No Free lunch

Like everyone else, TFM gets tons of junk mail. The circular file in my den is always in need of being emptied. At the moment its getting a slight reprieve as the local politicans take a break from flooding people's mail boxes. I'm certain they'll be back in October.

One postcard that arrived today didn't immediately get put in the circular file. It said my dear wife won a Maritt getaway inluding 3 days/2 nights at a Mariott getaway property in the US plus dinner and gas included.

As the title of this post says, I don't believe in a free lunch. When someone offers me something for free, I automatically become skeptical. Its either a rip-off or someone trying to sell me something.

The company sending this card is-

Global Vacation Ventures
2000 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd Suite 900
West Palm Beach FL 33409
561-640-0100

The company is real. I found the telephone number on the internet. I'll get back to that in a minute.

The postcard reads.

"We've been going crazy trying to contact you."

Global Vacation Ventures must not be trying too hard, for my wife's(and my) phone number is listed in the phone book.

A confirmation number is listed on the card. DW is told to phone 1-800-457=5737 for details. At the very bottom of the card it says this is not a solicitation for a time shard. Certain restrictions apply.

There is no fine print, so one can't ascertain more from the card.

Being bored, I called the number listed. They asked me some questions, are we citizens, were ages are the wife and I, what our annual income is(Is it above $40,000). Then they told me we qualify. But first we'd have to come in for a 90 minute meeting.

I hung up the phone at that point. Sounded like a sales pitch for me. Where would this vacation be? In West Palm Beach or Ottumwa Iowa? LOL, places the wife and I are so excited to vacation at.

Apologies to any Iowa natives out there. I've been to Iowa two times in my life and have fond memories of trampoline in Newton when I was six and a not so fond case of food poisoning I got from a Des Moines area restaurant in 1987.

Ok back to Global Vacation Ventures and the postcard. I still hadn't thrown it in my garbage.

I did a google search. All I found its street address and telephone number. No further information was found.

So I went to the Better Business Bureau website for Palm Beach County. Global is listed there.

GLOBAL VACATION VENTURES, INC.
2000 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd Suite 900
West Palm Beach, FL 33409

Principal: Lawrence Distefano, Vice President
Local Phone Number: (561) 640-0100
Fax Number: (561) 640-0104
Membership Status: This company is not a member.
TOB Classification: Vacation Certificates & Vouchers

The information in this report has either been provided by the company, or has been compiled by the Bureau from other sources.

Customer Experience

Any complaints processed by the Bureau in its three-year reporting period have been resolved.

When evaluating complaint information, please consider the company's size and volume of business. The number of complaints filed against the company may not be as important as the type of complaints and how the company handled them.

210 consumers have requested a reliability report on this company in the past 36 months.

The Bureau processed a total of 6 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total 6 complaints in the last 36 months, 5 of those were closed in the last 12 months.

Another phone call to the company said its a Mariott Getaway package at a resort of my choice(I guess those restrictions that may apply would come as to what dates.) with $30 gas and dinner vouchers included. All I got to do is go to a 90-minute meeting.

Hmm....I'm still skeptical.(Reason- Refer back to title of this post) But I thought I'd just put this information up on the internet for others to find and digest before making up their own minds. Information is always the key. Good luck.

Linked to- Jo's Cafe