Renovations - Dean Rosnak Painting and Renovations
Renovations can be interesting, and depending on the scale of the project either a minor nuisance or a major disruption. Rarely do renovations go smoothly and often there is at least one unanticipated problem (plus lots of anticipated problems). Our renovations had some problems both anticipated and unanticipated, but they are completed and did not turn into an unmitigated disaster.
The project involved redoing the upstairs bathroom; replacing the floor in the laundry room; replacing kitchen lighting, replacing some dry wall in the kitchen and installing a “Signature Ceiling” in the kitchen. Sounded easy, three projects rolled into one time frame.
The first step was to co-ordinate with Dean to get a quote and determine the timing. This should have been easier than it turned out to be between Dean’s work schedule and our retiree schedule it took a few e-mail’s and phone calls to come up with a time that would work for both. Finally we worked out the project, the quote and the time frame. (For future reference, try to put down on paper as specifically as possible exactly what it is you want done. The nebulous idea that we had, required add ons and modifications as we moved on with the project.)
The kitchen renovations, went well although they took longer than anticipated, one wall was replaced, new lights and outlets were installed, and a “Signature Ceiling” was installed. The signature ceiling is a Rosnak creation which mimics crown molding at a fraction of the cost. Lighting was also installed in a downstairs closet.
The renovations in the laundry room floor also went well (shorter time than anticipated). The flooring we installed was a vinyl, Allure Flooring and we continue to be impressed. It was easy to install and has a cushion feel to it.
The bathroom renovations were the most complicated. The bathroom has a sloped ceiling over the tub area and that prevented a shower as designed. We decided not to change the ceiling as it would have meant major structural changes. The choice was a wider tub so a shower could be angled from the high point of the ceiling before the slope. Some reconstruction was needed, framing for the new tub (Jacuzzi), new water resistant drywall, and tiling the wall and the side framing of the tub. We also installed new fixtures including a low flow toilet. Again everything went well (once again longer than anticipated), except for a minor glitch when as a result of working on the sink fixtures, the counter top was damaged.
So at this stage we are almost completed the renovations, my wife is completing the painting portion (she enjoys having a project keeping her busy in retirement), the minor counter repair, (weather is still holding up) the installation of the bathroom exhaust fan and we are having trouble finding the matching wood piece for the transition into the laundry room. All in all a job well done, a positive recommendation to use Dean Rosnak Painting and Renovations for your next project.
QM
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Squash not the Vegetable the Sport
First full disclosure, I have a bias, my wife is a Master’s squash player who has been affected by the inequities of the ranking system:
The question to be asked of Squash Ontario is two fold. First - is your ranking system discriminatory? Second - why do you have a bias against Master’s players.
A similar issue was raised with Squash Ontario a few years ago, –why did Master’s players lose ranking points when they played Junior players? The answer in essence was that the ranking system did not allow for a differentiation between Juniors, Adults (not Junior or Master’s Age) and Master’s age players. Basically all players were on the same ranking system. It would seem that in 2011 things have changed, at least somewhat.
Visit the Squash Ontario website and scroll across until the drop down ranking menu appears.
http://www.squashontario.com/index.asp#
Choose from the following pages : Junior or Junior Girls; Adult Men or Women; Doubles; Ranking Information. Selecting either Junior Boys or Girls gives further choices subdivided into General and age categories. Selecting either Adult Men or Women gives further choices subdivided into General; level (skill) and age categories.
You will see some overlapping, individuals being in an age category and a general category or in the case of the adult rankings the individual could be in an age, the general and a level category. Some Juniors are listed in both Junior and Adult rankings, there are also see some Adults ranked in the General/Level Rankings and the Masters’ rankings.
Tournament results that cause the problem. When a Junior (who has an adult ranking) plays in an adult tournament their results impact on only one set of rankings, their adult ranking. Winning they gain adult ranking points, losing they lose adult ranking points. Win or lose, their junior ranking points are unaffected.
When a Master (who has general and age ranking) plays in a non master’s tournament the results impact on both sets of rankings, adult and master’s. Winning they gain adult and master’s ranking points, losing they lose adult and master’s ranking points.
This is discrimination and if the Master’s player values their Master’s ranking (which is used for seeding purposes at Master’s tournaments) it can make them think twice about playing in non Master’s tournaments. Does a master’s player really want to risking losing points to a Junior who is somewhere between 17 and 35 years (or more!!) younger.
If it’s possible to have two ranking systems for Juniors, one which provides a ranking when they play in their age category and one when they play in the adult category , then it’s possible to have two ranking systems for Masters.
