Beware the Scammers!

Ok, so I haven't written for a while, I know. But today something happened that I have to warn you, my precious reader, about. I received a voucher in the mail about a week ago. It was from Ramada Plaza Resort in Ft. Lauderdale and Imperial Majesty Cruise LIne Vacations. It looked really good, and I wanted Marc to call the 1-800 number. He didn't, so I did today. Well, to make a long (very long) story (and phone call) short, the guy told me I was being offered a 2-night cruise, as well as 3-6 days free stay at Ramada in Ft. Lauderdale. He casually "threw in" other trips to Las Vegas and Mexico, and then at the last moment added three "mini-vacations" to places of my choice. He also offered me a $1000 shopping spree, a $3500 discount coupon booklet, and, when I hesitated, a choice to only pay a down payment of $400, instead of the $800 he originally was going to charge. Sounds excellent, right? 

The problem is that Marc is not home tonight...he has class. I can't throw out $800 or even $400 without consulting him. We are living with my parents, and our biggest expense is our loans, so we have more financial freedom than some (while making other sacrifices, of course), but I still couldn't throw out hundreds of dollars on a whim. The problem was that he told me I could not wait. I had to give him my credit card number immediately in order for the offer to stand. If I waited to talk to Marc, I had to cancel my option to go on this fantastic cruise vacation. I stood firm. I had to talk to Marc. I had to cancel if I couldn't. Finally, he gave in and offered me until 11PM tonight to call him back and put $400 on my credit card. 

I told Mom what had happened when I got off the phone. Being naive, I was unsure about whether this was truly amazing or simply too good to be true. She suggested I look it up online. I googled "Ramada cruise scam" and immediately got 60,000 hits. Below are a few sites for you, in case you also received this sneaky "opportunity" in the mail: 

www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/205/RipOff0205834.htm

www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/ramada_plaza.htm

I am glad I didn't give in. Giving a credit card number over the phone is bad policy, which my parents taught me. Mom also said all through my childhood: "If it's too good to be true, it probably is..." I'm starting (finally) to believe her.