Judging from our web traffic, we can safely assume that Holiday Fever (www.holidayfever.com.au) are again cold-calling Kiwis that are sitting in wintry conditions, fantasising about going on holiday in warmer climes.We have noticed that we are getting a sudden increase in web traffic landing on our posts about holiday voucher scams: HERE and HERE
Holiday Fever have been accused of overstating the value of their accommodation voucher offer and there has been complaints from hapless travellers that find it difficult to redeem vouchers.
The accommodation industry relies on the public to easily access our product without fear. They should do so with the confidence that they will be fully satisfied and experience no hidden surprises.
Cold-calling scams that promise holidays, accommodation, meals etc that don't deliver, rocks the confidence of the public that may be wary of dealing with legitimate operators in the future.
What does the Consumer website say:
If enough complaints are received, the Commerce Commission will issue further warnings to the New Zealand public and pass information over to their counterpart in Australia that will be able to take action.A Sydney-based holiday "club" cold called a Consumer researcher just two days after the Commerce Commission issued warnings about discount-voucher companies.
The Commission issued a press release asking consumers to contact it if they had purchased "free" vouchers or discounted holidays but hadn't been able to redeem them.
Our researcher was offered 12 nights' accommodation vouchers for AUD$199 (NZ$248) by the Holiday Fever Club.
The salesman from Holiday Fever Club told our researcher that the vouchers could be used in two ways:
- To stay one night free per voucher as long as we paid for both breakfast and dinner for two adults.
- If we paid for one night at full rack rate, we'd get the second night free.
Where can the vouchers be used?
Holiday Fever Club asked our researcher where she liked to holiday and listed nine hotels in which the vouchers could be used in those destinations. We then emailed each hotel asking if they would accept them.
We got a mixed response. The DeVere Hotel in Sydney said it would accept the second night free vouchers but not the meal deal, as it didn't have a restaurant.
The Noosa Blue Resort told us it would accept the one-night-free per voucher after paying one night at full rack rate, but didn't offer the meal deal.
The Anchor Motel Noosa replied: "I am not affiliated with this mob - we would not honour their vouchers."
The two Rotorua hotels: Quality Hotel Geyserland and Gwendoline Court, are owned by the same chain and replied to our researcher posing as a potential customer saying: "the vouchers are not actually vouchers in that they have no value, they are just an introduction to the hotel and the hotel is under no obligation to take them."
We say
- Be careful buying these vouchers over the telephone. They may work for some holidaymakers, but make sure you check that the hotels that you want to stay in will accept them.
- Holiday Fever Club pushed our researcher to pay online with a credit card. If you find this deal appealing, we suggest you offer to pay by some other means that'll give you time to check that the hotels recommended accept the vouchers.
The Commerce Commission can be contacted by:
PO Box 2351
Wellington 6140
Email contact@comcom.govt.nz
Phone 0800 943 600
