Vacation Network Inc.
Reviews and Complaints

I needed and wanted to cancel my membership and was told that until my annual membership dues were paid I could not cancel. I have been through extensive and expensive medical procedures in the past two years that (including brain surgery), that have affected my finances. There was not any compassion in allowing me to cancel my membership and deal with my health issues? I was not given any other options in this situation. If I was able to pay the annual dues, and cancel, I would but I am struggling. I spoke to Mark Williamson and he did provide me the corporate office information, but was told there was nothing else they could do. JUST DONT DO IT.

1. My husband and I purchased with them two years ago. I tried to book a vacation with them for the past summer. I was told that they could do nothing unless I give them $699.00 to look for a vacation. I agreed and they took the money immediately. I did not hear anything after that. I contacted them again and they told me to wait two weeks. I waited. Nothing. I contacted them again, and they told me to wait 45 days. On day 45, I contacted them again and they had not found a vacation for me. I asked them to refund my money. I took another month or two to process the refund. I was told by someone at the company that there is no time period to process a refund. I filed a complaint and I was told that the money was being refunded and I was lucky to have it so soon. I receive the money in 2 weeks after I filed the complaint.
2. Since I will never do business with this company again, I e-mailed their finance director in June and told him "You are no longer authorized to bill our credit card for monthly statements or for the annual finance charge. Please remove my credit card from your system. " After that I spoke with the finance director and he told me that if I did not pay it would go against my credit. I told him that I would take my chances. After that, I have received 2 further monthy finance charges to my debit card as well as the annual fee debit. I called him and he told me that he was unable to remove my credit card because I had signed a promossory note and therefore was required to pay. Apparently, I do not have a say so on how I am paying? I am working with my bank to contest these charges.

I paid cash in the amount of $4044.00 to VNI on 2/6/09. A few days later I looked the up on internet and read bad reviews. I immediately contacted them to cancel because of what I had read. The general manager in Ga told me that people write complaints on Wal Mart, Bank of America, etc. all the time. he told me I had signed a contract and hung up on me.

I sent certified mail to VNI requesting my money back..no response. I contacted my Attorney General (Alabama) and they told me they had talked to the company (they even sent me a copy of the letter VNI had sent them that was singing praises about themselves). My Att Gen would NOT help!

We tried to use this for the first time this year. we filled out the request form and paid the week in question. after a month they informed us that nothing was available. we asked why then do they charge the money and demand a request if they don't even know if they can deliver. the only response that they could come up with is that they are still working on it. i also called the salesman that we purchased this package from and his reply was that he would call us back in an hour. that was two days ago! unfortunately we purchased this package before seeing all the negative on the internet. tell everyone that these packages are not worth it, no matter how good they sound!

We gave them a year to find a vacation property for us. They didn't respond to our emails or phone calls for weeks or months at a time. We have finally thrown in the towel and 'written off' the '*** tax' that we paid to them.

Here's a summary of their business model - you decide whether you want to be their customer:

1) Take customer's money upfront (thousands of dollars) with promise of vacation properties all over the world

2) Charge customers annual dues (hundreds of dollars) to be a member of the network

3) Charge customers upfront for vacation properties (hundreds of dollars) then offer them crappy options for vacation properties for dates that don't match the request.

4) Ignore customers' requests for properties for weeks/months at a time

5) Piss customers off so much that they throw up their hands and walk away

My advice, stay away!

I purchased a vacation contract from Vacation Network, Inc. and got burned on my very first attempted use! I gave this company 9 months lead time for a vacation on South Padre Island, TX (I was told that if I gave them 6 months lead time that I would have no problem getting my request). Well, let's see. They offered my a couple of condos on a lake near my house in Houston (5 or so hours north of So. Padre Island and certainly not an island nor anywhere near the Gulf of Mexico), next was a condo in Corpus Christi (2 hours north of So. Padre Island and while on the Gulf, these condos were right near the Valero gasoline refinery (nice vacation that would have been) and finally a house on South Padre Island - yes on SPI, but no where near the beach or even a public access to the beach. When I asked for my money back, they told me to get lost since they had fulfilled their obligation by offering me so many choices (can you believe this ?!) and that I had rejected them all.

