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Dinner 4 two

Knottie35557125Knottie35557125 member
in Registry and Gift Forum
I just recieved a call for a vacation and other sorts of free gifts from Dinner 4 two. I want to know if its a scam or is it real? Also, is it worth me going to check out?
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Re: Dinner 4 two

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    photokittyphotokitty mod
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    It's a high pressure sales situation aka SCAM IMHO. I would not go.
    :kiss: ~xoxo~ :kiss:

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    elfrankart_23350467elfrankart_23350467 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    It's a direct marketing company--think Mary Kay or whatever. Here's my experience so far:

    We went to the presentation. 90 minutes, kinda boring, but whatever. There was free food at the end and it was pretty good. They tried to sell us some crazy-expensive cookware, but when I told the guy we definitely weren't gonna buy it and just wanted the free stuff, he didn't pressure me. Other people were interested in buying though so he knew he had a sale.

    Stuff we got:
    • Apron. eh.
    • Knives. Two smallish santoku knives, I think 3 and 5 inch. They were like $20 total or something. They're pretty nice.
    • Champagne glasses. Technically free but had to pay S&H, about $10. They have our names and date engraved on them. They're ok, nothing stellar but we only paid $10 so it's fine.
    • The honeymoon package. I'm in the process of booking this now. This seems to be where most of the controversy comes from so I'll go into more detail.
    You get two free nights at what appears to be a 3-star Wyndham all-inclusive resort in the Bahamas, Dominican Republic or Mexico. We were going to do the Bahamas one, but it's in Freeport and flights to that island are outrageous (you have to pay your own airfare, of course) so we're going with a Mexico one instead. It's about 40 minutes south of Cancun, in Playa del Carmen.

    To redeem, you have to go to a website (mine was for Odenza Marketing Group) and enter your code. You then pay a "refundable fee". Mine was $178. This fee acts as a deposit and is applied to your total balance. (The total balance being taxes and any extra nights you may want to book. Taxes are NOT included in the "free" trip. We're going to book extra nights through them because no one wants a two-night honeymoon, haha. The hotel seems to run at about $250/night.) Anyway, if you change your mind, your fee/deposit is supposedly 100% refundable. Hopefully I won't have to find out for myself :)

    After you pay your fee, you're assigned a travel agent. This can take 5-10 business days. I called before booking to ask some questions (including, do I have to sit through a timeshare presentation? answer was no). The guy I spoke with was informative, but not overly polite. Not rude, just very businesslike and seemed like he was in a hurry. He said if I didn't get a call/email from them, I could call back to ask if my agent had been assigned.

    I paid my fee on Jan. 26. I called again just now to check on my status. The guy I spoke to today was VERY polite, VERY helpful. He said I hadn't been assigned yet, but confirmed all of my contact info and then gave me his direct email address. He said if I didn't hear anything by this Wednesday (a week from yesterday), to email him for follow-up.

    I can continue to post about my experience with Odenza and the trip as it progresses, if anyone's interested! We're traveling in mid-May so it's coming up soon :)
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    elfrankart_23350467elfrankart_23350467 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    Update: I received a call from my assigned travel agent the day I called to check my status. After some initial phone tag, we finally connected. I gave her my travel dates and my preferred resort. She said she'd look into some package and pricing options and email me with details.

    About 10 minutes later, I get an email. She said there were no packages available for the resort I picked (Viva Maya), so she couldn't arrange travel between the airport and the hotel (which are about 40 miles apart, I think). No biggie--we were already planning to handle that ourselves. 

    She also gave me a long list of other packages she could put together. These were in the $1,500-$2,500 range, if I remember right. I called back and couldn't catch her--she must have been on another call or something. I left a voicemail saying we didn't want the other packages, just the Viva Maya with the two free nights and the two additional nights we're adding on.

    She's supposed to call me back today to confirm all the details and make the reservation, as they were closed over the weekend and yesterday.

    I also found out that Odenza is located in British Columbia, Canada (thanks, caller ID!), so they're on Pacific time.

    Will update again after everything's booked :)
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    elfrankart_23350467elfrankart_23350467 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    Update #2: The agent didn't call back when she was supposed to, and we played phone tag all week. We finally connected again today. She told me that the resort I wanted, Viva Wyndham Maya, was unavailable. (I had just checked via the Wyndham site, which showed rooms available for my dates. I'm guessing the travel agency gets a certain number of rooms to book with and once they're gone, they're gone.) She offered me the same deal at the nearby Viva Wyndham Azteca. I agreed, but then it turns out that resort was unavailable as well. 

    Finally she directed me to the website of two other resorts, the Grand Bahia Principe Coba and The Reef Coco Beach. She promised me the same two-nights-free deal since my original choice was unavailable. I was comparing the two, reading reviews and looking at amenities, when the agent emailed to say The Reef was unavailable. No sweat, as I was leaning toward the Grand Bahia anyway. It looks pretty comparable to the Viva Maya, from what I can see.

    The agent then said that for $100 more, I could get the suite at the Grand Bahia. The suite includes a wristband for upgraded drinks, an extra night at the a la carte restaurant, etc. (We're taking the two free nights and adding two more nights, so we would have to pay anyway.) The total cost came to $870 with taxes/fees, and it was $692 after my original deposit was credited to it. For comparison, the same room for the same dates booked via the resort's actual website is $1,400 plus taxes/fees.

    I should note too that all the resort options the agent presented me with were originally offered as packages with airfare included. The "$1,500 to $2,000 range" I mentioned in my previous update included the roundtrip airfare for both myself and my fiance, but the flights/times were pre-selected for us. We didn't need the flight, as we are using frequent flier miles. When I told the agent this, she pressed for a moment, but I repeated that I only wanted the room nights and we proceeded without incident.

    Overall assessment: A bit of a headache, yes, and we might have been able to find a comparable deal if we researched enough. But for what it is, it looks like we'll get a decent four-night honeymoon for a two-night price :)

    Happy to answer any questions anyone might have!
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    5 Love Its First Comment
    May has come and gone....how was your stay? I know it wasn't the advertised resorts but what did you think?
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