Industry Complaints Paradise Blue - Tickets on the Rock/Pacific Dreams, Maui ripped me off!!!!
Featuring:
Paradise Blue has opened another office in Maui. Paradise Blue has changed its name to Pacific Dream s on Maui. It has opened in Old Lahaina Center, a Harry and Jannette Weinberg Foundadtion property.
Any questions or problems concerning getting out of your contract with Destination paradise Hawaii (Paradise Blue and Pacific Dreams) please contact:
Mr. Jeff D'Amato- Sales Manager in Maui 210-542- XXXX
Mike Balicki- Sales Manager in Honolulu 808. 222. XXXX
Seyi Faodu - Sales Manager in Honolulu 6 12.310. XXXX
Chuck Roubalard - Owner of the produc t and Leader of the entire scam. 763.772. XXXX
I'v e done a lot of research on both Destination Paradise Hawaii (DPH) and Global Escapes in Texas and these are the same people. Once they got shut down by the Attorney General in Texas, they came to Hawaii. These companies exist to scam unwitting tourists. The owners and employees left San Antonio and started working in Hawaii. I'd like to see them s hut down as a service to past, current and future victims. Here are links to the steps the Texas Attorney General took to shut them down. Just like they keep changing their name in Hawaii (Destination Paradise, paradise blue and now Paradise Dreams a ll within 18 months!), they used many names in Tex as also: Escapes Austin, Global Escapes, Blue water, Escapes Midwest, Sun Tree Escapes, Escapes Midwest. Etc...
IT IS THE EXACT SAME SCAM JUST A DIFFERENT DESTINATION - INSTEAD OF RIPPING OFF PEOPLE IN TEXAS THEY ARE RIPPING OFF PEOPLE IN HAWAII
Please, please, please read the injuctions websites below:
INJUNCTION: http://www.oag.state.tx. us/newspubs/releases/2009/040109globalescapes_pop. pdf
BANK ACCOUNT SEIZURE: http://www.oag.state .tx.us/newspubs/releases/2009/040109globalescapes_ tro.pdf
Here is what an article in a Texas news paper said about them:
A family of Florida-base d travel companies doing business in Austin and San Antonio are facing charges of deceptive trade practices and other business and commerce code violations from the Texas Attorney General’s office.
The defendants, Escapes Austin LLC and Escapes Midwest LLC, which do business under the names Global Escapes, Blue Water, Sun Tree and others, are accused of using false gift giveaways to entice cust omers to attend sales seminars that marketed worth less travel-related software programs, according t o a news release from the attorney general’s office.
Attorney General Greg Abbott said his office is seeking restitution for some 5, 000 Texas consumers who may have been deceived into purchasing t he software. In response to the attorney general’s actions, the 73rd District Court of Bexar County issued an order freezing the defendants’ assets.
Court documents filed by the state also name chief executive officer James Carey III and managing member Gwendolyn Carey. According to the state’s lawsuit, the defendants used direct mail and telemarketing calls to inform potential customers that t hey “won” free cruises, hotel stays, vehicles, flights or expensive watches. However, recipients were told that they must set up an appointment to attend a sales presentation in order to receive their prize.
Those chosen also were told they only needed to pay taxes due on the gifts. Recipients we re not informed about restrictions, hidden costs, the prizes’ overall value or the prizes’ limited availability. According to state investigators, prizes were difficult to redeem, expensive to redeem, or unavailable during certain dates.
During the mandatory sales seminars, the defendants touted their “proprietary software search engine technology, ” which they claimed would allow purchasers to locate and reserve bargain travel deals online. “ The defendants then used high-pressure sales tactics to convince customers that their ‘software license’ opportunity surpassed all others in the industry, ” the release states. “The defendants’ sales representatives often purported to ‘negotiate down ’ from the software’s $12, 000 retail price to $7, 000, $4, 000, or to a ‘one-time price reduction’ of $2, 200.”
Customers who could not afford the purchase price were offered financing. Rather than retain the purchaser’s outstanding debt, the defendants frequently sold it to third-party debt collection or finance companies.
According to the documents, after purchasing the product, many customers were unable to log on to the Web site for at least two weeks. “When the defendants finally provided the necessary user IDs and passwords, many customers encountered technical problems. Customers who were able to fully access the system discover ed that the bargain travel deals they were promise d did not actually exist.”
During the sales negotiations, customers were told they could return t he product for a refund if they were dissatisfied with their purchase. However, when customers attempted to cancel their contracts, the defendants claimed the sales contract was binding. Concerned that the debt collection agencies could ruin their credit ratings, many customers also paid annual support “software upgrade” fees, even when they could not or did not use the system.
