I paid cash in the amount of $4044.00 to VNI on 2/6/09. A few days later I looked the up on internet and read bad reviews. I immediately contacted them to cancel because of what I had read. The general manager in Ga told me that people write complaints on Wal Mart, Bank of America, etc. all the time. he told me I had signed a contract and hung up on me.

I sent certified mail to VNI requesting my money back..no response. I contacted my Attorney General (Alabama) and they told me they had talked to the company (they even sent me a copy of the letter VNI had sent them that was singing praises about themselves). My Att Gen would NOT help!!

We gave them a year to find a vacation property for us. They didn't respond to our emails or phone calls for weeks or months at a time. We have finally thrown in the towel and 'written off' the '*** tax' that we paid to them.

Here's a summary of their business model - you decide whether you want to be their customer:

1) Take customer's money upfront (thousands of dollars) with promise of vacation properties all over the world

2) Charge customers annual dues (hundreds of dollars) to be a member of the network

3) Charge customers upfront for vacation properties (hundreds of dollars) then offer them crappy options for vacation properties for dates that don't match the request.

4) Ignore customers' requests for properties for weeks/months at a time

5) Piss customers off so much that they throw up their hands and walk away

My advice, stay away!!

This is a long explanation of the Presentation we experienced, but if you're considering wasting your time at one of their presentations, reading this will be well worth it.

We received a post card in the mail letting us know that we won a 7 night, 8 day trip to Hawaii, Carribean, Las Vegas or Florida (among a few others) - and if we call immediately, we'll receive a $100 Dining Gift Card. It was with VNI, Inc on Hwy 6 @ Memorial Dr in Houston. I made the appointment, did some research and saw that they had an F rating with the BBB ( at several locations that have been open long enough to have a rating) as well as an AG investigation. I also saw several issues and complaints through pissedconsumer and ripoffreport.

We went on 2/20/2010 with an open mind but loaded with the information. We'd like their side of the story as to why they have an F rating. After listening to the one-hour presentation which was condensed into 35-40 minutes, I asked (at the end of the session) "why do you have an F rating with the BBB?", the presenter immediately said "that must not be us", I then pulled out the Contact Us page that I printed from their website that had their address on it and said "The Sandy Spring Georgia address is what's listed on the webisite and with the BBB statement here". Instead of explaining what issues they had, he got very defensive and explained that everybody such as Sprint or AT&T has a negative report with BBB and/or Rippoffreport. I explained that they also have millions of customers - you have a state investigation pending with the Attorney General and an F rating. He then asked me why I came then; I explained that I wanted to see for myself what the deal was and of course for the free trip/Dining Card. He then called me a "Freeloader", the sales people immediately started pulling the clients into private rooms. He left momentarily then came back with our certificate and "Dining Card" and exclaimed "Get your *** out of here" - I replied that I feel everyone here should know what you guys are up to then he said "go on and get your Fat Ass out of here, Freeloader". We simply walked out arguing with the guy all the way out the door. After further review, we know why he got so defensive.

The $100 Dining Gift Card - it's a Restaurant.com Discount Card to limited restaurants. Basically, if you spend $200 total, you get $100 off excluding alcohol.

The Vacation: Not Free - You have to send in a regstration card with $19.95, wait for the response then send in $398 for the travel certificates to cover fees. All fees must be paid by Money Order or Cashiers Check. When you send in the $398 there is no guarantee of where you will go or if your dates will be available (you have to submit 3 sets of dates not within 7 days of a national holiday). When your dates are accepted then you are sent your tickets and confirmation - btw, you have to pay $25 per night to cover Taxes, Gratuities and Surcharges. Total is almost $600 (not bad for 2 with airfare & 7 nights) but I don't know if I'm willing to send a money order or cashiers check to find out I'm scammed.

Now, here's the deal with Vacation Network, they say you will have access to Time Shares and Resorts around the world without buying one. Anyone can always buy membership for $9, 995 one time membership fee and $295 Registration Fee. After That it's $299 per year plus $499 per week for one bedroom accommodations and $699 per week for 2 bedroom accommodations. For the $9, 995, you are allowed 3 weeks per year and unlimited "excess inventory" weeks ($399 per week). If you signed up at the presentation, you get 5 weeks for your $9, 995 and 3 weeks for $7, 995 (plus the weekly rates and annual fees). You don't have to pay for your weeks if you don't use them. It would take a lot of of weeks to get your $9, 995 investment back even at $499 per week.

Good luck everyone, I'd love to hear if anyone actually went on the "free" trip.

First of all I would like to say, we have toddler. If anyone has traveled with a very active toddler they know how hard it is to do. On top of that my husband lost 75% of his hours at work due to the economy. This I explained to the sales person that so diligently called my home during dinner on Feb. 8, 2009. As a good sales person they continued to try to sell even though it was obvious that there was no way we could buy food and pay for vacations.

I tried to be as nice as possible, but got nowhere. So, I hung up on miss Erica from Vacation Network. She then immediately called me back. I am thinking 'What do they want from me!' She proceeded to tell me to gather my husband and 'kid' and 'Go To H*ll!' She's calling MY home telling ME to go to h*ll??? All I am trying to do is put food on the table, and I am suppose to go to hell??? What kind of heartless, soulless people do they hire anyways??

Then when you try to call them back you can't because the number comes on with a message saying I am calling a non-working number. Place sounds like a scam to me if you can't even call them back. After doing some searching I found their phone number an what do you know they had nothing to say. HHHMMMM!

It starts with a CraigsList posting of "Mystery Shopper in Alpharetta"... from KHall Marketing & More (Krystal Hall = [email protected]) touting the following:

We are still sending in "secret shoppers" to a Travel club to aid us in determining if they are a good fit for our company to work with long-term. Would you be able to attend a 60 minute presentation this weekend over in Alpharetta? You'll receive a Free Vacation from the actual Travel club just for showing up, but you will also receive a $50 cash payment from my company for providing us feedback of your experience.

Offering "complimentary vacations for two" as a "gift" (or a chance to win a plasma television, etc.)

Yeah, no sales pitch, my a$$!!

I've yet to receive an e-mail message back from Ms. Hall of my inquiry of completing the "survey" originally mentioned, let alone the $50 that I will NEVER see.

If you have already experienced this hard-sell schpiel, feel free to contact Vacation Network at 770-538-6202. Ask for Teddy (MANAGER of the travel office)!!

Later today, Friday December 1st, 2006, I will contact the Georgia Attorney General's office as well as the Georgia State Office of Consumer Affairs to file complaints. There are people who participate in market research surveys who shouldn't fall prey to these folks.

Good luck and keep reporting those scoundrels!!