knew of. Boy, did he have a list.
He said that I would have to pay a Hotel tax that he guessed was about 11% a night, gratuity on the cruise, car parking per night fee at the port of about $10 a night and the taxes for the rental car which included a tourist tax and an airport tax, and any optional insurance. He wasn’t sure of those figures.
I made my list, sighed and again thanked him for his time. We were leaving in less than twelve hours at that point and knew we had made a huge mistake.
Smooth Take-off But Hard Landing
We now get to the actual vacation. We didn't really want to go, but we had invested over $2000 already and simply had to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
We arrived in Orlando International Airport on time and was transported by a shuttle bus to Alamo Rental to pick up our car. We had already paid $170 for the upgrade and didn’t want any insurance. We have full coverage on our vehicles and brought a copy of our insurance policy with us.
Aaron gave his credit card for the charge of the taxes which was $65. The salesman asked when we were leaving and like we did with Don in reservations, advised him that our flight was to leave on Saturday evening and we would return the car that afternoon.
He handed us a small receipt folder, which was stapled shut, and wrote the location of the car on the front. We noted the location and I carefully tucked the receipt away with others for the trip.
We located the car, which was beautiful. Clean, new, great condition. We were happy and hoped that the rest of the vacation would be the same. We headed for the Ramada Plaza Resort Welcome Center where we would be spending our LUXURY VACATION.
First impressions, this was no luxury hotel. We entered and went to the Welcome Center desk. The man there, named Manny, gave us our hotel room vouchers and signed us up for the 7:30 AM Time Share Presentation next morning. So I thanked him and took our vouchers to the hotel from desk clerk to check-in.
It was about 11:00 AM and we had been up since 2:30 AM getting ready, driving to the airport, and waiting in line for two hours at the airport due to new security measures. We were exhausted and wanted to nap.We gave the voucher to the front desk clerk who informed us that check-in was not until 3:00 PM.
I nearly snapped! When the reservations were made they specifically asked us when we were arriving! Stupid me assumed that would be for the purpose of making sure our rental car and room were going to be available!
After a few phone calls, and my huffing and puffing, a room magically appeared for us to check-in early. "A room with two queen beds?" That was fine with me. They then wanted a credit card to charge the room tax which was 10% of their rack rate or $24 for two nights. Wow! That meant we were getting a $120 a night room in the Orlando area, where it's advertised you can stay at the Marriott for $50. This must be a GORGEOUS room!
NOT! There were stains on the ceiling & the walls. There were no ramps or elevators for luggage - never mind if a handicapped person needed access. The chain on the door was broke, the decor was old and plain ugly.
This was nowhere near worth $120 a night and definitely not FIRST CLASS LUXURY ACCOMMODATIONS. It was a bed, a roof and a shower. We again sighed and plopped on the bed. Total spent so far $2193.
The next morning we attended the extremely high pressured sales attempt. After nearly four hours of wasted time, we left. We got our cruise vouchers and went on with our day.
All Aboard Who Wants To Be Bored
The following morning, we woke up, checked out and headed to Fort Lauderdale to embark on our LUXURY CRUISE! We got to the port and saw the ship.
Now, I have seen the pictures on the Imperial Majesty web site and realized that they most definitely had a bit of airbrushing touch-up because this baby was not exactly looking the same! We got in line and checked in.
We were advised, again, that we did indeed have two twin beds in our cabin. I calmly explained that we were originally told differently and could not understand how they could have sold us this package as a ROMANTIC GET AWAY and stick us in two twin beds!
After a bit of back and forth they "found it in their hearts" to UPGRADE us to a double bed. Oh yippee - you gave me what I SHOULD HAVE ORIGINALLY HAD! They made it seem like they did me a favor or something!
We get on the ship and within the first 15 minutes about eight different waitresses tried to convince us to purchase a souvenir cocktail glass for $5.00 - and this was only on the way to our cabin! We made it safely inside without further attack.
The room was as LUXURIOUS as the boat looked on the outside. Extremely outdated, the mattress felt like something out of an old sofa bed, the room itself was a decent size, but again, not as expected from the description and hype.
We were told to go directly to the front desk to get our "on-board charge card". This was to be used for gratuity and things bought at the gift shop, etc. as no cash or credit was exchanged on the ship. Sounded easy enough...
Gratuitous Hyperbole
We headed over to the Welcome Aboard Lunch Buffet featuring 5 STAR CUISINE! Bologna and cheese is not five star anything.
There were hamburgers - cold little hockey pucks basically. The best part is this: ask for a CHEESE burger and they take a piece of cheese, dip it into the hot water the hot dogs are sitting in and place it on the burger.
