St Maarten warning

We are habitual cruisers but recently returned from a wee on St Maarten. It was a different perspective and enjoyed seeing it from the "other side".

We intentionally went into Philipsburg on a day when no ships were in port so we could see what things looked like when it was quiet.

We were approached by a man with those scratchy tickets and offered a chance to win a prize. He said that they usually cater to cruisers but as there were no ships in port we could give it a go. We knew that it was probably a scam but had lots of time so we tried it.

Well wouldn't you know it one of our tickets won the grand prize. The man was very excited as he would receive $200 commission. He and his partner were high fiving each other at his good fortune (I suspect that every couple always receives one winning ticket)

We went to the presentation that was required to "win" your prize. They are a Travel Club. The gist is you pay them $11000 to access cheaper vacations. The presentation all sounds good. When you tell them you are not interested they send in goon number two to offer you a lesser plan for less money.

When you decline again they scratch off you actual prize. The choices were an Android Tablet, 500 Visa card, 2 night cruise for two or a flight/hotel prize. Surprise we won the cruise, which is what I had said we would win.

After getting back to the hotel I looked up Travel Clubs. Seems that there have been a number of states who have sued them for there practices. They take large sums of money and then get you an offer that you could have accessed yourself on the internet. As for the "free" cruise, it appears that it will cost you hundreds or thousands to actually collect. The employees all seem to have been recently located to St Martin. I suspect that they have been run out of the US and have set up shop where there may be less scrutiny.

As I said we had lots of time, but if you are on a cruise spen dyour time wisely and tell them no thank you.

I'm sure that you are not the only one that has been tricked by this scam but I think that you are the first one to admit it. Good on you.:)

Thanks for taking the time to warn the next victim.

we were approached in October by some woman in a parking lot in Grand case with those scratch offs and she said she worked for the Westin. I said so if I call them right now, they can verify that one of their employees is chasing cruise ship people in parking lots to get a scratch off? She then started walking away angry. She started with the old "here scratch this off and you will win...etc...". I was hot and sandy and in no mood to listen to some idiot in a parking lot.

ROFL....which is my reaction to this post. Most folks are smart enough not to get caught up in one of many typical Time Share sales scams. We live in Puerto Vallarta a few months a year and see these Time Share scams every day. This is not a St Maarten issue, but an issue in just about every resort area of the world. We also routinely get regular snail main at home with these type of scams ("You have won a prize") which simply get tossed into the trash with the other junk mail.

If you really enjoy participating in these "scams" and going to "presentations" just come to Puerto Vallarta and stop in any of the many "Tequila Stores" located along the Malecon. At one point some were offering up to $300 cash...for eligible couples that would take most of their day to attend their "presentation."

Hank

We have been frequently waved down while driving just over the French side near Oyster Bay - by young people pushing "winning tickets" which require attending sales presentations at the nearby Westin. They are invariably young French men and women - leading me to wonder if there are penalties for doing that on the Dutch side.

Yes when we were walking through town two weeks ago with no ships in port we were very easy targets to say the least. So many "free" offers we could have taken advantage of :p Just easier to say no thank you and keep walking.

What we couldn't believe - or didn't expect - was the number of hawkers spread around the French side trying to get us to attend a timeshare presentation at the Westin. These guys were placed at strategic points where you have to slow and they have a chance to be friendly with you. We ran into them on our way to at Dawn Beach, inside Dawn Beach of course, as we entered Orient, on our way to GC, and again later. After the first 3 we realized how big this was and finally learned to just wave and say Hi as we passed!

We were approached three times by the same woman on different days, in different locations, for the Westin Dawn Beach. Just told her we were staying there already and she stopped asking.

ROFL....which is my reaction to this post. Most folks are smart enough not to get caught up in one of many typical Time Share sales scams. We live in Puerto Vallarta a few months a year and see these Time Share scams every day. This is not a St Maarten issue, but an issue in just about every resort area of the world. We also routinely get regular snail main at home with these type of scams ("You have won a prize") which simply get tossed into the trash with the other junk mail.

 

Hank

This. Don't respond to unsolicited offers. This is traveler 101 stuff.

ROFL....which is my reaction to this post. Most folks are smart enough not to get caught up in one of many typical Time Share sales scams. We live in Puerto Vallarta a few months a year and see these Time Share scams every day. This is not a St Maarten issue, but an issue in just about every resort area of the world. We also routinely get regular snail main at home with these type of scams ("You have won a prize") which simply get tossed into the trash with the other junk mail.

 

If you really enjoy participating in these "scams" and going to "presentations" just come to Puerto Vallarta and stop in any of the many "Tequila Stores" located along the Malecon. At one point some were offering up to $300 cash...for eligible couples that would take most of their day to attend their "presentation."

 

Hank

Yes they are prevalent throughout the Carib but are usually based at the airport or in. Stores or in the actual property. We just thought it was hilarious to see these guys at almost every turn in the "rural" ares...:p

Yes they are prevalent throughout the Carib but are usually based at the airport or in. Stores or in the actual property. We just thought it was hilarious to see these guys at almost every turn in the "rural" ares...:p

The Time share reps can sometimes come in handy. When we are living in Puerto Vallarta there is usually a Time share guy who hangs out at our supermarket. That guy knows where to find everything in the large market...and he speaks English. So he is my go-to guy when I need to find something :).

Hank

We are habitual cruisers but recently returned from a wee on St Maarten. It was a different perspective and enjoyed seeing it from the "other side".

 

We intentionally went into Philipsburg on a day when no ships were in port so we could see what things looked like when it was quiet.

 

We were approached by a man with those scratchy tickets and offered a chance to win a prize. He said that they usually cater to cruisers but as there were no ships in port we could give it a go. We knew that it was probably a scam but had lots of time so we tried it.

