International Vacation Services review: scam 81

I know someone who works for a service owned by them. They are a scam. They get hundreds of calls a day with people who want to complain and many who get no return call. Someone needs to report them please beware!

I am not employed by International Vacation Services, however I do some freelance work for them from time to time which means I can see both sides of the story here. First and foremost, IVS is NOT a scam. They are absolutely a thriving, reputable company with thousands of satisfied customers.

As far as the promotional gifts, well, not much in life these days is free, so that term should be used loosely. If you do complete the necessary hoop-jumping, you will receive the rewards indicated in the voucher. And yes, the presentation is to try to sell you on the program, but it truly is of value to those who will use it long-term and particularly for booking condos. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy anything; attend the presentation, listen to what they have to say and if you decide it's not for you, no harm done.

International Vacation Services provides an excellent program that many find very valuable; there is nothing "scam" about them.

I am not employed by International Vacation Services, however I do some freelance work for them from time to time which means I can see both sides of the story here. First and foremost, IVS is NOT a scam. They are absolutely a thriving, reputable company with thousands of satisfied customers.

As far as the promotional gifts, well, not much in life these days is free, so that term should be used loosely. If you do complete the necessary hoop-jumping, you will receive the rewards indicated in the voucher. And yes, the presentation is to try to sell you on the program, but it truly is of value to those who will use it long-term and particularly for booking condos. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy anything; attend the presentation, listen to what they have to say and if you decide it's not for you, no harm done.

International Vacation Services provides an excellent program that many find very valuable; there is nothing "scam" about them.

I just went to one of the presentations and received my validation forms for the travel certificates. What is the downside to submitting the form and deposit to obtain the certificates?

Never received promised package...$4593 taken from credit card. Sent certified letter to "their" address...postal service confirmed that letter still has not been signed for...hmmm reputable businesses pick up their mail daily! Do not buy into their smooth talk like we so stupidly did! BEWARE and just stay home!

dwlesser - There is no downside to submitting the form and despoits. As I mentioned, if you complete the necessary requirements you will get the promotional items. It's up to you whether you decide to go for it or not.

Kokoda - How long ago did you attend the presentation? Was the certified letter you sent in attempt to cancel your services or to check on the status of your welcome kit?

In response to this chat list: I am glad that I was able to read these complaints immediately when I got home after charging $4, 593 to my American Express card. I grew alarmed after reading these posts, and the BBB F rating. I immediately sent by certified mail my intent to cancel IVS services to the address on the contract, and like Kakoda's experience, no one picked up or signed for the mail. Fortunately, American Express is good about resolving customer disputes. All I can advise is, keep electronic copies of all your paperwork in case you ever want to dispute. I believe this truly is a disreputable firm and a scam. Why are new members not allowed to view the website until they receive their personal pin and user number 2 weeks later? After 2 weeks, they may disappear. The presenter's word is all you have, and in hindsight, anyone can make a powerpoint presentation with pretty pictures and bogus "savings". If Kakoda never received the welcome package, well, that is alarming!

Has anyone used the "free" cruise or the "free airfare"?

The "free" gifts promised are not free at all. You have to pay so many fees and jump through so many hoops and red tape that we threw our "free" gift vouchers away. They also at the presentation "admitted" that the promotion phone call to get us there had been misleading and they just "happened to have" a complaint letter for us to fill out so "they could 'fix it.'" Other time share presentations we have gone to had REAL gifts, like $150 in visa gift cards, Disneyland trips, a 3 night stay in Encinada Mexico, and an overnighter in Los Angeles. This is the most misleading company I have ever dealt with. DO NOT GO TO THEIR PRESENTATIONS!

Thanks Randy- this is what we thought...

Wow I should see that this is a bad deal, I was to get a email with all the info for our 90 min. BS set to get our free vacation, condo or free air fair to vegas and a stay! from what I hear here I do not want to get involved with this sort of deal!

view the website until they receive their personal pin and user number 2 weeks later? After 2 weeks, they may disappear. The presenter's word is all you have, and in hindsight, anyone can make a powerpoint presentation with pretty pictures and bogus "savings

Upon returning home from a presentation from at first an unknown provider of travel services, we were impressed with the concept, not especially with the freebe. However, the fact that there were two addresses listed in the Membership Enrollment Agreement started us thinking - only after we went on line to look at the company. One address is for Rutherford St., Landrum SC and the other to cancel is a box number in Aynor, SC quite a distance from Landrum to whom a certified letter is to be sent. Who can sign for a receipt of a certified letter in a box number?

