Gold Crown Resort Marketing Inc. Scam, Steal, Lie, Cheat, Fraud Oviedo Florida

 After reading the complaints from a few here who play the victim card because they irresponsibly bought a membership without doing their full due diligence, let me say I've been a member with my wife since 2011. Our latest trip only cost us $49 because it was a huge special to Wyndham Durango over Valentine's Day. It was absolutely beautiful. There are amazing resorts in Mexico, Hawaii, Florida, Ski Season in Colorado, etc... Sure it's not Inspirato, but it's not marketed to be that either. Take responsibility if you made a dumb purchase because you didn't know what you were getting yourself into.

Once you check the rates they are stating for any location or vacation package, you can go to any free service such as travelocity or orbitz and see that GCR is offering you nothing better at all. In fact, I have gone to the hotel site and actually received a better rate than what GCR has quoted.  The people who post anything positive here about GCR have not stated anything worth noting, just more sales trash talk. 

initially I was very skeptical. I am 1. A small business owner so I keep a close eye on my spending and 2. Generally I am a very cautious person... I received a phone call about a test market for a vacation club, Promised a prize  ( We had to pay the taxes so we declined the voucher) Yada yada, so I went for a "presentation" at the holiday inn ,located in Georgetown. As they unfolded the details of the program, my husband and I both looked at each other , thinking that this is way too good to be true. So we told the sales rep, Sammy, that we had to do some more research and that we would get back to her.

The following night I googled, binged and chromed everything I could about the company.... And just as I thought my answer was most certainly NO ( the reviews of a similar company left a impression) , about a week later A friend of mine called and asked my husband and I to go with them on a vacation they booked for cheap... Of course I inquired as to how they received such an amazing price for their all inclusive European cruise, the answer was gold crown. Hmmmm I thought ok, let me go on this vacation, if its all Sammy hyped it up to be, I'm sold. Little did I know it was all that and more!!! but the details of that is another conversation for another blog . Shortly after the trip, my husband and I contacted the sales rep, they met with my husband and I then presto I was their newest member!!!! About three months after, my family booked a trip on instant bookings to Hawaii 4 star hotel 10 star service.saved more thank would have using living social, Travelocity. or anything else!!! The key to booking great lodging is proper preparation! Please people , don't go off of everything you read on the Internet, call the hotels ask questions, many times I've found that disgruntled employees trash their employers. I find this true with everything I buy, just look at walmart , target or even APPLE.. I've been a member since 2012 and according to this contract I will be for the next 5 years , Im going to enjoy every bit of it. If your reading this, Hope this eases your concerns.

I am so sorry that you were also fooled into buying at GCR. I too was a victim almost 2 years ago because the salesman directly lied to me about how I could use the membership. I bought in Mexico and just this month settled for a very small portion of my money returned with the help of Mexican government.

I filed a complaint at any site I could find to hopefully warn others about this scam. It is hard for me to believe that this company is still allowed to rip off unsuspecting people such as yourselves. 

As stated, they make it impossible for you to back out after purchase, because they know once you receive your password you will find out you have been ripped off, but too late to get your money back. They have carefully covered every aspect of the contract to make sure they successfully scam you.

My wife and I went to one of there sale presentations (Sunshine promotions) in the D.C area. best I can describe it is like going to a time share presentations (very high pressure)  we ended up buying it thinking that we would get great deals on vacations packages with our membership cost of $5000.00 I compared gcr to orbits for a trip to Hawaii matching the hotel, travel dates and came up with a $200.00 savings. That is $200.00 on a $3500.00 vacation package or maybe 6% and that may only be because some of the tax and travel charges weren't added in  

Truth is its a complete ripoff, they tell you how the government and big businesses use there service to save thousands on travel and hotels every year without really showing you the product. You never get to see the website until after you've paid and then it takes a month to get your log-in info and by then its to late to back out of the contract. It would be a simple thing for this company SHOW the website at there presentations but they don,t for a reason I would guess that if we used there service twice a year for the next 15 years we Might get our money back but i doubt it      

This is a response to "Gary R" who is defending GCR. In my extensive research of this company, I have not found many happy owners, except those who have a vested interest in GCR success, which may be the same in your case.

There is nothing GCR has to offer that someone cannot find at many FREE sites, so they need their salespeople to deceive the buyer any way they can.  This is apparent because of the small print that is never pointed out to the buyer that reads "I am not relying on any oral or written representation..."

This statement clearly shows that GCR is not interested in how the salespeople misrepresent their service, only that they make a sale. It is the responsibility of a good company to make sure their salespeople are properly trained and do not scam. Their answer to me... "we have a good working relationship with Mr. J" (my salesman).

