Paradise Blue review: not a SCAM 61

Changed name from Destination Paradise Hawaii to Paradise Blue.

Paradise Blue Hawaii SCAM !
Beware!
Changed their name from Destination Paradise Hawaii Scam!

I just vacationed in Oahu and had the same thing happen to me. Cancellation form was signed by company and am awaiting $250 refund

If you are going to make strong statements against a company such as that, the least you could do is validate it with solid, evidence, case scenarios, or examples of why you feel that it is a scam. As it stands, your complaint is very suspicious, looks like it is posted from a disgruntled ex employee or a rival company. Waikiki is super competitive in the vacation industries and some people will stoop very low to gain the upper hand.

Paradise Blue, My experience. I checked out their discount tickets to Hawaii Events. After a 20 dollar deposit they (being PB) set a time and date for their "Presentation" as they call it. I was told 20 minutes is all it would take. Needless to say, they went on for over two and half hours. After I told them I was not intrested in their product. They made me wait as long as they could and tried to piss me off to the point where I would leave the "presentation" with out the tickets they promised me for watching said presentation. When asked why I was not intrested in paying 10k for a time share type deal. I explained that I don't invest in a company with out seeing the company's income statments and other public documents that any company would provide to investors. You don't want to know the verbal abuse they reaked on me. I stood strong and after 3 hours they held to thier agreement with me. However, 8 of the 10 groups were strong armed into perchases. Paradise Blue has no intentions of playing fare and every intention of ripping you off. Paradise Blue is preditory. period the end...

Anybody who signed up for the Dstination Paradise Hawaii(aka Paradise Blue)scam there is a way out, if the contract was signed before June of 2009.The cancellaton policy (3 days) was buried on the last page of the "terms and acknowledgement".They had to add a seperate page to acknowledge the 3 day cancel policy.Any contracts signed before June 2009 are "null and void".Good Luck

why is it a scam, besides to hostage 2 hour preso?

It's not a scam. One of my best friends went to the Paradise Blue presentation in Waikiki when he came to visit and became a member. He got two free Paradise Cove luau tickets for going (and we used his member discount to buy our tickets at a nice discount). He's using the Paradise Blue website to set up his family and friends with condos on Kauai in March when a bunch of people from all over the country are coming out for his wedding. With the condo deals, our group of friends going to his wedding are going to be paying $23 per couple per night to stay in an ocean-front condo resort.

The only people that seem to be saying it's a scam are those people that didn't become members and were upset that sales people tried to sell them something. In our experience, it's been great so far...

We are vactioning in Hawaii and attended a Paradise Blue presentation. We signed up for this membership and uneasy about our decision we did a google search and did not feel a peace about signing up. We immediately within less than 24 hours decided to cancel. Upon requesting cancellation, the Paradise Blue representative gave us a difficult time about cancelling and started getting hostile and very upset. We asked them to cancel the transaction. He signed the cancellation form but still proceeded to charge our credit card for this enormous amount. We contacted our credit card company and have disputed the charge/transaction. Will let you know later how this turns out. I don't know if the feedback on this website is true. I will know once this issue gets resolved. The Paradise Blue representative's hostile behavior is enough however for us not to do business with this company.

EXCUSE THE CAPS AS I AM NOT SCREAMING...JUST TYPING WITH ONE FINGER RIGHT NOW...

FOR THOSE WHO QUESTION WHY SOME PEOPLE FEEL DESTINATION PARADISE IS A SCAM AND WANT PROOF AND SCENARIOS OF SUCH AND ACCUSE AN EMPLOYEE OF POSTING SUCH INFORMATION, PLEASE ANSWER ME THESE QUESTIONS...

WHY WOULD A COMPANY WHO FEELS ITS PRODUCT IS SO GREAT CHANGE THEIR NAME FROM VALUED GUESTS LLC TO DESTINATION PARADISE TO PARADISE BLUE?

WHY WOULD YOU OFFER A PRODUCT THAT YOU CANNOT VIEW UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY GET YOUR PASSWORD TWO WEEKS LATER AND BASICALLY 12 DAYS AFTER YOUR CANCELLATION PERIOD HAS EXPIRED?

WHY GIVE CUSTOMERS A HARD TIME IF THEY DON'T WANT TO SIGN UP AND CHANGE THE PRICE FROM AS HIGH AS $9995 TO JUST THE ANNUAL FEE OF $189?

