ComplaintsforVacations Made Easy

• Initial Complaint

  12/13/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I booked a hotel room through Vacations Made Easy for a special weekend in Williamsburg, VA with my daughter. I chose the Comfort Suites. When ordering the rooms I picked to have the voucher for the room sent by email. What I got was directions to pick up the voucher at a business in Williamsburg. I called to see if I could just have them send me the voucher and to check and make sure the room was non-smoking since the itinerary that accompanied the directions just said non-smoking preferred. The young lady said I had to pick up the voucher and confirmed the entire Comfort Suites is non-smoking. My daughter and I arrived at the resort and had to wait in two lines to get our voucher. The second young man did not know what to do with a Vacations Made Easy reservations and the manager had to get our vouchers. It took a long time and she handed us an additional itinerary and a voucher. The itinerary said Comfort Suites, so I assumed the vouchers did too. When we arrived at the Comfort Suites we were told that they did not have a reservation for us. When we looked at the vouchers, they read Sleep Inn, which was across the parking lot and we would have to take it up with VME. I called and they said the only solutions were to cancel the booking or stay at the Sleep Inn and they would give me a 10% discount. Neither solution was acceptable. The price differential was more than the $19.99 she was offering and I did not relish the though of having to find another hotel over my phone. This was the path I chose and luckily the Comfort Suites had a room, but I have not gotten confirmation of the booking being cancelled and I may have to get my credit card company involved to dispute the charges. The clerk at the Comfort Suites said this is not the first time this has happened. It is a classic bait and switch and should not be allowed to happen any more!

  Business response

  12/22/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/12/13) */ At Vacations Made Easy we sell lodging to both the Comfort Suites and the Sleep Inn I'm not sure what happened, but we refunded this customer on 12/12/2021 at 7:29am sometimes it can take up to 72 hours for the Credit Card Company's to reflect this. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused the customer.

• Initial Complaint

  11/08/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In Sept 27th 2021, 4 tickets for a Hatfield Mccoy dinner show were purchased on my PayPal account. I was sent an email about the purchase , but I didn't read it until Sept 29th. At that time I connected PayPal for a refund. Was denied because of the terms of purchase with vacations made easy. And because at home in MI, I have purchased tickets to other venues and PayPal feels this is something I would go see, was their reasoning for denial. I then contacted vacations made easy on Sept 30th (I think) about this. I sent an email and got no reply. I then called and was sent to 2 different people and told they couldn't help but would have someone call. After 3 days, I called again and told same thing. After a few days, not sure how many but more then 5, a supervisor called me and informed me that I was not entitled to a refund because they had already gotten paid, they had saved the seats, and made a meal for those 4 seats. So I wasn't due a refund. I then contacted a company called Norton shopping guarantee, and they contacted vacations made easy. Who are now saying it's past their refund time as per their terms of service. And I couldn't get a refund because the tickets were purchased within a 48 hour time period before the show, which is in their "no refund due" time frame. So even if I had read the email before the dinner show, I wouldn't have been given a refund, no matter what. So the things have happened. I'm not due a refund because the tickets were purchased within their 48 hr no refund window. They had take and cooked, so no refund. (Even though I feel if tickets weren't picked up they shouldn't have held table or cooked the meals).They used up my time frame that I asked for refund by not calling me back within a timely manner. And now they are just citing their terms of service and refusing a refund, even a partial refund. I also find out that they charged me 316.00 for 4tickets, when going to venue and buying 4tickets would be roughly 260.

  Business response

  11/19/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/11/11) */ Ms ******* order was placed online on 9/27/2021 for a show date of 9/28/2021. The first contact we had after that was on 10/11/2021 via email approximately 13 days after her show, we then spoke with her again on 10/18/2021 and explained that we had already been billed for her tickets. If her PayPal account has been used without her consent she should be contacting or filling a complaint against Paypal? The phone number used when the order was placed is the number she provided above? Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2021/11/14) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I contacted PayPal on Sept 27th as soon as I was notified by email. Hello, ****** ****** PayPal About the case you submitted We recently received your unauthorized activity case submission. Thank you for alerting us to this possible unauthorized activity. We'll review your case and then get back to you within 9 days or less. Here are the details of the one or more transactions you didn't recognize or had issues with: Transaction ID: XXXX Transaction date: September 27, 2021 Transaction amount: $314.53 USD It took them 3 days to get back to me. They decided that it wasn't fraud because i have bought previous tickets to shows in MI. After denial i sent email to vacation Co and got no response.I then emailed again and called, was told supervisor would call me.That took several days.I then was out of their time frame to get money back.i did not buy these tickets! I was in MI, why would I buy tickets for a dinner show in TN? I did take the steps that I should have. By contacting PayPal didst. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2021/11/15) */ Again if your PayPal account was used without your consent and they are not willing to help, I can only assume that they don't believe it was done without your consent. You should cancel your PayPal account immediately, and file your complaint with the BBB against PayPal.

