Sundance Vacations
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sundance Vacations is a travel company that specializes in wholesale accommodations. The company is headquartered in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and maintains offices in six other locations including; Rockaway, NJ; Princeton, NJ; King of Prussia, PA; Harrisburg, PA; Downers Grove, IL, and Brookfield, WI.
The company services approximately 60,000 travelers through its vacation accommodations network. Sundance Vacations received the 2005 Torch Award from the Better Business Bureau of Northeast and Central Pennsylvania. The Torch Award is bestowed on a company that demonstrates a commitment to customer satisfaction and marketplace ethics. Though a complaint may not always be satisfied, the winning business must have consistently responded to and attempted to resolve any complaint filed against them. Each Sundance office currently has complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau. The winner must be in good standing with the Bureau.
Contents |
[edit] Business Model
Sundance business is to sell vacations. These consist of selling the use of interchangeable time shares at locations owned or managed by Travellers Advantage Network (TAN). Many aspects of Sundance Vacations business are subcontracted out.
There is a separate marketing arm called Dowd Marketing, Inc., which is owned for the most part by the same people who own Sundance Vacations. This organization makes the calls to potential customers and schedules them to an appointment at Sundance Vacations offices.
The promotional items are separate subcontracts. The chance to "win the car" is purchased as a block by Sundance Vacations for their potential pool of clients from an organization that will make one or two drawings a year (one or two cars awarded per year). It should be noted that the chance to win the vehicle is not limited to Sundance Vacations, the drawing for the car is sold to many different marketing companies, allowing each of their potential clients to also win the same vehicle. The odds of winning are fractionally small, and this makes the cost to Sundance minimal for the amount of people contacted. That also means that a Sundance Vacations potential client has very low odds of winning.
Sundance Vacations marketers avoid the use of the word free however the "Two day overnight hotel stay" is promoted as a no cost option as an inducement to see the presentation. This promotion is again purchased from a third party that obtains unused and discounted hotel rooms in blocks. This provides major discounts to the purchaser, however the rooms may not be determined by the holder of the voucher in advance. Therefore time and place of using the room is entirely up to the third party. Many of the rooms may be to destinations that would not have been picked by the voucher holder or at desirable locations in off season (less than desirable times). Travel to the hotel is not included. It is reported that the two night stay is not two consecutive nights, but on two different days. This may require two trips. It is up to the voucher holder to determine if there is value in the trips or it is an uneeded expense to make use of the voucher. There is also a $50 deposit paid in advance which is to be refunded after the trip is complete.
The "internet shopping spree" is purchased from another third party and is strictly limited to a single web site (that web site keeps changing). In many cases you need the log on code to view the items and their prices. The items are usually not of great value, and there is limited selection. It has been noted that the price listed on the shopping spree web page is higher than the manufacturers suggested list price. The surprise comes in shipping and handling fees, which must be paid by the recipient and are not included in the promotion. These fees can range up to $340 for a $1000 shopping spree. Unfortunately the actual cost of the goods (if purchased elsewhere) which can be obtained at this web site is about one fourth of amount selected or approximately $250 (if the maximum $1000 promotion amount is used. Factoring actual shipping if the same goods were purchased online anywhere else they would be the same or less cost than if obtained through the "Internet shopping spree" offered by Sundance Vacations. Any cost over the maximum must be paid by the purchaser.
There is also a $15 dinner voucher coupon good at selected restaurants.
In all Sundance vacations spends very little to get potential clients into the local office and many potential clients feel that the time spent in the Sundance Vacations office in relation to what was obtained was not worth it.
Many of the incentives are subcontracted through Spirit Incentives out of Florida.
Finally the actual vacation is purchased by Sundance from TAN (Travellers Advantage Network) another organization which handles the actual time share destination. The destination can range from a resort to a condo type of residence. Travel and other costs associated with the vacation are not included. It is noted below there are many restrictions on using the vacation that was paid for. These include picking either three different times or three different locations (Locations are regions such as Northeast US, Mid-Atlantic US, Southeast US, Gulf Coast US & Florida, Western US, Hawaii, Mexico & the Caribbean or Other at least 90 days to six months in advance. Each location ranges are desirable or less than desirable depending on the vacationer's needs and desires.
A destination such as Western US includes:
Destination: Western US; This includes: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Desert, California, So. Coast, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, Other, New Mexico, Utah, Wisconsin.
