ComplaintsforVacationFundraising.org

• Initial Complaint

  07/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On July 22, 2023, I attended a fundraiser called Dash for **** at a private non-profit sportsman club I am a Officer at. One of the items was a Silent Auction for trips promising 4 day/3 night stay holding a value of $316 per night and a total value of $947 dollars. The company promising the trip was Vacation Fundraising located at ********************************************************** Phone#************. Said Company also affixed insignia that the were accredited with the better business bureau.I made my final auction bid of $200.00 for a trip to the *********** located in *******, and won and immediately was advised to make a ****** payment online, which I did and the money was withdrawn from my bank. Three days later I was instructed to pay a additional $164.00 for taxes and fees which I did. I was than sent a voucher and began trying to book a vacation. My inital stipulation was Hotel booking was based on Hotel availability. Than I immediately noticed that I could only pick dates during the winter months from November 19th - February ****. When Gulf Coast Temps are in the 60's. They also requested a upcharged for all rooms and the room I would need for the 2 dults.and 2 children advertised was requesting a additional $101.29 per night. When I called the ************ advertised I was able to pick numerous dates from September to October for price amounts of $808 which is under my $947 voucher limit.When I called Vacation Fundraising a man stated that the Hotel will only book during off seasons and the upcharge was Hotel policy. All of which was a lie when I called the ************ Corporate Office who is investigating this now after a lengthy call. The hotel even called his alleged upcharges from the hotels the third parties hidden fees and not theres. The Hotel even stated they did not approve this package. The male owner or representative for Vacation Fundraising is refusing to return my money and is telling to wait and try booking next year.

  Business response

  08/16/2023

  Dear Mr. *************************** from **********************************************************************************, 

  I am writing to you here as our only means of communication. We have reached out to you several times to offer multiple different resolutions to this situation only for our reps to be told to "Cease all communication" Are you really looking to have this resolved? If yes, we would love to help! 
  
  First off, all of our calls are recorded for quality & training purposes as well as our entire communication thread from the day you text in to our platform with a confirmation of your donation (in this case) for the Dash for **** fundraiser. So, to state our team said something to you when we in fact did not is totally unfair. 
  
  Secondly, when speaking with ****** ***********************, we asked him if he read & understood the rules from the event to which he responded "I do not need to read the rules, you guys had a representative present" Our representative also took pictures from the event showing everything was posted properly & that you chose not to read them. Just for clarification, the rules state that you are agreeing to make a donation to a fundraiser, charity or cause and your donation is non refundable. It also states that by bidding, you agree that this is for a donation to benefit Dash For ****. When two (2) different reps spoke on the phone with you, you stated that It was a donation and you are fine with the donation helping the fundraiser. Great! I'm glad we could help **** for **** reach their fundraising goal. 
  
  As far as options, we provided several alternatives for you, we also stated if you'd like to call us, we are very confident that we can come to a resolution with you but, we have not heard back from you. 
  
  I will also state that the hotels work with the travel agencies that we work with. They provided available rooms to them as part of a special promotion. What they do is provide what would be empty hotel rooms available to fundraising guests to receive as a complimentary voucher for their generous donation. This can be used within an 18 month time span. Please Note: when searching for available hotels, you will not find all availability for the entire 18 months. It will never happen simply because the hotels don't provide availability for that far in advance. Typically most hotels offer availability ***** days in advance. As ******* stated to you on the phone, the inventory changes on a daily basis and more hotel options populate as you continue to check back periodically. So the options you see today, will be different from the options you see in a week or two. As far as calling ****** directly, you would likely reach the front desk whom would not be familiar with the program set up from the higher ups. 
  In response to your upgrade fees, yes, if you upgrade, there are additional fees. But alternatively, there are rooms where you can just book and it's completely complimentary. Then we have what are called trip enhances, where you can extend your stay for more days/nights, or even upgrade your hotel to an ocean view or similar room type. There are many different upgrade options which would be the reason for the additional fees that you state in your complaint. 
  