This is a prime example of how a bad company handles a complaint. I was told that it was a "misunderstanding" and even though I mislead, I would not get a refund. When I filed a complaint to agencies that protect consumers, I was immediately cut off from their service and sent a threatening letter. I will not back down no matter how many threatening letters they send, because I am right and will do anything I can to save an unsuspecting consumer from giving GCR their money.

There is a very happy couple laughing at us all the way to their luxuriant lifestyle. I feel sorry for "Gary R" that he was a foolish as me to buy in to something we can easily get for free.

My wife and I have been members of GCR for 7 years and have used the Membership extensively. The product works, even if the odd sales representative is a jerk or a liar. That is not the fault of the actual product. 

I am not condoning the practises of a desperate sales representative.  They should be shot!  However, the GCR product is a useful service that does provide legitimate savings. 

I suggest, as I did in my case many years ago, to contact GCR directly and have them go to work for you.  Then, the "proof is in the pudding." If you love it, then say so.  If you hate it, do the same.  Don`t just rely on internet postings from those who are suffering from a bad case of buyers remorse or who now hate the their sales representative and are unnecessarily including GCR in their complaint.  Thank you.

I am a senior and have worked in casino industry over 30yrs and not a disgruntled former employee. I was shocked to read that this first report about the dishonest sales techniques was written in 2009 and is still going on today.

 I had exactly the same experience "James" writes about, only was this last Nov, 2011. I know first hand what he said is true. I was lied to by salesman Brad Johnson at a resort in Mazatlan to make his sale and didn't know about the lie until I got home and my credit card was already charged.

 I had to laugh about the sentence from current employee that says their sales people don't lie, because I was looked straight in the eye as he lied through his teeth until he convinced me to spend vacation money I saved on "free airfare".

 Every e-mail I sent had a standard reply about them not being directly related to their sales people and it was not their responsibility, but at the same time, said they have a good working relationship with Mr. Johnson. Because I filed a report with BBB about the lies he tells, GCR has cut me from their service with no refund. They always refer to the incident as a "misunderstanding" instead of using "lie", "deceit" or "scam".

 I don' know how these people sleep knowing they ruin lives of good honest people. I am in the long hard process of trying to get my money back, but looks like I will not because they cover all their bases with legal terms and agreements before consumers suspect a lie. I can't believe they are still duping people and have not been stopped. I am doing all I can.

Hello,

I would like to say that the author of the previous post is a wonderful person. I have been lucky enough to work with this gentleman in varying capacities, and I have not one negative thing to say about James.

I would also like to state that if being an employee of GCR, experiencing the intricacies of the day to day operations that made me feel throughout my my employment that the company was fraudulent, and expressing this fact through a medium available to me in the internet, makes me a disgruntled employee, then so be it.

The fact of the matter is the Joe and Colleen Arrigoni are crooks. As I stated in my previous post, they lie and cheat potential members out of a what could be a very wonderful product.

I present no argument that the goal of a business is to make money. The problem with the owners of GCR is that they make their money in a crooked way. The product they offer could be wonderful, and despite their shortcomings in business practices, the product is still a great product.

I am aware of the fact that James did go stay at a property that GCR is involved with, and I am quite sure that the accommodations were great. The problem is that the cost that James paid for these accommodations did not include a mark up on the item.

I understand that since businesses' ultimate goals are to make money, they mark up the products they receive in efforts to make money. However, the accommodations that James refers to our not generally offered to the members at large as the final cost of the accommodations, including a mark up, is higher than Colleen Arrigonni will offer to her members.

That may seem like a wonderful thing that she only wants to offer the best prices possible , and it is, but the problem is that when the memberships are sold, the members are told they can have access to a plethora of wonderful resorts, but in actually they do not gain access to these.

GCR DOES have access to just about everything they say they have access to, so in that sense, they are truthful. The problem lies in the fact that the MEMBERS do not have consistent access to peak destinations during peak times as the cost of these accommodations are higher than GCR will pay for them.

What good is the fact that GCR can simply ACCESS the accommodations if they are not able to offer it to their members at the prices detailed in the sales presentations.

Regardless of how wonderful Coleen and Joe Arrigoni may present themselves to be, the fact remains that when it comes to their business venture, Gold Crown Resort Marketing, there are inconsistencies that prevent GCR from reaching its full potential.

No GCR is not involved DIRECTLY in the sales and marketing of the product, but you would have to have been born last night to thing that they are involved in some capacity in the the protocol implementations that relate to the sales of their product.

ITS HER PRODUCT. SHE GIVES THE RIGHTS TO SALE IT. Dont you dare sit there for one second longer and try and sell to me that you are not involved with it.

