I still think the same - this is a genuine company not a scam. They obviously have very pushy salespeople and need to learn many people skills. It's unfortunate these days with the many scams about that people often jump to the conclusion that something is a scam when it is not. It also sounds like their staff is not particularly knowledgeable which can be typical of some call centres with constant changing staff. As I have mentioned my partner and I belong to a similar scheme with another company which also cold calls people though that is not how we joined. I wouldn't recommend Funtastic holidays if you were just wanting to travel within New Zealand as there is very little available in NZ.

Dave - did they particularly mention Rydges in Christchurch? I think they are more likely referring to Ridges which is a timeshare resort (there is one in Queenstown as I own a week there and there may be others - not sure). The reason I think it would be more likely to be Ridges rather than Rydges is that someone else also mentioned Break free which are timeshare/apartment type accommodation often referred to as a resort.

It is not unusual that they have a list they are calling from. The national company I work for bought a mailing list - from a NZ company that sells mailing lists - so they must obtain the names somewhere in the first place. We then sent out a mailing to all the people on the list - some who would have already been clients of ours and many who would have had no connection with us at all. I do recall the call centre then got a few irate calls from people wanting to know how we got their name!

Pam,
I agree its got to be dodgy and if its not, someone is using there name to make dodgy calls. Also we have people on this forum who work for travel agents who have been here for many years, who have said don't touch it!
I get cold call phone calls all the time and I am polite and friendly but if they are pushy and / or impolite I hang up. If I spoke to potential customers impolitely I would expect them to do the same.
Kind Regards
Lisa

Jack - yes they asked what town I was in and I said Christchurch, which is when they asked me if I knew where the Rydges Hotel was because they are an affiliate!

Exciting news: consumer.org.nz has finally picked up on this see the following:

[www.consumer.org.nz]

I notice someone just sold the "package" on Trademe too!! You'd think people would check

[www.trademe.co.nz]

Dave thank you! Its nice to see consumer is looking after us! And that we were right all along, they are selling something which is actually FREE! SCAM Big time.
Kindest Regards
Lisa

I have had these guys call me a few weeks back and wasn't impressed by my aspects of it, least of all they wouldnt answer some of my questions, wouldnt take no for an answer,and were very pushy.
I followed the link to the current Trademe sale posted by Dave and reported it as "fraudulent" under the reporting option at the end of the lisitng from my persective and that it had also come to the attention of Consumer Affairs. I havent quite got the guts to ask a cheeky question on the Trademe site!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/2007 12:16PM by Maryloo.

My poor sister in law got caught last week with this scam she is 80 year old and they called her three times in the end she gave them her creditt card mumber, the trouble is she has credit card attached to our credit card ( this is aditional card on our number so you can imagine the problems it has caused )they have taken $233.00 from her account, what a state she has been in, the bank were very good in stoping the cards from being used again and reissuing new cards, poor old thing she is frighted to answer the telephone now, still no sign of the vouchers they have offered her. I they call me I'll be ready and waiting<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Hi all

I have just read ALL of your threads regarding this company, and I have to admit I was one of the fools who got sucked in!! You are right, they are a genuine company, but what they sell on the phone, and what you recieve are two completely different things. We were told that we would receive this accommoadtion package worth X amount dollars and only had to pay $199. Obviously I stated it sounded too good to be true, I then got transferred to the supervisor who verified it, so after a quick look at the website, I thought, yeah what the hell.

The package arrived, and it was a biunch of accommodation discount vouchers!! Err, I was not impressed. I have since written to Yvonne Earnshaw at least half a dozen times requesting a refund, with her reply being no refunds permitted.

I wrote to the commerce commission, and asked their advice. They said that due to the fact that there had been no other complaints, they couldn't take it any further.

If any of you want to get a bit of revenge, or just help out those that got ripped off, including myself, please write to:

Commerce Commission
PO Box 2351
Wellington 6011
Attn: Wiremou Lourie

I thank you all in advance

Cheers
Kirsty

Jannette, Please write to the Commerce Commission too I hate the fact that these crooks are getting away with this!
Warm fuzzies
Lisa

I recieved one of these about 3 weeks ago by a african sounding individual. First he told me my number was randomly selected from the phone book. I knew right from the start it was a scam because he started out asking me what type of credit card I had so he could verify that I am over 18. I decided to play along and say Mastercard. The next 12 minutes he literally talked non stop about the deal with very few pauses, and eventually asked me how my name was spelt on my credit card, I made it up. He talked some more about the deal and then asked for the expiry date, I made it up. More small talk and telling me his brother or cousin or something has the same name as me, he now tried to get my creditcard number.