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DID BUY INTO IT, DID YOU LOOK AT THE BINDER YOU RECEIVED AND HOW GENERIC IT IS? DID YOU NOTICE THAT DESTINATION PARADISE IS NOT MENTIONED ANYWHERE IN THE LAMINATED PAGES JUST ON THE BINDER ITSELF?

I BOUGHT INTO DESTINATION PARADISE IN 2008 AND THERE WAS NO INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY ON THE INTERNET. THE ONLY WEBSITE THAT EXISTED WAS THE ONE YOU WOULD LOG INTO TO VIEW THEIR SO-CALLED DISCOUNTS THAT WHEN COMPARED TO OTHER TRAVEL WEBSITES WERE HIGHER PRICED. DESTINATION PARADISE, VALUED GUESTS LLC, PARADISE BLUE AND THE ACTIVITY STORE ARE ALL THE SAME COMPANY. THE ACTIVITY STORE SUPPLIES THE "FREE" TOURIST ATTRACTION TICKETS THAT ARE OFFERED ON THE STREET TO ENTICE THE BUYER TO ATTEND THE PRESENTATION OF OVER TWO HOURS IF YOU DON'T BUY INTO IT RIGHT AWAY AND THE TICKETS ARE NOT FREE BECAUSE THE PERSON THAT APPROACHES YOU ON THE STREET ASKS FOR A $20 DEPOSIT.

FOR THOSE WBO HAVE USED THE SOFTWARE AND RAVE ABOOUT IT, PLEASE LIST THE NAMES OF THE HOTELS/RESORTS/CONDOS YOU STAYED IN?

SO ANNIE, EXPLAIN HOW A PERSON SAVES MONEY OVER TIME INVESTING $2K TO 10K PLUS INTEREST IF FINANCED PLUS THE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE OF ALMOST $200 BOOKING 1-4 WEEK SAT A CONDO AT #700/WEEK AND IF YOU NEED TO CANCEL THE TRIP FOR WHATEVER REASON, YOU CANNOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK? WHERE'S THE SAVINGS? PLEASE EXPLAIN...OR PERHAPS YOU OR YOUR FRIEND ACTUALLY WORK FOR THESE PEOPLE?

I BOUGHT INTO THIS. I CAN PROVE IT AND I CAN ALSO TELL YOU THAT A FEW OF US THAT BOUGHT INTO THIS BETWEEN 2008 AND 2009 ACTUALLY GOT ALL OF OUR MONIES BACK BECAUSE WE BOMBARDED THE DCCA IN HAWAII AND THE BBB WITH OUR FORMAL COMPLAINTS AND EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT OUR CLAIMS WERE TRUTHFUL. AFTER THE INVESTIGATION, WE PREVAILED SO FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO BOUGHT INTO PARADISE BLUE, DON'T LOSE HOPE. DON'T STOP YOUR COMPLAINTS BECAUSE MONEY IS NOT EASY TO COME BY THESE DAYS.

With the cost of travel skyrocketing, consumers are increasingly susceptible to fraudulent offers for special deals on vacations, and Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning vacationers to be wary of joining 'travel clubs.' Complaints to BBB show that many travel clubs promise huge discounts on condos, hotels, airfare, and cruises but fail to deliver for members despite the high cost of joining.

How come non of the complaints come from people who are actually using the product? Does that mean that they are happy with it? It looks to me like the only people who are complaining are just trying to get out of what they signed up for. I want some real testimonials from people who are using it and either like it or dislike it. I don't want to read about people trying to get out of paying for it. This was no help to me, no evidence on here of how good the company and services are, that is what i want to know, as an interested buyer.

Well my encounter with Paradise Blue was very relaxed, and, though they tried hard for my business, I did not join. I did receive the $100 cash they promised me ($120 if you include the refunded $20 deposit). It took about 1/2 an hour longer than they had said, but that was all. From talking to three couples who were in there with me, their "strong arm tactics" were actually quite mild compared to the several other condo associations they had sat through meetings with. the price for the product is relatively low when you think about condos in the 20ks and up with maintenance fees of 1-2k per year (many of my family have condos and that is where i get my condo info). If someone who knows a couple that intentionally (or very near that) signed up, please relay how they like the company. Otherwise, everyone complaining so far is just a blow hard. Those that didn't seem to honestly be looking for answers. please help us find some real answers to the usefulness of this company.

