I wish I had looked up complaints before I bothered. I had a company come to "show" me a vaccuum, which I was told is a "clean air system". I was promised that I would not have to buy anything, just give my honest opinion of their product, and in return I would receive a free vacation. OKAY! We don't have much money so I figure what the heck--great deal, right? Wrong! After being accosted by these salesmen for two hours we finally got our vacation certificate and kicked them out of the house. But the certificate was as much trouble as the salesmen were. Forget about getting a vacation from these people. Worldwide Travel Center is a joke. I tried to call to make reservations to get a busy signal, over and over. Finally, I tried to register online. First I get an alert on my browser that they have an invalid security certificate. When I finally got around that (reluctantly) I couldn't make reservations for anything. It's just not worth the trouble. Just another scam. I guess the old adage rings true: If it sounds too good to be true; it probably is!

Add our names to the ever growing members of the general public that have found their encounters with Worldwide Travel Center leaving a bad taste in ones mouth. Hear now our tale of woe. We foolishly went to a time-share presentation, mainly because of the 2 day/3 night offer. This was 6/20.

On 7/1 we called to activate the offer, many questions were asked, and we were asked for our selections. As we had none at that time we were told we had one year to do so. 9/1 we decided to head to Florida in late October. So on 9/2 we called to make reservations for 10/24 - 10/26, we gave three locations, and we given our third choice, Daytona, when asked we would get our confirmation, we told 7 to 10 Business Days. At this point no problems.

On 9/16, we called to ask where the confirmation was, we were now informed that no word had come from the resort, so we were to wait until the end of the next week, and if we did not hear anything that we were to call back.

On 9/26 the new company line was it was being passed to a supervisor, and we would hear soon. We were becoming somewhat concerned, as this was leaving a 3 day hole in our trip. 10/3 we called and informed lady on the phone that this was getting critical, if they could not get something soon we were going to have to make alternate arrangement, once again we were told 'Supervisor is handling it'. 10/9, no reservation, we now called and told Elizibeth, lady on the phone, to forget it, we could wait no longer, we were then passed to Supervisor 'Joey', who quite calmly stated that we could not cancel the reservation as it was beyond 30 days, when asked how one can cancel something that did not exist, he got somewhat belligerent and terminated our conversation. Now surprise, surprise on the very next day we get a confirmation email, for a stay in Daytona, and 'wait for it', with a Required Tour of the Property. Detailed reading of original agreement found not one reference to a Tour, and at no time in any conversation was a Tour mentioned, that would have been a deal breaker from the get go. And noted on email confirmation, that has now arrived 14 days before our arrival date, we must cancel 30 days in advance (Impossible) or location may charge credit card for full rate. We have to date filed complaints with FTC, Indiana AG, and Florida AG. Worldwide Travel Center is a pure con, they stall until they think you have no choice but to do as they say. But a contract that cannot be fulfilled is not a legally binding contract, for a 30 Day Cancellation policy to be enforced, confirmation must be given at least 45 days in advance, unless reservation was made less that 30 days from date of stay. Any charges made to credit cards can be treated as fraud, and with copies of original agreement, and email confirmation sent to credit card companies, all charges will be reversed. To all that have dealt with this company, we urge you to file your own complaints with your state AG, the Florida AG, and the FTC. If not, the rip off will continue.

I donated my car to charity via Kars-4-Kids and received a free vacation voucher good for 3 days / 2 nights at the destination of my choice (accomodations anyway). Upon phoning the travel agency to book my hotel, they asked for all my personal information including annual income as well as my travelling partners which is not necessary. They also asked for my credit card to secure a $50 deposit. This seemed a bit odd at first but I went along with.

After giving all my information, they asked if I would rather go to Florida as the three destinations they required me to give were probably all booked. I said I was not interested in that, to which they told me to send in my voucher with all the information I just gave as well as a signed statement of the following "I [my name], undersign authorize _______ hotel to charge my credit card [my credit card #] expiration [xx-xx] for the required security deposit."

I was then to mail all of this in as well as a $50 deposit mailed to Worldwide Travel directly.

Luckily for me I realized this was not right and did a bit of investigating to find out other people had been ripped off by this company already. I would just like to share my experience and file a complaint as this company is not legitimate.