• Initial Complaint

  10/22/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I purchased tickets to an event on accident online via the website. I called them within 5 minutes of the error and they said they would charge me a 35% fee of my $64.32 if I wanted a refund or could only get a credit. I do not live in Tennessee and do not want a credit. I want my money back. This is a ridiculous practice. Horrible company! Order # XXXXXXX. Done this evening 10/21/21. $64.32 total. 2 tickets to Anakeesta.

  Business response

  11/19/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2021/11/11) */ Ms *****, placed her order online on 10/21/2021 at 6:46 pm. We have no record of her refund request. However she picked up her tickets on 11/6/2021 at 5:24 pm and went to the Anakeesta show on 11/7/2021. We sincerely hope they enjoyed the show. Consumer Response /* (2000, 9, 2021/11/12) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) At this point, I did pick up my vouchers. It's false advertising to say tickets because you have to pick up vouchers in Sevierville. Then when you get to the park you have to stand in the regular ticket line to exchange them for actual tickets. They do not sell tickets. They sell wasted time. It would have literally been better to simply get the tickets at the ticket booth upon arrival at Anakeesta. I hope that I can potentially save someone from going through this by reading this review. DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS COMPANY!

• Initial Complaint

  10/18/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They charged us 50 dollars more than sale price for two dinner and a show tickets so instead of paying 106 dollars they charged us 155 dollars for them to make our experience more complicated and stressful than buying from the theater. We bought them on 9/7 and we were charged on the 8th. The customer service department made me cry I've never been spoken to so rudely. Her information didn't match the information on the emails and it didn't even process until after the show was done so we weren't even sure if we had bought the tickets or not because it wanted us to print something we didn't have access to.. We had to call the actual theater who was able to find a reservation for us after 20 minutes. To top it off they sold me tickets to the worst dinner and a show imaginable with gross food and entertainers that were 80+ years old that had a career 40 years ago in the music industry as they claim to fame and not popular musicians either. Any attempt to get a refund was ignored.

  Business response

  10/29/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/10/18) */ Mrs ****** purchased online from our website. We are a third party and do not put on the show nor do we prepare the food. Although hundreds of people do go and enjoy this show each week. I will listen to this call to see how she was treated by our agent, hopefully it was not as egregious as the rude and insensitive way in which she speaks about the performers and there ages. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2021/10/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) You responded defensively over the fact that I critiqued the performance and food, albeit I understand that your third party company does not perform nor do you prepare the food, you are responsible for selling the tickets. Which in your previous statement between criticizing me in my initial complaint you failed to justify the 50 dollar upcharge. 150% markup for a service to make it easier on the consumer while your company only made my purchase difficult. The dinner theater even stated it should have only been a 106 dollar fee. I would also like to mention that nowhere when purchasing my tickets was it explicitly stated that I was buying from a third party. In fact your company made it appear as if I was buying directly from the business theater and I didn't learn I would be dealing with a third party until I got an email stating that I had done so. You also lacked a reason for the fact that I didn't get clarification on my order when I called, and that your website didn't state I had purchased my tickets until after the show, and that I had to circumvent your company in order to get any information. Thank you for responding to my initial complaint before you had even listened to my conversation with your rude representative.

• Initial Complaint

  10/18/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I ordered two tickets for General ******* cruise in Nashville. Per instructions I has to go to this address to pick up tickets which was the Wynndam hotel. I drove 45 minutes to get there and they were closed, but I had checked and site said open. Then I found out that they have you listen to some kind of speech trying to sell something. I called right away and canceled my tickets.It was within the 48 hr to cancel. I was told very nasty that I was within the 48 hr to cancel but I would only get 100% on a voucher for future use or they keep 65% of the charge for tickets. I was unaware of this and the rep said it was on their website. I had to buy 2 more tickets at the ticket window to go on cruise. I did so because I told them to cancel. I just received ny credit card statement and was charged. I feel this is not right and I contacted my credit card. I feel a refund should be issued. It is just a scam to try and sell something. They should have been open!

  Business response

  10/27/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/10/18) */ This customer purchased tickets on our website on 10/02/21. We sent detailed instructions about where to pick up there vouchers, these instructions include the hours of the pick up center (M-Th 8:00 am to 430pm) There is not "some kind of speech" that is required to pick up tickets. She did contact us two days before her show to cancel and we explained policy to her. She refused to make a choice and told the agent she was doing a chargeback on her credit card and hung up. We are awaiting the status of her charge back. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2021/10/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I feel like they should give me a refund. I was there at the right time according to my phone. I looked up directions and I checked the time. The agent that I talked to was very rude, arguing with me. I did not use their service so I deserve a refund. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2021/10/19) */ The consumer called us on 10/11/2021 at 6:06 pm to say Welcome Center wasn't open, this was an hour and half after it closed at 4:30. This was also two days before her scheduled event, she could have picked up tickets next day. Our agent explained the two options she had per our terms and conditions, she refused to pick and said she would contact her Credit Card co.

*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. ↩