My wife and I had the same exact problem. the company this time has morphed into Paradise-Blue(.net). we got the same deal as everyone above but at least we had access to a computer within 24 hours after we gave them our credit card and signed the papers (for "only" $6995...) - chilly surprise when we got to see who they are... we looked for a fax number to fax them our cancellation notice. guess what - no fax number anywhere. Of course not since a fax cannot be contested in the court of law! ok then we needed to do something else then:

1. The next day (a Saturday - they work on Saturdays) we went to the same site where we had that presentation by them and we asked for a fax number so we can "fax some documents to complete the deal" - at first the receptioniste was reluctant to give us one but then she called the "manager" which gave us the fax number (we will see soon if this number is fake or not...). We will fax the cancellation notice as well - just in case - but read further below...

2. Next step was to contact the local Hawaii Waikiki police and got a police officer as witness to our cancellation process/event, just in case the things are going out of hand and just to make sure we have an official witness to our cancellation. And guess what, they (Paradise-Blue)where very pissed and offended by the fact we came with such a witness but unfortunately for them, while we were signing the cacellation papers in front of the police officer, another cuple showed up yelling about the deal being a scam(!). imagine what a coincidence! They had no choice and accepted the cancellation notice in front of the police officer.

3. We asked the credit card company (AMEX) to cancel the transaction and we explained them everything we've gone trough with Paradise-Blue. AMEX got the entire picture so they won't be surprised next time somebody else will do the same.

I'm not sure we are out of this yet but as a personal thought: I don't think anyone can prosecute this kind of business... I think they have enough cover-up to get themselfs over law suites for the scams. The fact that their service sucks is not a legal matter... we have all signed for this - sorry but look again through the papers we all signed...

I believe the only way to kill this type of business is to make more popular their practices.

I went to this presentation and boy did I pizz them off when I mentioned what I had researched on the internet. Not sure if this is a scam or not, but we did not get involved with this. Waste of valuable vacation time. It seems the streets of Honolulu are populated with these "discount offers", which when taken advantage of, require you to listen to this presentation. 90 minutes, and then about 30 minutes to tell them you are not interested. Price went from $9995 to $250. I think there were some people there that actually bought this for the full price. From what I gather you are buying access rights to a website. On the website you can book your travel plans. According to Paradise Blue they book timeshares, hotels, that are currently not occupied at a discount. Sounds like a great idea, but I think you can do the same thing on Expedia.

I just got back from Waikiki and went to one of their presentations. At the beginning the guy joked about having mic's in the waiting area saying how everyone says "no matter what they have we aren't buying". We thought he was joking. After the presentation they reduced there price making it affordable for everyone, we were just there for the free gifts. The big Hawiian guy that took over after the scrawny guy from Minnesota couldn't close the deal, he reduced the price even further. Then said he would give us a minute to talk it over, about five minutes later he came in and was all pissed off saying "I'll get you guys out of here with your free gifts then". He looked like he wanted to kick my ###. Afterwords we figured that they probably do have mic's at the tables so they know what angle to press when they come back again. Good thing we were both addimant about not buying into this scam and saying it to eachother while we were sitting there.

Don't get sucked into this "Deal", what rational person would be willing to spend $2, 500 - $8, 000 on a product you have never heard anything about before they give there own presentation.

We were approached in the International Food Court in Waikiki, a friendly nice old man named "Jery" had a few tours listed with unbeatable prices e.g. "2-day rental car $20, Polynesian Culture Center $10..." it's too bad, I didn't take any pictures, I'm kicking myself now. Anyways my friend and I were thinking of renting scooters so we approached him and asked if he could get us a deal on two scooters. He replied with, "well we can do this two ways; either you can pay $70 or you can get it for free." I said, "We'll take it for free." "Well wait a minute, I have to explain how! Do you know what Timeshare is?" "Not really." "Ok - well we're NOT Timeshare! [blablabla sales pitch] All we ask you to do is sit through a 90-min presentation and then stay for an hour after that in case you're interested."
Then we had to "qualify" - we had to be above 25 (check) living together (certainly not), homeowners (no way), making over $75000 a year (we are both unemployed) and he didn't really like the fact that my friend had a Hawaiian address. So we understood that this was targeted to a specific market and played along, he even coaxed us and said "well - they will ask you if you are homeowners - you won't have to prove it with any papers or anything - i'm just gonna put a check here that i've told you you have to be homeowners to qualify, then what you do is up to you...!" Then the very nice man actually walked with us and showed us the way to the presentation that we had booked the next day.