The question to be asked of Squash Ontario is two fold. First - is your ranking system discriminatory? Second - why do you have a bias against Master’s players.
A similar issue was raised with Squash Ontario a few years ago, –why did Master’s players lose ranking points when they played Junior players? The answer in essence was that the ranking system did not allow for a differentiation between Juniors, Adults (not Junior or Master’s Age) and Master’s age players. Basically all players were on the same ranking system. It would seem that in 2011 things have changed, at least somewhat.
Visit the Squash Ontario website and scroll across until the drop down ranking menu appears.
http://www.squashontario.com/index.asp#
Choose from the following pages : Junior or Junior Girls; Adult Men or Women; Doubles; Ranking Information. Selecting either Junior Boys or Girls gives further choices subdivided into General and age categories. Selecting either Adult Men or Women gives further choices subdivided into General; level (skill) and age categories.
You will see some overlapping, individuals being in an age category and a general category or in the case of the adult rankings the individual could be in an age, the general and a level category. Some Juniors are listed in both Junior and Adult rankings, there are also see some Adults ranked in the General/Level Rankings and the Masters’ rankings.
Tournament results that cause the problem. When a Junior (who has an adult ranking) plays in an adult tournament their results impact on only one set of rankings, their adult ranking. Winning they gain adult ranking points, losing they lose adult ranking points. Win or lose, their junior ranking points are unaffected.
When a Master (who has general and age ranking) plays in a non master’s tournament the results impact on both sets of rankings, adult and master’s. Winning they gain adult and master’s ranking points, losing they lose adult and master’s ranking points.
This is discrimination and if the Master’s player values their Master’s ranking (which is used for seeding purposes at Master’s tournaments) it can make them think twice about playing in non Master’s tournaments. Does a master’s player really want to risking losing points to a Junior who is somewhere between 17 and 35 years (or more!!) younger.
If it’s possible to have two ranking systems for Juniors, one which provides a ranking when they play in their age category and one when they play in the adult category , then it’s possible to have two ranking systems for Masters.
Away and Renovations
Have been away and “computerfree” for couple of weeks, and had the house in renovation and junk tossing mode, result no blog for awhile. Will comment on the experience soon, but first a concern that has been on the back burner for awhile, on Squash (the sport).
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Not About Travel
Montana’s
Now for something completely different.
Is it too much to expect that restaurants actually deliver what they order or that their employees understand what you are talking about when you complain..... Take our lunch today at the Montana’s in the AMC Plaza in Whitby, Ontario.
Things started off well, we gave our order, noting that the one meal was a “15".$15.00, including entree, soft drink and tax (my bold and italics). The service and the meal were both good, the problem happened with the bill....and the application of the tax, The server brought our bill and when checking it over (how many people check over their bill...you should?) noticed that the HST had been applied to the entire bill including the $15.00 meal which already included the tax.
When our server returned we asked her about this and the gist of her reply was that she just worked there and was following the rules. She was not even aware of their menu and its wording, nor did she seem to understand what it meant when it was pointed out to her.
At this point cue for the manager who although he never came to talk and let us explain our concern did bring us a revised bill. It was obvious that he didn’t really understand the issue as the revised bill took into account the entree inclusion in the deal but not the soft drink. In the end we did get some of the tax included in the $15.00, through a reduction of the entree price (keyed into the cash differently) However, after investing 10 or 15 minutes already in trying to figure out our bill it didn’t seem to be worth it for the remaining few cents of tax.
I wonder the following: how many $15.00 meal deals does Montana’s sell every day; how much extra tax is collected; is this issue limited to Montana’s; will there be a response to my request for a response on Montana’s online survey site?
Now for something completely different.
Is it too much to expect that restaurants actually deliver what they order or that their employees understand what you are talking about when you complain..... Take our lunch today at the Montana’s in the AMC Plaza in Whitby, Ontario.
Things started off well, we gave our order, noting that the one meal was a “15".$15.00, including entree, soft drink and tax (my bold and italics). The service and the meal were both good, the problem happened with the bill....and the application of the tax, The server brought our bill and when checking it over (how many people check over their bill...you should?) noticed that the HST had been applied to the entire bill including the $15.00 meal which already included the tax.
When our server returned we asked her about this and the gist of her reply was that she just worked there and was following the rules. She was not even aware of their menu and its wording, nor did she seem to understand what it meant when it was pointed out to her.
