Vacations Made Easy review: rip off 40

They ripped us off too! They charged us double the going rate for a tour and we couldn't even take the tour because the Ryman Theater had the day blocked off for an event - which they say our tour company should have known because block-out dates are posted. When we tried to get a refund, they only offered $12 on a $99 charge. They are thieves and con artists.

I booked through them last minute for a hotel near Chicago (8 minutes away from the zoo and other fun things.) I was already on the road driving and almost to my destination when I received my vouchers, which lo and behold, were for a hotel 50 miles away in Bluff Park! The hotel where I arrived had no problem calling their "sister" hotel and canceling my reservation, but when I called vacationsmadeeasy.com to inquire as to why I was charged for a king size, jacuzzi room and my tickets said STANDARD, non-smoking preferred for the same price... they had no answer. I was then told that it was Choice Hotel policy and not their policy regarding the cancellation for the room I did not want over 50 miles out of town. It was not the room I had reserved, nor was it even in the town I asked for!

I gave the representative the phone number for this hotel when he was told it was not in his system (which was how I found it in the first place - I searched for "Chicago hotel jacuzzi" and was led to their site) so that they could attempt to "pay" for this hotel instead. He put me on hold to attempt calling while I was standing at the desk and then switched over and told me the line had been busy and he could not get through. He further informs me that I am not staying at a Choice hotel, despite the fact that this hotel was able to call and cancel my room so easily due to them both being Choice hotels, and that they don't do same day cancellation policy. I have went to sleepinn.com and looked for hotels in the Bluff Park area and was informed that they are working on currently working on servicing the area... this hotel was chosen for me by vacationsmadeeasy.com and NOT one of the ones we had discussed. I remember the exact description and how far away it was from everything... 8 minutes from some places... and was extremely stressed and disappointed to get here and realize that I had to pay for not only my hotel now (that I THOUGHT was taken care of), but I also now have to attempt to deal with their fraudulent practices.

My money has not been taken out of my Discover account yet, but has been put on hold by this company. Their policy of keeping "100% percent" of a refund is disgusting whenever they apparently set up vacations at a hiked rate or even SEND THEM TO THE WRONG PLACE and then say that their hands are tied. Avoid at all costs. It was cheaper for me to go through the hotel!

I too was ripped off by these con artists. vacationsmadeeasy.com is ran by a con artist by the name of Matt Cook who is nothing but a thieve, a liar, and manipulator. They present everything on their website so well and when you arrive at the location, you find out that you overpaid and that you're not getting what you paid for. I'm currently going through a legal dispute with them trying to get my money back. STAY AWAY FROM THESE THIEVES.

Somadawn, I looks like they have a method on how to deal with their customers who are being ripped off by them. I went through the same sequence of events you have just described here after arriving at the hotel. It was a complete dump nothing like they had advertised on their website. I regused to have my family stay there so I booked somewhere else. When I tried to get at least my lodging money back, Matt Cook approached me with a very defensive attitude calling me a liar and dismissing my claims without any investigation done on his part. The experience was horrible. This almost ruined our vacation. BUYER BEWARE.

Sounds to me like none of you understand this service at all.

Your complaints are about the attractions when you arrive to them. Did you ever stop to think that perhaps the attractions are sending false information to Vacations Made Easy to increase their ticket sales? Do you really think that Vacations Made Easy is the one that generates the picture of the hotel or attraction? And are you really naive enough to believe that someone from Vacations Made Easy visits every one of these attractions and writes the description of it? If you are I'll tell you that all of the information that you're complaining about is sent from vendors to the website. You claim that this company is so malicious but if you'd stop and think for a second you'd realize where you complaint should be placed. The rates are under contract, and that contract is made between the vendor and facilitator and the party that stands to make the most in these sort of contracts is the vendor not the facilitator.

Grow a brain and use it a bit before you decide to complain.

I agree they are a rip-off. I have turned them into the Better Business Bureau. I booked on line- paid $880 for 4 nights hotel, various sight seeing - found out when I got the email to print tickets I got the 4 nights hotel and 1 sightseeing at a museum which they charged more for. I cancelled - they keep $100 and are giving me a "cerficicate " for $700. I have booked my own hotel and sightseeing and hope I am not out $880!