We showed up punctually at 8am, gave more answers they were looking for to a secretary and soon the presentation began. The woman was straight from Telesales, I thought I was watching the shopping network. she would say things like, "I love Costco! on Sundays I just stroll through the aisles and fill up for lunch, and why's that?" then all the agents in the room would chime in, on queue, "because you're cheap!" "That's right! I'm CHEAP! We here LOVE that word!"
We decided it was time to go so we got up and went towards the exit. When she spotted us she seemed very frazzled "Where's Fred?" and told us to go back and sit down so she could get us our gifts. Then this other woman shows up with a commercial smile, "Hi, my name's Latisha and I'm from Corporate." threw more and more deals at us even though we said we weren't interested. Here's where the pressure really mounted and the nature of the conversation turned quite conflictive. I told them that I thought they had a great product, but I didn't like the fact that I couldn't sign up for it tomorrow, or the day after, because I'm somebody who contemplates these things by nature and I didn't like to feel the pressure. They argued and argued but finally gave up and threw a piece of paper at us with directions on where to go to pick up our gift.
They're great actors, every one playing their part smoothly. I even wonder, in retrospect, if the two couples who signed up after 10 minutes, causing their agents to stand up and say, "Everyone, I would like to welcome Bill and Jane to our family!" followed with a round of applause... were staged. They couldn't all have been - at least 4 of 10 couples signed up in our group. They didn't even let us keep the piece of paper they had scribbled all the deals on (this made no sense to me at all. and I'm really pissed off I didn't take a picture of it.) I'm really glad I found this website which vindicates my feeling it was too good to be true. But I empathize with those who get so excited they fall for it in those few crucial minutes, it must be incredibly frustrating and humiliating, and i wish them all the best of luck in their legal battles.
I'm glad we got our free gift - but I remain convinced businesses like this, built on fraud and deceit, and basically taking advantage of desperate people, can't possibly last, even though the travel guy told me they'd been there for 20 years.

My wife and I bought into this for 7k last Jan. Ittook 8 months but we got our money back. Whatever card you used contact them and ask for legalservices. They will file a non payment claim and begin to checking on this.This company has a long record of scams. I contacted the Better Business Bureau of Hawaii a Lisa Nakao consumer fraud investigation branch 33 Merchant St.Suite 213 Honolulu, HI 96813 Tel [protected].

It took a while but we did get the money put back on the card. We have a chase bank Marriot Hotel card. They were terrific about this.

I highly suggest you call the card card company you have and change the number or they will do autoatic withdrawls on it.

Do not deal directly with Destination Paradise. They will threaten fyou with legal fees etc. Contact the fraud division and they will help you do the right things to get the money back.

Paradise Blue
BBB Rating
Based on BBB files, this business has a BBB Rating of F on a scale from A+ to F.
Reasons for this rating include:
•168 complaints filed against business
•Failure to respond to 112 complaints filed against business.
•112 complaints filed against business that were not resolved.
•BBB Accreditation was revoked because business failed to comply with agreed BBB standards.
•Business has failed to resolve underlying cause(s) of a pattern of complaints.

I want to know how to get my money back as this doesn't work for me

I want to cancel mine how did you get your money back

Please note that the response above is from a Paradise Blue employee.

We paid 1400.00 up front and after the first we used the service we were unhappy and they threaten after we
went to cancel saying this will go against our credit and that we could be sued. Now what do you do pay for a service that you can't use ?