Stay away from these frauds. Caveat Emptor.

VNI is a seedy little company that does not pay its bills. It has recently defaulted on its leases at 2 locations in Arizona, one at 9449 north 90th street and one at Westgate in Glendale. The company closed its doors owing the landlords thousands and thousand of dollars in back rent and furniture lease payments. It also owes its salespeople thousand in back commissions.

The owner, Linh Dinh of Atlanta GA, has a long standing reputation for not paying his bills and screwing salespeople and its customers. There are thousands of complaints.'

Be aware.

This is a long explanation of the Presentation we experienced, but if you're considering wasting your time at one of their presentations, reading this will be well worth it.

We received a post card in the mail letting us know that we won a 7 night, 8 day trip to Hawaii, Carribean, Las Vegas or Florida (among a few others) - and if we call immediately, we'll receive a $100 Dining Gift Card. It was with VNI, Inc on Hwy 6 @ Memorial Dr in Houston. I made the appointment, did some research and saw that they had an F rating with the BBB ( at several locations that have been open long enough to have a rating) as well as an AG investigation. I also saw several issues and complaints through pissedconsumer and [redacted].

We went on 2/20/2010 with an open mind but loaded with the information. We'd like their side of the story as to why they have an F rating. After listening to the one-hour presentation which was condensed into 35-40 minutes, I asked (at the end of the session) "why do you have an F rating with the BBB?", the presenter immediately said "that must not be us", I then pulled out the Contact Us page that I printed from their website that had their address on it and said "The Sandy Spring Georgia address is what's listed on the webisite and with the BBB statement here". Instead of explaining what issues they had, he got very defensive and explained that everybody such as Sprint or AT&T has a negative report with BBB and/or [redacted]. I explained that they also have millions of customers - you have a state investigation pending with the Attorney General and an F rating. He then asked me why I came then; I explained that I wanted to see for myself what the deal was and of course for the free trip/Dining Card. He then called me a "Freeloader", the sales people immediately started pulling the clients into private rooms. He left momentarily then came back with our certificate and "Dining Card" and exclaimed "Get your *** out of here" - I replied that I feel everyone here should know what you guys are up to then he said "go on and get your Fat ### out of here, Freeloader". We simply walked out arguing with the guy all the way out the door. After further review, we know why he got so defensive.

The $100 Dining Gift Card - it's a Restaurant.com Discount Card to limited restaurants. Basically, if you spend $200 total, you get $100 off excluding alcohol.

The Vacation: Not Free - You have to send in a regstration card with $19.95, wait for the response then send in $398 for the travel certificates to cover fees. All fees must be paid by Money Order or Cashiers Check. When you send in the $398 there is no guarantee of where you will go or if your dates will be available (you have to submit 3 sets of dates not within 7 days of a national holiday). When your dates are accepted then you are sent your tickets and confirmation - btw, you have to pay $25 per night to cover Taxes, Gratuities and Surcharges. Total is almost $600 (not bad for 2 with airfare & 7 nights) but I don't know if I'm willing to send a money order or cashiers check to find out I'm scammed.

Now, here's the deal with Vacation Network, they say you will have access to Time Shares and Resorts around the world without buying one. Anyone can always buy membership for $9, 995 one time membership fee and $295 Registration Fee. After That it's $299 per year plus $499 per week for one bedroom accommodations and $699 per week for 2 bedroom accommodations. For the $9, 995, you are allowed 3 weeks per year and unlimited "excess inventory" weeks ($399 per week). If you signed up at the presentation, you get 5 weeks for your $9, 995 and 3 weeks for $7, 995 (plus the weekly rates and annual fees). You don't have to pay for your weeks if you don't use them. It would take a lot of of weeks to get your $9, 995 investment back even at $499 per week.

Good luck everyone, I'd love to hear if anyone actually went on the "free" trip.

This company promised to get me and my husband a vacation of our desire with their company services. They were never able to fit our needs for our vacation or for our refund that we asked for after we were so dissatisfied with their service. Since then they have never responded back responsibly about our refund and have been very misleading. My husband and I looked into other cases like ours and found out that there are other cases like ours also. For that reason I would like to share and expose this story to the public not only for my husband and I, but for others that have become victims like us.