I have reviewed www.VacationsMadeEasy.com and it looks like they have provided information regarding their cancellation policies on every page. They even offer it just before you make your order. Sounds like people are just upset with themselves and won't admit they're too dumb/ignorant to stop for a second and look over a cancellation policy before they dish out several hundred dollars for a vacation. It's your own fault, people. Don't get pissed at a company who just follows their policies that are clearly available to anyone who wants to find them.

Do not be fooled. NoahAllen and CharleneD are both Matt Cook. At least he cleans up his language for the internet. If you ever have the "pleasure" of talking to this guy he will insult and berate you. He gets off on it. Do not be intimidated. Continue to post your experiences and report these theives to the BBB. I hope that one upside of this struggling economy is that people will examine where they choose to spend their money and schysters like VME will be run out of business.

I was ripped- off too ! I had booked on line for a hotel reservation and 2 hours later had to cancel due to cancellation of my trip. Since I used my debit card they took my money immediately. When I tried to call to get refund they stated that I had to get a gift certificate in the amount and use their company only . I had only 12 months to use it, after that I will be charged 5% from my balance every month their after till balance is 0. This company is over priced and is a Fraud . I filed a complaint to better business burrow and plan to file with Attorney General office and as many companies as I can to prevent them from ripping -off others. If you did not do so, please do the same and file complaint with BBB, local attorney general office . I will contact other investigation services and let you know if any progress being done . Marina Schaum.

PLEASE DON'T BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY! I am currently reporting them to every organization I can to get them out of business! PLEASE DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY! They wait until the last minute to tell you if your reservation has been approved. They have a 48 hr cancellation policy, but do not give you enough time to cancel. Then they offer you a voucher for a cheaper hotel!
Consumers need to be warned about his company!

I would not recommend this business to no one ever! They are a total rip off. I found out I paid more for my vacation to Seaworld than I should have . I had a motel reserved for $273.99 and once we got to our hotel it was a total disaster. We literally had to call them four times to convince them we should get our money back and found a motel cheaper than the one we booked. They only promised us 90% back refund. They want u to give 48 hour notice of any complaints u may have which is impossible because u can't go on ur trip til the day u planned it. Six flags was somehow ordered on my account and money taken off my card when I did not authorize it. Went thru hell trying to convince them to give me all my money back for something I did not ask for. They basically have a too tight refund policy and are not very understanding when u have an issue wit your vacation. And last but not least they do not honor what they advertise. They say u can change or cancel but when u try to they refuse to do it. I will never go back to them again.

I agree this company over charged me 25% for a package 150.00 more than if I did it myself gave me reservations to the wrong hotel than the one I applied for then booked a regular room when I paid for a suite I called to get something resolved they told me there was nothing they could do I called back to speak to a manager and low an behold they blocked my phone number do not use this site ever they are crooks

Utter disaster. VME chose this hotel as the hotel originally requested somehow became unavailable AFTER I reserved it. The hotel was a nightmare and very unsanitary. Making the best out of the worst, we got settled in and our room lost power. Manager was off site and the attender said he was not allowed to call him. Because power was lost, we were also locked out of the room. Nightmare. Because of the hotel's refusal to act on the situation, the police were called. The police resolved the problem quickly by speaking with the guy attending and we were offered a FULL REFUND. Once the police left, I was given a hard time about the refund as I was told I could get nothing printed or otherwise, but that VME would be e-mailed to process the refund. The police were called again as I was not certain they would process it. The police arrived again and made them give me a card with a written msg about the refund. The hotel said VME does not allow them to give their customers a receipt. Called VME today. No refund e-mail was sent. VME is now saying they do not give refunds. I NEVER received that in writing. It's not printed on the confirmation/reservations or website. Had it been, I would have NEVER used VME. Any reputable company cares about their customers and refunds are part of good business ESPECIALLY if the fault is on the behalf of the company. Currently awaiting a call back from VME as they now claim to have to investigate. How can they do an investigation with me, the customer? This sounds like a scam and I was taken for a few hundred dollars. Will see if they keep their word, if not, other avenues of restitution will be explored

MAJOR RIP OFF! Ripped me of with tickets for Midieval times. Couldn't get refund before scheduled date of showing, not even after! Charged over 80% more for the tickets and yet if you call different numbers for different departments you get the same people at your service with the same supervisor who has no professional ability what so ever to speak with anyone. Supervisor Jane ext 5069 needs to attend seminars for people skills! She had to ordasity to hang up on me while I was still speaking with her to get more information.
I am still looking to take this further, anyone else has any other information to share?
Thanks

Please DO NOT do business with these people! Arrived at ICE Museum and Opryland had no recollection of my tickets.
Called Vacation Made Easy and said it was my fault somehow. I agree that Jane needs supervisor skills as well! She was horrible.