Alternately the Gulf Coast region includes:
Destination: Gulf Coast US & Florida; This includes: Alabama, Florida, East Coast, Florida, Emerald Coast/Panhandle, Florida, Orlando, Florida, Southeast, Florida, West Coast, Louisiana, New Orleans, Texas.
Ultimately the choice and time of the vacation is dictated by a third party. If the traveler selects one destination such as Western US, his or her trip may range from the California desert to Las Vegas or Arkansas. With such a wide range it may be difficult for many to plan where they want to go and when they want to go. Each choice is made 3 to six months in advance. As each destination includes a wide range locations, a trip with three destinations (regions)could be basically anwhere in the country. As an alternative, the traveler can pick one destination (which is still a wide range) but choose three different times. With these restrictions, it is easy to see why many do not choose Sundance Vacations and TAN when they go on vacation.
For a separate fee, Sundance Vacations does offer to make travel arrangements, but these would also be purchased from a third party. In many cases the cost of the whole package for one vacation including hotel, airfare, auto rental, dinner or other options that is to a similar destination can be purchased from Travel Agencies at a competitive if not lower rate.
TAN offers their own discounted space (excess inventory) to customers, and membership in Sundance Vacations is not required to make use of these specials.
This makes Sundance vacations a middleman in putting together the packages of others and selling them.
[edit] Marketing Practices
The company gains permission to telephone or email potential clients through a yearly sweepstakes, the winner of which can choose the car of their choice up to $70,000 MSRP, the Ultimate Sports Giveaway or $50,000. Completion of the entry form permits sales calls to bypass the national Do Not Call list. Sweepstakes participants who are over 21 years of age and have an annual household income of over $25,000 per year are invited to attend a brief 60 minute introduction about the company. Clients are offered a promotional gift in exchange for their time and attention. Clients are requested to bring their spouse or significant other to the sales presentation (they do not offer additional incentives for this). This is because of the expense involved that they want all parties present.
[edit] Sales Practices
Sundance Vacation staff members conduct a presentation about vacationing with Sundance Vacations. The group presentation lasts 45 minutes and utilizes a slide presentation and a short film. The last 15 minutes are reserved for individual questions. You are taken into a room individually after the presentation for a sales pitch. Potential customers are told the offer is good for one night only. Potential customers are not presented with all of the financial information needed regarding costs
A $500.00 Internet shopping certificate is offered as an incentive to attend the presentation. Recipients are responsible for the shipping and handling on the items they choose at www.goshoppingmall.com. The shipping and handling fees are greater than the retail and ordinary shipping cost of the item if purchased elsewhere.
[edit] Allegations of scamming
The "free" promotional offers which require the recipient to pay for predetermined shipping and handling fees presented by Sundance Vacation are considered to be worthless, and can be purchased elsewhere for less than the cost of the items (including shipping) than if obtained through the Sundance promotion.
There is also a hotel voucher offering a free stay for two nights. However the selection of which nights or the location of the stay are not at the holder's choosing; and the nights are not consecutive, meaning there are two separate trips that must be planned around hotel occupancy to some location to be determined. Transportation to the hotel is not included so if the hotel is distant, airfare is required. Many people find that the expense and inconvenience is not worth the bother and feel this promotional item is useless.
The conditions on the offer include spending at least an hour in the offices of the company listening to travel packages they offer, which include spending around $10,000 to $30,000 for vacations over many years. There is interest charged on the remaining portion of the cost of the vacation package after the deposit at approximately 17%. Some people who have experienced the presentation claim satisfaction with the company, while others feel that the offer is a waste of time and to have been manipulated into spending large sums of money instead of just receiving a gift. Availability of destinations has limitations and peak charges may apply. Peak charges apply for most of the weeks in a year (see TAN web site). There is also a concern about how to exit a long term contract for vacations should the customer's personal, medical or financial situation change.
[edit] Personal Experience
We were promised a 2 day airfare and hotel accomcations in Vegas if we attend the seminar. We were told that there would be no blackout dates and that we could choose the hotel we would stay at. Needless to say, we didn't like their vacation offers and we found out that the promised travel voucher had several restrictions and fees attached to it which made it pretty much wortheless. We were also amazed that their website displays the Better BUsinees Bureau logo. Seems like that institution has also become worthless.