B Smith
bsmith@hotmail.com

My experience with Pacific Dreams in Lahaina, was very similar. My wife and I attended the seminar, of course we were both sceptical but stayed for the whole presentation, and were told that if we couldn't afford the $9995.00 well how about 7995.00 for three weeks a year and so on down to 2995.00 which sounded okay if the program worked like they said. We proposed that if they could get us a week on the big island, or other surrounding islands in the next week at the (so-called) short notice deal of $399.00 for one week using one of the weeks they had available to them, that it would prove to us that the program worked but if they couldn't then no deal. They were reluctant at first, and said give them a couple days because no one had asked such a thing before, but as we were discussing this one of the sales reps came over, and said there was such an opening on two of the properties, one on the big island Hawaii, and one on Kawai. Convieniently for them this would take possibly three days to make it happen, we however stuck to our guns and challenged them to book it in two that way we could still cancel our 250.00 deposit before the so-called three day time limit on cancelation. We left that day giving them a credit card swipe on a maxed out card which they agreed not to run, for the $ 250.00 deposit sealing this one time incredible offer for three days... The next day we contacted John (the sales rep) who said that he had been trying to contact us, bla bla bla. He had apparently been in contact with a developer (imagine that a sales rep in direct contact with the developer) but this person (the developer) didn't want to release the condo for that $399.00 per week but would be willing to let it rent out for a discounted rate of $799.00 if we booked right now, so I said give me 10 minutes to think about it. After ten minutes walked into the seminar building and said yes go ahead, and book. At that point began the paper work AND THE CONTRACT which I made him put a future date on of two more business days thus post dating the contract in case this (GREAT DEAL) fell through
before my grace period ended. After signing this postdated contract we were told it would just be another day to book this because of the time change, and the florida office was closed. At that point we gave them the benefit of the doubt and came back the next day once again John met us with cell phone up to his ear explaining how busy he had been and needed a credit card number to book this week, needless to say he had it the previous day, so seeing through this time wasting scam, we brought back the book he had given us, and saw that our file was sitting on the table we grabbed it which had our personal information, and walked out of the seminar building. By this time we were met by John in the parking lot, threatening us that he would call the police if we didnt give this file back, my wife held it in her hand and said it wasn't theirs to have, but John insisted that the state of Hawaii needed the information to insure that they maintained good business practice, and that the contract was their property. At this point we dug the papers out of the file and tore our iformation off the papers, and handed back the papers. Any legitimate company after not making a sale, should not be insulting people in a public place and insisted that the keep personal information like drivers licence, social security #, credit card information, or signed contracts that are no longer agreed apon. I am not sure about any Laws in Hawaii stating that these businesses need to hold any information on people attending these seminars who don't buy... correct me if I'm wrong. THANKS

This company, Paradise Blue, operates in Hawaii. They have kiosks in Hawaii offering free or low cost tours or activities in exchange of attending a 90 min presentation in a local mall. The presentation is about a software or program allowing you access to the company website www.paradise-blue.net providing discounted condo, hotel and cruise. But this is for a fee of $7, 995. The offer sounds so good so I signed up. They did give me a discount of 1500 for being in the medical profession both my husband and me and for referring them to 3 friends in the future. I paid a DP of $900 via my credit card and they opened me up another credit card to finance the rest. At first, I had tried to convince them my husband and I will think it over lunch and come back and assured them that the program is so good we will come back. Just need to have lunch first as we were really hungry. But they said the offer won't be good anymore if we leave. And so we took it. When we got back to the hotel, I decided to check out the company on the internet and found a lot of bad reviews saying this company is a scam. That was a saturday and they were close on sundays. I called their hotline but all you get is a voicemail. There is a 3 day cancellation. Went back on Monday and talked to the Project Director Mike Balicki that we want to cancel our program. We have the right as it hasn't been 3 days yet. And he gave as a hard time just to have it cancelled. Even lowered down the price to something like $2900. Offered all kinds of financing options and even gave us tips on how to save money so we can afford the program. We were there like for about 2 hours before he finally agreed to sign the notice of cancellation. Scam or not, they should not give customers a hard time cancelling the program. Mike said he will just send me a cheque for $6500 as he said there is no way for them to cancel the credit card transaction eventhough it hasn't been posted yet. The cancellation notice said it will return the payment in 10 business days. It hasn't been due yet but I will keep you guys posted if they will hold on to their word. For more info about this company, just google paradise blue scam and you will find a lot of reviews there.

My wife and I also went to this presentation in Honolulu 02-26-2010. Were emphatically told that it would take no more than 90 minutes of our time. We went to get the discounted tickets. What a mistake! 2 1/2 hours later we were released to go get our vouchers for the catamaran dinner cruise. We will be canceling payment for the $20.00 cost of the discounted tickets, as they violated the agreement by requiring us to stay way past the 90 minutes.
As others have stated... If it looks stinky, and smells stinky.. It likely IS stinky!