At this point cue for the manager who although he never came to talk and let us explain our concern did bring us a revised bill. It was obvious that he didn’t really understand the issue as the revised bill took into account the entree inclusion in the deal but not the soft drink. In the end we did get some of the tax included in the $15.00, through a reduction of the entree price (keyed into the cash differently) However, after investing 10 or 15 minutes already in trying to figure out our bill it didn’t seem to be worth it for the remaining few cents of tax.
I wonder the following: how many $15.00 meal deals does Montana’s sell every day; how much extra tax is collected; is this issue limited to Montana’s; will there be a response to my request for a response on Montana’s online survey site?
Monday, February 7, 2011
Resort One Travel
Resort One Travel
To Clarify - This is a about Resort One, not Fun For Life Club International, these are two different and unrelated companies.
Further research on Resort One Travel:
The phone number is 702-873-5425, a Las Vegas, Nevada number. A reverse look up of this number using the website
http://www.whitepages.com/
generated the following
a company called Tls
(702) 873-5425
and an individual Tony Leo
(702) 873-5425
A Whois search using Karen Kenworthy’s program Karen’s WhoIs for the domain name http://www.resortonetravel.com/
identifies the Registrant as Tony Leo
A Whois search using Karen Kenworthy’s program Karen’s WhoIs for the domain name
http://www.travellogicservices.com/directory.php
also identifies the Registrant as Tony Leo
This shows that Tony Leo is a successful entrepreneur.
To Clarify - This is a about Resort One, not Fun For Life Club International, these are two different and unrelated companies.
Further research on Resort One Travel:
The phone number is 702-873-5425, a Las Vegas, Nevada number. A reverse look up of this number using the website
http://www.whitepages.com/
generated the following
a company called Tls
(702) 873-5425
and an individual Tony Leo
(702) 873-5425
A Whois search using Karen Kenworthy’s program Karen’s WhoIs for the domain name http://www.resortonetravel.com/
identifies the Registrant as Tony Leo
A Whois search using Karen Kenworthy’s program Karen’s WhoIs for the domain name
http://www.travellogicservices.com/directory.php
also identifies the Registrant as Tony Leo
This shows that Tony Leo is a successful entrepreneur.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Not Fun for Life but Resort One Travel
Why FFL Today?
The answer is simple, the offer on WagJag today. --94% Off a Travel Club Membership-
The company not Fun For Life Club International but Resort One Travel, specifically,$300 ($200 Initiation Fee & $99 Yearly Fee) for a Lifetime Resort One Travel Membership (A $4,995 Value). The website for Resort One Travel is
http://www.resortonetravel.com/
The phone number is 702-873-5425, a Las Vegas, Nevada number.
A Google search for this number, returns several interesting possibilities:
http://www.travellogicservices.com/directory.php
http://www.showmelocal.com/profile.aspx?bid=1531254
http://www.womenfightingback.com/
http://www.lvol.com/lvlc/media/media-web.html
and others, a versatile phone number.
The Resort One Travel website does not provide an address, however the Travel Logic Service website is identified as Resort One Vacations in the Google Search, although Resort One does not seem to be mentioned on any of the Travel Logic Website pages. They do share the telephone number however.
The fact that Resort One is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce might be nice, however it should provide little comfort to the consumer as to quote from the Commerce’s FAQ
“Is [COMPANY NAME] a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce?
Membership in the U.S. Chamber is open to any company, and does not imply our endorsement of the organization. We will not confirm the membership status of organizations. To find out if a specific company is a member, you will have to contact the company directly.
If the purpose of your request is to determine the validity of a company, we suggest that you contact the Better Business Bureau or your state and local consumer protection agencies, many of which can be found here. The Federal Trade Commission also has a useful website for consumers.”
A search of the Better Business Bureau is somewhat useful but at the same time puzzling,
Search Results
Sort Results By
Search limited to reports from this BBB and business Headquarters reports.
Click Here to expand your search to all BBB reports.
- Ask the BBB to Develop a Report for this Business/Charity
Business Name / Address Type of Business BBB Accreditation
Resort One Vacation Rentals No
2758 Broadway Center Blvd
Brandon, FL 33510-2583
View Report | File Complaint
Resort One International Travel Clubs Yes
1558 Coshocton Ave, Ste 301The Gateway Center
Mount Vernon, OH 43050
View Report | File Complaint
Resort One/The Heartland Resorts No
PO Box 28RTS 08.01.07 UTF
Howard, OH 43028-0028
View Report | File Complaint
The puzzling part is the original phone number is a Nevada phone number, however two of these three businesses are in Ohio and one is in Florida. The one in Mount Vernon, Ohio is accredited and does have an A+ rating.