Under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the defendants face civil penalties of up to $20, 000 per violation, as well as a $250, 000 penalty if the conduct was designed to harm a person aged 65 or older.
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Complaint s To The Dcca Of Hawaii - HERE IS FURTHER PROOF THE SHEER NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO BEEN SCAMMED BY DESTINATION PARADISE LLC IN HAWAII. LISTED ARE COMPLAINTS, TO THE DCCA OF HAWAII, THAT HAVE GONE UNRESOLVED.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1213N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1197N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP - 2009- 1196N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1195N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A P ENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1194N
OUTCOME : THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 118 4N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: O CP- 2009- 1173N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1164N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1143N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1 134N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1096N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1085N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1077N
OUT COME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1060N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint N o: OCP- 2009- 1044N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1028N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1018N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER IN FORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 200 9- 1017N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1001N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 1000N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION I S AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0974N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2 009- 0947N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT . NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0919N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE .
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0918N
OUTCOME: T HIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0878N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0845N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0815N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0809N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0732 N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OC P- 2009- 0730N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Com plaint No: OCP- 2009- 0568N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAIL ABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0565N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 04 89N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0470N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COM PLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0468N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0458N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2009- 0345N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No : OCP- 2008- 1243N
OUTCOME: THIS IS A PENDING COMPLAINT. NO FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE.
Complaint No: OCP- 2008- 1212N
Here is the Better Business Bureau Rating iof this company:
Base d on BBB files, this business has a BBB Rating of F on a scale from A+ to F.
Reasons for this rating include:
• 73 complaints filed against business
• Failure to respond to 14 complaints filed aga inst business.
• 13 complaints filed against business that was not resolved.
• BBB Accreditation w as revoked because business failed to comply with agreed BBB standards.
• Business has failed to re solve underlying cause(s) of a pattern of complain ts.
Here is the company Business Contact and Profile:
Business Contact and Profile
Name: Destination Paradise LLC
Phone: (808) 685- XXXX
Fax: (8 08) 931- XXXX
Address: 2250 Kalakaua Ave Ste 301
Honolulu, HI 96815-2545
Website: http://www.destinationparadisehawaii.com
New Owner Date: March 2008
Principal: Mr. Michael A. Balicki, Manager
Customer Contact: Mr. Michael A. Balicki, Manager - (808) 685- XXXX
Entity: Limited Liability Company
Incorporated: March 2008, HI
Type of Business: Travel Clubs
BBB Accreditation: This company is not a BBB Accredited business. Paradise Blue is opening another office in Maui. Paradise Blue has changed to Pacific Dreams on Maui.
Any questions or problems concerning getting out of your contract with Destination paradise Hawaii(Paradise Blue and Pacific Dreams) please contact:
Mr. Jeff D'Amato - Sales Manager in Maui 210-542- XXXX
Mike Balicki - Sales Manager in Honolulu 808.222. XXXX
Seyi Fao du - Sales Manager in Honolulu 612.310. XXXX
Chuck Roubalard - Owner of the product and Leader of the entire scam. 763.772. XXXX
___________________ _____________________
This Company is not a B BB Accredited business.
Business Management
Additional company management personnel include:
Mr. Harold (Sunny) Lewis - Marketing Manager 808-222-1 XXXX. This is the guy that heads up all of the people on the street in Honolulu to get you to go to t he presentation
Mr. Moa Mahe
Ms. Pearl Helsham - Office Manager
Mr. William M Campbell, IV
Mr. Kenneth D Stafford
Mr. Oluseyi Famodu - Sales Manager in Honolulu 612.310. XXXX
Mr. Chuck Robillard - Mastermind and OWNER of this scam!!! 763.772. XXXX
Mr. Mike Balicki 808.222.4085
Mr. Jeff D'Amato - Sales Manager in Maui 210-542- XXXX
They have opened on Maui as of Dec. 1st 2009 and they are using a marketing company called Tickets on the Rock owned and operated by Mr. Pete Carroll. They have Activity booths all over Maui, Mainly on Front Street, Maui. This is the company that gives you dis counts on your activities to attend the presentation on Maui.
If you see any of these locations o n Maui or Honolulu:
Destination Paradise Showroom
Pacific Dreams Showroom
Paradise Blue Showroom
Preview Center Showroom
Activity Store Kiosks
Valued Guests Kiosks
Tickets on the Rock Kiosks
PLEASE DON'T BUY A THING----YOU WILL JUST GET RIPPED OFF!!!
