OnceInaLifetimeHoliday.com-Scam?? Please help!

[magicmum]

Oh no, I thought this was genuine & that me, a newly single mum with 10yr old daughter REALLY had got a deal of a lifetime! My daughter will be gutted after such a bad year. I don't think they've taken my money but I gave my card details a month ago. The documents look genuine. I was just checking out the website when I came to all this. I'm so glad I read it but I'm worried sick about money now & how to let my daughter down gently. I knew it was timeshare but for such a bargain I was prepared to go to the meeting anyway! The American guy told me the card no was just for security. How could I have been so stupid? I tell my mum NEVER to give her card no & I've doen exactly that. Trouble is the call was so long & sounded so exciting & I was at a vulnerable time I never thought it was a scam. Feel depressed now! Thanks people for the truth. Is it a scam or just timeshare, has anyone actually been on holiday with them?

[mumov04]

I too received a cold call from a company calling themselves Resort Vacation. The polite American gentleman, told me I had been chosen and had won a Cruise holiday, he told me that they also had a website called www.onceinalifetimegetaway.com. I had 18mths to arrange for travel etc. also it that was a problem it could be extended. He asked how many in the family would be traveling with me, I told him that it would be myself and four children. This was not a problem, The Holiday would start in Orlando, with a five day at a Summerbay Resort.with a choice of either a visit to Disneyland or Universal Studio's, a cruise to Cocoa Beach, of three days and two nights. spending 10 hours in Nasau, and return to Florida.

All this package was valued at £1800. and they are willing to pay £1200, leaving, only £598 to pay, He inquired about my card, I told him that I only have a debit card, and that amount taken from my account would break the bank. So I declined the offer of a "Once in a lifetime holiday" I explained that I was a widowed mother with four children three being under the age of 11, he asked me to hold the line, while he spoke to his manager to see if a deal could be made for payment to help me out, as they would accept installments. The manager came on and suddenly the price fell from £598 to £249, he said because I was a single mum, I said this all sounds to good to be true. I asked where the catch was, he replied with "That in the future we would like you to use our company again, and hoping that one of 10 people may decide to purchase a "Condo", and as part of the deal that I would be required to attend a 90 minute tour of their resort.

In the back of my mind all the way through the 28 minute phone call I was thinking "scam". I mentioned to the manager that "you hear of so many Scams, that this hard to believe" He relied by saying "No-one is forcing you to take this offer," I politely declined the offer, as a lack of funds. and bid him good day.

I immediately typed in the web address that was given at the beginning of the phone call only to find that it did not exist. My suspicions were more aroused by this, so I googled the name Once in a lifetime getaway and found this forum.

Having read some of the posts I thought I would inform others of my experience.
Sue.

[tizzy]

hi i receved a call fom luke mathews from holiday of a lifetime, about winning this holiday sounded fantastic, but i was not prepeared to pay any money, they told me a letter would be in the post and that i would pay nothing untill i booked the holiday in one of 3 of the desdenations chosen and then it would be 397 pound which is for tax only, they said i had 1year to take the holiday and no money was needed untill i booked, i did not give them my detales but they seamed to have them as they told me i had wone this through being a valued lloyds coustomer, i beleved them, as receved no infomation in the post i forgot all about this, untill today, that was when i got a statment from my bank and on it 416 pounds had been taken from my account and when i asked the bank what this was about, they looked into it saying that this coumpony had taken the money, i explayned i had not althrised this and was quite shocked, they are now invesdegating the matter further. they stole the money from me and made me over drown how can they do this. please worn everyone. from miss l payne. the componey is once in a lifetime holiday. also beawear as a few weeks befor i receved a call from soposerbly lloyds about answering their cervay, think this was a not the real lloyds bank but a way to get my infomation.

[tizzy]

hi i receved a call fom luke mathews from holiday of a lifetime, about winning this holiday sounded fantastic, but i was not prepeared to pay any money, they told me a letter would be in the post and that i would pay nothing untill i booked the holiday in one of 3 of the desdenations chosen and then it would be 397 pound which is for tax only, they said i had 1year to take the holiday and no money was needed untill i booked, i did not give them my detales but they seamed to have them as they told me i had wone this through being a valued lloyds coustomer, i beleved them, as receved no infomation in the post i forgot all about this, untill today, that was when i got a statment from my bank and on it 416 pounds had been taken from my account and when i asked the bank what this was about, they looked into it saying that this coumpony had taken the money, i explayned i had not althrised this and was quite shocked, they are now invesdegating the matter further. they stole the money from me and made me over drown how can they do this. please worn everyone. the componey is once in a lifetime holiday. also beawear as a few weeks befor i receved a call from soposerbly lloyds about answering their cervay, think this was a not the real lloyds bank but a way to get my infomation.

[fedup19]

SCAM, SCAM, SCAM, SCAM, SCAM!!!!!!!!

I got a phonecall on the 27th of August saying I had a won a prize draw. I usually would have put the phone down but for some stupid reason I kept on listening. They said it was a visa/mastercard reward scheme. I kept telling saying nothings free in this world etc. etc and they said well you have to pay 20% £498 getting the 80% free. I still carried on saying it sounds to good to be true, they then said well 10 people will win and out of that 10, 1 will buy a condo so that more than pay for the other 9 winners who don't! I felt slightly happier. He said i had won a trip for 4 people to florida, and 3 days at a different resort of my choice, a 3 day bahama cruise, a free pass to either disney world or universal and £1500 expense card.
Couldn't believe it, sounded great, but still to be good to be true, but heard of people getting holidays when people are trying to sell time shares.

He then asked if I could verify my credit card details to check they had got the right person. Now, alarm bells rang but he really was convincing and i did, although i kept asking why etc. He gave me phone no's to ring them and said i would get the details within 7-14 days. I had 30 days to tell them I didn't want to do it.

