We Got Scammed into a FREE Bahamas Vacation

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This is our story about how we got tricked into paying thousands of dollars for a free Bahamas vacation and why it took us 5 years to pay for it!
Full disclaimer- We did have a wonderful vacation. We realize that the travel company did deliver on a Bahamas Vacation and that the form does say that applicable taxes must be paid, but our opinion is that this was a deceptive marketing practice.
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AikenAdventures is a Florida-based travel family with young children. We motivate families to make meaningful memories together through experiences.
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Опубликовано:

5 май 2024

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Комментарии : 72

@mirandasapphire8203 Месяц назад

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! This helped me understand what this "free" trip truly entails. I filled out a slip identical to the one you shared on the screen at the mall in Monroe, Louisiana, back in early May. I received a text today saying I won, and here I am, researching because it felt scammy. We also have two children who would be coming along with us. Thanks again for the warning. I'm genuinely sorry you all dealt with all of that stress on top of the financial burden resulting from a supposedly free vacation.

@AikenAdventures Месяц назад

We ended up having an enjoyable time and perhaps it was significantly cheaper than if we had booked the same trip ourselves, but the marketing feels a little like a bait and switch. It is weird how this trip weighed on us for a number of years, though, we were kind of glad to get it out of the way-such a weird way to feel about a vacation! 🤪😂

@TappedOutTravel Месяц назад

Glad you all turned a bad situation into a much better vacation. loved that video! Safe travels and god bless!

@AikenAdventures Месяц назад

Life turns out best for those who make the best of how life turns out!

@jade_lowerlash Месяц назад

this just saved me so much money, thank you guys!!

@AikenAdventures Месяц назад

Glad to help!

@carlacardozo955 2 месяца назад

Oh boy. That was some trip. I love the sit down style video, I would love to see that with recommendations and ideas as well, I love the vlogs but this format is very informative too.

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, for this video, we felt like we needed to be able to take a little different approach in order to tell the whole story!

@thepotential-u Месяц назад

39.98 account set up fee 279.96 cruise administration fee 258.00 port and services fee Total = 577.94 Did you get to $2,733 because you added your kids not because there was more charges? It sounds like technically my wife and I could take the trip for $577.94 + food, drink, and lift rides. So all and all it could be $1,500-2,000?

@AikenAdventures 18 дней назад

Fees Breakdown $50 change fee (because we had to postpone) $278 port and service fees $350 additional guests $425.95 resort fees $899.90 resort fees $152 resort taxes $258 port and service fees $39.98 account set up $279.96 cruise admin fees Some of the fees were the result of bringing our children with us. I do recall that some of those fees were due at the time we selected which resort we were going to visit, so I think the $425.95. I think that the $899.90 and the $350 were because of the children.

@nancywells5626 2 месяца назад

I love the hand's free bucket. LOL Thank you for sharing your video.

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

Hey! Always great to hear from you! Thanks for all your support! By “hands free” are you referring to the fact that we weren’t holding the camera for most of this video?

@nancywells5626 2 месяца назад

@@AikenAdventures I was referring to Pierce wearing the green sand bucket on his head with the handle as a neck strap. He can carry the bucket on his head and not depend on carrying the bucket by the handle with his hands.

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

@@nancywells5626 oh yeah, that makes more sense. 🤪 he LOVED wearing that bucket as a hat. 🤦🏻‍♂️ 🤣

@KktravelandEducationvlogkc3zk 2 месяца назад

Awesome video you guys

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

Thanks so much!

@KktravelandEducationvlogkc3zk 2 месяца назад

@@AikenAdventures no problem and I hope you guys enjoy your cruise vacation time

@roseannameagher7832 Месяц назад

My "free" trip is in August. I got everything paid for and I'm excited non the less. I'm glad I found your video. It helped with knowing what to expect.

@AikenAdventures Месяц назад

You know, it’s not that bad of a deal really. It’s not “free,” typically races have to be paid on ANYTHING that is “won.”

@cristinacarvalho6798 57 минут назад

WHAT DAY IN AUGUST IM GOING JULY 30 TILL AUGUST 1

@toot0107 Месяц назад

We did the same thing a year or so ago and we're about to go on our trip. Imagine paying for airfare to get to Florida on top of all those taxes and fees 😮‍💨

@AikenAdventures Месяц назад

Wow! Glad we didn’t have to book plane tickets to take this vacation!

@rkenzie5235 Месяц назад

I loved paradise cove!!!! I went there as an independent shore excursion! So fun and worth it!

@AikenAdventures Месяц назад

We heard mixed reviews, but it was one of our favorite things from the whole week!