Click Here To Post Your Own Complaint
Disagree with this complaint ? Post your response on-line.
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Comments
- To post a general comment. Just fill the form and send.
Roger-
LA, CALI
ED and Shannon
Atlanta-
Alex and Jessica from Portland
Pacific Dreams as low as $499 per week!
Is Paradise Blue recommending the clients to defend them in the forums?
Is it a really big coincidence that by accident all three of them (because they are different families right?)posted hours apart from each other?
Could it possibly be that they actually work for Paradise Blue?
The world would never know....my guess is that this story will continue....
I figured the guys thats started these blog would reply to my comment. I am willing to bet you do not own with Pacific Dreams.
The reason you are probably seeing post from ACTUALLY customers is because Pacific Dreams sent out a mass email to all customer that have booked a vacation to feel free to share their experince. Get a life (and a real job) timeshare is a ripoff not Pacific Dreams!
Funny how you replied right after like a troll watching anything and everything about Pacific Dreams. You must be the guy from Windham
That was a great reply, but the aggression and the name calling is just not necessary. I´ll try to address your points of concern (and mine as well, that is the best part of being sarcastic).
-You don´t have to bet if I own with them, just ask me. The answer is not, I do not own with them.
-Let me see if I get it now, the company “sent out a mass email to all customer that have booked a vacation to feel free to share their experience” and three of them show up at this review, hours apart to defend the company? OK,( I already established that I am not an owner with this company and as a matter of fact I have no idea what kind of program/timeshare/point system they are selling, and I don´t care to know) As a general visitor it seems to me that it either; these are the best owners in the world or is just the company doing some damage control. That´s it, people can decide whatever they want to think, I already decided....
I don´t need to get a life I already have one, thank you very much (did you think you were talking to a spirit? …… LOL I just had to say it) and I don´t need a job, I already have a very good and honest one (thank you for caring about my financial situation by the way)
To resume I will honestly say that; I am not an owner with this company, I am not a “troll” (whatever that is), I am not with Wyndham in any way, I am not the person who posted this review. I am just a visitor that notice something funny on the comments, that´s all.
And since you give me your opinion on who you think I am, I will give you my opinion on who I think you are: EMPLOYES OF THE COMPANY, that´s all.
Have a nice day and I hope you have a job too (a good and honest one).
Please for your own good anyone reading stay away from these places!
My name is Robert Bluh and I am a competitor of Tickets on the Rock Activity Company here on Maui. I would like to set the record straight about Tickets on the Rock. They are a reputable activity company that sells discounted activity tickets to Visitors here on Maui. Whatever Tickets on the Rock promises you, you will receive. Rest assured that Tickets on the Rock is a good and reputable company that will deliver to you whatever is promised.
I hope this clears up any misunderstanding between these blogs, the public and Tickets on the Rock
Thank You
Robert Bluh
We went for the "free gift" and the "30" mintue program that lasted over 2 hours.
We had to hand over our cell phones so someone could personally turn them off. We were told that we would not be allow to use the restroom, so please go before the program started. THAT IN ITSELF SHOULD OF THREW UP RED FLAGS...But get the
gift and leave. Right? Wrong!!! The program LOOKS Great! To Good to be True! And your
on Vacation..You want to go back on Vacation.
So the Program starts at $9, 000 - Drops to $7, 000 by the time it was over we will give it to you for $4, 000 with a FREE Vacation (air fair not included) plus $183 or so a year. GIVE US YOU CREDIT CARD NUMBER!!!
But IF you change your mind you have 3 DAYS TO CANCEL NO QUESTIONS ASK!
YEAH RIGHT!!!
Just Dreams will not let you walk out of the building by yourself if you buy the program. They put your binder with all your information in a brown paper bag and escort you into elevator, into a waiting van that takes you back to your hotel??? (Whats that all about?)
As soon as I got back to the room I check the internet, find how many times Paradise-Blue had changed their name, all the bad reviews, BBB RATES THEM AN "F". I had to check the BBB in Flordia, because they are really listed in Flordia??? with an Hawaii address??
We go back to Just Dreams and TRY TO CANCEL WITHIN (1 HOUR!!) Just get our money OFF the Credit Card. Which at that point had not even been post to our account!!
NO WAY - They WON'T DO IT. Just Dreams dropped the price to $2000 then to $1, 000 plus the free vacation & the yearly fee. Paradise-Blue just would NOT take No for an answer! After we made a scene & we refuse to go in the back office people were starting to leave.
