Free flights looking like a SCAM

[tsapy]

Well you have to think of it in terms of:

1. Do I really want to go to the US?
2. How much will it cost me if I were to book a flight on my own?

I personally think Intercasino are 100% responsible as they have let it's customers down big time. They are the ones who promoted this and have not come good.

TLC Marketing are scum, but when we signed up, we did so with Intercasino.

I would shoot the messenger(s), Jonny Vincent & Pokernews, for informing me of this offer, they need to do better in future.

[Spikey]

I just got a letter today saying that my requested dates were over a public holiday (Labour Day) and they have asked me for 3 alternate dates.
I actually didn't think that they would still pursue this tactic, I thought that they were just mucking people around initially and after Ryan Hartley came in I thought that the public holiday rule just meant can't fly out or in on one, but obviously I was wrong.
They seem so nice, sent me another Flight Booking Request form to fill out and they are then going to look at other flight options for me.

I really don't think I will bother. After all the other posts about dealings with TLC Marketing here, I will just let them win.
Really, $1400 for a ticket and you don't get the dates or cities you would really like, I don't think it's worth my time pursuing it further.

[Brycen69]

Are you referring to the USA labour day which is in september, or the australian labour day which is either in march or october depending which state you live in?

[Spikey]

I asked for the last bit of September and Most of October, so it seems they are referring to the Australian Labour day. It isn't a public holiday in Victoria though, so presumably they could have let me fly out of Melbourne; it seems they mean every public holiday in every state even if you are not flying from there.

Like I said, if they do offer you a flight it's going to cost $1400 or more from the posts above, so I'm not going to bother with them, you can just go and pay full fare for $100 more and then go where you like, not that I would pay to go to US anyway.

My email address started getting spammed to much so I changed it; and in their letter they said they tried to email me but they couldn't get through. I actually think they spammed me, and when I deleted the email address they decided they would use that to their advantage.

Has anyone actually been emailed by them proactively to be told they are flying on a public holiday and they should change their dates? From the posts above they generally don't return any emails or phone calls.

They sent me a letter designed to arrive on 31 July 2008 which would then make it past their deadline to submit the application.
Also they said the phone number on the application was hard to read. Interesting how they decided the email address was perfectly legible and didn't work. I actually think they tested my phone number too, I got a call from a telemarketer selling cheap phone calls, and when they found out they had the right number decided that my phone number was hard to read.

Anyway, like I said, I'm not going to bother. I've just decided they aren't really going to give me my free flight, and really were never going to give me one.

[Brycen69]

I've had a comparably proactive response from the email address australia.info@tlcmarketing.com where the person responds from the email address nigel.waters@tlcmarketing.com

This guy seems to take his job seriously and actually has answered the questions i've asked. though he says he's not working on the project himself and always emails me back to say he'll consult with someone and then gets back to me later.

I haven't tried to get him to help me with booking yet as by their own time line they're not late in getting back to me yet. he might be worth a shot if you do actually want to take your flight

And if you can get a flight to the states for only $1500 i'd love to know who your travel agent is, i've been doing some research and it's usually been $2000 or more for flights to NY so although we're getting robbed on the "taxes" it still is cheaper

[Spikey]

Before taking legal action I would run it past Ryan Hartley. Probably a good idea to post your complaint on the casinomeister thread that is linked above too, and see if you can get a reaction from Ryan. Maybe even email him personally although of course we'd all rather see his reaction on a public forum. He may decide to make it up to the players somehow.

However, I tend to agree, they are making it extremely difficult to take a flight. $1500 is ridiculous for taxes and surcharges.

I myself still can't get over how they said my phone number was hard to read. I checked my application and I'd actually written it twice. They could have gone to whitepages.com.au - Search for an Australian Business, Government or Person and checked it too if they were serious about ringing me.

They are just taking any angle to make you think it's all your fault and hope that you give up.

I'd want to know more about the legal action before committing anything. It could be expensive because if you lose you have to pay their costs too.

[GettingNoTLC]

Interesting that Spikey had problems because the phone number on his application form was hard to read. The reason they never got back to me was because my email address was hard to read and so they ‘sent the offer to the wrong email’. I still have the form though and oddly enough, it is perfectly legible. Must be some poor eyesight all around at TLC.

Only after I included Ryan Hartley in correspondence did I receive my offer, same deal as with everyone, a random $1500 in ‘taxes and surcharges’ and nowhere near the dates specified.

Legal action doesn’t have to be costly. Can be done for minimal to no fees through state tribunals and fair trading organisations who have a lot of muscle in consumer matters. If you can imagine every wronged consumer through this promotion launching an inexpensive action against TLC, it would provide them with the headache they deserve.

There are plenty of arguments to throw at them once you go through their fine print and the avenues the tribunals provide. Just one person has to win and they are in a mess. The sooner someone gets the ball rolling on that, and that TLC get served a notice to appear at a tribunal, then just maybe they will listen (or read a little more carefully). I’ll be doing it the minute I arrive back from the US – flying in on a ticket I had to buy because of their messing me around.

[Psi]

Just got knocked back, joke etc. Forget Intercasino/Interpoker.

[Brycen69]

I just posted a complaint on the ACCC's online complaints form, it's really easy to do and i suggest everyone that has a gripe with TLC do the same.

[Norman]

Are you even complaining to the right people?
Can't you just request yoyo give at least one of you a free flight from his commissions, as an act of good faith or something?