  Please contact us on our recorded line and we will be more than happy to provide you with for your generous donation to help Dash for ****. ************ 
  We are always happy to help, please call us anytime ******, any of our reps are more than happy to help. All notes are notated on the account when you call and any rep will have access to them when speaking to you. 

  We truly would love the opportunity to serve you and make this a great experience from an amazing fundraiser to help an incredible individual; ****. 
  
  All the Best,

  Vacation Fundraising

  Customer response

  08/17/2023

   
  Complaint: 20373610
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I fully admit to.ceasi g direct communications with the *****************************, registered owner of Vacation Fundraising due to his unwillingness to issue a refund due to false advertising.

  Bottom line is simple: I entered a Silent Auction for a Vacation to the *********** located in ******* with advertised in clear print that the Voucher would Cover upto $316 per night for 3 nights totaling a value of $947.00 at 3 star and higher hotels and the voucher is valid for 18 months. 

  After paying my winning auction bid of $200 with a $9 dollar processing fee via debit card and two days later paying a additional $164.00 ( round about ) , I was than sent a link to view dates.

  The hotels offered that were 3 star hotels all included up charges for ( additional taxes and fees and a additional charge per night ).

  Though after contacting the hotels directly if I would book them myself,  those same rooms offered on the same dates would cost drastically less than the $316 per night and $947.00 total 3 night voucher I had.

  The hotels directly did not know why I was being upcharged when three nights stay with taxes and fees from November 20th - 23rd came out to under $750.00 almost $200 less than my voucher. The same hotel denied that they give rooms away for free as complimentary. I even spoke with the ************ Corporate Offices. 

  The only hotel I was offered free of charge was a 2 star hotel that when I checked the cost with the hotel would have came to a total of $311 dollars for 3 nights and including the taxes and fees.

  False advertising came into effect by not honoring the $947 voucher, Vacation Fundraising claiming they were BBB Accredited, claims that all hotels were 3 star and above.

  Also, my tax and fees paid two days after the raffle, were sent to a private house owned by a ********************* at ********************************************************************* and no Travel Certificate business is registered out of that address. In fact ********************* is living in ****** operating two business with his ***** home being rented out and his ************* Property not holding and businesses tied to the address as well and no additional offices.

  ****************** moves his actual residences around ******* quite often with the Business tied to a P.O. Box And his personal address last known as ****************************************, ** and he makes many ******** posts seeking people from all over to make quick money doing various sales pitches on quick gigs with promises of great money and quick money. 

  It is for this reason and for the false advertising that I do not feel comfortable doing business with ****************** and not to mention he violated State and Local Consumer Rights Laws.

  I waited hoping that ****************** would work this out through the BBB and I, but honestly this type of operation seems not only fraudulent, but I question the legitimate standing with State and ********************* I recently found out they never pulled the required permit with our town of Charlton for the silent auction.

  I understand the BBB can not enforce a refund. If ****************** will not resolve this with a REFUND, than I will draft my arguments professionally with the ********************** and ******* as well as report my beliefs with the *** regarding *************************, Vacation Fundraising, Redeem Vactions and ********************* and his wife ***********

  Thank you.

   

   

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Business response

  09/07/2023

  We apologize for any misunderstandings you may have had with this entire donation process. It seems you have been misinformed & we just want to clarify. 
  
  According to our notes on file, you have not once spoken to the registered owner. However, you have spoken with representatives; ******* & ****** either via text or phone communication. (All of our communication is recorded & documented under your name)
  
  Your accusations of False advertising is uncalled for. 
  When our representatives asked if you read the rule sheet, you reply was "no" (This is on our recorded line) The rule sheet is displayed by the fundraising organization or in some cases a representative to ensure all fundraising guests fully understand how our program works. The rule sheet which says "please read before bidding" you completely ignored. There are also documented pictures from this fundraiser; Dash for **** which was held on 8/6/23 that show the rule sheet was displayed in 3 different places as well as numerous other signs that state to "read rule sheet prior to bidding" Again, you chose to ignore this sign and we truly believe that this is where a number of your misunderstandings come from. In our 5+ years helping connect fundraising organizations with travel agencies, we have very little complaints for being as old as we are trying to spread positivity & help charities raise more donations in their times of need. 
  
