Vacation Network Aka Vni Vacations

[Tangakwunu]

Re: vacation network/vni vacations in Evans,GA: promised luxury vacations at rock bottom prices; just name a date + destination. What you really get are "registration forms", then nothing. It's a facade. The form states that you can only select an "area", not a specific property i.e. south eastern U.S. or western Europe, then provide 3 different dates and submit them from 60-180 days out. I don't know what happens after that because I am not interested in submitting to such a rediculous process. Ultimately, you have no choice in where or when you take your vacation. 3 times I have requested a catalogue to read + compare properties; received none. I asked for help for a reasonably priced flight to go see my dying mother. No one called. At one point, i was told I wasn't using the system correctly but received no instructions. I was given a voucher for a "free" 3/4 night cruise with verandah; I received a form listing approx $700 in fees for an "inside" room - more than the usual costs for buying a cruise outright. I believe I bought nothing for $7,000. I have asked AMEX to cancel this payment and return my money.

Your opinion could help strengthen my position if needed. Of course, the contract states it is non-cancellable. This must be the only industry that invokes no-cancel because they are selling mostly hot air from their salesmen! I would appreciate any help or information you can provide. Thank you, Susan

[Donagh]

Susan,

You need to get a hold of the District Attorney where you purchased.  I think you have been defrauded.  I am not an attorney, and this is just my opinion; but from what you said, it sounds like similar scams I have heard of in the form of travel clubs.

When I did a little research it was almost impossible to find info on this company.  One link that sounded promising, instead led to this site:http://complaintrepair.com/

They specialize in removing links from search engines that contain damaging information.

I found another site that mentions the name "vni", but nothing came up when checked - it was supposed to be a site that gave information about a class action lawsuit against "vni".http://www.solcaribeowners.com

I found the link at:http://www.thetimesharebeat.com/street/july28-00.htm

You may want to check around The Timeshare Beat(link above) for more information.  But it seems that vni is possibly being used by several different firms - further confusing the issue(most likely on purpose).

I would contact the regulatory agencies in your state that regulate or oversee travel services as well as timeshare developers.

Hopefully this will all get worked out through AMEX, but you need to contact the District Attorney where you purchased as well as the State Attorney.  I wish there was more I could give you - but hopefully this leads you down the right path.