The buffet line was in a U shape. At the curve there was a lady standing there with soda, bottled water and such. She asked if we would like a drink. We said yes, 2 cans of Coke, please. She handed us the 2 cans in front of her and then took out an invoice pad and wrote Coke - $1.75 x 2 + 15%. I questioned this immediately and she said that the soda was $1.75 a piece PLUS 15% gratuity! I didn’t know we didn’t get soda on the ALL INCLUSIVE LUXURY CRUISE. So, I asked for just water.
Sure, she said, $2.75 plus gratuity!! Whoa! AND - what’s the gratuity for? Handing it to me! I told her I would pick it off the table myself if it would save me 15%! There was no point arguing so Aaron signed the receipt for the two sodas.
We then rounded the corner for the other leg of the buffet and right there in front of us was a table of Dixie cups of watered down fruit punch and water!!!! They made you believe that BUYING the drinks before you turned the corner was your only choice! You see, I didn't ask for TAP WATER. It’s all a word game - and the game got better as the three miserable days continued.
We sat and barely ate the nasty food and then decided to explore the ship. They gave no map, no guide except for the poorly color coded deck diagram on the side walls. The decks were dirty, old and worn. Nothing as expected. We went to find the pool - the relaxing LUXURY pool.
NO WORD OF A LIE - it’s a 5 foot hole in the floor. It was about 6 feet long and was 5 feet deep. I couldn’t believe that it was barely the size of my bath tub, except 5 feet deep. We, along with about five other couples, stood there with our jaws to the floor.By the words, tones and groans of the other passer-bys, I think our depression was mutual.
Now, I wasn't expecting ice sculptures or wonderful walk-ways as I would on a Princess or Carnival cruise, but come on! This ship was an over sized floating garbage can. I don't feel bad expressing this opinion either because all the others on this crappy cruise felt the same. We all had been scammed.
We joined the other sad sailors in the Lounge to get a Welcome seminar and an explanation on additional excursions we could go on at the Nassau, Bahamas port.
Extra, Extra, Greed All About It!
One activity interested us. A Glass Bottom boat trip. It was said to be a ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE! "SEE THE BEAUTIFUL CORALS AND FISH ON THIS MAGICAL EXCURSION!" All for an additional $49 a person. Wonderful. We dragged our feet over and paid the fee for the trip. At least I will get some great pictures! After the Glass Bottom Boat Ride, we were to be dropped off at Blue Lagoon Island for fun in the sun! Woo hoo.
Dinner that night was surprising good. The food was tasty. I bought a bottle of wine for dinner - I mean, why the hell not, soda was about the same price at this point. There were bottles of water with empty glasses on the table. The water bottles were clearly marked $2.75 plus 15% gratuity. Great.
I bought my $20 bottle of Zinfandel (plus 15% of coarse) and sat and watched as others at our table drank the water. Again, what is the Gratuity for? We open the bottles ourselves! We had our dinner and turned in for bed as the next morning we were to arrive in the Bahamas.
We went to breakfast and were told by the waiters that we should consider buying a bottle of water because they didn't sell water on Blue Lagoon Island where we were spending the day. We were not sure to believe them, but didn't want to find out the hard way so we bought a small bottle of water and went and waited at the line up for our glass bottom boat trip.
There, again, they were pushing people to buy the water - "No water is sold on Blue Lagoon Island! We don’t want anyone to dehydrate! Get your water now!!"
We all went to the dock where the glass bottom boat was, got on, and headed out. We went out a ways and were told to head downstairs to be mesmerized by the beauty of the sea!
The boat had six small scratched up Plexiglas windows looking out onto brown coral, tires and soda cans on the bottom of this magical sea. Glass bottom boat my butt! No beautiful pink and blue corals that were shown on the slide show that was used to sell this optional trip, nothing of the sort! No schools of bright yellow and blue fish, just gray striped fish.
We stood there all of five minutes video-taping as they threw bread in the water and we watched these gray fish eat it - the tire as a backdrop. Another $98 wasted, like magic, as promised.
The boat brought us to Blue Lagoon Island where the rest of the passengers were. It was a pretty beach with hammocks and volley ball. But - the BEST PART of Blue Lagoon Island?? Realizing how stupid I was and how smart the cruise line was.
As all of us dumbies stood there with our purchased water, our eyes fell upon the cups of refreshing cool water they had for us. The cruise employees did not lie, they all clearly stated that they did not SELL water on the island. That’s right, it was FREE. We all felt like idiots.
We went back to the ship and the rest of that day and night was basically the same. It got to the point that we drank the cold water from our melted ice bucket ( ICE WAS FREE!! ) to save on gratuities.
On day three, we left that horrid excuse for an all inclusive luxury cruise with an additional $209 charged for the Glass Bottom boat, beverages and gratuities. Total now: $2402.
We got our car from the parking garage - another $20 - and headed back to Orlando completely disgusted. We could have cruised to the Bahamas for a week on a real ALL INCLUSIVE cruise line for the amount we had already spent!