@christinesmith2385 Месяц назад

This video sounds more like you had bad timing and apparently just had a normal "post hurricane" lodging situation. Most of this video is about all the fun you had. The company charged you exactly what you were told you'd have to pay for. The excessive fees ended up happening because you kept delaying, they had problems after the hurricane, and when you FINALLY got to go you had fun. You really should change the video title to "we had problems getting our vacation going, and then we had fun".

@AikenAdventures Месяц назад

Sounds about right. Would you have clicked that video title? Also, we did make the best of the situation as we always try to do, but it is kind of a sly marketing practice to make people think they “won” a trip that’s actually going to cost them thousands and everyone who fills out a form is a winner…. So… sorry, not sorry…

@christinesmith2385 Месяц назад

@@AikenAdventures I absolutely would have clicked on something that was like, "The real story behind "You Won" travel". As it was, I found another video that was far more balanced and only talked about what you get vs. what you would have spent if you'd gone on the same vacation on your own. Your experience was far more about all your delays and life got in the way, and then oh by the way, we had a ton of fun and has about 20 seconds at the very end of the video that admits you would've spent more if you'd done this. Your experience had a lot of bad luck involved and family planning issues, NOT that the company did something nefarious. And btw, I only watched your video because someone posted the link on a FB page that asked whether the "free trip" was a scam in my local community page. I wasted 14:06 of my time, PLUS the ads, finding out that indeed they gave you thousands of dollars off your trip and you even had fun, but you had bad luck with the hurricane, COVID, and then family planning problems. Most of the extra fees and delays you experienced were first Acts of God that they can't control, and then you having to postpone due to children being born. ((Shrug)) Not really Truth in Advertising on YOUR part either. That's why I suggest changing the title...you WERE NOT SCAMMED. Thank you.

@karlafranco-ti4ge Месяц назад

I felt SCAMMED watching this video 😩

@AikenAdventures Месяц назад

🤷🏻‍♂️

@KktravelandEducationvlogkc3zk 2 месяца назад

Love what you guys do you guys are amazing people I hope you guys enjoy your cruise. We’re gonna be going on a cruise in 2025. I hope you guys enjoy your cruise. Have a lot of fun with the kids. I hope they enjoy it as well. Much love to you guys and your family thank you guys for what you do, I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your day. Keep doing what you’re doing.

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

Thank you so much! Hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise. We will be releasing another couple of videos soon emphasizing the cruise a little bit more.

@KktravelandEducationvlogkc3zk 2 месяца назад

@@AikenAdventures well I hope you guys enjoy that. I will be doing a cruise video too. Hope you guys enjoy it.

@stugooden7826 2 месяца назад

We filled out that exact same card at the mall and “won” the Bahamas deal too. Still haven’t followed up on it… nice to see it is legit

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

We suspect that everyone “wins.” Although, we can’t say for sure.

@travisbuck4571 Месяц назад

Just got the text hours ago. We won 🧐 they sent us a screenshot in the text of my card. It says 4 days, 3 nights in the Bahamas. Representative that text me back said 5 days, 4 nights.... Off to a bad start already 😂 appreciate the info!

@stugooden7826 Месяц назад

@@travisbuck4571 hope it works out!

@gabrielarodriguez3929 Месяц назад

@@AikenAdventuresmy whole family filled it out and I was the only one who “won”

@jacobwilliams1356 28 дней назад

@@AikenAdventures my girlfriend submitted and won, I lost and we have 2 different last names and shes not on social media so I am guessing every mall has a winner

@LacieSnay 7 дней назад

We are supposed to be going on this trip this coming March 2025 and we did add our kids as well. I’m always nervous when it comes to taking my kids anywhere though. We payed the $87 free or whatever it was for each kid but did you guys have to pay more to have them at the hotel once you got to the Bahamas? Also did you need passports?

@AikenAdventures 7 дней назад

We took passports for ourselves, but birth certificates were fine for the children. I’m pretty certain that we paid all of the fees prior to arrival and weren’t require to pay anything else upon arrival except for the taxi.

@johndefalque5061 2 месяца назад

Time share torture! I fell for a "free vacation', but when I called to book, I sussed out that there was no free.

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

There’s always a fee of some kind! I guess technically most of these fees are standard resort fees, taxes, etc., and $800 was for bringing our kids along, but there was DEFINITELY a cost.

@princetta 21 день назад

I “won” one of these a few years and I had a bad feeling so I didn’t go through with it! I’m sorry this happened to y’all! 😢

@AikenAdventures 18 дней назад

Glad we could help you make the decision that was right for you.

@annefernandez2452 2 месяца назад

How did you get out of the presentation i have one in June in orlando and want some tips.

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

It wasn’t required for this trip. They just offered it to us for another “free” 7-night vacation, so we just told them that we don’t think it would be a good idea for us to attend since I no longer handle the sales presentations very well.

