Holiday scam

Holiday scam

While shopping recently at Melawai Plaza, PT Vakansi Megah
offered my wife the chance to a draw from which we could win a
free four-day/three-night stay at their resort (airfares at our
expense) in Candi Dasa, Bali. Several days later she received a
phone call saying she had won, and inviting us to come and pick
up the voucher at 4 p.m. Saturday.

When we arrived, we were ushered into a room and required to
listen to a presentation regarding an international holiday club
scheme whereby you purchase a time-share in a resort condominium
in Goa or Queensland and are thereby entitled to a holiday at any
of over 3,000 resorts in 89 countries. The presentation took an
hour and a half, and would have taken even longer had I been more
patient. They consistently refused to tell us the price until
they had given us all their information.

Well, to save others the inconvenience of losing two hours out
of your life, I would like to reveal the big secret. The lifetime
membership fee is a mere US$100,000. This is in addition to
monthly maintenance charges and a weekly fee when you actually
take your holiday (once again airfares are not included).

We told them we could not afford this and went to collect the
voucher. Upon opening the sealed envelope, we found that the
booking dates were not only subject to availability (we expected
this) but that there is also a $100 "administration" fee once
your selected dates are approved. Now, I'm not so naive as to
expect something for free; I might have been able to tolerate
them robbing my time in return for a genuinely free stay at their
resort, but this "administration fee" makes the whole scam
tantamount to deception.

TED THORNTON

Jakarta