The Plaza at $14.50 a night

[redietz]

A motor home isn't a residence. It's a vehicle. Rob is technically homeless, not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Dan Druff]

Dalawa I wouldn't call them a scam company unless you would also say Caesars and MGM are also scam companies. They are charging resort fees and room deposits the same way Caesars and MGM do. Unfortunately it wasn't clear in their advertising message. The ad will be edited.

Their ad had nothing to do with timeshares.

Are you taking the ad down, or just editing it?

Because even with you clarifying the terms, they still IMMEDIATELY TRY TO UPSELL when you call for the $29 deal. In fact, the guy I spoke to initially refused to book the $29, saying it was "pointless" and I had to "go to the website".

You can't really compare this to Caesars or MGM charging room deposits or resort fees.

They pitched to you that "all taxes and fees are included", and that's how you wrote it up. Then it turned out they lied to you.

That's a scam.

Furthermore, this "deposit" is not a real deposit. When you check into a room at Caesars, the deposit is there for incidentals, in case you run up charges via the minibar, pay-per-view, phone, room service, etc. So it's protecting the hotel from you running up a bill and then stiffing them.

The "deposit" being required by this company is just weird, and very scammy. Why would they need an additional $25 deposit if you've already paid for the room in full? Have you ever heard of this? If you book a room, pay in full, and don't show up, the hotel simply keeps the money you paid, and (maybe) sells the room to someone else. There is no ADDITIONAL penalty -- you just lose what you paid for the room.

Here they are charging you an ADDITIONAL $25, which you only get back when you actually stay in the hotel room that you paid for.

They supposedly refund it to you, but I'm skeptical. Even if they do, it's a needless hassle, and it's totally non-standard in the travel industry.

[Rob.Singer]

Rob, I wouldn't call the Plaza a dump. Is that what you're saying?

There are also people who would never make a motor home their residence -- even if the motor home is as pricey as you say your motor home is.

Be careful who you criticize.

That's a dumb argument. I know what the Plaza is like because I've stayed there. Have you?

Of course there's people who would never live in a tiny 45' motor home. They're not healthy enough, they're stuck in some kind of rut that they'll never be able to get away from, they've got ex's scattered all over the place, and they can't afford it.

Now how does the Plaza have anything to do with an RV anyway.

[Dan Druff]

Well, I see the ad is gone, so I guess you did the right thing. I don't know why you said you "modified" the ad. Hopefully that was a typo.

If you did remove it, props to you, and I'm glad you elected to do the good and honorable thing.

[Rob.Singer]

A motor home isn't a residence. It's a vehicle. Rob is technically homeless, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Rob is not homeless. He bought a new home and is doing the RV thing 6 months a year starting last month.

[Dan Druff]

On a side note, I have a theory as to why they charge you the $25 "deposit".

They likely make it fairly difficult to book. You need to wait 30 days. There are probably a lot of blackout or "unavailable" dates. People probably get frustrated and just give up on the whole thing.

This allows them to keep an additional $25 from the person who does this, instead of just $29.

And I'm assuming that the Plaza gives them some sort of kickback for putting warm bodies in the hotel during their off-dates (who will spend money in the casino and on food), so that's probably why they are trying to put pressure on you (via the $25 deposit) to actually use the room you bought. The Plaza likely gives them no kickback if you just pay the $29 and never show up.

[Rob.Singer]

Well, I see the ad is gone, so I guess you did the right thing. I don't know why you said you "modified" the ad. Hopefully that was a typo.

If you did remove it, props to you, and I'm glad you elected to do the good and honorable thing.

Everybody goofs now and then. Alan knows it's a scam but rejects it. Why?

[Alan Mendelson]

Hold on Dan.
I said the ad was taken down. Now there is something else you need to know: I was not paid for their ad. I donated two one-minute spots on two of my shows to a charity auction and they won the auction.

Secondly the deposit is fully refundable. When I check into Caesars they put a $200 hold on my credit card. This $25 deposit is similar to the hold that Caesars makes but they are not asking for a credit card. Did you experience a problem getting your deposit back Dan? Of course you didn't because you didn't book the trip.