Clicking on The VIP Members link on the Resort One Website takes you to the following website,
http://www.resortoneweeks.com/
When you click on the Mount Vernon, Ohio Resort One Website link on the BBB website it takes you to this website,
http://www.resortoneclub.com/
You are invited to enter the site and when you follow the link, you and up at
http://www.resortoneweeks.com/
The two non accredited Resort Ones do not have a website link on the BBB website.
The question that needs to be answered is what is the connection between the Nevada, Florida, and Ohio Resort One’s?
The other question I would pose is the Resort One advertised on WagJag a local company (ie, Ontario or even Canada) and if it is why is there no local contact information available?
The answer is simple, the offer on WagJag today. --94% Off a Travel Club Membership-
The company not Fun For Life Club International but Resort One Travel, specifically,$300 ($200 Initiation Fee & $99 Yearly Fee) for a Lifetime Resort One Travel Membership (A $4,995 Value). The website for Resort One Travel is
http://www.resortonetravel.com/
The phone number is 702-873-5425, a Las Vegas, Nevada number.
A Google search for this number, returns several interesting possibilities:
http://www.travellogicservices.com/directory.php
http://www.showmelocal.com/profile.aspx?bid=1531254
http://www.womenfightingback.com/
http://www.lvol.com/lvlc/media/media-web.html
and others, a versatile phone number.
The Resort One Travel website does not provide an address, however the Travel Logic Service website is identified as Resort One Vacations in the Google Search, although Resort One does not seem to be mentioned on any of the Travel Logic Website pages. They do share the telephone number however.
The fact that Resort One is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce might be nice, however it should provide little comfort to the consumer as to quote from the Commerce’s FAQ
“Is [COMPANY NAME] a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce?
Membership in the U.S. Chamber is open to any company, and does not imply our endorsement of the organization. We will not confirm the membership status of organizations. To find out if a specific company is a member, you will have to contact the company directly.
If the purpose of your request is to determine the validity of a company, we suggest that you contact the Better Business Bureau or your state and local consumer protection agencies, many of which can be found here. The Federal Trade Commission also has a useful website for consumers.”
A search of the Better Business Bureau is somewhat useful but at the same time puzzling,
Search Results
Sort Results By
Search limited to reports from this BBB and business Headquarters reports.
Click Here to expand your search to all BBB reports.
- Ask the BBB to Develop a Report for this Business/Charity
Business Name / Address Type of Business BBB Accreditation
Resort One Vacation Rentals No
2758 Broadway Center Blvd
Brandon, FL 33510-2583
View Report | File Complaint
Resort One International Travel Clubs Yes
1558 Coshocton Ave, Ste 301The Gateway Center
Mount Vernon, OH 43050
View Report | File Complaint
Resort One/The Heartland Resorts No
PO Box 28RTS 08.01.07 UTF
Howard, OH 43028-0028
View Report | File Complaint
The puzzling part is the original phone number is a Nevada phone number, however two of these three businesses are in Ohio and one is in Florida. The one in Mount Vernon, Ohio is accredited and does have an A+ rating.
Clicking on The VIP Members link on the Resort One Website takes you to the following website,
http://www.resortoneweeks.com/
When you click on the Mount Vernon, Ohio Resort One Website link on the BBB website it takes you to this website,
http://www.resortoneclub.com/
You are invited to enter the site and when you follow the link, you and up at
http://www.resortoneweeks.com/
The two non accredited Resort Ones do not have a website link on the BBB website.
The question that needs to be answered is what is the connection between the Nevada, Florida, and Ohio Resort One’s?
The other question I would pose is the Resort One advertised on WagJag a local company (ie, Ontario or even Canada) and if it is why is there no local contact information available?
Fun For Life - Revisited
Fun For Life Club 2010?
As a senior, living in Canada, there has been the time to do some research on a company called Fun For Life Club. Approximately five years ago, my wife and I at some cost joined this travel company which was at the time based in the Toronto area. This company has since disappeared from the Toronto area, but does have a presence in the Las Vegas area
Fun For Life Club International LLC
P.O. Box 27740
Las Vegas, NV 89126
They also maintain a web presence
https://www.funforlifeclub.com/Default.aspx
In December, 2010 we received a call from a Carl Williams calling us from Las Vegas (he was kind enough to go in to his office at 5:30 am to call us in Toronto at 9:30 am). He indicated that his company Global Direct Savings had taken/over obtained our name and information from/for Fun For Life and wanted to make things right for us. There were the usual incentives and "free" offers which would allow us to reinstate our web access for the original fee ($99.00).
