hotelmember.com - Absolute marketing

wheelieb

Hi
I was contacted by this group offering a great 'Privilege Card' for hotels in Ireland like the Clarion, Hilton and Gibson in Dublin. You pay a couple of hundred euros and get 3-6 nights in the hotels depending. There is a hard sell but it seems like a good deal if you negotiate like me and get the 6 nights .

All good until you try to book something through them! You cant book more than 8 weeks in advance, and if you try within the 8 weeks there are no allotted rooms, even when i rang the hotels and they had over a 100 rooms free!

Unless you want to stay at the airport this is a waste of money and totally mis-sold - Avoid.
wb

jo_1234

Just wanted to reply to your post to confirm that I have had the same experience.
After being sold the deal & told how great it was when I tried to book even 8 weeks in advance there was no availability whatsoever (apart from executive rooms for an extra £100 bearing in mind we had already paid £175 for the privelage card).
I have chased and chased the company for a refund but as yet have had no luck but have been fobbed off with various excuses each time I have spoken to them.
Just a warning to anyone who has been contacted by this telesales company - please avoid at all costs, it is a scam!

the groutch

jo_1234 wrote: »

Just a warning to anyone who has been contacted by this telesales company - please avoid at all costs, it is a scam!

if a company is cold-calling you about an "offer", it's always gonna be a scam

run_Forrest_run

wheelieb wrote: »

Hi
I was contacted by this group offering a great 'Privilege Card' for hotels in Ireland like the Clarion, Hilton and Gibson in Dublin. You pay a couple of hundred euros and get 3-6 nights in the hotels depending. There is a hard sell but it seems like a good deal if you negotiate like me and get the 6 nights .

nothin worse than thinking you're the man after negotiating what you think is a deal...ouch.
These sort of deals are scams, always were and always will be. Live & Learn.

P. Breathnach

I'm curious about this. I gather from jo_1234's post that at least one hotel was prepared to recognise the deal to some extent, even if they were not prepared to deliver what was expected. Does that mean that they are collaborating in a dodgy deal?

Fighting Irish

the groutch wrote: »

if a company is cold-calling you about an "offer", it's always gonna be a scam

stupid people will never learn

goat2

i had some crowd like those on to me a good while back, say two yrs ago, i saw nothing to be gained by them, and anyway if they were that good, they would not have had to ask if we would buy their card, people would have been asking them for the cards,

and

if it sounds too good to be true, it generally is.

jjezebel37

I must say, i have been a Hilton member for about 10 years now (both North and South). I have never had any trouble at all apart from when i want to book when the rugby is on.

Just my two cents.

Ps, i am also a Fitzwilliam member as well and never had any bother

mikom

jjezebel37 wrote: »

I must say, i have been a Hilton member for about 10 years now (both North and South). I have never had any trouble at all apart from when i want to book when the rugby is on.

Just my two cents.

Ps, i am also a Fitzwilliam member as well and never had any bother

Thank you for telling us this with your first post....

super_furry

jjezebel37 wrote: »

I must say, i have been a Hilton member for about 10 years now (both North and South). I have never had any trouble at all apart from when i want to book when the rugby is on.

Just my two cents.

Ps, i am also a Fitzwilliam member as well and never had any bother

Ahh well that's my mind up so. Sign me up for two cards! No wait, make it 10.

jjezebel37

mikom wrote: »

Thank you for telling us this with your first post....

And your point is?

ArthurG

jjezebel37 wrote: »

And your point is?

I think (s)he may be alluding to something along these lines:

http://gizmodo.com/5928926/chick+fil+a-got-caught-pretending-to-be-a-fake-teenage-girl-on-facebook

keithclancy

Shopping around and booking the best deal at the time is always the best value.

Tying yourself to one particular supplier and paying a membership fee rarely gets you any benefit and usually ends up costing you more in the long run.

jimco005

warn off anybody using absolute marketing . ormeau rd belfast northern ireland.
they are not answering there phone + fax + email.
hopefully theu have being closed down by the dept. of fraud pnsi.
beware of scammers

LADD0812

I have been a member of absolute marketing for 2 years, the first year they were great, the second year they took a renewal membership fee from my card without telling me. I had great difficulty getting a response on this but eventually I did and got a sort of apology an extended membership and a discount. Ok I thought. We do use the membership so it made sense.
Coming up to our membership renewal this year I contacted the company early to discuss possible hotels, membership costs etc but I wasn't excited by the list of hotels, it seems many hotels have stopped using them. So I opted out. 3 months later and my bank statement has a transaction for absolute hotels for 300 Euro, not authorised, not discussed, nothing and now they are not responding to my phone calls, emails or anything. They are the most unprofessional, unethical company I have ever had the misfortune of being involved with and I urge people to stay away. They will steal money from you

ElNino

Do a chargeback with your credit card company. If enough people do that then they will get in trouble with their payment service providers.

