Exploria Resorts
Reviews and Complaints

After purchasing an educational product for my children, a sales rep for summer bay resorts came on the line and said that I had won a 4 day 3 night vacation package to Napa Valley in California. He said the only fee that I would have to pay for were two tickets to visit all the vineyards at the cost of $248, but because of the cost he said that he would throw in a 3 day 2 night vacation package to the resort in Las Vegas, and two other 3 day night packages to their resorts located in Anaheim. The sales rep also told me that this included taxes etc, and that there were no other booking fees and no restrictions to when I could go. They did tell me I had to book two weeks in advance but that was it. I also asked if this was a promotional marketing thing that I would have to listen to a timeshare presentation etc, and the sale rep said no. So after considering everything I really thought this was the real deal and so I purchased it.

A week later I received my conformation letter and information etc. To say the least, I was pissed, everything I was told was false. In the letter it read that my package only included a 4 day 3 night promotional package in which I was required to sit through a 90 min presentation and a 3 day 2 night Las Vegas package which I was also required to sit through another 90 min presentation. The worst thing though was they didn’t give me the extra 2 vacation packages. Also on top of all that there are still additional taxes and a required reservation fee of $15 to $20 (per day). I was ticked off. I even went to other travel sites such as hotels.com hotwire.com etc to compare costs etc and come to find out it would cost me less to just book a 4-5 star hotel through these sites than it cost me for this “free” vacation.

When I called them up the customer service sucked. I was transferred and transferred until finally I got a “manager” that said he couldn’t do anything about refunding me. I argued with him for almost an hour and finally he gave me the other two 3 day 2 nightvacation packages, but that was it. They also said that I still needed to go to the 90 min presentation for EACH location or I would be charged $125 a night, and if that wasn’t enough, come to find out, you don’t even stay at their hotel, they pick a hotel such as motel 8 for you to stay at and then you have to go to their resort to listen to the presentation etc. I was livid and fuming fire at this point.

Anyway, I let a couple of weeks go by, logging in almost daily to see if they add the 2 other vacations etc and nothing changed. I then called again and went through the same tedious process of finding the right person to talk to etc and then they told me that the othervacations would only be added if I go to Napa valley first. So again I argued with them for another hour or two about what they had told me etc. LESSON to be learned, NEVER trust a telemarketer, or at least this company, because the sales reps only put in the notes that protect them and not you.

Anyway they finally added the vacation packages, BUT they apparently were in negotiations with the Anaheim and several other California resorts so I could no longer book my vacation in those areas. When I asked when I could they just said I don’t know when or if they will be available again.

Long story short, everything that they told me, and I mean EVERYTHING was false. First of all I DIDN’T win anything they offer these promotions all the time. Then they build this beautiful picture that is completely false and ends up costing you more than if you were to book it yourself through a travel site. And last but not least they then publish and promote destinations that the contracts are constantly being negotiated on so they don’t even know whether or not they even have these destinations let alone when.

After all of this I just wanted a refund, I couldn’t go when and where I wanted, I would be spending more than if I booked it myself, I would have to sit through a 90 min presentation at each location or pay an additional $125 per day, and I would be staying in a motel 8 (or similar hotel) and not even at their resort. What the heck is wrong with this picture right? You would think that they would give me a refund at this point, but this is exactly how this company makes their money. They paint this picture and then they make it a nightmare to use it, if at all.

Anyway by this point I just demanded a manager and every time they would transfer me over to the “quality assurance” dept and everyone there insisted that they were the top of the food chain and the manager that I needed to talk to. I swear that everyone in this department only knows the word “NO” so after calling about thirty different times and talking to about ten different people I called back and asked for the customer service manager, they then transferred me to a guy named Larry and sure enough he was indeed the manager (I have to say that Larry was the nicest guy I had spoken to at this company) however he said that I would need to speak with the manager of the Quality assurance department which is a guy named Kenny, he then transferred me. I’m not joking when I say that I was on hold for over an hour and a half before I was able to speak to him. I then calmly explained the situation and that I wanted a refund and all he said he could do is give me the address of the compliance department in which I could file a complaint and appeal for a refund and that it would take at least 60-90 days. The conversation kept getting heated, and when I asked him, “If you are the manager then why don’t you have the authority to refund me the money?” his response was just silence. After a long drawn out conversation he hung up on me. Which made me even more determined to get this resolved.

After doing some research I found a Summer Bay resort (one of their resorts) by their corporate office so I called and asked how to get a hold of the compliance department, so they gave me some other numbers etc and long story short I found that the compliance department manager is a guy named JAMES BAKER and he can be reached at [protected] ext: 7525

When calling Mr. Baker, and even after listening to all the recordings showing what I said and what the sells reps had promised was true, all he could say was it is past the 7 day refund policy that you agreed to so there is nothing I can do. This is when I told him ok and that I would be glad to still go to these resorts and sit through the presentations, but I also said that he should know that I will share my experiences with his company to the others within each of these presentations as well. At this point he said ok but because of this I can’t allow you to go on thesevacations, so I said ok give me a refund and he said no and then hung up.