Before committing any new money to try and salvage something out of old money I started trying to track down as much information about this new (at least to me) entity,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The phone number that Carl provided was 888-808-4892, the number our call display provided was 702-499-5939 (a Las Vegas cell number). The local company number is 702-990-3909.
The website for Global is
http://www.globaldirectsavings.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To thank us for talking with him and considering his offer, he sent us an e-mail link for a certificate for a 4 night hotel stay,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Thank you for your time. This is just a reminder to update your personal profile with funforlifeclub.com to receive our services. Please do not hesitate to contact our office if you have any additional questions or concerns.
FFLC Admin" -------an interesting Fun for Life Reference--------
Global Direct Savings
www.globaldirectsavings.ca
Expiration Date: 01/14/11 We already given up on this certificate. It had interesting fine print.
the certificate is available at this link
https://www.funrewardsforyou.com/?ecode=2c63b9e77ed8f056a0c9337da9e579f9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My research into the company funrewardsforyou led me to a company called Creative Marketing Incentive Group Inc
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
website
http://www.creativemarketingincentives.biz/
and also the company CMItravel
website
http://www.cmitravel.com/ ---- almost the same website--------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A google search for CMI travel took me to this website
http://www.hotfrog.com/Companies/CMI-Travel-Certificates
and provided the following information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CMI Travel Certificates
Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109
p: 702-421-3509 f: 866-902-8952
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and the website
www.cmitravelcerts.com which seemingly does not exist.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information on CMI etc came from the following story posted at
http://www.prlog.org/11138875-complimentary-vacation-and-restaurant-marketing-incentives.html
Complimentary Vacation and Restaurant Marketing Incentives
Our complimentary vacation & restaurant marketing incentives will Boost your Biz by offering you clients quality family vacations and restaurant certificates saving 90% off retail pricing with NO Timeshare and Sales Presentations to 4-5 Star Resorts.
CMIG Logo UPDATED and RESIZED - 09-08-10
CMIG Logo UPDATED and RESIZED - 09-08-10
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Dec 09, 2010 – First & foremost we're a marketing company, and we help businesses make more money from their existing advertising and from their REPEAT and REFERRAL BUSINESS. We do this through the use of our All-Inclusive Vacation, 3-5 Star Hotel & Resort, Luxury Cruise and Restaurant Gift Certificates. We created an incentive program where we give your business access to all of our certificates for just $99 per month. So whether you need 100 or even 100, 000 certificates, you will never pay more than $99 per month.
We offer:
1-7 Night 3-5 Star Hotel & Resort Stays, Airfare Plus Hotel Packages, All-Inclusive Vacation & Cruise Getaways, $25 & $300 Restaurant Gift Certificates and much more! Our vacations retail anywhere from $200 all the way up to $2000 retail value.
Most of the time when businesses are thinking about using these type of promotional incentives they usually think of one use and only give them away to PAYING customers to reward the purchase...
With our program, since you get an Unlimited Supply of certificates for just a low monthly fee we teach all of our businesses at least 4 different ways to use our incentives.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Lead Generation- Imagine if you can add just one extra tag line to all your existing ads...something like "call for a free quote and receive a 2 Night Hotel Stay." (Smaller Value Incentive, stay away from offering something that might seem to good to be true)
Gift For A Purchase- After you generate the lead use one of our more expensive offers to entice buyers to buy today VS next week with Airfare Plus 2 Nights in a hotel in Puerto Vallarta or Cancun Mexico.
Reward Referrals- Give people reasons to send you referrals by offering them a 4 Night Hotel Stay in Honolulu, HI.
Customer Loyalty- Reward long time and loyal customers on their birthday with an exciting 7 Night Resort In One of 3500 Available Resorts Worldwide.
With all of our certificates combined we have over 700 of the most popular vacation destinations that you can cater your marketing and promotions to.
Now it's really important that you understand how we're able to do this...Because these are all quality vacations and there are never any TIMESHARE presentations, hidden fees or strings attached.
