Bridal Show - “free Trip” Scam??

I literally just saw someone post this same scenario the other day on a forum here. I hope folks will comment but if not, try to type in the search panel for this. There are few on here that address/lift this concern.

In my experience, most stuff from wedding shows are scams. Like you "win" a boudoir shoot, but you have to pay $150 for each photo you want. Or you "win" a honeymoon, but you have to pay a $400 cooking set or pay $600 in taxes. It seems like the most common prizes are a set of rings, a vacation, and a boudoir shoot. I signed up to go a bridal show and ended up not going. That was in January 2018. I still, to this day, get calls about stuff I've "won" from recent shows I entered even though I've never been to the show !

Omg I got the same thing. I was told that I won an all inclusive trip, wedding bands, engraved champagne glasses, and dinner or something along those lines. I went to the presentation with a bunch of couples who won the same thing. Long story short, it's really a trick to get you to buy their products (pots and pans). After an hour and a half or so we were then asked one by one what we wanted to buy. If nothing, you're given all these vouchers for the products mentioned above. However, all of which aren't free because you have to pay for processing, shipping, and etc. The vacation is for 3 days, but no airfare and you have to pay resort fees, put a $200 deposit down, and a whole bunch of other fine line items. It was personally a waste of our time. All I do know is you must sit through the presentation in order to claim your prize.

View Quoted Comment I believe I saw that post! Thank you. I feel like I’ve read through a lot and some people say it’s good but there a lot of bads. Maybe I should chock it up too good to be true.

View Quoted Comment That’s pretty spot on to my experience. I don’t want it to be wasted money and time.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for your input. I appreciate it!

The one I got was legit, but it was for a timeshare company. So, you go to the resort (4 hours away), and tour the location, sit through a 2-hour timeshare presentation, then get the hard sell from the company sales rep. We were able to say no to the timeshare, although we had to say no multiple times. Every time we said no, the guy would try to "sweeten the pot" with a lower rate, or some other kind of fabulous discount. The thing kept getting cheaper and cheaper, but it's still something we really can't afford, and would not likely use at this point in our lives. However, after all that, we got our prizes, although not as great as we had hoped. A carribbean cruise (base fare paid for/we have to pay taxes and airfare to the departure port/no upgrades), but not sure if it's going to be what we wanted for our honeymoon. That's honestly the only reason we did it, because we were hoping to save money on our honeymoon. But it's not really worth it if we don't get the trip we want. So, these can be good things, and as some of you have discovered, they can be scams.

I also won a "free" boudoir shoot. The fine print is that the "free" shoot is just that, you get the time slot free (instead of paying a session fee), but everything else is ridiculously expensive. They want you to use their hair and makeup services ($300) and their pictures are WAY out of my price range. So, that was a letdown.

Wow, I’m sorry about that Cristy! He did say it wasn’t a time share but we’d have to pay the airfare. I didn’t think about taxes before. Basically it’s a $600 value for 3 days/2 nights so that makes me more curious now what kind of “resort” it is. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

Were you at the one in Houston by any chance?? I got a call yesterday and researched the company that came up on caller ID. Most reviews looked like they were offered some sort of "prize" but either had to pay fees, or it was like some cheap junk. I mean, if you can say no and dont have a problem paying the fees, it might be okay to look into. But just as long as you know what you're getting yourself into!

I'm really glad I stumbled on this post. I got two calls this week about the exact same prizes. The first one seemed worth it because I can say no and still get my vouchers and go, so I decided to RSVP. It was supposed to be this Friday, and I knew it would be a "pay taxes and airfare" scenario, which is fine because they told me it wouldn't expire, but I really don't want to waste my time or my fiancé's time if it's a scam...

Usually you pay for the flights and the taxes on it. Yes they try to sell you stuff but you have to say no over and over and see if the actual vacation is worth it; if you even have the time. It is possible to get the vacation without buying anything else, just with those fees. But you didn't "win" they just need people to get in their door to try to sell you stuff. This happened to me over the summer and I was so excited I won something cuz I never do. But they wanted me to come in for the presentation within a day driving to Philly and it was not possible (my FH works night shift). They told me if I don't come in "they'll give it away to someone else". Yeah well, they called me again like two weeks later and still a month after that and I blocked the number. It's really not something special and the whole idea that they still call you saying you won gives it away that they don't care, picked your name off a list, keep calling people over and over until they find someone to accept!

View Quoted Comment I was actually in Fort Worth! What you’re saying seems like what mine is. I’m still on the fence with risking it.

View Quoted Comment So are you going to go or not?

View Quoted Comment Wow. That sounds pretty disheartening. Our appt is Saturday and it’s 40 min from our house which isn’t too bad. I’m still on the fence. I haven’t mentioned it to my fiancé yet because I want enough information to present it, ya know? 😬 With the negative reviews it definitely makes me nervous.

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Well if you have the free time for the presentation go for it! From where we are it was 1.5 hrs away and they didn't have an office closer. Kinda ridiculous. Just know what you're getting into. I wouldn't want only a 3 day honeymoon but that's just me. It could be a trip for something else down the line depending on how long you have to take said trip (which is probably at least a year).

View Quoted Comment No. It wouldn't really make sense for us to go now. I guess we could since it doesn't expire, so we could reserve it for a honeymoon or misc trip, but we also have a lot of time, so I could go to more bridal shows in between now and when we would actually be ready to book our honeymoon, although it isn't really what we had in mind.

I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but I was called after attending a bridal show about having won a free vacation stay. They also said I had to sit through a cookware presentation, when I wasn't available for the one they had coming up, they said they would call me to try and schedule me for the next one in a couple weeks. I never heard back from them. It seems to me that in my case, had it been a legitimate winning they would have recontacted me. I can't say for sure, an I think so long as you are comfortable telling them no for what ever they are selling, then there is probably no harm in seeing how it plays out. Typically if it is legit, they will give you the trip/prize regardless of whether you buy what they are selling, they will just not let you walk away easily. And should it be legit enough to provide you with an all inclusive resort I wouldn't worry about it being safe. Most resorts like that are quite safe anyway, but at that point they are a legitimate business partnered with the resort and it should be totally fine.

View Quoted Comment I know this is older, but I just got a call today saying I won a trip or rings. I'm in fort worth but the show was in dallas. I def think it's a scam

I just got this call and I am not going to do it. It seemed really scammy and I don't like being harrassed by companies like that. I think if someone felt the need to report them even once, then that is enough for me. I have seen too many other posts like this one and brides saying they always have a catch. Idk if this is still relevant for you, but I wouldn't do it.

I went to one through royal prestige with my first wedding and I ended up buying some of the pots that I still use today, 10 years later and love them and we also did get our 4 days and 3 nights free which we added a few days on top of for the honeymoon. We stayed at someone’s timeshare so it was like an apartment as our hotel suite! I was very satisfied and it saved us a lot of money on hotels so we used that for fun things to do on our honeymoon!