 

Well wouldn't you know it one of our tickets won the grand prize. The man was very excited as he would receive $200 commission. He and his partner were high fiving each other at his good fortune (I suspect that every couple always receives one winning ticket)

 

We went to the presentation that was required to "win" your prize. They are a Travel Club. The gist is you pay them $11000 to access cheaper vacations. The presentation all sounds good. When you tell them you are not interested they send in goon number two to offer you a lesser plan for less money.

 

When you decline again they scratch off you actual prize. The choices were an Android Tablet, 500 Visa card, 2 night cruise for two or a flight/hotel prize. Surprise we won the cruise, which is what I had said we would win.

 

After getting back to the hotel I looked up Travel Clubs. Seems that there have been a number of states who have sued them for there practices. They take large sums of money and then get you an offer that you could have accessed yourself on the internet. As for the "free" cruise, it appears that it will cost you hundreds or thousands to actually collect. The employees all seem to have been recently located to St Martin. I suspect that they have been run out of the US and have set up shop where there may be less scrutiny.

 

As I said we had lots of time, but if you are on a cruise spen dyour time wisely and tell them no thank you.

The same exact thing happened to us in 2010 - but we knew what we were in for and just went to get out of the sun and for the free beer they gave each of us!

Thanks for that info. We are stopping overnight in March and having stayed for a couple of weeks years ago on the island, we knew about the "time sharing" sellers. My husband has a shirt that he always brings along and I guess he will have to wear it when we go downtown. It says "What part of no don't you understand?" lol. He just points to it and we keep walking haha.

Thanks for that info. We are stopping overnight in March and having stayed for a couple of weeks years ago on the island, we knew about the "time sharing" sellers. My husband has a shirt that he always brings along and I guess he will have to wear it when we go downtown. It says "What part of no don't you understand?" lol. He just points to it and we keep walking haha.

That makes sense if you say "no, thank you" first...

Oh we certainly aren't rude...we do say no thanks but if they are persistent then the t-shirt sometimes helps without being rude and saying stuff we don't want to say, if you know what I mean. As long as they don't grab you and try to pull you in to a store, then I realize they have to make a living to. All part of the "charm" of the islands!

I had the same thing happen to me last week. Some people tried to flag us down in the community outside if Coralita, but we just waved and kept going. I pulled into the lot at Coralita beach to check a map and a young guy came up to us with the scratch tickets.

Not really thinking, and focused on the map, we took one each and scratched it. I didn't "win" and as my wife was scratching hers the guy said that three 7's was the best. Sure enough, she gets three 7's. At this point I started to get a little wary since he was excited for us, and his $200, but was a terrible actor.

He then called over a girl who he said spoke better English (but didn't). Anyway, she explained we had to go to the Westin to claim our prize, but she had to come with us to get past security.

At this point we said we have to go back to the port and they said "oh, you're on a cruise" and walked away. I thought they'd be more pushy but they just left

It's nothing new. Happened to us in February 2004 on St Maarten

It's nothing new. Happened to us in February 2004 on St Maarten

The Westin wasn't built until 2007 but you are talking about the barkers in town I take it.

We got hit up by some time share scratch off scheme in 2004. It was hard to get away from them since we were uninformed.

Never again!

Local paper, The Daily Herald.

gary

My rule # 1 in life

"When something is too good to be true, it usually is".

I have literally received hundreds of calls and letters telling me I've won something that I never knew I was eligible for. And every call, I have ignored. And every letter I've thrown away.

And if a person approached me at a cruise stop, I would keep walking as time is the most valuable thing you'll ever own

We were at a open air bar once in St Marteen when 3 people came and sat at the end of the bar discussing their plan of attack to get people involved in their sales pitch

My rule # 1 in life

 

"When something is too good to be true, it usually is".

 

I have literally received hundreds of calls and letters telling me I've won something that I never knew I was eligible for. And every call, I have ignored. And every letter I've thrown away.

And if a person approached me at a cruise stop, I would keep walking as time is the most valuable thing you'll ever own

Timeshares are absolutely fine for the right individuals and situations. It's the folks who shouldn't buy or don't understand what they're buying that complain

I wish I had read this prior to our trip this week. We had the EXACT same thing happen to us -- scratch off - excited that one of us won such a great gift ($500 visa) - the young woman was excited and also wanted us just to hear the talk so she could get her commission. We knew better and still I sent along. This was so shady I felt like I was a in movie. When we walk into the little office (that we later thought could have easily been set up and taken down the same day), there was a young blond woman with a see through blouse, a young guy and then enter the older gentleman who just so happened to be our age AND who just so happened to also be in an interracial relationship (surprise surprise). He left so we could hear the presentation from a guy that sounded a lot like a used car salesman. I immediately disliked his style AND his attitude (he seemed to denigrate the people of St. Maarten and other countries where they don't speak English!) -- At the end of the presentation , we were supposed to decide 'right then' to pay the $10,000 (plus a $199 yearly fee) to get a 'portal' into booking our own travel at the 'amazing discounted price". It was a no for us no matter what, but whenever you tell me I have to pay you $10,000 RIGHT NOW or the deal is off, I am going to walk away. The numbers they came up with for what things cost and what they could offer could not be checked out so I think they were mostly pulling numbers out of a hat to make it sound like they were saving tons of money. Ironically, as we were heading back to the ship at the end of the day, we ran into the guy we walked out on. He still tried to sell us saying if we had waited he would have offered the deal for $2,000. Every single person associated iwth this project looked like a central casting from The Big Short. RUN AWAY!!

I'll repost this link from a year and a half ago.

gary