What ever this is s SCAM!!!!! And the people that work there are very RUDE

I entered a drawing at the state fair for a trip and after seeing these posts of paying $299 there is no way I am answering for them.

I got a phone call from them today, saying I "won" a trip to Mexico (but it later changed to Florida), and all they needed from me was a credit card number to send the voucher.. because the free trip is $299/person.

Liars, cheaters, losers, scammers ... thats them! Dont do it. They called me today, I went to a cocktail show this wknd in Toronto, and both me and my girlfriend put in ballots. When Daniel Smith (lie) called me, he said I needed a CC. I told him Id get one and he said he'd phone me in 10 min. In the meantime, I called my girlfriend who went to the same show w/ me and put in a ballot as well. She said it sounded fishy. I hit up Google and found all the info on these do***ebags. Turns out, SCAMMMMERS! I told her about what I had found, and told her to text everybody we went with to warn them. 10 minutes later, "Daniel Smith" called me back and I told him I knew he was a scammer and I wasnt interested and I hungup on him. 3 hours later my girlfriend sends me a text, turns out SHE "WON" TOO! Good thing I warned her :)

These people called my 18 year old son, who just got his first credit card.  He gave them his credit card number.  They attempted 6 times all different amounts.  Thankfully the credit card company declined all attempts.  Had to cancel his credit card, get new number.  What a headache.

I got a call from them saying that I won a trip from the wonderful wedding show that was a trip from florida to bahamas. I didnt have time to talk right then so i asked them to call me back at 1:30pm.  They havent returned my call. So I'm assuming its a scam.

I am posting this a 2nd time so one misses it. Please read on, it contains info on how I finally received a cancellation & refund from this "dream vacation"!

I had the same situation happen, but I finally managed to receive a cancellation number from them & a refund within 5-10 business days! After much prodding, they also will send me written information stating the cancellation and cancellation number. I hope that this thing happens & I can put this nightmare behind me!

But, please note that you have to call MULTIPLE TIMES (I called 6 times before I got this); you will be tossed around between departments; you will be put on hold for 20minutes even more; they will try to better the offer & give you more crazier discounts and sweet talk you; they'll try to make you feel stupid for having taken this in the first place & so on. But PLEASE be assertive, patient & single-minded; let them know that you ONLY want a full refund & a FULL Cancellation. Nothing more & nothing less! You'll have to argue around in circles, but believe me, it can be done.  

In the meantime,please follow these steps:
1.) Call your credit card company to freeze your account & to monitor any charges being taken by the floridabahamascruisevacations

2.) Fill out a complaint form with the Florida Dept of Agriculture & Consumer Services. FloridaBahamasCruiseVacations were willing to give me a refund,once they heard that I did this. Here is the link: http://csapp.800helpfla.com/CSPublicApp/Complaints/FileComplaint.aspx

3.) Fill out a complaint with the Better Business Bureau & with Florida Attorney General Office. These vacation guys don't like to hear this either.

4.) Florida allows you to get a full refund & cancellation within 30 days of purchase or a vacation certificate,whichever comes later. They will tell you that you are out of state & don't qualify.BUT YOU DO! Also know the return laws for your state/province.

5.) Act ASAP! Since other readers had posted (I did a lot of research) that when they called back after 3-4 days,they were told that they were only eligible for a refund within the first 72 hours. The sooner you can bother them repeatedly about a refund,the sooner they will realize that you are too much trouble for them & will eventually crack!

6.) Once you get that elusive cancellation number from them,ASK RIGHT AWAY to be put on their "DO NOT CALL" & "DO NOT MAIL" lists! \

7.) FOLLOW up with the company every day or as frequently as possible to make sure you are getting your refund & they are giving you the same information everytime! These guys have a tendency to "slightly" alter their story everytime! For example, I was told that I would get a refund & cancellation,but they couldn't send me a written confirmation of this, but that the process would be done. I followed up a second time, and they will finally send me written confirmation of the cancellation!

Hope this helps!

I had the same situation happen, but I finally managed to receive a cancellation number from them & a refund within 5-10 business days! After much prodding, they also will send me written information stating the cancellation and cancellation number. I hope that this thing happens & I can put this nightmare behind me!

