30 Aug, 2021 → by ClaimboUser675652
Deceptive Marketing Practices and Straight out Lying

1

On August 18, 2021 at approximately 10:30 a.m., I received a call from "Mark" [protected]) a 3rd party vendor that Spinnaker Resorts HIRES to make their sales cold calls to sell their $249 special to visit Hilton Head for 8 days/7nights and then a 2nd trip is offered along with $100 voucher upon arrival and a $125 check to do what I'd like with and it is made out to me personally.  I specifically said to "Mark" that I did not want to initially go to Hilton Head but I would be interested if you could get me to Nashville, TN, in October 2021, instead.  Mark said he could not tell me one way or the other but he transferred me to '"Monica Harris" in the Rewards Department and she could confirm if Nashville was available or a possibility.  After discussing what I had mentioned to Mark about my location request, Monica said that we could absolutely go to Nashville and provided 8-10 resorts for me to review.  I told them I was travelling with a group of 5 women in October 2021 and needed to run the resorts passed the group for approval.   Mark and Monica then called me back about 6 times over the course of the day to see if I decided which of the 8-10 resorts in Nashville I was interested in.  I was told since it is more than 60 days out, they could confirm a stay but if it is less than 60 days it would be on availability basis only.  Finally, on or about the 6th call from [protected] for a total of almost 59 minutes, I reconfirmed a minimum of 4 times that I can stay with  my guests for a total of 5 people in a suite that we would book at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention center in Nashville, TN.  Monica now transferred me to "Charles Holt" in the Verification Department and we confirmed that I would not be using the Hilton Head trip until my 2nd trip sometime in the future and we verified that Gaylord resort in Nashville, TN for the dates in October 2021 would be my first trip.  Charles Holt also confirmed that we would be staying at the Gaylord resort.  In fact, during one of those 6 calls, Monica provided a few more resorts for my group to consider and two of them were Wyndham resorts.  This should have been a red flag for me but I missed it!  Why would Wyndham Resorts be part of their vacation package.  She even said, oh resort X, I told you about earlier, has no availability so here are a few more to consider.  I believe Monica was just researching any resorts in Nashville and giving me the names as I learned later, Spinnaker does not even have any resorts in the Nashville area at all.  So she very comfortably lied and misled me with no hesitation. I had asked both Mark and Monica if there was a number I could call them back at once we reviewed all the resorts they had provided but I was told that they could only make outgoing calls.  When they did call back, it was the same number a few times  and other numbers for the other calls but the numbers were non working numbers when I tried to make the call.  In fact, when I called one of those numbers back the next day, after receiving the letter, it was an adult hotline        [protected]) .  So clearly they are using VOIP and not providing legitimate numbers. At this point, I confirmed at least 4 times that the Nashville trip  would be at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center and Charles now said "we need to go through the legal recording, just say yes to all the questions and please do not interrupt during this recording."  I interrupted him at that point and said "but we are confirming Nashville, right? "  He said, "yes but for legal reasons I need you to just answer yes to the questions so that I can confirm you are purchasing the special of $249 for your 2nd trip to Hilton Head."  Foolishly, I should have interrupted during that recorded call and said "No, you said the 1st trip would be to Nashville!" but I believed both of the people who confirmed the Nashville trip several times.  I paid my $249 and was told I would receive a confirmation email within 72 hours. Lo and behold within 24 hours I received a confirmation email from the marketing department of Spinnaker Resorts confirming a trip to Hilton Head with no dates and never discussing Nashville, TN anywhere in this form letter! Therefore, Spinnaker Resorts is very comfortable with a 3rd party vendor who performs the cold calling misrepresenting their company and outright lying and making deceptive statements to potential customers.  Spinnaker did offer to refund my $249  and I accepted (although it can take 7-20 days to receive the refund but 5 minutes to take the funds from my credit card) but the point is the Vendor who is calling on  behalf of Spinnaker is deceptive and telling outrageous lies to get the sale and Spinnaker still continues to employ this vendor. I spoke with "Richard" in the marketing department at Spinnaker and he refunded the fee but said "So now that you have your refund what do you really want me to do?"   He also said "Spinnaker does not even have any properties in Nashville so we can not or could not have offered you a stay in Nashville, TN!!  Keep in mind, their vendor easily misled me  to believe the opposite. Since I am a timeshare owner with another company, I specifically asked Monica that  since "my husband will not be joining me on this trip, do I need a Power of Attorney on his behalf to attend your tour?"  She actually said "No, we allow single women to attend the tours but we DO NOT allow single men to attend the tours!"  I said "no that can not possibly be true!" and she confirmed yes, "We as women can attend alone but men can not, isn't that crazy!"  THAT IS WHAT SHE SAID!!!  I know that timeshare sales practices typically require both a husband and wife, if they are married to make financial decisions together so  I tried to confirm that I did not need a POA  if my husband was not attending so I thought I was asking the right questions! Again, she was lying and she knew it and Spinnaker allowed these lies to take place. Again, is Spinnaker Resorts fine with the deceptive sales/marketing tactics in order to get their $249 and the potential customer on the sales tour?  Apparently, the answer is YES.    I asked if I can be given the name of the 3rd party vendor but they said they  have to research to get that information by my Verification Number will be able to tell them which of their vendors made the call.   I also told Richard of  the marketing department that I would expect this vendor to be fired immediately for these deceptive sales practices and lies. I anticipate hearing back early next week from the Marketing Director to determine how Spinnaker is going to handle this matter internally!   This is just poor business practices at a minimum allowed by Spinnaker.  It is now one week since I was told I would receive my refund and a call back specifically from the Marketing Director to "get to the bottom of this call and for them to determine which of their vendors is lying to their customers" and I have yet to receive a return phone call.  However, I have received my refund.    I will continue to  hunt down the right person within Spinnaker and be a thorn in their side to get to the bottom of these deceptive practices by this 3rd party vendor who needs to be exposed. Thank goodness my group had tentatively booked an Airbnb for our Nashville trip and did not cancel that reservation after the call with the Spinnaker lying vendor. SPINNAKER HAS NOT RESPONDED IN ANY WAY TO SAY THEY ARE UNHAPPY WITH THESE PRACTICES!  I even mentioned to "Richard" in the marketing department that I would be going to social media with this story and his response was "that it didn't matter what I did that all my comments would only circle back to him to deal with and I would NOT be accomplishing much."  Therefore, I will make sure I can get the word out NOT TO TRUST A SALES CALL REGARDING SPINNAKER RESORTS.  From the comments I read, the 90 minute tour at one of the resorts that the  certificate covered also had terrible sales tactics as well.  My advice is don't fall for these deceptive practices as Spinnaker does not care how poorly they are being represented by the 3rd party vendors that they employ! As an unrelated but interesting side note, I most likely received this cold call because I was searching on my computer the night before to see if my timeshare or others sites had resorts in Nashville and I probably signed up with my true  information in order to get information and my personal information was sold within that 12-18 hour period before I was called from this scummy 3rd party which is why is wasn't totally coincidental that I received this sales call about a trip and I was looking to book a trip!!!
Helpfull? 0 likes

Post your comment:



Do you want to help? Probably you've just been in a similar situation, know the solution and want to help? Perhaps you are just a kind person who has advice on the merits. Please write your comment — you can do a good breed.

If you are actual Representative of Spinnaker Resorts you can contact the user using the comment form and help resolve the situation. The user can always mark his complaint as "resolved". Maintain your brand image, it is FREE.
Copyright © 2024 CLAIMBO.COM. All rights reserved.