I wish I checked them out online before getting involved with International Vacation Services/Travel Services Unlimited. Their Sales presentation is a scam. There were 8 couples who attended the day we did. Everyone purchased the service. My husband and I think that many of the couples were hired by International Vacation Services to get us to follow the crowd. When trying to book my first trip, their prices were the same as CheapCarribean.com. Travel Services Unlimited actually admitted to me that they book a lot of their trips through this site. They were actually on my side and agreed that the sales company(International Vacation Services) that sold their service misrepresented their service. I am so happy that I made this purchase on American Express. I immediately put the charge in dispute back in February. I was told that International Vacation Services had until May 12 to submit the contract I signed. They never answered AMEX after many requests! I got a full credit to my account. I am so relieved. A couple of months ago when I checked the BBB site, their was only 1 complaint. Today there are 12 complaints. Be ware, do not be fooled - DO NOT fall for their free gift (which is bogus!) or their service - it is a total scam!

I'm so glad I read these comments this morning. My wife and I were scheduled to meet with IVS at 10am this morning. I do not think I will waste my time. Thanks for the postings. We will stick with conventional (and reputable) methods for booking our vacations.

Thank the lord for these complaint websites...My husband and I are also scheduled to attend a mtg on Tues. June 21st...your comments saved us a trip...but we are curious...we were offered 2 free 8 day cruises on carnival, ( not a cruise line we would choose ) and 2 roundtrip airline tickets...does anyone know how much they were asked to pay in fees, taxes and port charges? We have cruised many times and the fees associated with 8 day cruises are not usually unreasonable...thanks

Look out Indianapolis! These hucksters are peddling their fictitious wares at the Holiday Inn North this week, and my husband and I just fell for it. I will get a cancellation letter sent by certified mail tomorrow, and I also plan to notify my bank in the morning. We consider ourselves intelligent people, and I can't imagine how we got taken in. There were red flags, looking back on in now. Particularly the fact the company name and location change from TSU to IVS in the paperwork, and IVS has no location, only a P.O. Box. Duh! I can't believe we got taken in. Crossing our fingers that we get our money back!

I am so glad I read this sight as we were stupid enough to go sit through the 90 min. BS but with the help of this sight We will not be stupid enough to send any money in for there so called free air fare or free cruise. Thanks to everyone for the warning. Atleast we do not buy without sleeping on it first because they make it sound so good. but then I came home and did some resurch so we wont be buying in to there scam.

I will attend their 'promo' this week.
I will have some comments to post . My nick name is 'Jack Benny' - my brother is 'Mr Burns' ...Think about it.
I LOVE to have fun with these kind of people.
I love to eat baked beans and scrambled eggs just before I show up to "promo"

Haha, I'm gonna have fun with this company too. Jack, where will you be at? I'm supposed to show up at the Marriott in Austintown, OH tomorrow - they just called and told my fiance and I to LIE about our ages and income brackets in order to qualify for a roundtrip ticket to anywhere in the U.S. and a two night, three day stay at any Marriott in the U.S. before June 2012. The customer service reps had a thick middle Eastern accent and promised that this is all free, provided we attend the 90 min presentation and bring with us a photo ID that does not include our age, (because they want us to lie about our age) AND display publicly a credit card! Visa, Mastercard, Discover or AmEx, they said we had to wear it publicly! (and that we could cover up our personal infos on it). I'm not anywhere near gullible, and I know that the best way to get back at a scammer is to waste their time. Time is money to them, and the more of it you waste, the more money they lose. Kudos to you Jack. And by the way, I think they want us to lie on the "qualification form" so that we can not come back at them later - always tell the truth, never lie; think about this, okay? They are age discriminating and discriminating against the poor (anyone who makes less than $60k per year is immediately disqualified). So if anyone really wants to get them, try to run with that. I'm a Law student and I'm pretty confident it might be a case, but I can't know for sure. Either way, wasting their time is the way to get back at them. Time is money and I don't have much to spend but I would absolutely love to see it get a little wasted ;)
Leeandy Nova

My husband and I were also scammed by International Vacation Services on April first of this year. Being 60 and 63 it did not occur to us to check the internet. I wish we had. Most of the couples who attended the presentation were older like us. We paid $2, 500.00 to join and sent the two $99 checks to "activate" the "comlpimentary" trips (air and cruise). After finding out by calling 10 local travel agencies that we could get just as good a price as the "complimentary" air and cruise which by definition means "given free as a gift; given without charge, " (Dictionary.com, iphone), we realized that we had been scammed. I sent letters to the Attorneys General of S. Carolina, Florida, and Arkansas where we were scammed. I suggest that those scammed report our experiences to the US Postal Inspection Service and US Federal Trade Commission. This is mail fraud and we need to alert the authorities.

i would just to thank everyone for their comments. you saved my wife and i 90 mins we would never get back... had i not read this, we would have been in youngstown wasting our time and getting scammed. i appreciate sites like these.

