Holiday Inn Club Vacations
Complaint 280659 Details

This complaint is about "fun-filled getaway".

First of all, I got this splendid "perk" because I am an elite member of the IHG (InterContinental Hotel Group) rewards program. Yes, I travel a lot for work and stay at enough Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inns to earn a lot of points on the program. After making a work-related reservation over the phone, the attendant said they had an offer for me and transferred me over to this other person. She was very nice and explained the offer to me (or what I thought was the TRUTH about the program, and ended up being the bait into this hateful scheme that uses lies and small print to get people to sign up for this sales presentation).

The pitch was simple: $249 for three nights at any of their resorts; I could then watch a sales presentation for two hours and would get $249 back in cash (she was very explicit in this point). I explained I was driving and asked if she could send me an email with information on the offer for me to inspect before signing for anything, and she said it was a one time offer, I had to decide right then. Of course I asked several times where the catch was... She said there were no catches... I asked so I don't have to pay anything extra?? She said no... you only get the $249 back if you watch the presentation, that's all...

I did sign up. I did get emails confirming my presentation. I got calls confirming my reservations. I never got a call reminding me that on their small print (that comes in the form of a link you have to click with the "terms and conditions" - 10 pages' worth of it...) it says that if I did not go to the presentation, WITH MY WIFE, leaving my 6 year old son God knows with whom, with our drivers' licenses AND a credit card (I wonder why??), I would have to pay "market value" for the room. That was something between $750 to $1,000 for the three nights.

I went to the resort, which is kinda nice, mind you. Checking in, they gave me this paper saying they had the sales tour scheduled for 12:30 (it lasts two hours). I had tickets to Legoland and a 6-yr old dying to go there, so of course I was still considering do I go to this thing some other time or just forfeit the $249? I thought paying $249 for three nights was a good deal, I did not really want the $249 back for 2 hours of my vacation... So I figured I might go only if they had a convenient time, say 8 am or so... and of course I never thought about bringing my wife with...

Well, I got a call in my room saying I had to attend or else they would charge me an additional $700 for the package... I called "Marketing" and said listen, no one ever told me the straight truth; I will NOT buy a timeshare, no matter how nice it is (we just bought a house); I don't care for the $249 back but I don't want to pay $700 extra for three nights' stay at a hotel... no use. They said I had signed up for it, and that I had to bring the wife, and this and that. End of story, since I had paid for two additional nights, they let me off the hook for a total of $740 plus taxes for three nights. I had to get another hotel for the extra 2 nights and change hotels in the middle of our vacation...

Now, you can tell me I was naive, I didn't read the fine print, etc etc... but what really pisses me off is that there are smoke screens everywhere... they do not even say they are part of the same company!!! I mean, come one!! Holiday Inn Vacations is not affiliated with Holiday Inn the hotel chain??? who buys that?!?!?! Corporate perps trying to swindle you out of your money, that is who!!!

I wanted a bill detailing what I had paid... the hotel desk can't even provide one! I spoke to Management... Management who? The resort management seems not to have any active say in anything. It is always someone else that holds power (usually "Marketing")... as in "Oh, Marketing does this billing, we don't have access to it..."

What they fail to see, IHG, Holiday Inn and everyone else... is that it doesn't matter how they disguise it in the corporate structure, all we see as customera is InterContinental and Holiday Inn - in my case, I also see the Staybridge Suites I used to stay in every week, which led me to Elite Status on the rewards program, which in turn led me to receive this "offer" that just caused me aggravation and high expenses.

Never again, if I can help it, will I stay at a Holiday Inn property. Or InterContinental. Or whatever... Plus I am never buying a timeshare from them...