I went to the presentation, heard the schpeal for about 2 hours, I should have walked away immediately, but I have a really hard time telling "NO" to anybody. I ended up buying a bare minimum package, 7 weeks for $2500 and they let me trade in my "free" cruise for an 8th week. They will tell you ANYTHING to get you to commit to a package, keep in mind also that if you get cold feet as I did, you can cancel within 3 days time. I think the law actually states a month, but don't push your luck. They talked me down promising that if I didn't like the program I could get a full refund, which ended up total bullcrap! The hotel I went to was nice, nothing slummy or fancy, but the part that I think is BS is they tell you that every week you buy will sleep 4 people and that just isn't true. Unless you can actually picture 2 of your grown adult friends sharing a pull-out or rollaway bed in a hotel room. The all-inclusives all carry $70/day/person mandatory meal-service, which is what a normal resort charges in the Caribbean so why not just go there instead? The part I feel the most regret about is that you have to plan/book everything 90 days in advance to get what you want, otherwise you're taking your chances with the Excess Invetory, which is just like the Island of Misfit Toys, it's the "leftovers." If you're someone who routinely makes travel plans and commitments that far in advance then this might be a value for you, but it's a miserable program for a single person who likes to book things a month or so in advance. Feel free to contact me if you have other ?s, I really wish I could "undo" this but once again I got burned by being a little too trusting. I could sue them, sure. They're in PA, so unless you have a cousin lawyer who wants to waste their time on it, you're not going to touch them. Writing this commentary is about the only recourse I'll ever have, and helping people not get sold something they don't want/need would be my biggest pleasure to save you from my experience. The way I see it, if you really want to take a vacation, the economy is so bad right now that you can go just about anywhere you want as cheap as you can with this company, and not have all the restrictions and "gotchas" and you'll appreciate the flexibility. Vacation prices are going to stay cheap a long time, it's the fuel costs in getting there there probably won't get any cheaper over time. Good luck! SH

After being scammed into a vacation package deal with Tan Vacations, Sundance Vacations, now I am being harrassed at all hours of the day and night by their financer, TRI STATE FINANCIAL. They call me at least 5-6 times a day from an unknown number, and as long as they don't initially leave a message, they can call me as many times as they want. I've already been called from local private numbers from them in my area, and when I asked them how they are calling from local private numbers, they say that they do not know what I'm talking about. They called my husband's sister and harrassed her into giving them information about us. I refuse to give them another dime, cause I was scammed out of $1200 already. If someone has any suggestions to get this company off my back, please email me at [email protected] Thanks.

Deputy Attorney General, Nicholas Kant, of the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, has sanctioned Sundance Vacations for violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A., 56:8-1 et seq. ("CFA") and/or the regulations promulgated thereunder, N.J.A.C. 13:34A-1.1 et seq ("CFA" Regulations), have been or are being committed by Sundance Vacations.

http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/ocp/orders/Sundance.pdf

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First, Sundance Vacations is not a scam. They sell wholesale weeks of vacations at a price, that in some cases, is lower than what you would pay retail. There are other limitations that will drive the cost higher than retail.

With that being said, please allow me to explain the Sundance experience. After being called many times by their telemarketing department, you finally agree to attend a “one hour” presentation. Plan on spending 1.5 to two hours at the facility. When you arrive you check in and are escorted into a presentation room. The presentation lasts between 45 minutes and 1 hour. The will attempt to explain how much money you can save by using them for your vacation accommodations. They will first give you a price for 25 weeks of vacations. But, if you buy “today only, ” they add in another 5 weeks of vacations and lower the price by $5, 000.00. At the time of this writing, the 30 weeks of vacations is $15, 000.00. That equates to $500.00 per week. However, if you plan on traveling during Peak season (which seems to be almost all the time), Holidays, or Special events, you spend an additional $30.00 per night. That's another $270.00 per week. Finally, you must pay an additional $99.00 to book the week. Add it all up and you are spending $869.00 for your accommodations. That equals $124.15 per night. Now you still might think that's a good price for a condo for a week. Oh, before I forget, they claim you can get additional additional bedrooms for another $30.00 per night. Since they claim the condos will sleep up to 4, if you want 5 or 6 people, you spend another $270.00 making your cost $1139.00. That's $162.71 per night. Now, I can book two hotel rooms in peak season for approximately $60.00 per night per room. That's $120.00 for two rooms. Multiply that by 7 nights and the cost is $840.00 plus taxes. Assuming a tax of 7% you spend an additional $58.80. Total cost - $898.00. By not using Sundance, I save $241.00.

Next you are escorted into a room by a salesperson. After a recap of the presentation, they ask you to buy. In my opinion, don't do it. They will go get a “manager” who will show you a smaller package at a “lower” price. When you do the math, it's still $500.00 per week with all the additional cost described above. Again, in my opinion, don't do it. Finally they escort you to yet another sales person who will attempt to sell you something even smaller. In the end, the real costs remain the same.

Sundance also offers their “Excess Inventory.” These are weeks in locations where they have not booked their properties. They offer them at $198.00 per week. This is a good deal.

But let's talk about quality. Sundance's guarantee states that your accommodations will be “clean, comfortable, convenient.” Not a bad thing. Further they state, “If your accommodations do not meet these standards, simply contact TAN's Total Vacation Services department to request a replacement vacation week be added to your account. Your additional vacation week is, however, subject to the usual reservation fees/procedures.” In other words, you pay another $30.00 per night for additional bedrooms, another $30 per night for Peak, Holidays, and Special Events, and another $99.00 to book the week. That's another $639.00 out of your pocket because they can't clean their rooms.

Next lets talk about the actual accommodations. They claim that each condo will sleep 4. Two in a bed and two on a hide-a-bed. I have first hand personal experience in one of their “condos.” I stayed at the Sandbars on Cape Cod. Yes, the room was clean. However, it was just that, a room. It had a bed, but no hide-a-bed. There was a small, well equipped kitchen with a very small counter you could sit at. The counter was barely big enough for two. It was claimed to be an “efficiency” condo. To me, it was a motel room with a kitchen. I've stayed at motels with large floor space than this with the same quality, comfort and convenience. Only spent less money.

Last, let's talk about ethics. During the presentation they claim it's a today only special. That's a bunch of cow pies. Their policy is that they cannot sell to the same person if they have been to a previous presentation in the last 6 months. If someone attends 6 months and one day after their presentation, they can sell them a package. In other words, they lied. Further, the target market, as it was explained to me, is low to medium income people who cannot afford to take many vacations. Hmm … people have to spend more money, but cannot afford to take vacations anyways. Just doesn't seem right. Also, what about the hidden cost of having to finance the cost to enroll. Spend even more money they cannot afford. I'll leave it up to you to determine if this is ethical behavior.

By now, you may be asking yourself, “How does he know this?” Easy, I worked for Sundance Vacations. I'm Sorry to all of you who bought from me. I needed to make a living. I'm not proud of what I did. Hopefully this will prevent others from making a mistake.

The Better Business Bureau has revoked Sundance Vacations' business accreditation for violations of the BBB's accreditation standards.

The following link will offer verification:

http://www.bbb.org/wisconsin/business-reviews/travel-agencies-and-bureaus/sundance-vacations-in-brookfield-wi-6000212/

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