Vacation Network, Inc. is not customer-service oriented. Understanding that they are well within their legal rights not to provide any refunds after the 3-day rescission window, I find it unreasonable of the company not to buy back contracts that have never been used. Their business model seems to predicate profit on collecting exorbitant up-front membership fees while knowing full well that very few of their customers will reap full benefits from the membership. The selling tactics are hard-sell and slick, which helps them but takes advantage of their customers.

Vacation network has no inventory. We have been dealing with them now for several years and they have no inventory. All you get is the run around from their office. John, the head of the sales group promised 5 star vacations anywhere in the world with lots of inventory. The customer vacation book given at the time of the sales also advertises 5 star condo's as long as you sign up with the proper forms and follow the rules. We have dealt with all of the people in the office, Raven, Krystal, Kim, John, Jaquelyn, and still no vacation. It is a hole to throw you money in. I am considering a class action lawsuit. Anyone interested? Post a compliant and I will get an email address posted on this website to respond to.

First of all I would like to say, we have toddler. If anyone has traveled with a very active toddler they know how hard it is to do. On top of that my husband lost 75% of his hours at work due to the economy. This I explained to the sales person that so diligently called my home during dinner on Feb. 8, 2009. As a good sales person they continued to try to sell even though it was obvious that there was no way we could buy food and pay for vacations.

I tried to be as nice as possible, but got nowhere. So, I hung up on miss Erica from Vacation Network. She then immediately called me back. I am thinking 'What do they want from me!' She proceeded to tell me to gather my husband and 'kid' and 'Go To H*ll!' She's calling MY home telling ME to go to h*ll? All I am trying to do is put food on the table, and I am suppose to go to hell? What kind of heartless, soulless people do they hire anyways?

Then when you try to call them back you can't because the number comes on with a message saying I am calling a non-working number. Place sounds like a scam to me if you can't even call them back. After doing some searching I found their phone number an what do you know they had nothing to say. HHHMMMM!

My husband and I attended the sales presentation after receiving offers for free airline tickets. I had reviewed the reports on this website and other "scam" sites, but we decided that we would check this out for ourselves. After the presentation, we purchased the membership that included "the right to purchase 2 weeks of vacation per year" for $4299.00. After getting home and reviewing the documents, as well as pricing some of the locations that were mentioned in the presentation, we decided this was not a good value. The yearly fees were as much as some of the vacations would have cost. We attempted to make a reservation and were told that they would not even check on the possibility because there was not a 60 day advanced notice, even though the sales person in the presentation told us that they would always check for last minute bookings if it weren't busy season. This was confirmation to us that we did not want to continue with this membership.

We contacted our attorney, who advised us to rescind the contract immediately. We sent the right to rescission letter and sent it via certified mail on November 5, 2008. I called to follow up and could not get anybody to return my calls. After informing the receptionist that our attorney would be calling, we finally received a message from a gentlemen stating that our refund would be processed on December 13, 2008. Today is December 19, 2008. I have called the corporate office and have been told that I would have to leave messages. I have not received a return phone call and have not received my refund.

My husband and I enrolled with Vacation Network, Inc. on
February 6, 1995 to sell a timeshare studio @ Hotel Cancun Palace in
Mexico.

Vacation Network, Inc. charged my AMEX card $497.00 to
market, advertise and sell our timeshare.

We communicated with Vacation Network, Inc. on April 11, 1995,
May 16, 1995, July 13, 1995, August 14, 1995, August 18, 1995,
August 29, 1995 and lastly on December 3, 1995.

To date, no response or communication from Vacation
Network, Inc. This company is a fraud and should be dealt
with the Better Business Bureau in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

I have many companies calling me to list my timeshare for resale
with them. Of course, for a price. After dealing with Vacation
Network, Inc. I would not trust another timeshare company
that deals with the resale of timeshare units.

Mr. & Mrs. Richard G. Colella

I was behind a closed door with someone badgering me to buy their program for over an hour. I finally caved because I felt I was not going to get out of there without signing something. I am in the process of trying to get my money refunded. I believe this is a violation of Federal Trade Commission regulations. I also spoke to the woman named Pam. I believe I was lied to about hours and when someone was available.

Beware!