Complaint Review: RSI Vacations - Asheville North Carolina

We recieved an invitation to attend a "Tourism and Travel Show" in our local Marriott.  The invitation stated "In exchange for your attendance, you will receive (2) complimentary round trip airline vouchers including (2) nights at one of over 1000 Marriott's, Hilton's, or Hyatt's.  These vouchers are valid for travel withinj the continental United States departing from most major international airports.  The Retail value is up to $1089"  It also mentioned "BONUS: First 50 attendees will receive a bonus $100.00 dinner voucher good at over 45,000 restaurants"

We called up to confirm there were no "catches" and were informed that we'd be responsible for any taxes and, to compensate, we'd be given a $200 dinner voucher.  With that, we reserved our spot and attended the presentation.

While everything sounded great, there was a "hard sell" and a lot of pressure to become members of their wholesale travel services.  Since we don't make spur of the moment major purchases we declined.

We were given electronic vouchers as our compensation but when we got home we discovered there were a lot of catches that were never mentioned to us beforehand.  In order to claim the rewards we had to pay non-refundable fees of $50 for the airfare/hotel and $12.95 for the restaurant voucher.  In addition, each had very restrictive terms of use as detailed here:

Airfare/Hotel TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

This certificate is void if bartered or sold to the recipient. This certificate is valid for a reservation registration validation form offering a bundled air and hotel package for two adults 21 years of age or older with two nights of standard hotel accommodations plus two round trip airline tickets from a participating Major International Airport in The Continental United States. Bookings require at least a 30 day advance notice. You must redeem your certificate before the expiration date in order to activate your offer. Once activated you will have 24 months to register with the fulfilling travel agency and the travel must be completed within this time. Your only cost after activation is $199 per person for all hotel taxes, airline taxes, airport fees, agency fees, etc and these fees are based on a double occupancy requirement. Additional travelers will incur additional fees. Transfers to and from the airport are not included. These fees are paid directly to the fulfillment travel agency and are payable by credit card at the time of booking over the phone. Dates near holidays, weekends and during major conventions are not available. Additional terms and conditions may apply with each independent property. Guests that would like to book only a promotional vacation with no upgrades or enhancements will be entitled to travel to one of the nominated cities within their geographical half of the continental USA divided East and West. Any additional fees such as but not limited to: hotel/resort/condo fees, miscellaneous taxes, maid service fees and any other incidental charges are the responsibility of the travelers. This offer is not good for group travel of two or more certificate holders. This certificate cannot be combined with any other promotional vacation offer. The expiration date on this certificate pertains only to activation of this certificate and not actual travel. Departures and Check in are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Upgrades, extensions, adding additional travelers can be done at the time of booking and will require extra charges that will be provided at the time of reservation request. Travel must be completed within 24 months of activation. This certificate has no cash surrender value. Void if discontinued and where prohibited by law. Only one redemption per household every 24 months allowed. The terms of this offer are subject to change without notice. Do not make travel arrangements until you receive a written booking confirmation number. This certificate will be considered void if manipulated in any way or altered in any unauthorized manner. All promotional inventory is based strictly on availability. By participating in this promotional offer you release all distributors, 3rd party administrators, fulfilling travel agencies of liability of any actual or potential loss that may arise in connection with this offer. This offer has no cash value. Each traveler is responsible for all necessary travel documents for each country they visit. Once activated this offer is tied to the original redeemer and not transferable. The travel agency reserves the right to offer alternate arrival dates and destinations. Do not rely upon representations other than what is printed on this certificate. You must be able to speak, read, type and fully understand the English language. If you cannot speak, read and understand the English language as our agents are , then your offer will be voided. CST # 2091925

Restaurant TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

This certificate entitles you to eight $25 restaurant credits which will be disbursed monthly. You will also receive access to The Latest and Greatest Fast Food & Restaurant Coupons that you can use to receive discounts on meals in your local area or wherever you are. You must redeem this certificate before it expires in order to activate your offer. Once activated you will receive your very first $25 restaurant credit immediately. Every 30 days we will replenish your account with a new $25 restaurant credit that you can use at a restaurant of your choice of participating restaurants. You must redeem your $25 credit every month in order for your account to be replenished each month. If you do not redeem your monthly credit you will forfeit that month's $25 credit permanently. You may continue to receive credits for future months if you have outstanding qualifying months available. Just continue to log into your account the next month to receive your $25 Restaurant credit for that month. Please note that each individual restaurant may apply certain conditions for using your $25 Restaurant credits. Conditions may include but are not limited to: 18% gratuity added to bill before discount, $50 minimum food order requirement, alcoholic beverages not included in total, take out only, dine in only, etc.  Before using any of the available Fast Food and Restaurant Coupons and your monthly $25 Restaurant credits please be sure to read the specific terms and conditions of each restaurant to make sure you agree to their offering. Recipients must have an email address, internet access and the ability to print out or download Coupons and Restaurant Specific Certificates. No purchaser should rely upon representations other than those included in this certificate and that is printed on the actual coupons and restaurant certificates. This certificate is void if discontinued or where prohibited by law. The terms of this certificate are subject to change without notice.  This certificate shall be deemed null and void if sold to the recipient. This certificate is good for U.S. residents only.

Their promises of compensation for our time were misleading and I hope this report will help others avoid wasting their time.  If this is how they treat their clients I'm very glad we didn't waste thousands of dollars on what I expect would have been more empty promises.