So I told him, 5920 Get %^$%...

Excuse me sir? I dont understand, please give me your cc number

I said 5920 GET *&$^... YOU THINK IM *&^(ING STUPID??

You do know this call is being recorded

Anyways i abused this fellow for about a minute expecting him to hang up, he kept persisting for my card details in the end i hang up on him.

He rings back, I abuse him more hang up.

He rings I answer hang up straight away. This happens 3x. He rings back again I leave ringing for about 2 minutes until he gives up.


Anyways, I deal in ecommerce, to anybody who has been scammed, please contact your bank. You should be able to issue what is called a chargeback. The bank can reverse the creditcard payments, and will actually cost this dodgy company not only a refund, but $30-40 in bank fees for each chargeback.

They are not a scam i have bought the package and have used their vouchers as well and saved lot of money as well, used them at Turtle beach resort on the GC and Quest on Nelson in Auckland
see this
www.funtasticholidays.com.au if you are in NZ
www.funtasticholidays.com if you are in australia

sales poeple are pushey thats for sure
man its hard core credit card selling... its not eazy i have done it myself

cheers
TOM

Hi all,

DO NOT BUY FROM FUNTASTIC HOLIDAYS.....

I bought from funtastic holidays. I was miss sold on the phone, was promised I could fly to Tassie from Brisbane over xmas, no probs and that I didn't have to use the accomodation voucher, just keep it in case I ever felt like a week away! Sounded fabulous as there was no way I would get us to Tassie then any cheaper.

When the pack arrived, turned out I couldn't go to Tassie from Brisbane at all and I couldn't use the flights until I paid for some accomodation. I phoned to question it with which they atleast sent a different pack so I could as they were marketting for another company and had lots of complaints. so far, so good.

Sent in my fax form with 3 months notice, only to hear nothing for days. I phoed in to see when I would get confirmation 4 times and kept being told someone would get back to me. the 5th time I sat on hold till I got someone. She pulled out my paperwork, gasped and said she would have it done by 2pm that day. I got a call at 1:30pm saying t wasn't possible to get anything I wanted to book! I bought 2 packs as well!

I followed all the small print and still they couldn't supply what they had sold me! I knew there were flights available when I handed in my paperwork because I checked myself. I gave them 3 months noticed when they ask for 1! What more can you do???

Turns out thee are about 3 or 4 people based in a Gold Coast call centre and "Peter" the manager is too scared to pick up the phone. They call from a private number too so they can only be contacted through the 1800 number.

Sad to say but they officially ruined our xmas, no Grandma for my 5 month old son's 1st Xmas, can't even book a flight myself now and Grandma can't book to get up her as they are all sold out too....... Pathetic.....

I hope they pay you well Tom! I think I will believe the New Zealand Comsumer before I will believe an anonymous poster on the forum.
Why buy something you CAN GET FOR FREE?????
Lisa

Funtastic Holidays would like to assure all its loyal customers that we are not in the business of disappointing you. We are a small company that pride ourselves on providing good value accommodation and flights to our customers. We are deeply concerned to learn that we have customers who are not fully satisfied with one of our products.

Funtastic Holidays admit to having some earlier challenges with a small percentage of its employee’s. These employees no longer are employed by Funtastic Holidays. However because of this, Funtastic Holidays have put in place a number of policies and procedures to ensure that the customer is fully informed of all terms and conditions before purchase. A copy of our Terms and Conditions are also displayed on our website along with a Frequently Asked Questions Section.

All of our staff are trained in all legal requirements to meet our customer’s obligations and customer assurance responsibilities. Part of our quality assurance program includes the recording of a confirmation script as part of each sale and this is then monitored by our Customer Quality Officer on a daily basis.

We invite any customer who is concerned about their package to contact us on either on 0061756670109 or by email on jo@funtasticholidaystc.com and our commitment to you is we will return your call within 24 business hours (Queensland Time).