Wish we would have known about this web site before attending seminar and purchasing "membership". They dragged us out delaying quotes until we were well past our cancellation period. They then ran us around for months as we attempted to get our money back. We are currently working with our attorney to recoup our funds. If you too have been scanned or even attended their seminar, your experience with IVS (International Travel Services) or TSU (Travel Services Unlimited) would be of great help to us and hopefully others that have been scammed by them. Please click on my id name above this message and email me. I agree with so many of you. They need to be held accountable for their sales and business tactics.

They took us yesterday. I immediately contacted my credit card company to stop to fraud. Thank you everyone for your posts!

But did any one get the free cruise?
I plan on going to one of the seminars, saying 'no' to every offer, and getting the free stuff.
The guy on the phone did say I'd have to pay taxes and port charges.

We opted to not cash in their free cruise since we were becoming suspicous of them. I have spoken to one couple that did. They said they are out the $199 nonrefundable fee and the "free" cruise was going to cost them $900 to book. What city and state are they in now?

These sales tactics are years old...are people still falling for them? These companies are all connected

Travel Services Unlimited
Vacation International Professionals
South Carolina Resort Properties
World Travel Consultants
International Vacation Services
Elite Escapes
Resort Reservation Services
VIP Travel

They are all the same...haven't y'all figured that out yet? The owners were on the downlow for a few years and now they are back. Get a clue!

They are in Bloomington IN next week. I called the number and talked to a nice woman who assured me it was a legit free trip. I am reserved for July 28 @ 5:30. I'm tempted to go out of curiosity. I plan on spending the night on my boat anyway that night so maybe I will go. Funny how they say don't bring any friends.

ruserious2011 do you have names of the owners?
IvyMike what hotel are they at?

International Vacation Services/ Travel Services Unlimited/ whatever local name they are operating under were also scamming people at the Westin Hotel in Southfield, Michigan last week. These companies are all related despite what they will tell you. I believe they are currently still in Southfield and plan to be in other Michigan cities in the future. The cruise is far from free and their too good to be true travel prices are exactly that. Save your time and money and book a real trip on your own or hand them your credit card and find out the hard way. If you have already attended their presentation, be advised that the other couples you witnessed jumping at these "great deals" are often their own employees or paid actors used to entice you to follow suit.

Today's Date: 21 July 2011 at 3:00 pm EST. They are now working out of the Best Western in Keene, NH I just got off the phone with Samantha regarding the "complimentary" 8 day/7 night cruise and the bonus of 2 roundtrip airfares from any major city within the continental US". I immediately got on-line to view comments, etc. as nothing is ever "complimentary" - meaning FREE to me. I had to answer a few questions to see if I "qualified”; (1) marital status; (2) our income"; (3) home address; etc. Of course I asked questions, so when you indicate "complimentary" you really mean that fees will be added on for port taxes, etc. Answer was yes. This is the point when I knew it was another scam...she gave me two dates in July that would not work for me so I told her NO. She immediately said she would check to see if they have additional dates in July. LoL - guess what, they did. Amazing! I asked her for the address and phone number but I was told "they" didn't have a phone number as their organization was the POC for them. I booked the appointment with NO intention of going to it; however, now that I have read some of the comments - I might just go to waste their time it might be a nice ride on our motorcycle. Anyone else going from NH on July 30th at 2:00 pm?

If you have signed a contract with these scam artists, do the following WITHIN 3 DAYS:
1) call them and cancel. Make a note of who you spoke with, and when, and what they tell you. They will try to tell you you will pay a $1200 cancellation fee. The FTC says this is illegal, and you can tell them so. Doesn't matter what the contract says.
2) send a certified letter to the address in your contract packet informing the company that you are cancelling. Keep a copy of the letter for your credit card company. I also kept the receipt for the letter.
3) dispute the charge with your credit card company when it posts, usually within 3-4 days.
4) keep records of everything, since your credit card company will ask you for proof of everything you did.
I was able to get my $4593 back from the credit card company by following these steps. I hope they go out of business soon!