@jos6878 2 месяца назад

Thanks for sharing! Yeah, I think we all are looking for frugal, family fun. So, our attention is piqued when we see the word FREE! 😂

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

Truthfully, I guess we only paid the taxes, and we probably wouldn’t have considered taking this trip if it hadn’t been for the way it was marketed to us, so it all worked out, but we almost felt like we were just glad to “check this off the list” so to speak, so we could finally move on. It felt like this ways just looming over us for a while. Cool thing about this trip, though, is that a pastor showed us around town so we got to experiment with highlighting a ministry on this trip (more videos coming soon), which is something we’d like to lean into more in the future with potentially more international trips.

@rhondalockrey9592 2 месяца назад

It seemed the delays did add up to higher costs then maybe it would of been. Its great you did get a trip out of it because I use to work for a company that traded peoples timeshare rooms to go other places. Some people just never kept up on payments to even use their timeshare & got nothing. It was a win you got a trip & didnt buy timeshare lol

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

Very true, and $800 of the whole thing was adding our children which wasn’t a part of the original agreement. All-in-all, we actually had a good trip, but we were glad to finally get this one out of the way, so to speak.

@justinetaylor1946 28 дней назад

So me and my husband just won the same thing this more 2x times he got a text so did I so we called and paid the fee I also recorded it to be same everything looks real but i guess we will look more into it…… I’ll follow back up**

@AikenAdventures 18 дней назад

You will legitimately get the vacation they promise, so in that way, it’s not a scam. Just a tricky marketing gimmick. You will just have to pay taxes and resort fees, which is pretty standard for “winning” stuff.

@emma.s.1 2 месяца назад

I went to that resort last April

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

Did you enjoy it? What was your experience like?

@emma.s.1 2 месяца назад

@@AikenAdventures it was okay, same experience as you, it wasn’t that good but really beautiful

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

@emma.s.1 yeah, the rooms weren’t that great, but we enjoyed everything else.

@VonnaHussein 2 месяца назад

Hi, I live outside of Daytona. May I ask what the name of the restaurant you went to? It looks beautiful

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

Actually, we borrowed b-roll from a Mexican Restaurant we visited in Gainesville, FL. We didn’t have our RU-vid channel in 2019, so we didn’t used to take videos of every place we went in those days and don’t have a video of the exact restaurant, but we thought some b-roll would help us tell the story better. Hope that makes sense.

@VonnaHussein 2 месяца назад

@@AikenAdventures absolutely, thank you so much for the reply. We love your channel

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

@@VonnaHussein thanks so much for watching and commenting! So great to hear from you!

@donnaryland2777 Месяц назад

THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO. ME MY SON AN DAUGHTER ALL 3 WON' OUR BAHAMA VACATIONS YESTERDAY MORNING. I FILLED OUT THE CARD ON MAY 2. ONE FOR EVERYONE MY KIDS. GRANDDAUGHTER AN NEICE SISTER. WOKE YESTERDAY TO ALL 3 US WINNERS!! WE KNEW IT WAS A SCAM INSTANTLY. EXACT SAME PINK CARD U R SHOWING THERE

@AikenAdventures Месяц назад

So funny that everyone “WON!” That’s what we suspected is that, with the fees, etc., everyone could be a winner and they wouldn’t be taking a loss.

@xpallodoc1147 2 месяца назад

Seems like a pretty awesome trip but you did not win a free trip. Those things are usually some type of scam. A did do a vacation points package time share presentation of course said no and got a 100% free vacation which was pretty good.

@AikenAdventures 2 месяца назад

We have sat through numerous timeshare presentations, and at this point, we just decline to even do trips like that because I get a little combative now, so since I know I can’t handle it, I just don’t even go there. Don’t like the high pressure sales. But we have previously enjoyed some fun trips while doing those things.

@darrylprince827 17 дней назад

Sorry y'all got tooken😢but nothing is free 😢

@AikenAdventures 11 дней назад

I guess that we could have just not paid the fees, and they did provide a vacation in exchange for the payments, so 🤷🏻‍♂️ it is what it is. The marketing is a little shady, BUT we had a good time. We’re kind of glad we finally took the trip and can move on. 😅

@babymomma20111 13 дней назад

If you didn't extend your trip multiple times as well as add people to said trip it wouldn't cost you thousands. Also, it specifically says you have to pay for resort fees travel expenses and taxes. Your video is helpful, but you didn't get scammed into a free trip, read the small print. The title of your video is completely misleading.

@AikenAdventures 11 дней назад

We enjoyed our trip. Kinda glad to get it out of the way. Have you also “won” the “free” trip?