They then signed the cancellation papers. BUT they still did not take the charges off our Credit card! PLUS they CHARGED a $250.00 PROCESSING FEE!!! $4250.00
SO We went Back the next day when all the "New couples" were coming in (I told as many as I chould that it was a scam & I was there to get my money back - check the BBB & internet before they buy) most of the couples thanked me & walked out. Just Dreams did not like that, I reminded them of "Free Speech" and I would continue to do that until I got my money back.
I just wanted the $4, 225.00 off my credit card (4) days & talking numerous times to Credit Card Company POLICE THATS WHAT IT TOOK! ITS A SCAM!!
Anyone know the name of the Company dream something. hm.
For our time and an opportunity to sell to us, we got $260 zip line tickets for $60 for Tickets on the Rock.
www.just-dreams.com/about
www.paradise-blue.net/.../
That shows they keep changing names to avoid being caught.
Bottomline - if anyone approaches you offering freebies, attend the presentation, DO NOT SIGN UP, take your freebies/tickets and LEAVE !
thanks
Hello Friends,
Its a shame on humanity that how people leave fake reviews against a good reputated firm. "Just-Dreams-Scam" is a fake user, he registered with different usernames on different sites and post the same comment..here i show some examples of him..just check these links..i know after see these links, admin of this site throw out this user from this site..just see this:
tugbbs.com/.../...
ripoffreport.com/.../...
scaminformer.com/.../...
complaintsboard.com/.../...
please friends beware of these kind of peoples who destroy the reputation of any good firm..i think he is a competitor of Just Dreams
We are totally agree with merinda!!
We saw all links which she mentioned above
Really its shame on that person who did all these shameless activities against Just Dreams
HE IS A SPAMMER
Assuming no one here who has had actual experience as an owner to the program is lying, I have a theory on what is going on. It’s quite possible that by buying into the program, you can find great deals that you might not be able to find easily elsewhere. But as with all great deals, they are scarce. So only some people who happened to look at the right time got the advertised great deal, while everyone else never got lucky enough.
One thing that was completely misrepresented during the presentation was how these great deals came to be. During my presentation, we were told that these deals came from special negotiation with the resorts themselves, but it became clear after some research that the deals do just come from a software that crawls the internet for information. For me, this is a huge difference. If the deals came from negotiations, Pacific Dreams would know how many of them would be available per year and can either stop selling these packages if their membership far exceeded the number of deals, or try to negotiate for more deals. Since the deals come from the internet and Pacific Dreams has no control over how many of them there are compared to how many active member they have, there is no way they can guarantee everyone who has paid the membership fee (which is around $10k) will get what they pay for. Again, I didn’t buy, so I’m not technically an “owner”, but this doesn’t sound like a business model that can work in the long-run.
How can I start a legal process?
Or at least help to get them out of business?
Please help
My fiance and I travel quite a bit and have been known to go to time share presentations to get discounted stays or activities now and then. We are used to the high pressure sales and the rapidly decreasing price over time. When we sat in on a presentation by Pacific Dreams in Maui, we didn't realize that a company would outright lie just to get business.
We were warned by the sales person about somebody who had been posting fake scams and ignorantly we bought into it. Like many things it was a while before we had another opportunity to travel and when we went to do so we realized just how big of a SCAM this really is. By this time it was definitely to late to cancel so we're just hoping to help others to not make the same mistakes we did. Remember, for every person who complains there are tens if not hundreds of people who just chalk a mistake up to a bad decision or they don't want to admit to getting scammed. I'll admit it though, we bought it hook, line, and sinker.
We had a three major problems with the service which is why we had to warn others. The least of all is the software. It looks like it is written 15 years ago and it is as hard to navigate as anything i've seen here on the web. Worse is that you can't book trips to any place you would actually want to go. Thinking of a romantic trip to Paris? Not even an option. We weren't able to find any major city anywhere in the world that it allowed. The worst clincher though is even when you find a far off remote place and you are supposed to be getting some great deal, the prices where over twice what we found in a quick 5 second search of accommodations on the web. The one thing they say they are good at, getting great deals around the world and their prices don't even come close to what's competitive.
It is a waste of several thousand dollars for us from this scam. I hope others don't make same mistake!
Thanks for the information. My fiance and I just went to one of the presentations and were shocked by the customer service and how the price of the ownership went down drastically from 9,999 to 2,999 definitely made me think twice about the value of purchase.
Thanks again.
A.
Pacific Dreams has over 200,000 members across the United States, and is the largest distributor of wholesale condo weeks in Maui.
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