THEY ARE A COMPLETE RIP OFF AND I AM ESCALATING WITH THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU

Do not book with them". They did get us decent seats but booked us o to what had to be a one star motel when I made it clear that I wanted a high end hotel. We had to go find our own accommodations . We were to see a show tonight but they had closed down . We paid for the tickets but no show. The lady at the center was rude and could not have cared less about us. By the way, they just want to sell you a time share...which we didn't know they were into.

Vacations made easy is a cimplementation scam. My wife called them to book a simple carriage ride in nashville. They took our credit card number, charged us 50 dollars. We went to the pick up location and the operators did not know we where coming. We called vacations made easy and they said that it was there policy to charge the credit card, then look for a reservation. If they cannot find a reservation to refund the money. So they took our money and did not deliver any service. Plus the ride would have been cheaper if we just paid the carriage operator. TOTAL AND COMPLETE SCAM.

My husband and I booked a cruise for Spirit of Norfolk through vacationsmadeeasy. Our wedding Anniversary was June 17th, in which that was they day we booked for us to take the cruise. Vacationsmade easy called the night before (6/16) stating that we had to go on the cruise on June 18th because the cruise was not available. We changed our plans and tried to get to the cruise on the 18th. After arriving to the site of the boat early, we had to ride around for an additional 20 minutes trying to find parking. Nevertheless, we left our hotel which is Williamsburg in enough time to get to the boat. Once we finally found parking we approached the boat which was pulling off. We then went to the will call box of Spirit of Norfolk in which they were ready to give us another date and time. Due to the fact we booked through vacationsmadeeasy, we had to call them back. When we called them, they stated they had called Spirit of Norfolk and they wouldn't give them a new date and time which was a lie. Vacations made easy told us they could only refund us $14 after we paid $140.00 for our supposedly anniversary cruise. I called Spirit of Norfolk again in which they stated they didn't have a problem with giving us a new date. So not only were we not able to enjoy our postponed anniversary luncheon, we couldn't enjoy the experience of a cruise neither. I will never use vacations made easy again and I was saddened that they didn't try to work with us but only interested in charging more money to get a new ticket.

WARNING!
I booked a last minute weekend trip(Saturday night) to Pigeon Forge for one night, Dixie Stampede tickets and Wonder Works tickets. Hotels were scarce as this was a busy weekend in Pigeon Forge. Spoke with VME on Wednesday and made all arrangements and PAID with a credit card. The next day, Thursday, they called me to say that hotel we booked and paid for was now not available. I said OK these things happen and we re- booked at another hotel that was not exactly what we wanted but at the late date it was OK. The very next day, Friday, less than 24 hours from our departure VME called again to inform me that the second hotel that we booked and paid for was now not available and we could re-book at another hotel--obviously there would be no guarantee that that reservation would be honored either. I indicated that I thought their company was a joke and said I would never do any business with them again, please refund 100% of my mone for entire package. Funny thing is I called the same hotel and booked the same rooms that they told me were sold out, I then called Dixie Stampede and got 6 pm dinner tickets that VME said were sold out! I put the whole package together for the same price that VME quoted. On Saturday, while we were at the pool of the hotel VME said was not available, Dixie Stampede called me to say I had two reservations. I told them I had cancelled the earlier show with VME. I called VME and they had only cancelled the hotel--NOT the whole package and it was too late! After speaking to a manager, they finally agreed to refund my credit card as if they were doing me a favor. I had to insist that we could not have traveled to the area without a hotel room, therefore the remaining package should have been cancelled too.
Clearly this business is only able to book hotels a shows that will not be sold-out which creates their margin of profit. My complaint is why not, after cancelling two reservations and 24 hrs prior to the trip, just break even on the hotel and keep a customer happy? Also, the "shyster" practices that have earned them all these complaints are well deserved. Please avoid this company at all cost.
Dixie Stampede, Best Western, and Wonder Works staff were very helpful and we will return to these businesses in the future.

Never book anything with these clowns. They never tell you that once you make the reservation and then cancel it. No cancellation, no refund period. The Supervisor won't even help you. Oh they will talk the talk, but that is all a sales pitch. They could care less about you, all they want is the money. DO NOT CALL THEM FOR ANYTHING!