I was just signed up for the tuesday night the 26th at 6pm in Keene NH... thinking i will prob. not waste my time.
The guy on the phone even "Jumped through hoops " for me since my husband is currently deployed over seas. and typically you and your spouse need to be there. But as long as I brought my power of attorney with me and "lied" and said he was just given orders and we didnt know he wouldnt be able to be there... then it would be ok. Hmmmmmm...
would have been nice to have a free vaca just the two of us when he gets home. guess that wont happen.. I dont have thousands to spend to get to my free vaca.

I have gotten many legitimate "freebies" with the timeshare industry. As someone else mentioned, a freebie should be free. We live just 30 minutes from Landrum, SC and were planning to attend, but the comments on this site have dissuaded us. I was concerned about everyone I spoke to having an accent ( 5 people in all because when they called back to confirm I had to change the time and they put the supervisor on the phone and kept reiterating the same info and asking the same questions) In a normal work place you would assume a mix of ethnicities. The location we were to attend is the address in Landrum. I was concerned about arriving on time due to work. They told me if were were late we would be disqualified for the gifts, I thought that was odd. We were offered the airline tickets and $100 in gas. I wonder how they would charge you for that gas? Not going to find out! I too, am glad we decided to investigate. I do have to say that I have never before been ripped off by any time share companies-they can be high pressure and annoying -but have never scammed me on a free gift. This company of course is NOT time share. We have also participated in marketing offers for solar products and financial services that called us or sent invites and were never scammed. There ARE some legitimate firms who use direct marketing and offer legitimate incentives. Just do your leg work and ask questions. Thank goodness for the internet! Jan & Steven

There in Columbia, IL at the Hampton Inn this week. Ethnic caller named Ruthey. Only assining one seat to me due to I am single, means no guest allowed to talk you out of it, made sure to tell me to mark the $60k annually box multiple times, when I only verified $50k at beggining of conversation. Advised cost was nothing and not trying to sell me anything, but if I selected a cruise there would be the port fees, etc for it but this was just a new way for a Travel Agency to operate and making these free offers available for anyone to listen to these presentations for 90 mins. Have ID and a major credit card and the credit card will not come out of my hand, its just for identification purposes. Wonder what they would do if I held up an expired credit card, or maybe one of those point cards that looks like a credit card, or maybe my HRA debit card that no longer has anything funds left on it, maybe they can bill me for the mental illiness vistit. NOT! playing their game. Thanks to all.

Crap! They were in baton rouge, la today and we bought! Being young and niece I feel so stupid! I just thought it would be great for taken our little ones on vacay... Can I put a stop payment on the check I wrote and follow all the cancellation steps and be ok? And, how do u send certified mail to a po box?! Ugh! How do these people sleep at night?!

Got a call today from Stratus Travel offering a "free" 8-day Cruise and Round trip air if we attended a meeting in Bellevue, WA. When I asked for a website, she started to say "You'll get that when you.." then trailed off and changed topics. I asked again and she gave me www.getmygetaway.net, which I opened while on the phone with her. Looked and felt fishy - no contact info, typos, etc.
I went ahead and made an appointment and was transferred to the "manager" for confirmation. Got a bit of the hard sell - "Are you certain you'll be there? Because we're reserving your vacation..." I replied yes, I'm 90% sure. Hung up and started searching and found this website. Thank you thank you thank you all! My gut was telling me something was NOT right, and you all confirmed it. We won't be attending, but I'm not going to cancel, figuring I'm saving two other folks from being duped.
I noticed another poster mentioned that IVS is not using the getmygetaway.net cover...can anyone else confim this? And is "Stratus Travel" a new name for them too?

Oops, that 2nd to the last sentence should read "...mentioned that IVS is NOW using the ..."

I was told that they wanted one and a half hours of my time, but after arriving and questioning, they explained that the PRESENTATION would be AT LEAST one and a half hours. It was explained that at any time during the presentation, you had a question, you were to write it down and ask afterwards. I imagine the ''gift" distribution would take even MORE time. I was required to fill out paperwork in the 15 minutes before the presentation. After realizing that this would be about a 3 hour deal, we left. Their strategy must be to exhaust the mind, and then get you to sign on to the scam.

We received a full refund from this company after falling for their tricks. But you must act fast.

My husband and I went to a presentation last night and ended up getting suckered. I didn't have a good feeling about it, but went against my gut and bought a 2 week package for the grand total of $3, 593. On our way home, my husband and I started discussing what we thought was a little strange about it. What was funny is that we both noticed different "flags", and when we started putting them together between the two of us, we realized what a mistake we made. Immediately after getting home, we started researching them on the internet and found several complaint boards indicating that their services were as not as legit as they claim. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a scam because I'm sure they do provide travel services, but I don't believe the validity of their discounts. After reading site after site, I began to feel like we were never going to get our money back.

