While working for a Retirement Community here in Texas, we received a fax,on June 27, 2008, just like the one others received while they were at work.

Memo

To: All Employess

From: HR Dept.

Re.: Wholesale Vacation Packages

Reply To: Booking and Reservations at 1 800 679-3965 (This # doesn't even ring anymore today).

Supposedly, a vacation package at a wholesale rate to either Cancun, Mexico or Mayan Riviera for 6 days & 5 nights for only $361.00 pp. You choose your dates. Packages are open dated & valid for 1 full year.

So....I thought this was a great deal and I must be honest, I was skeptical. I also thought that it sounded too good to be true. So, I called the Booking & Reservations # to inquire.

June 2008: Spoke to John Moore at ext. 311. He told me his direct line is 800 731-2470. He somehow managed to convince me that this is legit so I went ahead and told him I was interested in the package. I asked him if they have a website. He told me it's lowestpricecancun.com. Gave him my credit card information. He then passed me on to a lady named Rachel who reviewed the charge over the phone. The whole conversation was being recorded. Told her that I will call & book my trip once I have my passport in place. Rachel then said that she will send me an e-ticket that I need to sign. I signed and authorized a charge of $798.00 which I was told is non-refundable. Faxed the signed copy back to (407) 363-1782.

October 2008: Called (407) 472-3320. This number was listed on the e-ticket as their Customer Service # to call to begin the Reservation process. Phone rang and rang then a recording came on. I was on hold for a very long time. Finally...spoke to Elisse. I tried to book my trip for April 2009. Elisse told me to call back in November. Too soon book. Reservations have to be made 6 months out. She said she can't access reservations this far out.

November 2008: Called several times. Phone just rings & rings. Sometimes I get frustrated I just hang up. Called again several times, same thing. When someone finally picked up, she told me that I should receive a call from Manjie. She is supposedly the Rep that will be handling my reservation. Never got a call back.

December 2008: Got really busy with the holidays and didn't get a chance to call them back right away. Still haven't heard from Manjie. Called them again late in December. Finally got someone to pick up the phone. Gave them my April dates. I was told that the week of the 12th-17th is a holiday. There will be additional charges if I travel on those dates. Something like $300 more pp. I then said, ok, how about the 13th-18th. Same thing. I wish I was told this back in November. Now I'll have to pick out new dates and call them back again and they're so hard to get a hold off. Just getting them to pick up their phones is so frustrating in itself.

January 2009: Called the same 407 #. Got a recording that says, all circuits are busy, try again. Tried calling them all day long. Finally got them to pick. Again, the lady that answered the phone, told me that in 2 minutes, a lady named Sheila will call me back. 1 hour passed, no call from Sheila. I started getting more concerned about this vacation. I called them back, ring, ring ring, held for a very long time. Finally, I was transferred to Sheila. Not a friendly person at all. Gave her my new dates. April 18th-25th. Sheila said that this is peak season and travel on these dates will cost an additional $200 pp. I just sighed and asked her, ok, I am interested in the Cancun/Bel Air hotel. She said that the hotel is not available. I said, well what about the The Krystal. Not available either. She said I can stay at the Omni Cancun for an additional $299 (not sure if this is pp). By this time, I am already very irritated by all this. So I asked her, so when can I travel where I don't get charged more than what I already paid? She said after May 8th and only until June, after that there will be additional costs again and not to mention, I only have until July to travel. Apparently May to June is hurricane season. I told her I'd have to call her back.

Talked to my husband. He said just go ahead and book for any date after May 8. So I called back. This has taken my whole day already. Talked to Sheila again (she was still very unfriendly). I told her I'm interested in traveling after May 8. She said that she can't tell me if they have any availabilities in May because she doesn't have the dates yet. I asked her what do you mean you don't have the dates? She said, she can't access those dates at this time so I'll have to call again, say, next mont or closer to May. I couldn't believe it. I told Sheila...forget the whole thing. I told her it would be easier if I just booked my own vacation. I told her I want to cancel the whole thing. She quickly reminded me that the charge is non refundable. I told her that I know and I will no longer deal with them and I will just deal with my credit card company.

March 2009: I started communicating with Sheila Fields via e-mail. I wanted her to answer the following questions:

1. WHEN I can travel at no additional cost? (No peak season rates)

2. WHERE (4-5 star resort) can I stay at no additional cost? (No hotel upgrades)

3. Is there really a TIMESHARE PRESENTATION that I need to attend which is not stated in the contract?

Sheila refuses to answer any of my questions. I have e-mails to prove this.