The Management and Staff at Funtastic Holidays

Hi all,
Im afraid Im one of the suckers who purchased 4 tickets with them. I feel so stupid!
Does anyone know who I can call or contact to trace them? Or anyone I can contact to report? I feel like such a fool.

HI,

How can you ask for a chargeback from the banks?

As I too am very scared now of Funtastic.

Thanks
Natalie

Natalie - the post above yours gives contact details for the company. It says "We invite any customer who is concerned about their package to contact us on either on 0061756670109 or by email on jo@funtasticholidaystc.com and our commitment to you is we will return your call within 24 business hours (Queensland Time). "
I would ty that first. If you want to stop your credit card payment you will need to contact your bank.




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2007 03:48AM by PennyG.

A few weeks ago we were called by the above people and it was Mr that answered the phone. I think he must have been bored or something because he was there for ages. I guessed who it was by what I could hear.
Busy explaining why farmers couldn't take holidays and was the caller going to come and look after the animals. As for the card yes he had a card it was a plastic one he didn't know what sort he just used it at the shop to buy things. He doesn't have a credit card anyway so he was no use to them.
The other night on a programme on TV (here in Aus) there was a mention of the above company. so I thought it might intrest others, just scroll down to the heading airfares and that is where they get the mention. Wasn't going to enliven the thread but as it has already been done will add to it.
[au.todaytonight.yahoo.com]
Jean

Jean

Dear Lisa Templeton

You are correct " FUNTASTIC HOLIDAYS PAYS ME REALLY WELL"
But i am sure someone eles pays you better than what FUNTASTIC HOLIDAYS pays me to talk about them ........ correct ????????

You keep up the good work..... so will I

Cheers
Tom

Tom im a baker! WHO would employ / pay a BAKER to talk about a holiday scheme that has acted in such an appalling way ??? i earn my living by selling something people can't buy for free!
If I am getting paid for this I'd love to see where the moneys going because I haven't seen a cent.
You however carry on! I had the pleasure of helping out an older lady you ripped off, She was devastated, the poor thing. So yea keep up the good work
Lisa

Hi there
I don't usually do this but I just want to say thanks for the info, it's been great reading all the different opinions and I feel more able to make an informed decision now.
I have just had a call from.. guess who? Yep the same outfit and the two people I spoke to were very persistent. When I said I wanted to talk to my partner about this deal Josh went on to ask me if I talk to my partner before buying him a nice shirt or trousers etc! He also asked me if I, on my own, could afford $199 which I think is just a bit cheeky... I'm too polite to say that's not any business of yours, but admit to thinking it!
They didn't ask for my credit card details, although I was asked several times what credit card I used, I said I use cash more often. I was wary of the direction the call was going in at that stage.
It felt all too needy for my liking... too pushy and really put me off. If it's for real (I reckon it is a real company) and it's a great deal (I'm not sure about the deal itself... even the website doesn't spell things out very clearly) then that's a shame and if Jo Day (on 23rd Oct) has talked to the staff and they have made changes to their practice then I feel that there is still plenty of room for improvement. Maybe these guys are on a commission or something and they feel like they have to push to get the sales? Whatever the policy these guys need to back off, after all we didn't ask them to call.
No-one likes to feel pushed around regardless.

This is to Helen:
Quite interesting reading from up here. Could you possibly have one of your radio/television/media contacts read this thread. Maybe they would feel an expose would be worth while.
Very interesting reading. Lets expose more people to it.

A fan always,
Greg from Montana

Hi there,

Like many of you, I found this forum after becoming concerned about the dodgy way this company seems to operate. They have targeted my grandfather who has Alzheimers Disease. He is living on his own, does not have a lot of money (although he doesn't know this because of the disease) and appears to be being targeted by this company quite regularly.

They took two payments pf $250 out of his account last week and they were on the phone to him again yesterday and he gave out his credit details again (he had obviously forgotten he had done the same a week ago) when a lady who helps him up turned up and tore strips off them for taking advantage of an old man.
I'm going to take his credit card away to stop this happening again - but has anyone had any experience in getting refunds back from this company? There is no way he could go to Australia in his condition and was not really in his right mind to be buying vouchers anyway. Does anyone have any advice on how I can deal with this situation, who would be best to contact etc.
In my book there is nothing worse than ripping people off - least of all the more vunerable in society. This company needs to be stopped.
Perhaps we should contact Fair Go?????