Missypat

I have had a similar experience with this company and after having spent the last few days trying to book the hotels that I bought membership for .... I find that absolute marketing cannot be contacted and I now believe they have ceased operating. I can't believe they have got away with this scam for so long!
A membership fee £ 225 paid and nothing back! I am sure there are many others in the same situation.
My credit card company have been contacted and they are going to pursue the matter.

showeringdaily

Hi Guys,

I have just had the same problem. From what I hear it sounds like the company have gone bust and I too had 299 euro taken from my account with no authorisation at all. I have been in touch with my bank and they have advised me to fill out a visa debit dispute(this is the method I payed with initially). As they had my bank card details they could do as they pleased really. I would advice as many of you to dispute this if possible. The more complaints the more likely we are to get our money back. It's an absolute disgrace that this could happen

pmtree

I've seen on Yell.com as well that there have been unauthorised card transactions, £199 was taken from our credit card in April and not refunded, we have contacted the Police and I urge you to do the same

briankeo

I suspect these are gone out of business as of today I have a couple of vouchers left that I wanted to use before they're out of date, however their phones either aren't answered or no longer exist for the past week or more. Only four weeks ago they rang me asking me to renew my membership, I explained that I would'nt be renewing because it became increasingly difficult to make a reservation using our card. It's a shame because I've been a member for more than 10-12yrs. They haven't even called me back to try and persuade me to reconsider that's very unlike them . I'm glad I declined by the sounds of things. Ps thanks for the warning about your credit card being charged I'll be wary of them.

briankeo

Cheers for that

devildriver

One look at their website would have told you that it was a scam.

http://hotelmember.com/

Even when the OP made the post back in 2011 the site was 5 years out of date.

Nowen

Me too. € 299 debited to my credit card without permission on 5 June. Now reported to PSNI.

showeringdaily

Has anyone been speaking to their bank about getting their money back. This is an absolute scandal. We need to ensure we all get our money back. I can't believe I am not the only one

Missypat

Just received my credit card bill this am and guess what E299 taken out of my account by Absolute Hotels.... On the 13th may. Is this a new name under which they are operating?.... I am furious that they have taken this money out of my account. I have now rang PSNI and reported this fraud.
How many more people are going to be ripped off ?

briankeo

I contacted my bank this morning and pre warned them in case they try and debit my credit card this month as my membership expires end of the month. They said they'd stop it . It's a pity as I said I've been a member for 12 yrs or more and always found them ok to deal with , I'd actually say I did very well out of them as I used the restaraunts in the hotels a lot.

Missypat

This Absolute Marketing scam was reported on UTV live tonight and have given their email address for people to contact them!
They will report further on this story tomorrow night.

showeringdaily

Missypat wrote: »

This Absolute Marketing scam was reported on UTV live tonight and have given their email address for people to contact them!
They will report further on this story tomorrow night.

What was said on it? That is great news

longhalloween

I have never seen so many new accounts comment in such a short space of time on one thread.

Missypat

Report on UTV live stated that absolute marketing have now been reported to Trading Standards and they will investigate further.
Examples were given of unauthorised payments taken from people's accounts. They did ask for people to contact them if they had any issues with this company.

walkabout

Hi, I became aware today that Absolute Marketing have gone bust. I have dealt with them for years and they have always been upfront. However on 28th May they "sold" me vouchers for different Hotels for €458. When trying to contact them in last few days - no response. So, I spoke to a Manager of one of the Hotels whose voucher I had received about 9th June and they distanced themselves from the predicament I find myself in. The Bank asked me to get a letter from the Hotel to state that they could not provide a service but the Hotel are still pondering my request. Should you wish to claim from your bank you will need such a letter in order to get a "chargeback". I am in slightly different situation from others who had unauthorised debits. Should you be in same predicament as me then please make representation to the Hotels in order to clear the way for the bank to take further positive action.

walkabout

Also, Best to cancel your card. Old habits die hard with such individuals

Missypat

Having just read your post about buying vouchers recently I was wondering did you use your credit card...the reason being I have had this conversation with my credit card company and they have told me that they can't act on my behalf until membership expires and then they can proceed as I have then failed to receive the product paid for ie several vouchers that I could not use. So I now have to wait til the end of August!
I hope tis is some help but don't know what happens if you have used your bank account.
I was also issued with a new card to prevent this happening again.

simonbt40

Has anyone managed to get their money back? Owner of Absolute Marketing not showing as bankrupt or insolvent.

gillamandango

I am a bit late to this party! I paid e220 last year but was so busy I did not go looking for the vouchers until now, and have discovered the story. I paid by card, I assume I just follow the procedure with my credit card company as detailed above? Has anyone had any luck proceeding with this method? Thanks in advance.