Don’t Go There!

Do NOT travel with on AMERICAN AIRLINES! Picture this, the Friday before Christmas, I am flying to Miami from Milwaukee, with

Belize, this small country in central America was one of the stops that our cruise ship made,I know they have good diving and fishing,but those are not family stuff. I was very disappointed that there was no beaches to relax at, we asked a cab driver to take us to a beach and we ended up at a mud-hole dug in the ground that the locals hang-out at, if it were not for the local brew it would have been a bust.

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If you are basing this off of smelling bad, International Falls, MN is definitely the place to NOT go. The first time I arrived there it smelled terribly, but I believe there is a paper factory there. Other than that DO GO there. I’m not bashing International Falls like Peter basically bashed Fountain, MN. However, there are days where it smells terrible.

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Dear Sirs

I have an additional location for your book “Don’t go there”, travel website and radio program. I would like to offer my experience with El Cid Vacation Club in Mexico. El Cid is a Mexican resort company that seems to specialize in preying on suspecting and unsuspecting tourists and travelers in Mexico. My wife and I were on a trip to Cozumel. Upon entering the lobby of the Cozumel airport we were immediately engaged by what we thought were island recreation planners. It turned out they were shills for El Cid Vacation Club. With a high degree of skepticism we visited El Cid Vacation Club. After touring their facility which looked impressive and listening to their impressive options negating all our objections we bought a vacation package with them and left with a positive feeling.

That feeling only lasted until we actually tried to use our vacation package. I came to find out that almost all the claims they made by the sales people were either misleading or totally false. I have tried to work with them to correct the issue but, it has been a stone wall of no response or I am mistaken and it is only me how has had a problem. Their so called “help desk” and website only seem capable of asking for more money. After trying to work though the multiple layers within El Cid to no avail I contacted the Mexican organization PROFECO. PROFECO’s mission is to try and help travelers like myself who have been scammed by companies such as the El Cid chain. PROFECO has scheduled two hearings with El Cid, where El Cid has not even bothered to appear? Why would a reputable company no show two hearings? They are clearly stalling and now state they want to resolve the issue through PROFECO?

Unfortunately, it seems the Mexican government has little power in dealing with disreputable companies like El Cid Resorts. Additionally, they hide behind a foreign corporate curtain but, bill you from a US company? This neat trick is a way to shield the company from customers like myself who are trying to be heard. In further researching my problem I have now come to find many American travelers with the exact same story regarding El Cid Resorts. I thought I was an educated traveler who has traveled around the world for years. The old adage “buy beware and if it sounds to good to be true” is especially true in dealing with foreign companies such as this who know exactly how to hide behind layers of obstacles. I have had to work and ferret just to find people to try address my issues with. No one will tell you who they work for or give you additional information regarding the management chain?

In a recent conversation with the Manager of Customer Service, who’s contact information I received from another scammed client, insists their claims are true even when 1 El Cid employee and 2 reciprocating company employees told me that is not the way it works?

Please help me in exposing how El Cid and companies like them lures travelers to their dubious hotel chain and vacation club. I will be more than willing to give you details of my specific case and point you to other complainants. There are hundreds of thousands of American’s traveling to Mexico each year. I truly feel that you would be doing your viewers a service by warning them of the practices of the El Cid Resort chain and possibly others. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely

Bill Maxwell

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If you want to go on a sail boat in Orange Beach don’t go on the Daedalus it is a total waste of money. The add says you sail to a private beach to swim in the ocean. It is in the inter coastal waterway in dirty water the beach was like being at a dirty river. The bathroom on the boat did not work. It is miss leading and a total waste of money.

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I had traveled to the Philippines with my lady about a month ago & we stayed in the vicinity of Pasay City. Unfortunately, the area is pretty much a slum where you can see a lot of poor people by the roadsides especially at night. Additionally, the local jeep vehicles used for cheap transportation are parked in large numbers in the area, making it a hangout for many locals. Most of the people in the street at night are presumably harmless but the lack of street lighting in the area makes it feel more dangerous than it actually is so no sense in taking the risk of being mugged by taking a walk into the night at Pasay City with the locals staring creepily at you. One experience of walking in the area at night was enough for me & my lady. So don’t go there because you can’t see anything interesting especially at night plus it’s not worth the risk.

What alarmed me most was that there was a security guard in a 24 hour convenience store. There must be a reason for it. Furthermore, I arrived to Pasay City by bus from Clark airport. Beware of the sleazy Aussie Connection cab driver in the white taxi at the bus station who will charge triple the cost of cab fare. It does not make sense to pay the same amount of 10 minute cab fare which costs similar to a 3 hour travel by bus. He will be offering to show his ideals of better hotels. I realized now that he had rigged his taxi meter to start at 285 Philippine pesos (about US$6) even before the cab moved. Hence, whatever the amount that shown on the meter of the scamming cab driver, the real amount you are supposed to pay is way less because a hotel service car cost only 150php. More ??worst places to travel to?? information is available at Peter Greenberg’s site(www.petergreenberg.com) who is the author of the book called Don’t Go There & also travel host for the Today Show.

Abas

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