ShellyS,

I feel so sorry for your Grandad - that is the most despicable and predatory behaviour that I have heard of in a long while, if ever.

if you scroll back on this thread to 23 October, there is a post from Jo Day with an email address to contact if you have any concerns about packages sold or contact with their staff.

Please make contact with them immediately and let us know the outcome.

Regards,

Barbie Girl

I also think that fair go would be interested when you see how many people have made posts on this sight. there must also be many more people out there who have been effected. Go for it email them and also fair go!!

I implore everyone who has added to this thread because you have been burned to Email and write to fair go and the consumers institute.
And do let us know how you get on. Those of you who have elderly parents or grandparents please warn them.
Kindest Regards
Lisa

Some information about Fair Go taken from the net regarding their requirements:

"Fair Go is one of New Zealand's longest-running and best-rating programmes. It combines a unique weekly mixture of hard-nosed investigative reporting with light-hearted stories related to consumer affairs. Programme motto: "If you've been ripped off, short-changed or given the runaround and nobody wants to know... we do!"

Fair Go handles just about every imaginable consumer complaint - except family matters such as matrimonial disputes, child custody cases and straight commercial cases where two businesses are in dispute.

The programme is for individual New Zealanders battling bureaucracy, victims of rip-offs or fighting for their rights. It doesn't matter whether the fight is with a local shop, a megacorporation or the government.

The programme will not handle cases unless the complainant is prepared to be part of the story on television.

Generally, Fair Go wants a written outline of your problem and copies of relevant documents (please do not send originals) and/or correspondence, along with a daytime phone number. "

Their e-mail address is: fairgo@tvnz.co.nz
D.

Hi there,

Just thought I would give you an update on my grandfather. My family contacted Funtastic Holidays and dealt with Jo Day (the rep. from funtastic who made a post on this forum). She was surprisingly apologetic and said it was not the company's policy to target vulnerable old people (although in practice it seems that apparently it is!), she also agreed to refund my grandfathers money. That money went in yesterday, so at least in this case there has been some success. However, even though they refunded in this situation, there are still heaps of other people who don't know what they are signing up for, or elderly people who don't have family to be checking their account. The company seems genuine enough, owing to the fact that they refunded my grandfather. But I still think their marketing policy needs to be changed, no one likes a hard sell, and when it is targeted at the more vulnerable members of society, it is unjust and wrong.
Thank you to all those people who contacted me with suggestions and support - on behalf of my grandfather, we really appreciate it!
-Shelley

With regard to the information given by Fair Go about what sort of cases they would touch. Last nights show with the man who was swindled out of a boat he had bought seems to dispute this[scuse the pun!] The man who had done the dirty on him could not and would not let himself be contacted yet they made a section of the show over to him.Hopefully after all the publicity he will be ashamed enough to pay up the compensation required of him by the disputes tribunal.It's about time they had more 'teeth' Our son was awarded damages through the tribunal but he never got it as the woman kept moving house or getting family to say she had and the bailiff couldn't serve papers on her.The situation stinks.Sorry ,gone off track as usual!

ShelleyS,

Thank you for the update - so glad that your Grandad received a very prompt refund. It seems to me that this company running is scared - they know that if they don't sharpen their act, then they are about to be exposed, and so they should be.

While the approach of the telemarketing department of Funtastic Holidays is appalling and despicable, remember that the philosophy of any organisation starts from the 'top' and filters down through the ranks. Yes, we can all be critical of this company's call cente staff and of the way they approach and speak to prospective clients and entice them to reveal their credit card details, but they are only doing what they have been instructed and trained to do by the big guys at the top who are creaming it off and who have forgotten that, by virtue of modern technology and forums such as this, people are more in touch with each other and thereby with what they are up to.

Jo Day can sound oh so repentant, as per her previous post, but I don't think she gives a tinker's cuss as she is being paid a substantial salary to chant the company mantra.

So Jo, if you have any conscience at all, please respond to this forum forthwith, as it would appear that a lot of people have been compromised by the actions of your company and are about to take matters further.

Regards,

Barbie Girl

Toots, I think you misunderstood the criteria for Fair Go handling a story. It is the Complainant (the person making the complaint) who must be prepared to be in the show, not the person being complained against (the culprit).

If it were the other way around, I don't think Fair Go would have a programme.