Upsells? That's not unusual in the travel business either. If you weren't booking comped offers at Caesars -- Caesars would try to upsell you too.

The error made by the company was that they assumed everyone knew about resort fees and deposits. That was an error.

Their report was scheduled to be on TV on September 5 and their call center hadn't been informed of the $29 special yet.

We will re-edit the spots and the new spots will appear on my shows and on my website. And these people will get what they bought at the charity auction.

No one got ripped off. And when the new video appears the fine print will be loud and bold.

[Dan Druff]

Hold on Dan.
I said the ad was taken down. Now there is something else you need to know: I was not paid for their ad. I donated two one-minute spots on two of my shows to a charity auction and they won the auction.

Secondly the deposit is fully refundable. When I check into Caesars they put a $200 hold on my credit card. This $25 deposit is similar to the hold that Caesars makes but they are not asking for a credit card. Did you experience a problem getting your deposit back Dan? Of course you didn't because you didn't book the trip.

Upsells? That's not unusual in the travel business either. If you weren't booking comped offers at Caesars -- Caesars would try to upsell you too.

The error made by the company was that they assumed everyone knew about resort fees and deposits. That was an error.

Their report was scheduled to be on TV on September 5 and their call center hadn't been informed of the $29 special yet.

We will re-edit the spots and the new spots will appear on my shows and on my website. And these people will get what they bought at the charity auction.

No one got ripped off. And when the new video appears the fine print will be loud and bold.

Fully refundable? And what if they don't give it to you? What if they go out of business or disappear? Is it refundable then?

This is nothing like a deposit at Caesars. The deposit at Caesars makes sense, as it is paying for potential charges you might run up in the room.

This deposit makes zero sense. Why is it there? You have already prepaid fully in advance for the room, so why are you making an additional deposit promising you will also show up?!

It's extremely shady, and ZERO legitimate travel services/agencies work this way.

What do you say about the countless 1-star ratings on Yelp regarding this company's business practices?

What do you say about the countless complaints about bait-and-switch tactics they engage in?

What do you say about the fact that the guy I spoke to wouldn't even book the deal you were advertising when I refused his upsell offer?

Come on, Alan. This is a shadeball company. I don't think you posted the ad with any kind of knowledge of this at the time, but you know now. You should distance your good name far, far away from these crooks.

I have watched your Best Buys show before, and you typically seem to be advertising various legitimate consumer goods and services. Stick to that stuff, and run far away from anything like this.

BTW, there are lots of complaints on Yelp about the $50 travel package they tried to upsell me today. Ignoring the upsell itself, I read lots of complaints about them "changing the terms for the gift cards", changing the hotel room promised, etc. So, yes, there's a good chance people will get ripped off if they buy this company's services.

The fact that they misled you in the first place should be legal reason enough to pull their ad and not run it, even if they "won" it in the first place. Or rewrite the ad with the FULL TRUTH about them, including directing consumers to the Yelp reviews skeptical of them. They employed a similar solution on "WKRP in Cincinnati" when they inadvertently signed a contract to advertise a harmful-but-legal product.

[Dan Druff]

The error made by the company was that they assumed everyone knew about resort fees and deposits. That was an error.

An error? Please don't tell me you really believe that.

Even if you want to assume that they neglected to mention the resort fees because they are common nowadays, how do you explain the $25 "deposit" ON TOP OF PREPAYING IN FULL?

In my 43 years on this earth, I have never seen such a thing, and I doubt you have, either. How could they have "assumed" that people would have known about that?

Face it. They lied to you because they wanted their ad to sound good, and they didn't expect you to check up on any of this stuff.

[Dan Druff]

Their report was scheduled to be on TV on September 5 and their call center hadn't been informed of the $29 special yet.

Also false.

While the call center employee was unfamiliar with Alan's Best Buys, he knew very well about the $29.

He just refused to give it to me, claiming that it was "pointless".

However, when I insisted upon it and mentioned the ad on this site, he told me about $29 and the $25 deposit.

[Dan Druff]

Sorry if I'm coming off harsh here, but I hate scammers and shifty companies, and this one looks like that in several ways.

You are a decent guy and promote decent businesses. I hate to see you caught up promoting nonsense like this.

