I think my frugal nature makes me a sucker for a contest. I love winning things. I love freebies. I absolutely hate scams.
I recently received a call about winning a 7 day family vacation to Disney and Universal Studios in Orlando. I did in fact, enter this contest while at a convention, so a part of be did believe it was legit. They talked it up, congratulated me, all sorts of flattery and buildup. They told me all the fun I would have. They said it was 4 nights at a resort, 2 nights on the beach, and passes to Disney and Universal. They got in to the details and everything sounded great.
But when they asked for my credit card information to pay registration fees, I took a closer look at what they were actually giving me and it became clear.
We were getting 4 nights at a hotel, and a $200 voucher to any of the Orlando parks, IF we paid the "registration fees" that came to $498 to secure our winnings.
I asked about flights, they were not included. I asked about the park tickets, he mentioned the voucher. I told him that wasn't even enough for 1 ticket and he said they would help me out with that once I was down there. I asked about the 2 nights in daytona beach and again said the details would be worked out once we were at the resort.
Through all this he kept reiterating that we had indeed "won" and that it's a "once in a life time" opportunity.
I didn't win anything. At the most, I got a discount on a hotel, and a $200 voucher that most likely would require me to sit through a time share pitch.
I could only imagine a family of 5, being all excited about the vacation they won, making their way to Florida only to find that they aren't actually going to Disney or Universal unless they pay up for the tickets at the gate.
July 20, 2018 at 08:39AM
