We got an exciting call a few days ago. We were told that we had won an all expense paid vacation/honeymoon package to an all inclusive resort in the Bahamas. Our name was entered at the Bridal Show, so we were pretty sure that it was a legitimate prize. The only catch was that we had to sit through a 90 minute presentation about fancy cookware. We went to the presentation last night at the Hayden Island Holiday Inn Express. To their credit, the cookware was actually quite nice (Simplicity Gourmet). We resisted the urge to spend thousands of dollars on nice pots and pans, and left with our free vacation package. The vacation package isn’t so nice. It only covers 2 nights at the resort, and does not cover airfare. In addition, we would have to pay $200 ($50/person/night) up front for gratuity and taxes. I wouldn’t exactly say it’s a scam, even though we were mislead by the phone call. We’re not going to take the trip, as I’d rather pay a little more and go somewhere that we really want to go to.
As I was typing this, I did a quick search and found this thread on Brides.com…
Beware of Free Vacation From Simplicity Gourmet
If you’re wondering why I didn’t do that search before we accepted the vacation, it’s because we were not told on the phone who was doing the presentation and giving away the vacation packages.