As soon as I put the phone down i rang the no, and I got through to a women answering the phone saying 'customer services' , i asked where i had rung and she said holiday of a lifetime.

A few days later the money had got out of my account, i was annoyed and rang up and said i hadn't authorised any money to be taken and they appologised, and said it shouldn't have been taken if i hadn't authorised it.

I then waited and waited for my package, i kept ringing saying it hadn't arrived and they said that they had swapped courier company to DHL and so there had been a delay in some of them being sent out. 18 days later I rang and asked for a refund, they said fine, but it was saturday and they wouldn't be able to put it through until Monday. On wednesday it still wasn't showing on my bank statement and so I rang agaimn, they then said they were having trouble finding my details and needed to speak to the supervisor and would ring me back. I waited 2 hours and hadn't heard anything, i then rang back and i got told to get the money back through my credit card company!!!!!! I asked why, and they said they are having problems with their bank releasing money and are having to change banks. I have rang back to speak to a supervisor and nobody is answering now!!! So angry with myself and feel such a fool. I have spoken to probably 6 different peopl there, how can they have so many people working for them and lieing for them!!!! SCAM!!!!

In between ringing and asking for a refund, a package has turned up, but it has mexico holiday details on with nothing that they mentioned on. It doesn't state my name, theres not a reciept or anything.

Has anyone got any advice, except not to be so gullable! will the credit card company pay ?

[Fred 2]

No idea if they will pay out, but you should get in touch with them stating that you have been defrauded. Phone, then write just in case they 'forget'.

ANYONE AFFECTED should complain to the Better Business Bureau, Florida.
bbb.org and to the Office of Fair Trading.

[Suckererd]

I was taken in by this team of scammers and told I would get refunded if I did not take up the holiday when the documentation arrived.

I returned all the documentation by registered post and requested a return of the £400 taken from my credit card account but of course got no response or acknowledgment.

I have been very fortunate however since reporting the incident to my credit card provider and referring them to this holiday forum they have refunded my cash!! Not sure if they have been able to recover it from Artoxconsul.

[BuggsC152]

IF YOU PAID BY CREDIT CARD YOU CAN CLAIM THE MONEY BACK UNDER:-

SECTION 75 OF THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT

[MR...B]

i have just had a call from the same company, i told the woman (molly mcbery apparently) that i am in marketing myself and i know that what she is doing is called data harvesting. This is where someone will drop what seem meaningless questions in conversation, i.e. expiry date, name, number etc... then use the info to there advantage.
now, she seemed adament everything was genuine but still i was weary, she actually sold me in the end ironically enough but i did not hand over my card numbers. I got sent to the "verification department" where they check i am who i am but i know this info is not necessary, especially needing my card numbers. All that is needed is my name and address, then they should be able to refer me to a local establishment where i can produce id. now if they need a "tax" fee then surely it could come out of this so called 3 grand spending money? Makes sense......
Get this, when i was being refered to this seperate department she held up for a second, slipped up n said someone is on the phone (thinking out loud accidently) then changed pitch, after a minute or 2 of distracting me then put me through. I was sceptical but still wanted this holiday, was told i need to pay £398 which seemed great but im a bit skint at the mo as i just took out a franchise and dont have it in there, also told previously i had 12 mths to claim, then 18 mths, then 24 mths by "verification department" bit suss when i said money isnt there and i got told "toodaloo" followed by a dialing tone.... pretty certain its a scam as info conflicted, hope this is helpfull. If u really do want to save money check out www.britishpower4u.co.uk and if sceptical do research on "the utility warehouse" PLC Telecomplus. Excellent business opportunity i have just taken out but also offers savings on utility bills. Voted this month by Which? magazine as the UK's best value gas and electricity supplier, all utilities on one bill and a phone line cheaper than BT. They have some REAL good offers and no minimum contracts. Well worth checking out. Maybe replace some scammed pennies, these people should be hung.

[XDMJX]

I feel so so stupid i would never ever give my details to anyone but these people are doing this because they are good at reeling us in and thats just what they did to me.

I had a phone call yesterday automated saying because i have used my visa i was one of the lucky ten who had won this amazing holiday press number 1.Usually i would put the phone down but for some reason my heart was telling me to press 1 i did.

I spoke to three different people who started talking american put as they talked more sounded more like indian which i thought was weird.

first person asked my name address card no.i said why do they need my card no if its free and that i never give my card details out.he said he already has my details its for verification he said how would he know i had a visa?he then read out the first 4 digits to me which until now i didnt know everyones were the same i am so stupid and want to kick myself.i then gave him the rest of the numbers and the expiry date.Then i was passed to another man who would tell me about my prize

Second person told me about what i had won 6 days in orlando daytona beach and cancun WOW i thought.He then wanted my security code mmmmm why do you need this i kept saying im not giving it to you he got really annoyed and i thought it was dodgy as no company would ever get annoyed on the phone while giving someone a holiday he gave me a reference number and a customer service number should i have any problems and that i would receive my package within 7-14 days and would only have to pay £375.was told i was being passed to another person who was going to confirm everything and record it and i wasnt to ask any questions till the end

Next person was a women she read all my details out which i had given and then asked for my security number i said i wasnt going to give it her and she said she has it she just wants me to confirm and said how would she know all my other card details if she didnt have it.i then replied i gave my details to the other men thats how she knew them.She got angry so i gave a fake one and she said it had gone through.i put the phone down and went onto my online banking the papment is now pending and i have to wait to see if it goes through.

I would love to get my hands on these F***ers for what they do to people like us and because of them i now have no money to pay my rent.

I was told i am stupid by my partner and got an earbashing off my mum i felt so stupid it really wasnt like me.