But, please note that you have to call MULTIPLE TIMES (I called 6 times before I got this); you will be tossed around between departments; you will be put on hold for 20minutes even more; they will try to better the offer & give you more crazier discounts and sweet talk you; they'll try to make you feel stupid for having taken this in the first place & so on. But PLEASE be assertive, patient & single-minded; let them know that you ONLY want a full refund & a FULL Cancellation. Nothing more & nothing less! You'll have to argue around in circles, but believe me, it can be done.  

In the meantime,please follow these steps:
1.) Call your credit card company to freeze your account & to monitor any charges being taken by the floridabahamascruisevacations

2.) Fill out a complaint form with the Florida Dept of Agriculture & Consumer Services. FloridaBahamasCruiseVacations were willing to give me a refund,once they heard that I did this.

3.) Fill out a complaint with the Better Business Bureau & with Florida Attorney General Office. These vacation guys don't like to hear this either.

4.) Florida allows you to get a full refund & cancellation within 30 days of purchase or a vacation certificate,whichever comes later. They will tell you that you are out of state & don't qualify.BUT YOU DO! Also know the return laws for your state/province.

5.) Act ASAP! Since other readers had posted (I did a lot of research) that when they called back after 3-4 days,they were told that they were only eligible for a refund within the first 72 hours. The sooner you can bother them repeatedly about a refund,the sooner they will realize that you are too much trouble for them & will eventually crack!

6.) Once you get that elusive cancellation number from them,ASK RIGHT AWAY to be put on their "DO NOT CALL" & "DO NOT MAIL" lists! \

7.) FOLLOW up with the company every day or as frequently as possible to make sure you are getting your refund & they are giving you the same information everytime! These guys have a tendency to "slightly" alter their story everytime! For example, I was told that I would get a refund & cancellation,but they couldn't send me a written confirmation of this, but that the process would be done. I followed up a second time, and they will finally send me written confirmation of the cancellation!

Hope this helps!

a similar thing happened to me, Chase Mastercard is useless, the guy started talking about lawyers and all, I gave them my CC info and now I have a charge but I never went through verification. I called back, the guy told me they can't charge me since I didn't do the audio receipt which is me saying yes to agreeing to the charges.

I want to know what happened?

Call your bank and tell them to dispute the charge

I just received a call that I had won the discounted package. I don't believe it is a scam, but I do think that in the end you are paying a good amount of money once you include the flight, taxes, meals, transportation between cities...I could plan a trip myself for that amount of money. I was excited to get the offer and believe that it is probably a legitimate company, it just wasn't for me. If it was a scam they wouldn't be allowed into car shows or the state fair. They aren't stealing your money... you will get a trip, it just may not be as glamorous as described on the phone.

I also got a call from 718-228-0175. He told me the same information, read me a paragraph of all the things I'd won and then wanted my credit card information. I asked him to call me back so I could verify the information and he said the offer expired as soon as he hung up the phone. I managed to convince him I didn't have my credit card on me and he said he'd call back in two hours. I've now just googled the number and this is what came up along with a bunch of other information about it being a scam.

It's ridiculous that the organizations taking our information at events are selling it for us to be scammed. I feel terribly sorry for the people falling for such atrocities.

Oh, and Barbara? Get a god damned clue.

Liars, cheaters, losers, scammers ... thats them! Dont do it. They called me today, I went to a cocktail show this wknd in Toronto, and both me and my girlfriend put in ballots for a trip to the Bahamas. When Daniel Smith (lie) called me, he said I needed a CC, that I needed to pay a $299 fee. I told him Id get one and he said he'd phone me in 10 min. In the meantime, I called my girlfriend who went to the same show w/ me and put in a ballot as well. She said it sounded fishy. I hit up Google and found all the info on these do***ebags. Turns out, SCAMMMMERS! I told her about what I had found, and told her to text everybody we went with to warn them. 10 minutes later, "Daniel Smith" called me back and I told him I knew he was a scammer and I wasnt interested and I hungup on him. 3 hours later my girlfriend sends me a text, turns out SHE "WON" TOO! Good thing I warned her :)

I went to the TORONTO Beer&Cocktail party last wknd and entered this draw. The guy who called me, Daniel Smith (how original), asked me right after for my credit card info after telling me "Ive won". I asked him why he needed it considering this was a FREE trip I entered for, then he dropped the whole $299 deal. This is all a load of crap. Who calls someone and expects them to give their credit card info w/out question? Sketchy. Considering some of you are in N.J, some of you are in NYC, and IM ALL THE WAY in Canada, but weve all won? Losers and liars. Protect your wallets people.