[Dan Druff]

http://www.yelp.com/biz/casablanca-express-las-vegas-2

[Alan Mendelson]

Dan, the owners/managers of the company are well aware of the discussion on this forum and they are reviewing everything. One manager told me he was going to listen to recordings of phone conversations.

Frankly if they have a $25 deposit it is okay with me as long as it is disclosed. As you discovered, it was not being disclosed -- and that's why I cancelled the broadcast and removed the promotion from my website.

When I produced the video they made it clear to me that the price was $29 with no additional fees -- not even tax on the room. This was wrong and I told them it was wrong. Their reasoning was that all hotels in Vegas charge resort fees and all require deposits towards room charges. Again, I told them that had to be disclosed.

The video and promotional material will be changed to disclose this "fine print."

Dan -- you might want to start telling the other hotels in Vegas that they should be doing the same with their advertising: they should disclose their resort fees and their deposits/credit card holds towards room charges.

By the way, Dan, at Caesars Palace you do not have to give them a credit card for your room charge "hold." They will also accept cash instead of a credit card. It's your choice at Caesars -- cash or credit card. Which do you use, Dan?

[dalawa]

Alan,

Not once have you admitted you were wrong in promoting a scam company. Is it so hard for you to admit fault?

I know you're gonna dismiss everything said to you previously. But try to justify this quote that came directly from you.

You said is was a $29 flat fee. Flat means all inclusive. You failed to mention the resort fee and the deposit.

[Alan Mendelson]

Once again: I donated two one-minute spots to a charity for an auction. The charity, by the way, is the Renal Support Network located here in Los Angeles. Some of you might know that I had a kidney transplant. (It was seven years ago, on August 29th.) Casablanca won the auction. I received no money from Casablanca. My services were also donated as was the services of my cameraman and editor, in addition to air time on my TV show. I trusted the company to give me accurate information about their "deal."

Yes, they told me it was a $29 flat fee. They even told me it was a special price just for this TV campaign -- and that their normal price was $30. I even asked them if that $29 included the sales tax on the room and they said it did. They said nothing about a resort fee. They said nothing about a deposit.

Was I upset this happened? Of course I was.

[Rob.Singer]

Come on Alan, why is it too hard for you to admit how runaway right Dan is on this? On EVERY count. You always are very stubborn when it comes to arguing anything and I believe you ought to read & re-read what others have to say. Common sense seems to escape you whenever you get challenged, even on insignificant little issues such as this. You would be a tough room mate.

[synergistic]

If the $25 deposit is supposed to be analogous to the sort of authorization 'deposit' that many hotels require, does that mean that via this deal the Plaza will allow you to check in without further authorizing a card? I suspect not - in fact, I'd bet money that you can't check in if you just show up with nothing but the certificate and two nights' resort fees in cash. I completely understand Alan's uncomfortable position here, but think that defending the deposit as though it's even remotely similar to hotel preauths is ludicrous.

I've made use of similar companies/promotions in the past (they're all over the place in Florida) and they're pretty much all the same flavor of shady. You typically have to do your own research on the additional fees the representative insists don't exist, the limited availability he insists is wide open, and the often dumpy accommodations he insists are luxurious. That doesn't mean it can't be a decent value - there's a truly awful cruise line that promotes this way that I just use as cheap round trip transportation to the Bahamas - but the types of ads they expected Alan to run are blatantly misleading, as are their salesfolk.

[Alan Mendelson]

Here is the bottom line: I've just notified four different charities that I have cancelled future donations of air time for their auctions. I am not going through this again. I try to do a good deed and I get reamed for something that was 100% out of my control. Ten days ago I never knew this company existed. So no more auctions because I can't control who wins them.

[OneHitWonder]

First time I drove to Vegas, landed at the old Thunder Bird motel about 7pm. Sign said rooms for $25. Walked up to front desk, "Okay, I'll take a $25 room."

"You have to have linens, phone, dresser, etc, etc, that will be $182." That was a joke, obviously.

Twenty years ago, you could drive up and down the States, and find out of the way spots (advertised on the interstates) for $10 a night.

I did find another for spot for the $25 not far away on the old strip. Would've drove back out to Henderson otherwise.