This is why I am publishing my story and the above contact information. First I don’t want this to happen to anyone else, and second I hope Mr. Baker get so many calls that he will rethink his policies and procedures.

This doesn’t have to happen to you. My advice stay away from anything that has to do with Summer Bay Resorts, www.summerbayresort.com, River Point at Napa valley resort, www.greatvacationsnow.com, www.riverpointenapa.com, www.besttravelvip.com, www.summerbayvacations.com, and anything that has to do with Resort Services International, Inc (RSI Inc.)(www.rsitimeshares.com) which is the owner of Summer Bay Resorts, because they will scam you. There are also many other websites that they also use, so be careful.

I am also filing a complaint with consumer affairs and am looking into a small claims case as well; my attorney says it’s a slam dunk.

What stuns me, is that alot of people were the "1.000.000" visitor. I was also that one. Being 15 and having no creditcard an a lousy phone with only change on it, i called. First i was greeted by a man who asked for my confirmation code right away. I hung up and called again, saying i was "cut off" A lady sayd hello and we started talking. I asked straight forward if this was a scam, and she ofc. sayd no. I actualy said, loud and clear, that i was a minor and not legaly allowed to recive such price. (Btw, i was offered a 3000$ shopping spree on a crusie somewhere). She asked for my full name, i just gave her my first name to be sure, and se kept on talking. She seemed very nice and polite and sounded like the real deal, but i didn't quite believe her. I asked WHY they gave out free 3000$ trips and how they would get that money back, and she just answered that they were giving out trips to three destinations in the US. ´Getting no proper answer, i asked her again, and go the same response.

I'm glad that i didn't give her anything after i found out that people was scammed both before and on their trip.

SHE SAID HER NAME WAS: D E R E E C E H O W E L L.

Don't trust them.

When we drove up, it seemed to be a nice location with nice ammenites. However, once we got in our rental house, we were disgusted. It was dirty, rugs were stained, there was mold around the bath and showers. When we woke up in the morning, there were ants in our bathroom. The WORST part of all was, the alarm that is on the doors going out to the pool, were broken. This was unacceptable and unsafe! We had 3 children with us (2, 5 and 7). When we informed the resort, they did NOTHING about it. They wouldn't even move us. They were incredibly rude and had no regard for this safety issue. I'm sure there are nice homes in the resort, but this wasn't the one. The employees, including the manager should be ashamed of the way we were treated!

I received a message that I have won a holiday and that I needed to call a given number. I called and a very pleasant lady (Jo-Ann Lester) told me that I was so lucky and she is so happy that I called the number because if I did not I would have missed a great opportunity ... bla, blah ... After about half an hour of 'conversation' and explanations of the three holidays I have won (Orlando, Bahamas, Daytone). When Jo-Ann told me that I had to pay more the $800 I said 'oh, that's the catch' and she basically told me that I was crazy not to see what a great deal it was. It all started to smell really fishy ... finally I was 'handed over' to Alisa who was supposed to clinch the deal and who tried her best to be polite but I could just sense that she was just trying to 'get' me ... She reminded me of the plus I had to pay .. I said that I was uncomfortoble with this and that I'd check and call back. And guess what happened: She became rude, told me that the trip would be 3800 when I called back and then she hung up on me! I hope people will not fall for this ... whenever you have to pay money for something you have 'won' ... scram!

This company will advertise a pop-up that you have won $3, 000 U.S. dollars towards a holiday package. It will include 6 days in Orlando, Florida, a 7 day economy car rental, 4 days in Daytona beach, 4 days in the Bahamas including a cruise.

You have to pay upfront on your credit card, the original price was $898.00 U.S. but they offered it to me for $498.00 with the exception of one less day in Orlando. You have 18 months to take the holiday. You can print off the confirmation letter (4 pages long) after replying to a taped telephone conversation and payment, that you have to reply agree or disagree to each question. You are not allowed to ask any questions at this time although I did ask questions prior to this. The company were very keen to show me their website and the wonderful resort they have but take note, there is no email address on their website to contact.

There were discrepancies in the confirmation letter to what I thought I was getting. There was no email address to contact this company in the letter and the telephone numbers given were disconnected when I rang. The original number I rang, I can't seem to get through now as the response is "Thank you for calling, call agents are busy, please hold on..." of which it is never answered or is engaged.
There is no other way to contact this company and you are only allowed 7 days to cancel your vacation from the date of purchase. Beyond this time the money you paid is non-refundable.

