If you’ve ever tried to get out of a travel club, you know how difficult — and often impossible — it can be. But even when you’re getting a chorus of “nos,” there’s still a way to free yourself. Just ask Devyn Gemmell.
Gemmell and his wife were guests at the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resorts & Spa in Jamaica, and while they were there, they accepted an invitation to the company’s travel club pitch. Club members get discounts on vacations at Palladium resorts, room upgrades, and priority access at check-in. Gemmell agreed to pay $6,135 to become a club member.
He regretted it almost immediately and tried to cancel. He says Palladium refused.
“I’ve been trying for months and months to cancel my membership,” he told me. “I’ve been on the phone for hours, transferred to numbers that no one answers, transferred to numbers in Spanish and left voicemails, and sent emails that no one responds to or that come back as undeliverable.”
Gemmell’s story is not necessarily a cautionary tale about travel clubs (although it is). It’s about resolving disputes the right way — and using the right language to get a “yes.”
We’ll also answer a few other questions as we try to resolve Gemmel’s case. Among them: How do you get out of a travel club like Palladium? What should you do if your travel club won’t refund your membership? And are there any insider strategies for getting things to go your way?
Before we go there, let’s see what happened to Gemmell.
“My wife sat beside me crying”
“I never wanted this membership,” Gemmell told me. But when he was visiting Jamaica with his wife, a Palladium representative invited the couple to a high-pressure sales presentation. There, he said, they were plied with food and drinks — and a pitch that was impossible to resist.
Palladium operates a resort chain in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Spain, and has a travel club for frequent guests. Among the benefits:
- Members receive special discounts on vacation packages offered by Palladium Hotel Group.
- Members may be eligible for upgrades to your next booked room category, subject to availability.
- Members may have access to preferential check-in and check-out processes at Palladium resorts.
- Members may be offered exclusive events or activities at Palladium resorts.
- Also, members can earn points through their stays which can be redeemed for future benefits or discounts.
But Gemmell says Palladium wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.
“I tried to leave the room several times,” he says. “I told them I wanted to think about it. My wife sat beside me crying as they wouldn’t let us leave without signing. We tried several times to leave and were stopped at the door. We were the only couple held in the room.”
Gemmell said Palladium continued to serve them more drinks, keeping him and his wife confined to a small room until they finally gave in.
“I was forced to sign this,” he told me.
Really, Palladium?
I asked Palladium about Gemmell’s account.
“We are not sure what Mr. Gemmell is referring to,” a representative told me. “Our sales office is a huge office with glass doors which are not locked and after the sales process, he went through a verification process and signing of the agreement with a verification officer who is also in an office with glass doors which are not locked, and during which he had no objections.”
Palladium said it is a “serious” company, and people who are “in an inconvenient condition due to alcohol are usually asked to come back the next day to sign the contract.”
What’s more, Palladium says Gemmell didn’t contact the company until weeks after his stay in Jamaica and has not furnished the company with any proof that it plied him with drinks during the sales process.
In other words, Palladium strongly denies it did anything unsavory or applied any unethical sales practices when it made its sales presentation. According to Palladium, Gemmell sat through a presentation and purchased a travel club membership of his own free will.
How do you get out of a travel club like Palladium?
If you find yourself in a situation like Gemmell’s — trapped in a travel club membership you no longer want — you have options. While travel clubs often make it difficult to cancel, there are steps you can take to free yourself from the contract.
1. Study your contract. Look for cancellation clauses. Most contracts include a “cooling-off period” (typically 3 to 10 days) during which you can cancel without penalty. These are also sometimes referred to as rescission periods. Pay attention to any specific requirements for cancellation, such as written notice or contacting a particular department. Insider tip: Some memberships automatically renew unless you cancel within a specific time period, so review your contract sooner rather than later.
2. Don’t wait. If you’re within the cooling-off period, don’t waste any time. Send a written cancellation request via email or certified mail with return receipt requested. Keep a record of your communication. Be clear and concise in your request, stating that you want to cancel the membership and expect a full refund.
You’ll want to be all business about your cancellation notification. Tell them you’re writing to give a formal notice that you want to cancel your membership, effective immediately. Cite any contract terms that allow you to cancel and state how you want to be refunded. Ask for a confirmation. Avoid any emotional words, don’t make any accusations. Just give it to them straight.
3. Document your exit. Even if everything appears to be going smoothly, you’ll want to keep meticulous records. That includes any dates and times of phone calls, names of representatives you spoke with, copies of emails or letters sent and any promises or commitments made by the company. Don’t rely on your memory. The documentation will help if you have to escalate your case.
Specific to Palladium, our advocacy team has found that it is usually pretty reasonable when it comes to canceling membership in their club. As long as you have the right documentation and a reliable contact at Palladium, you can get out. The club contracts follow local laws. If you’re not getting a response, here are the Palladium executive contacts.
What should you do if your travel club won’t refund your membership?
Unfortunately, most travel clubs will try to keep your money even if they’re not allowed to. I have details in my complete guide on leaving a travel club.
There are ways you can push for a refund from a company like Palladium.
Don’t be a pushover. Persistence is so important. Travel clubs often use delaying tactics, such as transferring you to unresponsive departments or ignoring your emails. Stay calm and professional, but firm. Politely escalate your request to a supervisor or manager if necessary.
Cite chapter and verse of consumer protection laws. They exist everywhere, and with a little research, you can find them. For example, in Jamaica, travel clubs are regulated under the Timeshare Vacations Act. It states that you have 10 days to cancel your membership and receive a full refund.
File a chargeback. Sometimes, a credit card dispute under the Fair Credit Billing Act is the fastest way to get your money back.You have a better than even chance of getting a full refund, even if the merchant fights it.
Are there any insider strategies for getting things to go your way?
Gemmell was deeply upset about the repeated charges to his credit card and sent several angry emails to Palladium, demanding an immediate refund. Which brings me to my first piece of travel club exit advice: Remain calm.
If a club exit isn’t going your way, getting emotional puts you in an even worse position. Now you don’t have your refund, and you’re angry. That increases the chances that the travel club will keep your money. How so?
Think about it. When you try to dispute your credit card charges, is your bank likely to believe your story if you’re writing it in ALL UPPERCASE and making accusations you can’t substantiate, such as “they imprisoned me”?
Gemmell could have gotten a refund with the right approach. But in a way, a travel club like Palladium benefits from having an unhappy customer fly off the handle. No one will believe him (even if his story is true). Palladium gets to keep his money and might even continue charging him for a membership he’ll never use.
What’s the magic phrase?
Is a refund possible? Yes. And there’s a magic phrase Gemmell could have used that would have ended this problem.
“Would you consider a refund as a one-time courtesy?”
You can also substitute “one-time courtesy” with “as a gesture of goodwill.”
Palladium didn’t have to refund the money; Gemmell was well past his rescission period. Words like “goodwill” and “one-time courtesy” are an acknowledgment that the company doesn’t have to do anything, but that you would be very happy if it would consider doing it.
And it did.
“We will proceed with the refund, as a one-time courtesy,” a Palladium representative told me. “Please ask the customer to review his emails in the following days because he will have to sign a cancellation letter.”
And that may really be the best way of getting out of a travel club. Ask nicely. Gemmell could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he’d done that. If you ever find yourself trapped in a travel club, you can, too.
