Realistix Solutions
Complaint 309437 Details

.2.2014 it was the second last day of our semester at Las Meloneras, Gran Canaria, we are on our way to go swimming at roughly 11:30am, we get stopped by a young women, on her suit she had a bunch of official logos that the traveling agencies use. I asked her if she also represented Finnmatkat because we use them to travel. She told us that we could win a prize if we participate in a market survey, they were going to create some traveling brochures, it took about 90 minutes to complete the survey, she took out some scratch lottery’s, my husband won a wine bottle and I got the grand prize where you would win a luxury trip around the world, or another trip, or 120€. She was very happy that I had won, she hugged me and said that I should invite her for coffee after I got my price. She also stated that it was the first time she had experienced a grand prize winning. Now she would get 60€ and if I would say that she had been nice she would get 2.50€ per lottery otherwise she would only get 2€. Later she followed us to the office that was near, Meloneras Playa.
We met the Norwegian lady; Anna, with long blonde hair and when we told her our mother tongue was Swedish she got a Swedish representative for us, Thomas Lindgren. We went and got coffee together, A few meters from the office (everything was at the same place). Thomas started to tell us about himself and his life and sometimes asked us question on how we lived, it seemed important to him that we owned a private house, he asked about our age and got happy that we would turn 70 in 2015. He said they would find something nice for us. I was a bit cold so we moved closer to the office, in the sun and he started asking more question that he notarized, mostly he discussed our travel dreams, with these question he would figure out, if we were qualified for their services. He said we did indeed qualify so we went back to the office, there were many representatives that worked in front of their computers, or talked to people that had also won the scratch lottery.
Thomas turned on the computer and started to compare prices, trips and hotels, what they normally cost through normal traveling agencies compared to what they cost trough them, he was always trying to show us much cheaper their services were. He calculated using his calculator, he counted everything in dollars, pounds, crows, and euros, he wrote it all down on paper that he had in front of him, he always stated how much higher standards they had than package trips and how much we would save by booking trough them, if you did that you got all of their discounts. Earlier we told him that we were going to London with two of our 2 grandchildren in June, he tried to show us that we could save a lot if we would book the trip and the hotels trough them. The process was still the same style, he counted dollars, pounds, crows, and euros, and in the end we are really confused and could not follow the argument. After a few hours of intense PR about their service he has still not told us what it all costs, nor what we are actually buying. He offers us more coffee but this time with toast, he started talking about his private life again, about how long he has been living here and about his kids, his wife and so on. When I asked him if what they are doing is some sort of time share, he says absolutely not, I tell him that I don’t want to be scammed, he told us he would never scam us, because he likes us to prove it he gave us his name and e-mail, which he never normally give out. He said he had previously worked with time shares, but stopped because he felt sick to the bone when he had to scam people in to buying time share, so no it is not a time share. He just wants us to know how much more we spend when we go with charter trips, when all the operators wants their share, instead he wants us to travel more comfortably, more economical to better standard, it frustrates him that we would go with charter trips. "Why would you not treat yourself better, instead of having it uncomfortable and crowded during the flights, and then come to the hotel that does not have the standard that their hotel have in which it is always a matter of 4-5 star (Michelin stars) hotels.”
As we move back to the computer, my husband asked several times what is the catch, no no , he says there is no catch but it is clear that everything has a price. He continues and not talking about the price, but after a long time, he says he will call in the manager to tell you more about what it costs to travel conveniently and inexpensively. So, the Danish manager comes in and begins to search in his folder to show pictures of his son, he then tells about the gifts that we can get, a week in Miami, for 4 people and that they would meet us at airport, a private chauffeur dressed in a suit with a limo, which then brings us to the hotel, and then a Caribbean cruise all free, for 4 people, plus a two week trip around the world, this would be included if we buy their offer today, (for sale only today) and we would be celebrating our 70th anniversary on the cruise. We would have use right for 10 years, and as an extra bonus, we get a large number of mini-vacations around the world. He explains and explains and when my husband asks what it costs, he writes 5 900€ on the paper and when my husband says it is too expensive, then he asks what do you want to pay, then my husband says we remove the last zero thus 590€, he starts to laugh, and says that we must understand that all the gifts cost them more than what we are paying for them, and he wants us to get a cheap price but he cannot go along with it because then he has to go to his boss and negotiate, when he comes back from his boss, and tells us what the final price is, he writes on his block 4 860€ and Thomas Lindgren (our representative) says, how the hell did you manage that? He says he told the manager that we both turn 70 and we can make a special arrangement for you. We don’t go further because my husband thinks it's too expensive, and then the Dane asks if we are interested my husband says yes if the price is right. Then Thomas said we might want to discuss it alone, and we said yes, and we went out and talked, but we were not able to talk to end because Thomas comes to us with the final bid, where they raised the right of use to 15 years, and increases in force, this time mini-vacations, to 3 years during which time we get unlimited travel, all this for the price of 4 860€, says Thomas, and we start walking towards the office and Thomas entrusts us to the Norwegian lady Anna, who continues, and says that before we continue, we will need to pay 1 000€ from Visa, then we sign the papers, we asked a few questions especially what it means in paragraph 10 of buyer's receipt and we get no clear answer, my husband asks why must we pay through bank and not through the internet as we usually do when they want to receive e-mail with an acknowledgment of the paid amount. As of yet we have not seen any evidence of the gift. So she tells my husband to open the product to get it registered. After we signed the paper, we asked when and where we get the tickets for the U.S. trip and the cruise, she says that we need to book and pay for the plane ourselves as well as a charge of 499€ or dollars (cannot remember), we ask “so we need to pay for the free gift?”, she says the plane is not included in any of the free gifts and not the food either, (We just had to eat at home, too , they said). Then it began to dawn on us, we had thought that the gifts were all free, and because of these “free” gifts we decided to buy. When we were leaving, my husband had his wine bottle and I got the trip (for scratch lottery) but we first noticed at home that we did not meet the criteria for the trip, it stated that you need to be 65 years old or younger for the trip to apply, we also got in our hands the other two vouchers and much what they had said verbally was not written down on the voucher and trip descriptions were also not consistent with the verbal description. The clock was a little over 5:00pm when they asked if we wanted a taxi to our hotel, but we declined because we wanted to go.