We returned to the wonderful Ramada Plaza Resort and checked in. Again our room wouldn’t be ready until 3:00 PM. It was about 1:00 PM so we went out to get lunch. I was tired of arguing.
We were so completely upset with this Ramada Plaza Resorts scam that we decided to check out and stay the two additional nights somewhere else after we paid the one night's taxes.
Fed a Staple of Lies
Finally, thinking it was over, we returned the car to Alamo at about 3:00 PM. based on our 6:40 PM flight. We get in to return the keys and were advised that we were supposed to bring the car back by 11:00 AM!
WHAT?? They KNEW our plane didn’t leave until 8:30 PM! Were we supposed to return the car and hang out at the airport for 10 hours or so? Why didn't they advise us of this!!
Oh, my friend, OF COARSE they advised us. You see, if I would have OPENED THE STAPLED RECEIPT they had given me instead of tucking it safely away in my envelope, I would have seen that typed there was the line that stated that the car was to be returned by 11:00 AM that day. Another $68 please.
Why did they ask us twice when our plane was leaving? Why wasn’t the additional day charge mentioned to us when we checked in?
Happy To Be Home
This was a complete nightmare - we couldn’t wait to get home. We couldn't enjoy any part of it because we were so stressed by the fact that we were so completely lied to and mislead on almost all aspects of this trip. We are not dumb people and still can’t believe this happened.
When we originally purchased this trip I did a search on Ramada Plaza Resorts and Imperial Cruise Lines and didn’t find much of anything except advertisements for the trip. When I got home I did a search for "Ramada Plaza Resorts Scam" and boy, did the hits add up! If only I had added the word "scam" in my original search, I would have never paid or gone on this God awful adventure!
We feel we deserve some sort of refund from these clowns! Now, from a total cost of $2502, $670 was airfare that I was aware of from the beginning. That leaves $1895 total that I feel I was taken for.
Right from the start they mislead then refused requested refunds. I don’t understand how this can be legal. They lied and soaked us for money from every angle. I beg you to please advise me on where to turn.
Sincerely,
Michele Moniz & Aaron Allen
58 Aspinook St
Griswold CT 06351-1802
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ramada Plaza Resorts
Trip was taken February 9 - 16th 2002
Our Client # was SU081600-021TI
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reservations
Adrian: 1-888-217-2620 ext 4122
Don, Supervisor: 1-888-217-2620
Rose: 1-888-217-2620
Attura, Supervisor: 1-888-217-2620
Customer Service
Nick, Coordinator: 1-954-630-9449 ext 4085
Customer Care Department
Rob: 1-800-203-9783
Welcome Center
Orlando: 1-407-396-8222
Fort Lauderdale: 1-954-735-7474
Imperial Majesty Cruise Lines
Customer Service: 1-954-956-9505
Pier Check-In: 1-954-765-1420
Ramada Plaza Resorts Hotel
Front Desk: 1-407-841-6450
Hi Michele,
It certainly did take a while to read about your adventure but I enjoyed reading it far more than you enjoyed your trip, I'm sure. There are so many scams out there that it is only when victims write in with details that people can truly get the full story.
As for helping you with a refund, I wish I was an expert on this phase of it but can only give you a few options. First review my section around Restitution to see if anything pops up. Then if it was me I would file a claim in small claims court and hope they settle out of court. If they don't you should have enough ammo from the attorney generals case to back up your claim.
In that regard I would file a complaint with your AG and also with the FTC, see Reporting and ask the AG for access to the relevant info. Also do a search at FTC/search for the company names along with search.BBB
Somewhere on my site is a message from a lawyer who talks about damages as well.
I wish I could help more after you have taken the time to write such a moving tale. Please keep me informed of your progress which may force me to devote more research on what to do in this type of case.
Many thanks,
Les
According to Frank Roycraft, Senior Consumer Complaint Analyst, Ramada Plaza is properly registered by the Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services ( Florida ) to do business as a Seller of Travel with registration number ST-30427.
To date they have had over 700 complaints filed against them, all closed "satisfactorily." Most of the complaints filed recently have been from consumers who have heard that the company has a bad reputation and want a refund.
Although the company is not required to give refunds in these cases because the consumers have been told that the travel packages are non-refundable, sometimes they do. You may file a complaint by going to www.800helpfla.com.
The Bahamas-Mon site also has a forum where many folks have written about their experiences with Ramada Plaza Resorts.
If you have been a victim or are considering purchasing a Ramada
Plaza Resorts package, Steve Kruzich has started a list-server
to gather and share information.
You can subscribe to the list by sending a email to victims-of-RPR@sct-communications.com making
sure the word "subscribe" is in the subject line.
Web designer Lola Ashfield has set up an informative website and forum for getting money back for victims of Ramada Plaza Resorts.
It provides refund requirement details for the Florida Department of Consumer Services.