The bottom line is that the crooked sales practices could be monitored more closely and tinkered with to more accurately reflect the accommodations offered and the corresponding price associated with said accommodations.

This is not being done, and it will continue to be ignored. The reason. MONEY. GREEN BACK DOLLARS. GREED.

Im sure we have all heard the saying "if is isn't broke, then don't fix it". Well, to GCR owners, it is not broke, so why fix it?

As I stated in my first post, buyers can be expected to pay upwards of 10k dollars for a membership while other buyers can be expected to pay as little of 1,5000-3,000 dollars.

If your product is the same for all members why is the price different based on who sales the membership? GCR DOES get money of of the sales of the memberships, and as I stated, this is the goal of a business, yes.

If GCR is getting a PERCENTAGE of each deal then wouldn't it make sense that they would be fine with allowing a higher cost for a membership as percentage of total cost can greatly fluctuate based on the final amount sold for.

THIS IS WHAT IS CROOKED.

Finally I must say that it is more of the same: the CEO hides behind other people because she is afraid of the lime light. Why are you afraid? Is it because you have too much to hide? Makes sense to me.

My question is this: If the owners are TRULY concerned with ALL members', employees', and clients' satisfaction, then why have the owners not made an attempt to set the record straight with the public?

I just would caution anyone that is considering buying into Gold Crown Resort marketing to simply not. You will be rewarded with maybe a nice vacation or two, but you will experience so much additional stress just trying to arrange it, and you likely will waste thousands of dollars doing so.

I am a current employee of Gold Crown Resort. I have been with this company for 9 months as of the writing of this note. And I would like to make a point to clarify the claims in the previous negative posting authored by a disgruntled former employee.

If I may begin with a few facts:
1. Gold Crown Resort, or commonly known as GCR, is a vacation travel club company.
2. We assist our members in finding vacation accommodations and cruise destinations for our members.
3. There is a fee to become a member of GCR.
4. However, GCR does NOT sell directly to the public.
5. Sales of GCR memberships are performed by third-party companies, we call them Affiliates
6. Affiliates sell to the public.
7. Affiliates are NOT employed by GCR.
8. We monitor the sales practice of our Affiliates so as to ensure they provide accurate information to our current and prospective members.
9. We do not encourage or tolerate deceptive sales practices.
10. We have REMOVED Affiliates that engage in deceptive sales practices on many occasions.
11. GCR is a for-profit business and offers the best value possible to our members.

Joe and Colleen Arrigoni, the owners of Gold Crown Resort, have had, and continue to have, successful business careers in the vacation travel industry for the past 20 years. They have strict processes and procedures as to how to handle each step of the process and GCR takes great care in adhering to these processes and procedures. It is because of these standards that GCR has been in business for so long, with so many satisfied members. Providing the highest customers service possible is paramount in our business. And I believe that is true in any successful business.

I have owned and operated my own computer servicing computer for approximately 10 years prior to working for Gold Crown Resort. And being a former business owner and partner in other business ventures, I find the business practice that Joe and Colleen Arrigoni adhere to, are of the highest standards.

Gold Crown Resort does provide support for our Affiliates to ensure they are successful in selling our product. We provide various marketing material, expertise and consultation that only 20 years experience in the industry can provide.

Gold Crown Resort treats each one of our members, affiliates, employees, vendors, or anyone that Gold Crown Resort come into contact with a high level of professionalism. I could not work for a company that acted in a manner other than this.

Gold Crown Resort does not lie, cheat, or distort the truth about any service we provide to our members. In fact we go out of our way to describe through images and published description of our service. We take great strides to communicate to our members, to leave an open line of communication between our members and the Gold Crown Resort staff.

My family and I have stayed at an accommodation provided through Gold Crown Resort, and I and my family was very pleased with not just the price, but with the accommodations themselves. And I would be proud to refer my friends and family to be a member of Gold Crown Resort.

A for-profit company sells a product and/or service and makes a profit. This is what a business does. This is what I did when I ran my business and I made no apologies for that.

Perhaps this disgruntled employee should learn how a business is ran and operated before writing such horrible lies about a company that has gone above and beyond their way to help him and our members on many, many levels.

Everything one does is not perfect. But how one handles those imperfections shows the true character of that person.

I have helped the author of the original post to RipoffReport.com, by friendship and by helping further his education by providing studying material, training equipment he could not afford otherwise, and by providing my personal time to him in an effort to help him train for a new career. A new path he has chosen for his future. And I was happy to do so, while asking for nothing in return.

But the baseless words he has written about the company I work for and many other people work for, is an attempt to now hurt me, the people I work with, and a company that does everything possible to ensure fair treatment for everyone, including him.

Thank you for an opportunity for me to express my personal thoughts on this matter.


Sincerely,

James