All of the above post are all true! This business is just thieves and they steal your money! WARNING...DO NOT GO THROUGH THIS RIP OFF COMPANY to buy...THEY ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF RUINING YOUR VACATIONS AND TAKING YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY!

Awful experience as well. Booked a Nashville Christmas lights tour advertised to be wheelchair accessible. Nothing about this was accessible. My husband had to carry my son on and off the bus at each stop and up steps into the house, which of course he couldn't tour past the first floor. Our 3 hour tour of lights began with a half hour drive on the interstate, a stop in Franklin at the Lott house to get some apple cider, then concluded with our driver combing through neighborhoods in Franklin looking for houses decorated with lights. Then of course, we got the return half hour trip on the interstate back to downtown Nashville. Don't use this company, nothing but a rip-off!

Apparently I should have found this site before I booked w/ VME. I had to cancel over 1 month ahead of our reservation date and had still not received any info from them. I was told I would only get a 75% refund as the cancel period was up, even though I had not received any communication from them. If I ran my business this way I wouldn't have any, and that's where they should be (out of business).

I had a bad experience with vacations made easy also. We booked hotel and medieval times in Toronto. I had to call them to get my e tickets and also questioned them if I was paying Canadian funds on my credit card or US funds. They told me total was in Canadian funds, when statement came in it was in US funds. I booked a room for 2 adults and a 7 year old, we got a room with 1 Queen bed. Had to upgrade for extra $$$ plus parking. Same experience when we arrived at medieval times, it was like we walked of the street to buy tickets, we got general admission for big $$$ through vacations made easy. Don't ever book with company, big time ripoff.

This company is a ripoff. The sad thing is they do it legally. BEWARE YOU WILL OVERSPEND AND THERE IS NO GOOD WAY OUT!

All true! Ripoff!

I agree! This company is horrible. I booked accomadations at a lake front condo only to drive 8 hours with two small children to get placed in a golf resort. They are rude. Like to blame the customer. Don't help you find solutions. They are just a horrible company overall. DO NOT USE them. I have never had such a horrible experience with a company as I have with these people in the 15 years I've been traveling. You can tell how awful they are by reading the comments that say grow a brain people, or people are dumb and ignorant. Those comments are obviously from the company.

They are ripped off and won't let you cancel the order even the order placed 5 minutes ago.

When I made reservations through them they assured me that the seat location would be as requested. While they were "Preferred" seats, they were not on the correct side of the arena and were the last seats in a row that placed us at a wall, missing a good portion of the show. Also, price for this seats were inflated well above what I could have purchased at the dinner show door. I would never use them again.

NEVER BOOK WITH THESE FOLKS! SCAM AND PROBLEM WITH THEIR STAFF. BOOKED, CHANGED FOR FOLLOWING WEEKEND, CANCELLED IN GOOD TIME, BUT NOT COORDINATED WITH HOTEL, AND TOOK MONEY FOR FIRST RESERVATION WITHOUT ANY RECOURSE. NOT SURE WHY I COULD NOT FIND SITE FOR HOTEL ITSELF THE FIRST TIME, BUT IT'S THEIR ONLINE MARKETING OBFUSCATION.

Ripoff! I bought a ticket for the Grand Ole Opry for a floor seat. When I got there the ticket was for a mezzanine seat with a restricted view where one could only see half of the stage. But they charged my credit card full price for a floor seat. Sales rep told me there was nothing she could do about it. Ripoff! Don't buy from these people.

I wish I had visited this forum before booking with VACATIONS MADE EASY (phone [protected]). I booked tickets to a dinner show in Wisconsin Dells, WI and did not realize I was going through a 3rd party site. I was charged $146 for 2 tickets. When I arrived at the theater I found out the cost was $98. A $48 fee for 2 tickets is awful.
I called the company and was told 'that's the way it is, have a nice day'.
Stay away from this company. It's a rip off!

My husband booked a hotel in Branson, MO for our anniversary. He selected the dates of July 6 & 7, 2018. Processed the payment and reservation. The day before we left he attempted to print the itinerary from the email. No where on the email were the exact details of our reservation, only links to their site. The link took us to their site which showed our order number and "order complete". We could not find the itinerary. When we got to our hotel they said we did not have reservations for those dates, but the 3rd & 4th of July. The room we wanted was no longer available, and we are out $325 because the dates got messed up. Attempted to call customer service for an explanation and they said those were the dates we selected (not true), and there was nothing they would do. I believe the room that we wanted was already booked, and rather than call us they changed the date to the closest available booking. This company has a bad record of dealing with customer issues, and even if we had discovered the error sooner they would not have been willing to help us, given their other bad reviews and BBB complaints. Don't use this company!