Al Holm
Askov, MN [protected]

Paradise Blue is a SCAM!

We went for the "free gift" and the "30" mintue program that lasted over 2 hours.

We had to hand over our cell phones so someone could personally turn them off. We were told that we would not be allow to use the restroom, so please go before the program started. THAT IN ITSELF SHOULD OF THREW UP RED FLAGS...But get the
gift and leave. Right? Wrong! The program LOOKS Great! To Good to be True! And your
on Vacation..You want to go back on Vacation.

So the Program starts at $9, 000 - Drops to $7, 000 by the time it was over we will give it to you for $4, 000 with a FREE Vacation (air fair not included) plus $183 or so a year. GIVE US YOU CREDIT CARD NUMBER!

But IF you change your mind you have 3 DAYS TO CANCEL NO QUESTIONS ASK!
YEAH RIGHT!

Paradise-Blue will not let you walk out of the building by yourself if you buy the program. They put your binder with all your information in a brown paper bag and escort you into elevator, into a waiting van that takes you back to your hotel? (Whats that all about?)

As soon as I got back to the room I check the internet, find how many times Paradise-Blue had changed their name, all the bad reviews, BBB RATES THEM AN "F". I had to check the BBB in Flordia, because they are really listed in Flordia? with an Hawaii address?

We go back to Paradise-Blue and TRY TO CANCEL WITHIN (1 HOUR!) Just get our money OFF the Credit Card. Which at that point had not even been post to our account!

NO WAY - They WON'T DO IT. Paradise-Blue dropped the price to $2000 then to $1, 000 plus the free vacation & the yearly fee. Paradise-Blue just would NOT take No for an answer! After we made a scene & we refuse to go in the back office people were starting to leave.

They then signed the cancellation papers. BUT they still did not take the charges off our Credit card! PLUS they CHARGED a $250.00 PROCESSING FEE! $4250.00

SO We went Back the next day when all the "New couples" were coming in (I told as many as I chould that it was a scam & I was there to get my money back - check the BBB & internet before they buy) most of the couples thanked me & walked out. Paradise-Blue did not like that, I reminded them of "Free Speech" and I would continue to do that until I got my money back.

I just wanted the $4, 225.00 off my credit card (4) days & talking numerous times to Credit Card Company POLICE THATS WHAT IT TOOK! ITS A SCAM!

My wife and I went through the high pressure sales pitch (said its not for us 14 times) and everything else. We did purchase and the next day canceled. We did get a discount trip as promised saving us around $350.00. We also received our total purchase price returned as promised. Play your cards right and know the law and you won't get burned. If you do its your fault not Paradise-Blue.

I just found a great discount with Paradise-Blue yesterday and saw Tahiti for Bali Hai for $703 for 7 nights! I couldn't believe it.

And also, Paradise-Blue didn't change their name! They bought out the other company!

Also, Stanley YOURE RIGHT! people don't seem to read the paperwork in the office. Know what you sign!

Ever read the testimonials on their website? Here is a few...

"We went to Orlando and Lake Tahoe last year. My husband played golf at the resort and I went to the spa - the toll free reservation staff was great and we booked our trip over the phone." - Michael & Louise R.

We went to Barbados! You've given us an affordable way to vacation - we love you!" - Danny & Elizabeth M.

"The program works great. The condo I got in Hawaii was great and I used my Condo Rewards to pay down the price of the stay." - Jared H

"We saved hundreds of dollars over what we would have spent otherwise and we couldn't have found a better deal on our own. It's what keeps us booking year after year." - Larry & Maria G

We went to Barbados! You've given us an affordable way to vacation - we love you!" - Danny & Elizabeth M.