We immediately called our credit card company (mastercard) to see if we could dispute the charges. Unfortunately, they said we couldn't do anything with a dispute until the charge actually posted, which would take a couple of days. The following day, I took to research to determine my rights. I began looking into FTC regulations on the "cooling off period" for sales. This transaction falls under that law, and found that we had 3 days to request cancellation (in writing, according to the contract) for a FULL refund within 10 business days. I contacted the FTC help line and discussed my situation with a representative that explained everything to me and my rights. He suggested that I request cancellation as indicated on the contract and contact the Ohio Attorney General's Office to verify the laws in my state.

Then, I called the Ohio Attorney General's Office to verify the "cooling off period" for sales. It was determined that this transaction did in fact fall under that category, and that I was entitled to a FULL refund of the transaction within 10 business days of cancelling. (Ohio Revised Code 1345.23). I printed out my documentation for these laws and attached it with my letter requesting cancellation. I also indicated in the letter that according to the Ohio Revised Code 1345.23, I was requesting the full charge to be credited within 10 business days, and if it wasn't, I would be disputing the charge with my credit card company.

I was able to obtain a number to call "John" who handled cancellations from calling the booking number on the travel website. I called him and requested that my membership be canceled and issued a refund. He explained that I would need to submit a letter, but would be charged the $399 processing fee and 20% cancellation charge (a total of almost $1, 100). I told him I would not be paying that and according to Federal and State laws, they were not able to do that. I told him that I would be disputing the charge with my credit card company, as well as, going back to speak with the group later that day. I also sent an email to the email address provided, and sent a copy of the letter I mailed certified/return receipt stating that I had already sent this letter via mail, but wanted to send it electronically as well. I received a response within 10 minutes from them. I got the feeling that they were kind of worried because they mentioned knowing the "laws" for Ohio and that they were operating well within the laws, then said that I didn't need to result to "threats" (which I did not, I simply stated what would happen if they did not comply with my request under Federal and State laws).

Fortunately, we only lived about 15 minutes from where the presentation was held, and planned on going back right before the first presentation for the day (I called the hotel and verified what time their room was held for). We arrived about 25 minutes before the first presentation. As soon as we walked in, they recognized us. We asked to speak to the person in charge and were immediately taken into the presentation room with the doors shut. We politely requested a refund indicating that I was not the kind of person they wanted on their bad side. He refused (obviously). I explained my ordeal about feeling deceived and went over the laws I reviewed that day, and told them that it would be in their best interest to issue a credit to my card now versus dealing with the headache I would cause them. I had planned to talk with the hotel manager to tell them of the shadiness that was going on in their facility. I also have a friend that is a special reports investigative reporter, and told them that I would have no problem calling her to request a news story be done on their little business. I also have several friends that are police officers, including the police chief for the area that I would call if he felt the need to involve the authorities with my request. He said corporate had already notified them of my previous contacts with them (which indicated to me that they were worried I wasn't going to stand idly by). It got extremely heated at certain points, and I told them that I would no problem telling everyone waiting for the presentation outside not to waste their time, as well as everyone coming in for the remaining presentations for the remainder of the week. They held strong and said no refund would be issued since I already disputed the charge with my credit card company (which I had not). We walked out the door and told the four couples waiting not to waste their time for the garbage they were about to listen to, and proceeded to the front desk. We requested to speak to the hotel manager, and went inside the hotel restaurant for more privacy. We explained that we felt the group was not representing what they selling, and that they might want to know about what was going on. As we were talking to the manager, the IVS "manager" found us and asked us to follow him. He requested our credit card (which we did not hand over, and said we wouldn't let it out of our sight) so he could issue the credit since he called and spoke to the company owner. Apparently, they didn't like the idea of not selling another "membership" for the rest of the week. They issued a credit to our card for the full amount on the spot, and I guarantee that their first presentation for the day resulted in no sales.

We were extremely lucky, and counted this as a valuable lesson, even though we only lost a night of sleep and a day of work. A refund can be received, but you have to act fast and become knowledgeable on your rights through the FTC and State, so you can be prepared to fire back with any BS they feed you about why they can't do something. Make detailed documentation of who you spoke to, at which number you called, and what was said/discussed (your credit card company will need this if you end up disputing this). You CAN get your money back, but you MUST act fast and be extremely detailed. Good luck to anyone having to fix this themselves.