CMI has contracted directly with the largest Hotel Chains, Cruise Lines, Resorts & Airlines to fill otherwise unoccupied space. We help fill their excess inventory through our promotional incentives. Hotels, resorts and cruise lines rarely experience full occupancy, yet they are still open, they still have their fixed costs. So although they have missed out on the room fee, they now have a paying customer in their bars, restaurants, room service, etc. And for the same reason why you as a business are going to be using these incentives, for your REPEAT & REFERRAL BUSINESS; That is why these properties have agreed to this in the first place, they know if they show your customers a good time while they're there, they're going to go home and tell their friends and family about the great time they had and maybe even come back as a paying customer in the future. They also make their money when your customers rebook with them down to road.
Now like I said we are a marketing company, and true to our form, we protect the integrity of your promotions. Every other incentive company out there brands THEIR Company's logo and all THEIR contact information all over the certificates that you hand out to your customers. This does two things that we don't agree with. First off, they are using you to promote THEIR services through YOUR own promotions. Plus, now your customers can pretty easily find out exactly where you are getting these great vacation offers from and worst of all they will know exactly how much you are paying to run your promotions which could devalue your promotion all together and obviously that is not the point of your promotions.
Over here at CMI we actually keep those two processes completely separated. See, there are two sides to our business. You will know us as CMI, but your customers know us as our redemption company www.FunRewardsForYour.com We do not advertise anything about CMI anywhere on FunRewardsForYour.com nor on the actual certificates you hand out to your customers. As a matter of fact you have the ability to brand the "Compliments of" area on the certificates with YOUR logo and YOUR contact information.
Not only do you print the certificates as you need them right from your computer, but we also provide you with artwork along with customer appreciation and referral letters that you can customize with your letterhead to print on the back of the certificates. We provide a Customer Contact Manager to track your customers you have given certificates too. You can even eliminate your ink and paper costs and email the certificates right from our control panel. If you have a website, you can place one of our E-Certificate Web banners on your website so when your customer clicks on it, they can enter their email and our system will automatically email your customer a certificate on your behalf 100% AUTOMATION FOR WEBSITE BUSINESSES.
We make it very easy for your customers to redeem the certificates, 95% of all our redemption's on conducted right over our secure server on our master redemption website www.FunRewardsForYou.com Your customers can also redeem their certificate by fax, email or even the old fashion way, by regular mail.
Now because we are completely automated, you can start using these promotions in your business today. Go to http://www.cmitravel.com to sign up now or call us directly at the phone number listed below.
P.S. We are currently offering all new customers a "Risk-Free 30 Day Trial". We understand that most businesses want to make sure the incentive program they want to utilize is going to work properly and not cause unnecessary customer service issues. We are so confident in our product we are willing to put our money where our mouth is. Sign up today and redeem your own certificate. If you are not completely satisfied with the redemption process or the fulfillment of any of our certificates, we will refund your money. Call me at your earliest convenience and I can have your account up and running within 5 minutes.
Vincenzo Santangelo
National Director of Marketing and Business Development
619-663-0045
Info@CMITravel.com
http://www.cmitravel.com
Affiliations:
Association of Retail Travel Agents*
Cruise Lines International Association
Travel Retailers Universal Enumeration
Outside Sales Support Network
Dunn & Bradstreet
SD Regional Chamber of Commerce
Web Trust Security
* Registered Seller Of Travel CST # 2091925-40
* TRUE IATAN # 52-4 5888 4
# # #
Vacation and Restaurant Marketing Incentives Guaranteed to Boost your Biz!
Worldwide Vacations to over 3500 Destinations. Pay the Daily Room Taxes and/or Port Taxes, NO Timeshare or Sales Presentations.
Month to Month Contracts, 30 Day Risk Free Trail
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As you will note three roads, FFLC; Global Direct Savings; and CMI Travel Certificates seem to lead to Las Vegas. The only piece that doesn't is Vincenzo Santangelo, he seems to be based in El Cajon, California. A lot of coincidences, hopefully the phrase Buy Beware rings true.
Since the first call we have received others wanting to further review our status with Fun For Life ( no mention of Global Direct). I decided to do some more follow up and called the cell phone number but it wasn't Carl who answered, nor was it a business. I did not speak to the individual so I'm not sure who it was. I then called the local number for Global Direct (the non 888 number) and got a message to leave a message or if it was an emergency call 308-380-9477. A reverse lookup indicates this number is in Grand Island Nebraska. I was unable to find a connection to any of the companies I have been able to identify.
