One Tagaytay Place Free Accommodation - A Scam or Not?

The following post is an old post from HeBlogs-SheBlogs.com...


We Won 3-Days and 2-Nights’ Accommodation!
(and a free cocktail buffet)

You see, I’m one very unlucky girl when it comes to raffles and prizes. I only won once in my life, ever. It was at a company Christmas party, where my name was drawn for the Php1,000.00 consolation prize. And it, being the first time in my life ever, I jumped and shouted and looked rather stupid.  There was another time, when I was “picked” among the many shoppers at a mall (maybe because I looked gullible enough), to be given a chance for a random raffle draw where I can draw my own prize from a bowlful of appliance showcase prizes. That is if I buy something from them. To cut the story short (because it is rather embarrassing), it was a scam and I ended up paying a 50% down payment for a Php30,000 massager to win the whole entertainment showcase of 50-inch TV with DVD player and surround speaker system, air purifier and something else that I can’t recall right now. But I can only take them home after paying the whole amount.  But since I only had a little cash and small credit limit in my card, I ended up paying Php15,000 and taking home the massager, which they didn’t want to give to me at first unless fully-paid…which I later learned from the internet that it only costs around Php7,000 – Php10,000.  I went home with an overpriced massager, feeling totally numb and stupid. I felt like I was hypnotized and felt like an idiot when I came to my senses.

After that “winnings”, I became very wary of these neck-tied dudes approaching people at the malls. I became allergic to them.  Then last Saturday, I received a call from a telemarketer telling me that we just won a 3-Days and 2-Nights’ Accommodation for two from One Tagaytay Place. He knew all the information we had provided to RSM restaurant in Tagaytay a week ago when we had lunch there. He sounded legit and even told us not to bring cash or credit card when we come to pick up our Gift Certificate. All they were asking was 90-minute of our time to listen to their presentation about their hotel. He told me that it was their way of promoting their hotels, instead of the more expensive TV commercials. We said okay and confirmed our attendance for the next day, despite knowing there’d be a catch to this. We just considered it a nice drive to Tagaytay and a free cocktail buffet.  I’m more confident now to my “Saying NO” powers. :)

So, we drove up there the next day, but we confirmed first with the restaurant if these guys are really connected or affiliated with them in one way or another. Just to make sure, you know. ;) After confirming that they are really legit, we went to their hotel and were served a not-bad, tasty enough, free cocktail. Here’s a picture:

    The Free Cocktail Buffet

Then we went to another room for the 90-minute presentation, with a conviction that we are not going to buy anything. A guy named Philip was thorough in his explanation and presentation. He was honest and told us that at the end of the presentation, he’d be offering us something but won’t force us into it if we didn’t like it. He also promised that we’d still get the gift certificate for the 3-days and 2-nights hotel accommodation even if we don’t buy anything. As expected, there was a vacation membership offered to us and a discount card with freebies for a certain price.  But true enough to his words, he didn’t push us into buying and still gave us our gift certificate or hotel voucher. In fairness, the membership was a good idea but just not for us people with other more important priorities to pay for.  Here's the voucher:

    The Hotel Voucher

We got our free cocktail buffet and our gift certificate without buying anything, alright. However, we still need to pay a refundable booking fee of Php5,000 to claim our prize and reserve the dates for our chosen hotel, which we will get back after the vacation ended. We think it’s fair enough, just to protect them from people who reserves but then cancels. It is hotel business, you know.

Anyhow, it’s for us to find out if this “prize” is really worth the “price”. Voucher is valid for 6 months and we have yet to plan for it, but we think we’re going to take it.  We’ll let you know what comes off it afterwards. :)

    The Hotel

POST UPDATE:  We were not able to avail of the free accommodation because the numbers on the vouchers were not working. One was not yet in service and the other was always "all lines are busy now".  We didn't bother to come back to their office and ask.  We couldn't afford to waste time on a shady offer.  If you had similar experience or if you were actually able to avail of this promo, would love to hear from you!