I was recently at a Beerfest 2010 in Calgary and received a call today from 1-718-822-0725 (a New York number).

The man said i've got some good news that i won a trip to Florida/Bahamas you need a credit card and they will pay for 75% of the vacation and i pay 25% for a trip for two. He said do you have a pen and paper with you and I said i don't have my credit card with me and he said he would call on Friday.

I was really excited at first and thank god i saw this site because it is definitely a huge scam. I tried calling the number today and there was no voice mail just kept ringing. DON'T give them your info there going to screw you over.

Googling this site gave me a heads-up about this scam, so thanks guys. We entered a draw for laughs to "Win a Vacation or a Harley Motorcycle" at the Food Show in Toronto this past weekend, and I got a call from 1-718-228-0175 on both my cell and my home phones, all between 3:30pm and 4:40pm EST for the past three days. I didn't pick up because I don't know anyone from New York, and the only message they left was on my voicemail, the ringing of them calling the next number (this happened both times they called my cell). So I looked up the number, and here we are. Looks like they've been at this for a while. My aunt, who signed up with me, also got a call, and they told her that she won the trip, but she realized it was a scam.

Given the past three days, I think I'm due for another call in just a couple of hours, so we'll see.

That'll teach us to sign up for contests for a laugh, I guess.

I put my name in a draw at the Edmonton body soul and spirit expo too!
I thought it was a prank from the beginning because there was no caller ID.
I even asked, seriously? honestly? is this a joke?
He assured me it was not. When I told him I could not get to a computer he said he wanted to clairfy some things. Name "correct", Age "yes", then he asked if "I had a major credit card" and when I said no he said "sorry you don't qualify for your prize" and HUNG UP ON ME.

I recently attended the Edmonton Body, Soul & Expo show and I just received a call from "Florida Bahamas Cruise Vacations." She gave me the breakdown on this amazing trip I'd won, and then told me I'd have to pay $299 per person to secure my trip. I told her I didn't have my visa on me, but that I would get it and if she'd call me back. I just found this forum, and good thing I didn't give her any money!!

Also, the website SHE gave me was www.ourlucaya.com  probably bull s***.

I entered to win this at the Victoria Tattoo convention in BC.  I got a call from (718)228-0784 on Apr. 7 claiming that I had won.  Long story short, I almost did it.  Unfortunately I did give my credit card info to 'Donette'.  She was supposed to 'check' if my CC would hold $349 and now there is a charge on there for over $700??!!  I have now looked into this and found a TON of info about this 1-800-231-1298 (which is the number she gave me to call back on) being a scam.  Ugh.  I feel like such an idiot looking back but it all seemed SO legit.  I never went through with it, I got cold feet and told the lady that I didn't want to do it so just forget everything.  Right after, I called back again and said 'please make sure this doesn't go through on my credit card' and the lady said if I didn't have a reservation number and didn't go through the verification process then this is merely a hold.  The fact is I NEVER approved SEVEN HUNDRED bucks to be verified in the first place!!!  I have called everyone and their dog about this an no one can help me.  Visa was USELESS.  I talked to a supervisor at this Florida Bahama Vacation place and she assured me that it's merely a hold and if I didn't verbally authorize it then they have to give the $ back.  So......I guess I have to wait 3 - 5 business days to see if this all clears up.

I'm angry, embarrassed and frustrated.  Has anyone else been in this situation where they never actually went through with the package but now have a hold on their card?  Any advice would be AMAZING.  This is unreal, I can't believe what an elaborate scam this is  :(

hey
can you update me with what happened to u?....how did you get your money back because i did the same thing

My fiancee and I filled out the contest forms at Shamrock Fest in DC; she got a call from them at her home number, saying she won. She wanted to call me first before accepting but he told her it was a "limited-time" offer. She was hesitant about giving her credit card info to "hold the reservation" but decided it would nice to have a cruise set up for our honeymoon. She was told that not many people filled out the forms, however there were thousands of people at the event. Where things get suspicious is that I had the same exact call on my cell phone two hours later, and when I started to say that it was weird that we both won, he cut me off saying "isn't it great!" but I did not let him talk me into paying more to have two extra people join us. My fiancee was not even able to log on to the website book4florida.com with the Reservation number that the caller gave her even though she confirmed it several times, so it might be a fake login page. We now want to get her the refund so we're going to call the 1-800 number mentioned above. I am curious to hear if anyone has actually gone on the cruise.