As a senior, living in Canada, there has been the time to do some research on a company called Fun For Life Club. Approximately five years ago, my wife and I at some cost joined this travel company which was at the time based in the Toronto area. This company has since disappeared from the Toronto area, but does have a presence in the Las Vegas area
Fun For Life Club International LLC
P.O. Box 27740
Las Vegas, NV 89126
They also maintain a web presence
https://www.funforlifeclub.com/Default.aspx
In December, 2010 we received a call from a Carl Williams calling us from Las Vegas (he was kind enough to go in to his office at 5:30 am to call us in Toronto at 9:30 am). He indicated that his company Global Direct Savings had taken/over obtained our name and information from/for Fun For Life and wanted to make things right for us. There were the usual incentives and "free" offers which would allow us to reinstate our web access for the original fee ($99.00).
Before committing any new money to try and salvage something out of old money I started trying to track down as much information about this new (at least to me) entity,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The phone number that Carl provided was 888-808-4892, the number our call display provided was 702-499-5939 (a Las Vegas cell number). The local company number is 702-990-3909.
The website for Global is
http://www.globaldirectsavings.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To thank us for talking with him and considering his offer, he sent us an e-mail link for a certificate for a 4 night hotel stay,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Thank you for your time. This is just a reminder to update your personal profile with funforlifeclub.com to receive our services. Please do not hesitate to contact our office if you have any additional questions or concerns.
FFLC Admin" -------an interesting Fun for Life Reference--------
Global Direct Savings
www.globaldirectsavings.ca
Expiration Date: 01/14/11 We already given up on this certificate. It had interesting fine print.
the certificate is available at this link
https://www.funrewardsforyou.com/?ecode=2c63b9e77ed8f056a0c9337da9e579f9
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My research into the company funrewardsforyou led me to a company called Creative Marketing Incentive Group Inc
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website
http://www.creativemarketingincentives.biz/
and also the company CMItravel
website
http://www.cmitravel.com/ ---- almost the same website--------
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A google search for CMI travel took me to this website
http://www.hotfrog.com/Companies/CMI-Travel-Certificates
and provided the following information
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CMI Travel Certificates
Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109
p: 702-421-3509 f: 866-902-8952
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and the website
www.cmitravelcerts.com which seemingly does not exist.
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The information on CMI etc came from the following story posted at
http://www.prlog.org/11138875-complimentary-vacation-and-restaurant-marketing-incentives.html
Complimentary Vacation and Restaurant Marketing Incentives
Our complimentary vacation & restaurant marketing incentives will Boost your Biz by offering you clients quality family vacations and restaurant certificates saving 90% off retail pricing with NO Timeshare and Sales Presentations to 4-5 Star Resorts.
CMIG Logo UPDATED and RESIZED - 09-08-10
CMIG Logo UPDATED and RESIZED - 09-08-10
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Dec 09, 2010 – First & foremost we're a marketing company, and we help businesses make more money from their existing advertising and from their REPEAT and REFERRAL BUSINESS. We do this through the use of our All-Inclusive Vacation, 3-5 Star Hotel & Resort, Luxury Cruise and Restaurant Gift Certificates. We created an incentive program where we give your business access to all of our certificates for just $99 per month. So whether you need 100 or even 100, 000 certificates, you will never pay more than $99 per month.
We offer:
1-7 Night 3-5 Star Hotel & Resort Stays, Airfare Plus Hotel Packages, All-Inclusive Vacation & Cruise Getaways, $25 & $300 Restaurant Gift Certificates and much more! Our vacations retail anywhere from $200 all the way up to $2000 retail value.
Most of the time when businesses are thinking about using these type of promotional incentives they usually think of one use and only give them away to PAYING customers to reward the purchase...
With our program, since you get an Unlimited Supply of certificates for just a low monthly fee we teach all of our businesses at least 4 different ways to use our incentives.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Lead Generation- Imagine if you can add just one extra tag line to all your existing ads...something like "call for a free quote and receive a 2 Night Hotel Stay." (Smaller Value Incentive, stay away from offering something that might seem to good to be true)
Gift For A Purchase- After you generate the lead use one of our more expensive offers to entice buyers to buy today VS next week with Airfare Plus 2 Nights in a hotel in Puerto Vallarta or Cancun Mexico.
Reward Referrals- Give people reasons to send you referrals by offering them a 4 Night Hotel Stay in Honolulu, HI.
Customer Loyalty- Reward long time and loyal customers on their birthday with an exciting 7 Night Resort In One of 3500 Available Resorts Worldwide.
With all of our certificates combined we have over 700 of the most popular vacation destinations that you can cater your marketing and promotions to.
Now it's really important that you understand how we're able to do this...Because these are all quality vacations and there are never any TIMESHARE presentations, hidden fees or strings attached.