  A vacation package has an up to value listed on It. This value is during peak season where they have very high demand. The value listed on the sheet does not state you are able to use $947 worth of hotel, thats not how this program works yesterday, today or anytime for that matter. It will never happen. You have 18 months to use your voucher which means the time you have checked may not have been peak season and the rates may have been considerably lower. This does happen. When hotels are slower, they will drastically Lower their rates to entice guests to stay with them. This is very common and it's a part of them doing business. Hotels have fixed costs and if they kept their daily rates at the same amount all year, they would close for business. They simply can not do this. So again, they do lower their rates to meet market demand. No where on any voucher or anywhere on our website does It say you will be allowed to use up to $947 worth to spend at a hotel of your choice. Now, while you do get your choice between different 3,4 & 5 star hotels, everything is based on availability. What we offer is the ability for fundraising guests to take advantage of what would be empty hotel rooms, hotels rather have a guest in their room instead of keeping It empty. The reasoning for this is because hotels understand that even if they give their hotel room away for free or discounted, they know the likelihood of that guest spending money on their property is very high. So that means the hotel will benefit from guests going to their spa, the restaurant, casino, or staying an extra night or two. All which contribute to the hotels fixed costs. So this is why the program works the way It does. As far as you reaching out to Hilton & Hilton Corporate, they have nothing to do with our programs and wouldn't speak to you on a consumer level about their involvement in giving away free/discounted hotel stays. They also wouldn't be able to discuss availability with you through our program since it's exclusive through the platform only. When calling to speak to a front desk customer service representative at Hilton, it's extremely unlikely that they will have any knowledge of these programs simply because they dont handle these bookings. I hope that makes sense. 
  
  The $209 was processed as a donation for the fundraiser. (Donations to fundraisers are non refundable under any circumstances) which you agreed to by our Terms & conditions as well as many places at the in-person fundraising event for ****. The $164 is taxes & legally can not be paid for by us, you are responsible for your own taxes which again is listed numerous different places. After activating your voucher you're able to view the different options. They do offer what are called "trip enhancers" to enhance your trip, however these are optional & not mandatory. So when you chose a hotel and you saw an upgraded fee, you may have clicked on an upgrade option and didn't realize It. Again sorry for the confusion. 
  As far as the hotel, we do apologize but due to the fact that they are manually updating the hotels, sometimes a 2 star hotel does slip by accidentally. However, after speaking with RedeemVacations they did advise that if any of our guests find a 2 star hotel, to please let them know thru their live chat and they will remove that hotel option from their platform. All hotels are required to be a 3,4 or 5 star rating to be part of this special promotion provided by the travel agency. 
  
  No laws were broken. No fraudulent activity of any kind has been performed. I hope that with this explanation you are better informed and we do still encourage you to reach out to our team who is always more than happy to help all fundraising guests have the most enjoyable experience. Please reach out to us ************. Once again, any of our representatives are able to help since all notes are documented on all files and we have all been granted the same ability to assist you in coming to a positive resolution for this matter. There is a lot of misunderstanding and I hope that you are more informed on how this program works. I will add, new hotels are always joining their platform, so if you don't like something you see today, check back in a week or two and I'm sure you will find something that will be satisfactory for your family. Please keep in mind, you have a full 18 months (1.5 years) to utilize your complimentary voucher that you received for giving a donation to a wonderful fundraiser for *********
  
  All the Best,
  VacationFundraising.org
  
  
  
  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