I have been in contact with my credit card company and under international law, once a withdrawal has been made from your credit card you have 30 days to refute it. Unfortunately, you can't just stop a transaction as it is a legal confirmation when you give your details over but once the money has been lifted from your account, the company should give you notifcation in which you can reclaim the monies within 30 days. Summer Bay Resorts have not given me any notification apart from the letter I had to download myself and are not contactable for me to cancel within the 7 days.

This company is not upfront with what it is providing, they say you can ring back to ask any questions you like about the package but the number given to make the reservations is disconnected. I strongly recommend you DO NOT REPLY TO ANY POP-UP concerning SUMMER BAY RESORT, FLORIDA at www.sbrholidays.com

I have read of other disatisfied people who have been "taken for a ride" with this company. If SBR Resorts are reading this email, I sincerely hope you will contact me.

I told the Gentleman on the phone that I was not interested in the Orlando 6day/5nights package that you have put together, but the money was still taken from my Credit Card. I would like my money to be paid back into my account as soon as possible.

THIS IS FRAUD!

CUSTOMER NO: 402UK101909

REGARDS

MRS E DU PREEZ
SOUTH AFRICA
email: [protected]@hotmail.com
Mobile: [protected]
Office: [protected]

Firts off let me start off by saying...I worked as a fronter and closer for Summer Bay Resorts for 3 weeks in Altamonte Springs Florida.
I represented this company with what I thought was honesty and integrity, this was proven to be wrong towards the end of my employemnt with them. I will not mention names as at this point it is not really to anyones benifit, however, let me assure you that it's not actually a scam but this is how it works.
It was mostly targeted towards the europe countries and not so much US or Canada.
Everyone won a 3000.00 awards package regardless. In europe the final price was 898 and in canada it would have been 498. The actual price which was really made up was 3898.00
I found out a few things more as I worked for them, they are a high pressure boiler room with insanity provided free of charge and that's about the only thing free that comes out it it. The script which we were supposed to read was total BS. There were so many hidden charges after the fact where the poor sucker who bought into this was screwed at the end of it all.
Yes port charges to go to the Bahams was infact 149.00 per person plus a room charge per night which we were never told what it was...honestly. But in either case it was what it was and people were told about it.
The car rental with unlimited milage was free but there was a charge on that as well which came down the line at the end of it all. If you did not want the car, they would give you 2 free passes to the attractions such as Disney, Seaworld, Universal.
To make a long story short the closers and fronters were a rare breed with no integrity other that to get you charge card. What was worse about this whole experience was the Managers who were completely without ethics. They had BS answers for every question a caller had. They made people who worked for them brainwashed every morning with a 15 min. BS meeting. Their ads ran on Craigslist every day for months and are still running today. They change over staff like you change your socks. When an employee finally starts to use their own head and put 2 and 2 together figuring out the scam, they get fired such was my case. I asked too many questions and they became afraid. I was too honest and could not see myself scamming people especially the elderly ones. I really didn't know this fact at the beginning but soon found out. Talk about pressure to sell something and scam people...this company wins 1st place.
The manager had no room for honesty and even less if you did not follow the BS script with all the BUY NOW ANSWERS.
I hope this company is investigated or at least given a bad name in the future. All I can say is BUYER BEWARE!

Apparently in 2004, I purchased hotel rooms at a modest discount in Los Vegas. I thought the website was a simple vacation website. Since this was 5 years ago, I do not recall the name of the website. As part of the purchase there was a requirement to visit a vacation rental for a 90 minute presentation. This requirement was never made known to me on the website nor was anything mailed to me about this requirement. If it was a requirement, it was buried in the website somewhere and not clearly stated or presented as part of the purchase price... and as I recall the hotel was not much of a bargain. I got to pay for a hotel in Las Vegas (Stayed at Teribles hotel I think with some coupons that were not useful - could have picked these up anywhere -- for about 5 days and paid about $500).. cannot be certain if this is where the Vacation SCAM was linked to me.

As part of the strong arm sales (SCAM) tactics, the Leisure Time World Travel / Summer Bay Resorts sales people call folks 5 years later to now intimidate them to participate in the vacation plan. Because they claim I did not fulfill the unknown requirement, I can either pay now $496 (with a reimbursement - I hope) or be charged for an expensive vacation package ($1, 500), or face a collections agency. This requires a credit card purchase. All is to their advantage again with no information being provided to me via the mail about the original requirements IN OVER 5 YEARS...

So rather than go through the ordeal of having to deal with this group possibly destroying my excellent credit rating, I have forked up the credit card information and will be moving forward.

Beware of vacation packages not purchased through a known vacation provider. Next time I will only deal with Hotels.com or Priceline.com (both very good vacation sites). These HIDDEN SCAM TERMS need to be clearly spelled out up front and not buried somewhere on their website which is conveniently down.