"The program works great. The condo I got in Hawaii was great and I used my Condo Rewards to pay down the price of the stay." - Jared H

"We saved hundreds of dollars over what we would have spent otherwise and we couldn't have found a better deal on our own. It's what keeps us booking year after year." - Larry & Maria G

This is a vacation condo fulfillment center. a different spin on timeshare. I asked them about military discounts, and told them that I get the same vacation condo deals completely free from
http://www.afvclub.com/
Paradise Blue wanted $7995 for membership plus $189 annual renewal fees. Plus AFVC rates for weekly condos are $329 not $399.
That's not why I walked out of the presentation after two hours. I got out after 2 hours by claiming my knee injury was acting up and I was going to call the police if they did not let us go. The front line sales guy told my wife it was an hour preview of a comparison travel shopping website, to compete with Travelocity and Expedia. That was misleading.
High Pressure Sales = yes
Timeshare = probably a new spin on the concept
Value price = only if you are not military and have lots of idle time and money.
Deceptive business practices = yes
The only thing I can say in their favor is that they delivered on the event tickets. More than half off Germaine's Luau ($32 vs $68 per person) and the Ali'i Kai cataraman dinner cruise ($20 vs $45 a person) so it was a savings.

Why is it that we only post negative press? Why not positive? Where else can you find deals like you can with Paradise Blue... no where! We have places to vacation where timeshare owners do and with no blackout dates! You cannot find that in many places! Why don't you do the research yourself instead of just following along with these posts? Then you'll find that this all cannot be backed up! Do you believe Star magazine? Would you believe them if they told you Obama had dinner with Osama? I dont think so...

Luigi 1986. Your post is ridiculous.

I got out of my contract with these scammers through the Hawaii DCCA. They were "Paradise Blue" back then.

EVERY single place that paradise blue had available i was able to search for on any free site, travelocity expedia etc, and find it for cheaper or around 5 bux more per night. Except they dont charge me $200 a year in fee's and 7grand upfront for nothing. There company offers little to no value. Also, all their "short term" condo's are junk, and virtually unavailable in any poplular location.

Funny how they have changed their name. The BBB, and DCCA caught on quick. She new "paradise Blue" by name. Now "pacific Dreams" or whatever boasts on their website that they are BBB approved. LOL, . Lets see how long they can maintain even their current "C" rating.

So yes Luigi, I have seen their program first hand, they even made some $$$ off me since i NEVER used their garbage system. I found cheaper deals for free, so how can this be somwething of value? Last time I check EVERYONE can use travelocity, or expedia.

Next.

Victim in AZ since when is the Bahamas, the Cayman islands, and hawaii not a popular location for short notice? THEY ARE popular locations. And go on expedia and find a condo for 7 nights at a resort there and then get back to me

by the way, make it under 500 for the CONDO

My concern is with the false advertising. I have just finished researching more than 10 vacation destinations during Thanksgiving Week (2010) in Hawaii. Each and every one of them has a price of "$1995" listed as the "retail" cost within the Paradise Blue software. However, their true retail costs are sometimes more than $1000 less than the retail they list.

We purchased the "software" package last year. Unfortunately we didn't do our homework after we left the presentation. Had we done so, I believe we would have canceled immediately.

Being a law student, working for a judge and studying contract law, I believe there is a way out of this contract. I will find it, and post anything successful here. The truth is, we were enticed by false claims. And even if they pull the "You're not paying for discount travel - you're paying for access to software" card, there is such as thing as Promissory Estoppel.

Will let everyone know how this comes out...

Luigi,

You are not factoring in the cost of the timeshare. Lets say you use this once a year (like most families) for your vacation.

10 year
$6, 000 software cost over 10 years = $600 per year + $189 maintenance + $500 for your "cheap" condo = Total price of $1, 289 for the week.

20 year
$6, 000 software cost over 20 years = $300 per year +189 maintenance + $500 for your "cheap" condo = Total of $989.

So that $500 dollar condo doesnt sounds soo good now does it? Figure in the "Total Cost" Luigi. Dont just sell the Fluff.

Now in comparison, all the major sites are FREE. You can search for the "Condo" names you are talking about in Expedia, Travelocity, etc...They wont pop up if you just do the normalsearch on the site, you have to search by hotel/condo name. Paradise blue maybe saved me $5-20 a night compared to the big guys. I wouldnt say the $6k upfront is worth those measly savings.

The only way out is to cancel after 3 days...however, u r not sent the password to get onto the site until about 10 days later. My husband and I did purchase during the week of 6/21/10. Tried to use it in Miami and the "savings" was only $27 from what Expedia.com had. Sadly to say, we are out $3900...we are in the military...WE PLAN ON SPREADING THE WORD!