CMI has contracted directly with the largest Hotel Chains, Cruise Lines, Resorts & Airlines to fill otherwise unoccupied space. We help fill their excess inventory through our promotional incentives. Hotels, resorts and cruise lines rarely experience full occupancy, yet they are still open, they still have their fixed costs. So although they have missed out on the room fee, they now have a paying customer in their bars, restaurants, room service, etc. And for the same reason why you as a business are going to be using these incentives, for your REPEAT & REFERRAL BUSINESS; That is why these properties have agreed to this in the first place, they know if they show your customers a good time while they're there, they're going to go home and tell their friends and family about the great time they had and maybe even come back as a paying customer in the future. They also make their money when your customers rebook with them down to road.
Now like I said we are a marketing company, and true to our form, we protect the integrity of your promotions. Every other incentive company out there brands THEIR Company's logo and all THEIR contact information all over the certificates that you hand out to your customers. This does two things that we don't agree with. First off, they are using you to promote THEIR services through YOUR own promotions. Plus, now your customers can pretty easily find out exactly where you are getting these great vacation offers from and worst of all they will know exactly how much you are paying to run your promotions which could devalue your promotion all together and obviously that is not the point of your promotions.
Over here at CMI we actually keep those two processes completely separated. See, there are two sides to our business. You will know us as CMI, but your customers know us as our redemption company www.FunRewardsForYour.com We do not advertise anything about CMI anywhere on FunRewardsForYour.com nor on the actual certificates you hand out to your customers. As a matter of fact you have the ability to brand the "Compliments of" area on the certificates with YOUR logo and YOUR contact information.
Not only do you print the certificates as you need them right from your computer, but we also provide you with artwork along with customer appreciation and referral letters that you can customize with your letterhead to print on the back of the certificates. We provide a Customer Contact Manager to track your customers you have given certificates too. You can even eliminate your ink and paper costs and email the certificates right from our control panel. If you have a website, you can place one of our E-Certificate Web banners on your website so when your customer clicks on it, they can enter their email and our system will automatically email your customer a certificate on your behalf 100% AUTOMATION FOR WEBSITE BUSINESSES.
We make it very easy for your customers to redeem the certificates, 95% of all our redemption's on conducted right over our secure server on our master redemption website www.FunRewardsForYou.com Your customers can also redeem their certificate by fax, email or even the old fashion way, by regular mail.
Now because we are completely automated, you can start using these promotions in your business today. Go to http://www.cmitravel.com to sign up now or call us directly at the phone number listed below.
P.S. We are currently offering all new customers a "Risk-Free 30 Day Trial". We understand that most businesses want to make sure the incentive program they want to utilize is going to work properly and not cause unnecessary customer service issues. We are so confident in our product we are willing to put our money where our mouth is. Sign up today and redeem your own certificate. If you are not completely satisfied with the redemption process or the fulfillment of any of our certificates, we will refund your money. Call me at your earliest convenience and I can have your account up and running within 5 minutes.
Vincenzo Santangelo
National Director of Marketing and Business Development
619-663-0045
Info@CMITravel.com
http://www.cmitravel.com
Affiliations:
Association of Retail Travel Agents*
Cruise Lines International Association
Travel Retailers Universal Enumeration
Outside Sales Support Network
Dunn & Bradstreet
SD Regional Chamber of Commerce
Web Trust Security
* Registered Seller Of Travel CST # 2091925-40
* TRUE IATAN # 52-4 5888 4
# # #
Vacation and Restaurant Marketing Incentives Guaranteed to Boost your Biz!
Worldwide Vacations to over 3500 Destinations. Pay the Daily Room Taxes and/or Port Taxes, NO Timeshare or Sales Presentations.
Month to Month Contracts, 30 Day Risk Free Trail
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As you will note three roads, FFLC; Global Direct Savings; and CMI Travel Certificates seem to lead to Las Vegas. The only piece that doesn't is Vincenzo Santangelo, he seems to be based in El Cajon, California. A lot of coincidences, hopefully the phrase Buy Beware rings true.
Since the first call we have received others wanting to further review our status with Fun For Life ( no mention of Global Direct). I decided to do some more follow up and called the cell phone number but it wasn't Carl who answered, nor was it a business. I did not speak to the individual so I'm not sure who it was. I then called the local number for Global Direct (the non 888 number) and got a message to leave a message or if it was an emergency call 308-380-9477. A reverse lookup indicates this number is in Grand Island Nebraska. I was unable to find a connection to any of the companies I have been able to identify.
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