I also found these articles about this company:

cbsnews.com/stories/…main699245.shtml

ripoffreport.com/reports/…RipOff0327366.htm

junkfax.org/fax/…TravelcommInsideStory.htm

myfloridalegal.com/lit_ec.nsf/investigations…

…justia.com/cases/…

www.rfcexpress.com/lawsuit.asp?id=38936

…fcc.gov/edocs_public/…DA-05-1090A1.pdf

www.orlando.bbb.org/codbrep.html…

www.orlando.bbb.org/codbrep.html…

This company has operated under the following names:

Canadian Travel

Cancun Adventures, Inc.

Cancun All Inclusive.NET

cancunbestfares

cancunonsale.com

Cheapticketscancun

Choosecancun.com

I.R.R.

International Resort Reservations

Island Reef Resorts (Vacation Offer)

Mexico Marketing, LLC

Mxresorts or Mexico Marketing LLC

Patriot Travel

Priceline Cancun (Vacation Offer)

Travelcomm

Travelcomm Industries

Vacations Inc.

Vacations IV

Vacations, Inc.

Your Cancun Reservations

your cancun vacation

yourcancunvacation.com

To this day, they continue defrauding people out of their hard earned money. How can this continue to happen?

They now operate under this name:

Cancun Mexican Bureau of Travel & Tourism aka CMBTT

So....I just got back from Cancun after using CMBTT. No problems checking in. Transportation was set up through Cancun Travel Now and was at the airport waiting for us. I had called the hotel before arriving and I had a confirmation and all went smoothly. Not sure if I got lucky, but it wasn't s scam. I will not use them again though only because of all the scam stories out there. I must have just gotten lucky or something. Anyway, good luck!

Welcome back! Glad to hear that the trip is not a total scam after all. I never thought they were a total scam in the sense that the trip didn't exist. The scam is that you end up paying more than you bargained for in the beginning. They get more money from you for hotel upgrades and peak season fees, not to mention that a lot of people said that the accomodations are bad. I've read stories from travelers who had to sleep with iguanas in their bedroom. Anyway, glad to hear that you made it back fine. I'd love to hear about your accomodations. Where did you stay? Do you have pictures of the hotel and your hotel room? Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Did you have to attend the timeshare presentation? How was that? If you don't mind and if you have some time to spare, I'd love to hear more. Thanks again.

Well, we kind of changed things, but not because where we stayed was bad (Bel Air), but because we liked the next place we saw better. So, we got to our hotel, was not amazing at all, but it was decent. We stayed one night and had one meal (good). The next morning we went to the presentation...it lasted more than the 90 minutes, but it turned out we were more interested in the time share than we thought (mostly because we were hoping to get upgraded to the hotel where the presentation was-and we did). So we moved to the other hotel (Sunset Royal). We were very pleased to be there. Bel Air wasn't bad, but the place we ended up in was better. If you don't want to waste your time just be honest when you go to the presentation and let them know that...they will probably keep it shorter. If you are interested in a time share, ask for Rodolfo...he was our rep and he was really great! Hope that helps! Safety was not an issue and the bus is super cheap and super easy!

Also...I think you're right, not a total scam, but I probably paid more than I should have so that's another reason why I am glad we got the upgrade. I think I paid $700 and then another $300 to get upgraded to an adults only place and then $99 per person (there were 2 of us) for some tax thing....total was $1200.

Hey...Thanks for taking the time to write. I'm sure you're busy catching up after the trip. I have until July to book this trip and my husband and I pretty much decided not to waste our time anymore with this company. But we can't get our money back so it's like $800 down the drain if we don't go. Your experience gives me some hope. I guess I can reconsider my decision...but now...with the swine flu...maybe this trip is just not meant to be for me. It seems something is stopping me from taking this trip (plus....I've filed all kinds of complaints against this company, they'll probably book a room for me in Mexico jail..Hahahaha!!!!I'm just so glad that you are back home safe. Thanks again for sharing! Can't wait to share your story to my husband and see what he thinks. I'll let you know, ok.

I work for a telecommunications company and monitor 6 regions of the country where we receive faxed orders. I have been trashing these faxes for years. They come in about 10 times a day. I am sure thousands of people get sucked in by these ads for cheap vacations. My only advise if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.....

Do you have the numbers and emails. I am going through the message board looking now, because I am in the same boat.

OK. I guess I got scammed exactly the same way like all of you guys here. What do I do now? I just tried to call all the numbers and nothing happens. I guess I will try sandoshotel@gmail.com. Can I get a copy of the original fax from one of you so I can pass it to my work authorities and begin the official legal complain. I promise I will get them. I have succeeded before.