ASTAR Holidays
SCAM

My wife entered an "expression of interest" quiz on holidays on the internet. You were required to provide an e-mail address and telephone number. Wife provided mobile number and e-mail. We received a call on the mobile some months after and they went through the presentation saying we had been selected to receive the heavily discounted holiday as long as we attended a 90 minute timeshare presentation. That was fair enough. We go through the explanation and the standard speel to try and get us excited (and make rash decisions) was used. We got passed from one person to another who asked us when we would like to travel, what options we would like (car rental or tickets to theme parks) etc. We were told we were required to provide our credit card details (except for the three digit verification number on the back of the card) to SECURE our tickets. We would then receive an information package via e-mail and send it back to them to say when we would like to travel and the options. All sounding okay so far. We were then passed to the PAY people who record the conversation, where they advise they will be taking out the payment right now! We knew then it was an unethical business practice. Luckily the wife took out the money from the VISA account beforehand! I had an argument with the pay person saying that we only provided the details to SECURE the tickets (i.e. HOLD them) not PAY for them and to cancel the transaction. They provided a cancellation number, which was exactly the same as the process number and audio recording number. I terminated the call. About 5 minutes later I received a call from the "General Manager" trying to get me to sign up for them and putting forward the legitimacy of the company and the package. This aroused even more suspicion and I advised that I would be doing more research and would get back to them. The G.M. said he would call back within three days as well.
Done some research and it does not seem that they are an illegal business as such, but more of an unethical operation.
The website does not provide specific details or links to the hotels, theme parks, car rental or cruise ship they purport to have you utilise as part of the package. Check of complaints board also verified that it is an "unethical" business. It is most certainly a case of "Check the fine print, you do not get anything for free and BUYER BEWARE!"

Company: ASTAR Holidays
Country: Australia
State: Queensland
City: Orlando, Florida, USA

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