We received a call last fall from Worldwide Travel Center asking us to vacation in Branson, MO. The cost was $69.00 for the package so I bought it with the agreement to receive 3 days and two nights as another "free vacation", along with golf for two and a $30.00 voucher for a restaurant. We did the condo tour as the agreement stated we had to do. We did use the golf and the restaurant voucher but when we got ready to leave the restaurant I had left a tip on the table but when my husband went to pay they made him pay an $8.00 tip so I went back and retrieved my $5.00 I had left on the table. And we received the brochure for the "Free" (not so free) trip. Well, then today I called to make reservations for our "free 3 days and 2 nights". Well, I got a woman of whom I could not understand her broken "English". But I was able to tell her we wanted to travel on August 22, 23 and leave on the 24th. And my destination I wanted was the Dells in Wisconsin which is one of the many sites they list on their brochure. And that my second choice was Lake of the Ozarks, MO and then Branson as a last resort. Well, she told me that my dates were not available but that if I went on the 21, 22 and left on the 23rd there was availability. So I stupidly gave her my credit card number (which I was smart enough not to give her my credit card with a larger balance on it. I have gone to my bank and requested a card with a very low limit on it for internet purchases and that is the one I gave her... thank God.) Anyway, then later in the day I get a call from them saying that those dates were not available either and I needed to take my 3rd choice of Branson. I refused. I told her I had just been to Branson and did not want to go back now. I wanted the Dells. So they preceded to tell me I had to change our dates again if I wanted the Dells. I told her I could not change the dates again because my husband is a supervisor at his job and he had requested the new dates earlier and that he could not go back now and want to change it again. They insisted that we would have to change to our 3rd choice again. I refused again. Then I got very uneasy about the whole thing and told her to just forget it... of which they really want you to do. She then said they could put me in a hotel but that I would have to send an authorization for the hotel to charge my credit card and I said no way. Then she said for me to send a check to them and and authorization and I said no. Then I told her I did not want any part of their vacation offer if they could not honor my request. I finally told her to just forget the whole thing and that they had better not charge my credit card or I would have an attorney and the Attorney General in several states involved in this. She finally said they deleted my credit card information and it would not be charged. I called my credit card company and told them about this whole mess. They advised me to put a freeze on my credit card or to switch cards all together. I hope this helps anyone out there that is considering this company. They are fraudulent. And it is much more trouble than it is worth. Just go to Hotwire.com or somewhere and go that route. I got a hotel in downtown St Louis for $45.00 a night by using Hotwire... and it was the Hyatt Regency on the Riverfront. THAT is more like it and without any headaches... please take my advice and stay away from this company.

On August 8, 2007, I received a postcard stating that I had been selected to receive "Two Roundtrip Airfares to Anywhere in the U.S." and "3 days, 2 nights at a hotel", and that I should call 800-413-5613 for details.

The postcard did not identify on whose behalf the promotion was being conducted, but had a large "Delta" name and Delta logo, and said "IN CELEBRATION OF OUR ANNIVERSARY ... You will receive at your request Two Roundtrip Airfares to Anywhere in the U.S.! ... Bonus 3 DAY / 2 NIGHT HOTEL STAY".

On August 9, 2007, I called that number and spoke with a man who identified himself as Patrick McKinna. He stated that I would receive a complimentary gift of 2 round trip airfares from the nearest international airport to my home to any major city with an international airport in the US, Mexico, or Canada, plus 3 days, 2 nights hotel accommodations for 2 at a business class chain hotel. He said that all my wife and I needed to do to get this gift was to attend a 90-minute advertising presentation by Global Services Network in Columbia, MD. He said that I would have no obligation to use the company or to buy anything.

The address he gave for the presentation was:
Global Services Network
9710 Patuxent Woods Dr., Suite B
Columbia, MD 21046

I asked him what conditions or restrictions, if any, there were on the award travel. He replied, "You would be responsible for hotel and airline taxes."
I asked for any other travel restrictions that he hadn't mentioned. He replied, "You can not travel on holidays, and you must give at least 30 days notice prior to travel."
I asked whether we get to pick the travel dates, he said "Yeah, I think so. They are a travel company, and they want you to take the vacation so that you can see what they have to offer.".

I agreed to attend the presentation.

On August 12th, my wife and I fulfilled our end of the agreement by attending the Global Services presentation in Columbia, MD. After the presentation, Global Services tried to give us a "Vacation Extravaganza" certificate from "Worldwide Travel Center" in Deerfield Beach, FL. The certificate had many additional conditions not in the original agreement (made over the phone), such as:
- we had to put down a $100 deposit, to be returned if and after we completed the travel,
- we could only travel on a Tuesday,
- we had to submit 3 sets of possible travel dates separated by at least 30 days, from which they would select one set for our travel
- we could not travel within 7 days before or after a holiday
- they could change the terms and conditions at any time without notice
- accommodations were subject to their availability
- accommodations might be a "motel"

We refused to accept that certificate, pointing out that it did not meet the terms of our existing agreement. They noted our refusal, but didn't do anything about it. They informed us that the telephone call in which the existing agreement was formed had been recorded, and that we could complain to the Global Services headquarters if we wanted to.

On August 13th, I called the Global Services headquarters at 913-451-0960 to complain about the bait and switch. I spoke with a man who identified himself as "Ryan". He took full details of my complaint, and promised to have someone call me back.

On August 20th, I had received no return call from Global Services as promised, so I called Global back at the same number. I spoke with a female who identified herself as Brittney. She saw in her records that I had complained on August 13th, but said that she did not see why they should call me back because, in her words, "we don't owe you anything." She stated that since I don't have their alleged promise in writing, I don't have any grounds for complaint.

After months of complaining to Global by telephone and through the Better Business Bureau but getting nowhere, I finally sued Global Services in small claims court for fraud and easily won.

Here is Worldwide Travel's vacation certificate:
http://www.worldwidetravelcenter.com/SALES/pdf/WWTC-VE-Brochure.pdf

Here are comments from other people who were victimized by Global Services:
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-413-5613

Here's one discussion of my experience with Global Services:
http://groups.google.im/group/misc.consumers/browse_frm/thread/616363807ba78078/48ce9731bf1054a3

Here's another discussion of my experience with Global Services:
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.legal.moderated/browse_frm/thread/cd8c8246c0766a72

Steer clear of Global Services and their partner, Worldwide Travel.

I can be reached at [email protected] but change the nine to an n.