I have been told today I had won a holiday to Orlando and Daytona beach etc. At first I thought it was a scam but then I believed them but what they didnt tell me before taking a deposit of $498 that you had to have an income of over $40, 000. That was in the purchase confirmation letter that I printed off after they signed off. I am a pensioner and they knew that when we were speaking and yet it was never menti0ned or that it was initially to sell time share or similar. I must get my deposit back as I have no money and this was put on credit card. A M Canale

email: [protected]@tiscali.co.uk

Pup-up sides with 3000 dollars as a amount to use on Vacations i Summerbay.resorts. Trickin you to pay a amont to secure your Hollidays.. You are whirled aroud between several names securing you, that there is no risk. I feel rearly tricked and naive...Don´t ever call the number in the pup-up windows. It´s an immoral way to trick money aut of people, and you do not now, what you have got for the money, they very quickley withdraw from your accont. Listen to your inner voice...Nobody will ever give you something for free...it´s cool-cool business.

I purchased a book on TV and was asked if I wanted to hear information about vacations! I reluctlently agreed as I was given a picture of a great package deal for $289 4 days/3 nights in Orlando, 2 nights in Daytona and another 2 night stay anaywhere. I booked it, they charged me $45 every time I book. We get there after a long night of traveling-The Ramada Inn @ Westgate! The most crime ridden area in Kissimmee. It was awful! We get this room with no windows and no pictures! I think Abe Lincoln stayed here, it was that old! Come to realize, they offer nicer 3 star accomindations and say they are fully booked-yeah right-in this economy? Then they tell me where I can stay, we pulled in and I was appaled! Then we do this tour @ a location 1 mile from 'hotel' the guy was selling timeshares- He was cool but Summer Bay sucks! We checked out that night and they wouldn't even credit me with $45 fee even though I did not stay! DOUG, the manager, (right) would only say sorry. That's it! Zero customer service! Discusting, shady people opperating this scam from their homes no doubt! The package they sent me was beautiful! Then they do this?! WHATEVER YOU DO DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS SCAM!

On February 7, 2009 I ordered what I thought was going to be a good thing for myself and my family. I was told that for $248.00 I would be getting 4days/3nights in Anaheim, CA for four people with 2 tickets to Disneyland, 4days/3nights in Napa Valley, CA with two tickets to six flags, and 3days/2nights in Las Vegas, NV with two show tickets. Now I knew about the 90-minute presentation. I also knew that I had to provide my own transportation. During the sales call I repeatedly asked the agent if there were going to be any other charges, and I was told “no.” What I was informed was that I would have to provide my own transportation, buy my own food, drinks and entertainment.  What was never mentioned to me was that there was a seven day cancellation period, or that I had to pay $15.00 per person per night at the hotel and on top of that I have to give the hotel a $200.00 deposit. None of these things were told to me at the time of purchase.
They gave me a website (www.beginmyvacation.com) but no other contact information. I went on the website and there was nothing there except a "confirmation letter" addressed to me. None of the other links really went any where. No phone numbers, adddresses, or email address for those who wanted to exercise the cancellation policy which just happened to be in very small, light colored print in the middle of the confirmation information. It was not until I called to ask why I haven’t received anything about my vacations that I was told to go to another website (www.greatvacations.com) to review my information. I asked the agent then to send me something, Nothing to send. So now I am ready to use the vacation I call to book and now all these other things. I go on the website and yes it says these things but why wasn’t I given this website to start with?  I spent the 6 hours trolling the internet to find whatever I could about Summer Bay Resorts - NOTHING!

The telephone number given by the company does not exist. We now realize after reading a [redacted] that, hey guess what, we have been ripped off! We were given the same offers as the person in the previous report with18 months to take up the holidays. If anyone out there needs more information to catch these cowboys get in touch. If there is anyone out there that can produce evidence that these people are NOT ripoff cowboys other than words that anyone can make up I would like to hear it.

I purchased vacation property and then i was ripped off. The persons name was Steven Tex Tucker. He said he was over all of the place and was just in the town for a few hours to help. He show me a place and then he told us what a good deal that it was and now we haven't been able to use it and it is paid off all i want is my money back and no part of this scam. I have lost over 18000.00 dollars in this company and still cant use the property. Please don't get scammed to i just want my money back and for no one else to get scammed the same way that i was.

Took a credit card number and immediately tried to take monies before telling me about airfare tax exchange rate made it sound as if 498 was total cost unbenounced to them I was broke then asked me to correct this problem by giving them another card number I said it would take time they told me I had 20 min to do so just enough time for me to check them out and I'm not out ha ha but I can see how some people will be taken by them and it should be outlawed made to feel as I did something wrong shame I hope something is done to these frauds to stop them from praying on Canadians.