Wow, did it ever occur to you that it was not the same company you were getting calls from?  We are now and have been Resort Tours and Accommodations since 2001 when I started working here.

barbara,

Quit defending your crappy a** company. If you guys aren't scamming people, and you're not the company responsible for these phone calls, then I'd start hunting down the people who are ruining your company's reputation. Because if it smells like bull s***, looks like bull s***, and sounds like bull s***? Guess what. It just might be bull s***. You know why? Because its not often that a company, especially one that's been in business 9 years (as you stated) conveniently changes their name on multiple occasions. Yesterday, you guys called my phone and said you were Bahamas Celebration company with bahamascelebration.com. You did NOT offer me a time share, and told me that it was a discounted cruise rate. It was NOT only $299, but in fact added up to $1000. Your representatives were scared shitless to give me their names so I can refer to them for more info. They got impatient and offended when I questioned their legitimacy. And telling me that I was SAFE because THEY recorded the conversation means NOTHING if they couldn't give me any more info until I even purchased it first. Then today, my husband gets the call and now your RTAVacations has now changed yet to another name called Florida Cruises! He immediately asked for credit card info and when my husband said he didn't have his wallet on him, he replies, "where you at, the beach?" Haha we laughed. "What's the credit card info if WE WON?" then he hung up immediately. If you guys were such a legitimate company, why the hell does your company have a C- based on BBB.org? F*** your company, f*** all you sad imbeciles that work for dirty money screwing people just like your own family and friends over. You live a sad, sad life full of lies. I hope your kids grow up and realize how sorry their mom was. I hope someone lower than you guys scams the s*** out of you and your fellow employees one day that your wallet gets RAPED and sucked dry too. Karma will handle its business.

Man called and said I won a vacation. I filled out a form at the Washington DC's NBC 4 Health & Fitness Expo. When we filled it out, we asked them if we were going to be contacted if we did not win. He said no, no solicited messages, only get a call if you were a clear WINNER. "Ok, and whats the catch?" we asked. He said, "nothing! You either win or do not win the vacation and cruise to Florida." Ok. So we filled this out. Get a phone call from this number and the man tells us "I have some good news for you, you won the Florida Cruise." Says he's calling from company called Florida Cruises. Then asks to verify credit card info. We just argued with them yesterday so we played stupid and said we didn't have the card on hand. "What's the credit card information for if we WON?" I asked. He hung up immediately. BBB.org (Better Business Bureau) gives this company a D rating. According to the representative yesterday, their website is bahamascelebration.com. SCAM DO NOT FALL FOR IT!

nice touch, answering your own post LOL

Hey, what do you tell your kids when you go home at night about what you did all day, like "I tricked x number of people out of their money today, kids, so we get to eat again!" Or has Child Protection Services taken them away from you (criminal influence and such)?

18002311298 called me to tell me i won a trip to the bahamas which also included a 3 day trip to orlando, then 4 days to fort lauderdale
all it would cost was 299$ and they wouldnt gimme a number to call them back since i didnt have my credit card
but when i told them to give me fifteen minutes to call my bf they said theyd call back but he gave me tthis number in case i have any questions
my bfs credit card was mazed out so i called my brother, he told me it was scam... good thing he got me pissed enough and i felt i had to proove him wrong so i googled the number and found this site
they called me back and i told them im not interested because its a scam telling them i googled the number.. he said u checked it on the net, i said yeah its a scam im not interested... and he didnt say anything further... and i hung up... its a SCAM

I got the exact same call from the number 718-228-1763 and they said that I went to a wedding show this past weekend which was true.  They said the trip was worth over $2000 and after the spiel I gave my info over as well.  I confirmed with the person over the phone that it was refundable and he said 100%.  The charge was already put on my credit card.  If that 18002311298 doesn't work, am I screwed then?

Nervous and Upset

Hey Barbara... if the company you claim you work for is legit then tell me why they crank my phone 4 times a day? Then when I answer they ask for Betty? Susan? Marie, common names i'm sure. My dad always taught me, common sense isn't that common however, giving my f'in credit card to random strangers from NY, crapola... monkey are smarter!
People please, this is a total scam.... don't fall for it!
It's the same as those random calls about your "car warranty" being expired... christ, give me a break on a friday night!

Same thing happened to me at a beer fest. my friend and I both "won". Call and ask for a refund. check out http://www.techimo.com/forum/imo-community/226807-won-trip-florida-scam.html