I purchased tickets online for th Red Neck Comedy Tour in Nashville with a "Print" option. I waited the next day for my email to print my tickets. Instead I received an email stating that I had to pick up the tickets a 1/2 hour out of town. I will not be renting a car so I will be unable to get the tickets. They offered to give me a refund of 75% of the ticket price. I said I should receive the whole amount since this excursion is a month away. Now that I am reading these comments, I probably won't receive any of the refund. Wow, when I booked the tickets I had no idea that this was a fradulent site. I guess I am lucky I didn't show up to get the tickets.

Made the mistake as many others did of booking concert tickets at the Gran Ol Opry in Nashville. The website is very clever and you THINK you are booking directly with the venue. After realizing it wasn't, and I can't even print out tickets, I called them. That is where my nightmare began. You have to go down the street a few miles to a Wyndham resort to get your voucher- AFTER you sit through a presentation trying to get you to buy a vacation time share. Once you have done that, you get a voucher, and that you turn in at the theatre and they will print out your tickets there- whatever is available. I PAID FOR DELUXE seating- could have done better at the box office- I called multiple times AND spoke to a supervisor about getting my money back so I can book direct with the venue. NO REFUNDS. PERIOD. But you can waste 2-3 hours of my valuable vacation time listening to your sales pitch to buy a condo? Really? I called my credit card company and tried to stop the transaction but they processed it RIGHT AWAY! Credit card company offered to open up a dispute which could take 30 days and I may not get my money back- in the meantime I need tickets to the event so I am not buying more tickets.
They said if I tried to stop payment on the transaction they WILL get paid by my credit card company.
( looks they already did)
Frustrated beyond belief.
Do NOT book anything with these people.
TOTAL SCAM ARTISTS

I booked 6 tickets for the Grand 'Ole Opry November 23rd this year. I thought I was on the Grand 'Ole Opry website and when I selected to order tickets I must have been redirected to vacationsmadeeasy.com (what a scam). The 6 tickets were $421 dollars and when I received confirmation and realized it was not The Grand 'Ole Opry, I called to inquire and learned these tickets are normally sold for $55 a piece, not $71. I immediately tried to cancel the order and of course...vacations made easy is not that easy. They have you agree to the terms when you purchase, but thought I was dealing with the actual Opry. They mislead and way overcharge any fees for being a third party vendor. Beware! I also learned I must drive to their business to pick up the tickets and they would not be emailed to me as promised. How can they stay in business?

My wife and I are senior citizens, disabled with handicapping conditions. We booked a railroad tour supposedly out of Gatlingburg, TN but it actually is in North Carolina! I called immediately to cancel, explaining if they would accommodate for our disabilities and learned we were on our own. Tried to cancel and get even a partial refund but Travels Made Easy refused and had absolutely no interest in helping us. We feel discriminated against and advise anyone with a disability to book their vacations elsewhere. These people care about nothing but money.

VME is still at it, scamming everyone they can with their misleading websites and ridiculous refund policies. Just remember, most of the time when you're on their site you won't know it. They hide that fact very well, but when you go to pay/checkout, that is when you'll get the reality that you're about to pay VME. At that point, STOP and CANCEL the process so that you can save yourself a LOT of money and a lot of headaches. Also, go check them out on the BBB site. Lots of warnings about VME there as well. Hilarious thing is that in many of their replies to complaints, they claim that their business name is across the top of all their websites. THAT is a complete lie. I double checked many of their sites, and that is NEVER the case. Most of them don't even mention VME until you go to the "contact us" links.

We purchased tickets for a show in Branson, MO. We were told it was a buy one get one free deal, but when we arrived at the theater, we learned that they had charged $35 more for the ticket than the actual price. Their customer service refused to discuss or acknowledge the issue.

The order number is 6485877. The date of the issue is 9/16/2023.

In 9/16/23 we purchased buy one get one free tickets. When we arrived at the show, we found that the tickets were almost half the price we paid. VME increases the prices and then offers a discount. Their customer service refused to acknowledge the issue. Don't purchase from them. It's not a "deal"!