Scratchcard holiday ****

<p>On 21 May 2017 we were approached on Camps Bay beach by a Easy Holidays promoter in uniform with scratch cards offering a competition - we might win an international holiday or a meal at Kauai. Sceptical, but always keen for a free Kauai smoothie, we scratched the cards. My partner won the Kauai voucher, and my card revealed that I had won the international holiday. I was very sceptical and expressed my doubts, but the employee was a sweet lady who acted really surprised and excited that I had 'won', telling me we were only 5 such prizes available all weekend, wow you're so lucky, a free holiday in Spain! All we needed to do was accompany her back to the office to fill in some forms and we could claim the voucher and carry on with our lucky day.</p> <p>We accompanied the promoter to her office around the corner, and told we would need to have a meeting with an agent before we could claim the prize, which was sponsored by another agency, Toucan Travel. All Easy Holidays asked was that we take a 60 minute survey of our travel and holidaying habits and hear an exciting offer. It was obviously a timeshare thing, but we decided it would be worth our time for a free holiday. We were inclined to trust based on the friendly and professional appearance of the promoter and staff at the office.<br /><br />The agent showed us the international holiday voucher and quickly snatched it back before we could read it, saying he'd give it back before we leave. The agent's timeshare pitch was quite professional and not too pushy but totally out of our financial means which we made clear. We left with our travel voucher, which we were only allowed to handle and actually read as we were leaving. Only then did we see that the voucher was in fact for:</p> <p>- 'discounted' accommodation in Spain or Mauritius (discount unspecified)</p> <p>- we could only claim the discount once we paid Toucan Travel a R90pp deposit</p> <p>- we could be required to book flights through and pay other unspecified fees to Toucan Travel <br /><br /></p> <p>I emailed Toucan Travel and was called back immediately. The woman was polite but completely unwilling to answer any specific questions on the phone about the discount, the terms and conditions of travel, and the kinds of costs to expect. Other reviews on Hello Peter for Toucan Travel make it clear that while 'winners' do eventually get a holiday it's tons of admin, the discount is effectively cancelled out by the extras they require you to take, you have to book flights through them and there's a significant mark-up, there's limited availability, and you have to spend a day in a time-share presentation at the resort.</p> <p> </p> <p>Easy Holiday are perpetuating a ****. They are passing off a ****my Toucan Travel 'voucher' as a free holiday in the language used by promoters and agents. They are knowingly setting people up to believe that they have won a holiday which they absoloutely have not. Avoid at all costs. </p>