8883427935

just got a call the other day. I called them back. I even confirmed a reservation.Then i remembered the only entry form I ever filled out was for free gas. So I looked into it and just look what I found. Somehow just knew it was to good to be true.

Received a call today from a Catherine Gonzalez @ 951-905-5380 PMR. Stated I had won a prize! Left a return call back # 888-342-7935 x38. I didn't get excited...never believe these calls. You don't get something for nothing; right? I'm all for a class action. It's a scam!

I filled out a form at Glendale Galeria dec 2009. I had a call today from this nuber saying that it's great news something about a chance to win a car or I won a car it wasn't very clear. I dont't know if I should call back

Boyfriend got a call today telling him he won a prize from PMR. I instantly said "TIME SHARE SCAM"!  I told him "of course you will win the trip to Vegas".  They only guaranteed that you would win one of those prizes-I am certain no one will be winning the $100k.  Been down that road. I have done these before when I was really broke and wanted to do something small like a dinner for 2 or something I couldn't afford at the time.  Those were always gift cards and you didn't have to give your information.  What I don't like about this one is the taxes you pay and the needing a credit card. Won't do it-nobody like that gets access to my accounts or credit cards.  Needless to say, I encouraged him not to go.

Its a scam to get you to go to a time share meeting.

you have way to much time on your hands, get a life...

did you go? what happened?

I got a call from this number from Pacific Monarch.  I knew full well when I filled out the give-away slip that they're obviously a time-share / vacation place, but usually if you sit through the presentation, they do have to give you at least one of the prizes.

I was actually going to go their presentation, but just to get in the building they said I had to show them my credit card or debit card.  I found in an online newspaper they made one lady display her checkbook along with her credit card.  

This is very fishy.  I've gotten prizes from time-share places before and you should never have to give them your credit card or bank info.  It's not even a valid form of id, despite what this co. aserts.  

The only reason I can think that they want people's credit, debit, checking account number is to steal your money.  That's why it's not a valid form of id.   Anyone can pretend to be you/steal your money, if they have your bank account info.

So I know a lot of people have been writing about all their negative experiences with PMR and I just wanted to take a moment to clear the air and tell the story from a completely unbiased viewpoint. I'll start by saying that I just got back from the "showroom" and I am holding in my hand a voucher for two plane tickets and two nights in Las Vegas, as well as two nights of accommodations to either Tahoe, Reno, Big Bear, Catalina, Ensenada, Los Cabos, Palm Springs, Rosarito, or Vancouver, BC.

YES, I won these trips by filling out a sweepstakes at a mall. YES, they are legitimate. NO, it was not completely pain free.

Back in June of 2010 I was shopping with my girlfriend at the Westfield Century City Mall. After seeing a movie we both decided to fill out the forms for a chance to win a shiny new cherry red Jaguar. With nothing to lose, we both filled out a slip, dropped them in a box, and forgot about it. Two days ago (November 3rd, 2010) I got a call at 9am from a guy named Maurice Kennedy who said he worked for Pacific Monarch Resorts. He was very excited to tell me the news that out of everyone that had entered into the sweepstakes at Century City Mall, that I was the one they chose (turns out, they will choose pretty much anyone who is a couple living together and make a combined $40k or more.) He made it sound like I had won the car at first, but it soon became clear that I had won the "chance" to win a car. After a few minutes on the phone with him I was told to call a certain number for my reservation number which I received and set up an appointment to go listen to a 90 minute presentation on PMR resorts and timeshares and why they were so much better than any other timeshare.

So naturally, I did tons of research on what to expect and boy am I glad I did. I read through page after page of comments on all these scam websites, reports of ripoffs and fraud, etc. etc. Turns out, most of these are just disgruntled people who didn't know what to expect going into the showroom and came out frustrated that they hadn't won the $100k or the car. Once you receive the phone call and reservation number, when you go to the website and read the fine print you will see that the last line contains all the odds: chances of winning the $100k or car are 1:115,883. Chances of winning the trip to Las Vegas are 1:1.04. Now I'm no mathematician but if the odds of winning something are 1:1.04, I'm pretty sure that means there is a 99.6% chance that you're going to win it. And that's why I'm sitting here with two tickets and two nights of accommodations to Vegas.

Since filling out the form, my girlfriend and I have since broken up but we listed each other as cohabitors at the time so we had to show up together to the presentation. And since so many people have been so vague about what ACTUALLY goes on there, I've decided to break it down for you:

8:10 - We arrive at the Encino showroom. There are about 15 other couples there.
8:15 - We are seated at our table with a representative Kelly, she is very kind and polite and talks to us for about 40 minutes about what PMR is and the options that they offer (Note: I mentioned flat out to her from the beginning that we were not interested in the timeshare we simply came to claim our prize. She acknowledged the fact, but said that her managers make sure that she goes through the entire speech and explains everything to us, which we were fine with) She asked us a bunch of questions about how much we travel and where we like to go, even though we already told her we broke up several months ago and won't be travelling together - ever.
8:55 - Everyone gathers in a small theater and a friendly bald guy comes out and tries to make you laugh for a few minutes.
9:00 - Presentation starts and he talks for about 30 minutes why PMR (Monarch Grand Vacations) is so great and why you should consider purchasing one of their timeshares.
9:30 - A slideshow will then play with "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong in the background with pictures people have sent in from their vacations with MGV (this is the part where they try to pull at your heart strings and sell you a timeshare because you feel so warm and fuzzy inside)
9:40 - We go back to our table and the same lady talks to us for a few more minutes and tells us a manager will be over soon to tell us about pricing.
9:45 - Manager lady walks over, shakes our hands, sits down and asks us what we thought about everything. I said "It's not really for us. We're just not interested." She said "Well, then what did you come down here for?" I said "Just to get our prize and go, that's all." She then said "So can I run some numbers by you, tell you some more about what we offer?" "No, that's ok. We'd just like to get our prize." She then turns to the first nice lady we had and says "Well, these guys don't want to hear about numbers, they don't want to hear about anything, I guess there's nothing to do about it, huh? I'll just show them to the prize room then." (Note: this last statement was said in a very degrading, demeaning and deliberately sarcastic tone - I guess they really want to guilt trip you or something?)
9:50 - Manager lady walks over to another table in the back and sits there for about 5 minutes just waiting. Seems like any extra minute she could squeeze out of us sitting there doing nothing, the better? Who knows.
9:55 - We go back down a narrow hallway to pull a ticket out of a plexiglass container containing (supposedly) 100,000 scratch off tickets, only 1 of which has either the $100k or car. Naturally, I pulled one with a star on it which means you spin the wheel. There are about 100 numbers on the wheel and 1 slot that says PMR and one slot that says MGV. If you land on either of those, you win one of the top tier vacations (Hawaii, cruise, etc) if you land on one of the numbers, you get either the Vegas trip or the theme park adventure. Obviously, we took Vegas. Also we had to ask for the bonus gift at the end or they will just let you walk out without it (two nights accommodation in one of the 10 locations listed above)
10:00 - We left, got in our car, and that was that. Satisfied, got pretty much exactly what we expected, and are going to make the most out of both trips.

Final thoughts: You must go into this situation knowing exactly what you're getting yourself into, and if you do, it's a great deal. We were prepared to have really pushy sales agents harassing us from all sides, and besides one unpleasant lady at the end, everything else was pretty kosher. I was afraid the sales agent wasn't going to let us go, but she barely even sat down before we told her absolutely no and then she got up and walked away. Way easier than either of us expected.

Final final thoughts: YOU WILL NOT WIN THE CAR. YOU WILL NOT WIN THE MONEY. YOU WILL GO HOME WITH AT THE VERY LEAST A VACATION FOR TWO. Is it worth 2 hours of your time and a few bucks on gas? Absolutely. There is no reason why you should NOT take the time to sit through the presentation and enjoy your trip to Vegas. See you on the strip!

I will have to disagree with "Turns out, most of these are just disgruntled people who didn't know what to expect going into the showroom and came out frustrated that they hadn't won the $100k or the car." What I've read on 800notes on these sorts of deals differs from your experience.
1.  You were told on the phone call you'd to attend a timeshare presentation. Others report they were told to go to X to collect their prize and were then blindsided by a timeshare presentation.
2.  You received full vouchers without having to pay anything for your trip. Others report they received a $99 coupon with zero cash value and had to come up with $199 in cash to go on the trip. They'd effectively won a discount on a trip while they'd been told they'd won a trip.
Am happy it worked out for you but it didn't work out for many.

Yeah I also got a call that I won a prize but have to go to a hour in a half presentation in Encino lesson learned to good to be true!

They did not actually tell me I won a car, just said, "You filled out a card to win a car at the Brea Mall."
(probably when shopping for school clothes).

Not sure about the company they were with because "Betsy at extension 72" was on another call.  Tried calling back, but kept ringing...so I checked online and got you.  You can call for yourselves and see what you get.

Brea Mall should be ashamed of themselves for trying to trick me.  Just ask me for my info for this reason, and if I'm interested, I'll do it.  Waste of time for me.

Thank you for the detailed info, i just received a call from PMR and definetely not going.

Thank you Spoon

Just be careful about this phone call. Do not answer back!

My girlfriend got a call -- something about an entry from the Pomona Fair (which we did go to), and that she's in the drawing for $100,000. An appointment was necessary for that drawing. When she called back (just to see what it was about), the lady said she got her info from the Long Beach Marathon (which we both participated in), and that it would take 90 minutes.

Probably time share, like stated here.

My girlfriend got a call -- something about an entry from the Pomona Fair (which we did go to), and that she's in the drawing for $100,000. An appointment was necessary for that drawing. When she called back (just to see what it was about), the lady said she got her info from the Long Beach Marathon (which we both participated in), and that it would take 90 minutes.

Probably time share, like stated here.

Just got a call from PMR said that I won a price from an entry that I filled out at a Pizza place. That's strange, I don't eat pizza. That prompts me to check this one out online. This site confirmed my suspicions.  

The caller ID show: 951-905-5387. But they left a phone number 888-342-7935 x 59 for Peggy.

I never call them back.

Recieved 3 calls today from Maroyln Thompson from PMR Gift Center at 619-858-3120 telling me I won a drawing from a touch screen kiosk at the verizon amphitheater. I went to a concert and started to do the kiosk until i realized it was a timeshare setup then i cancelled my submission from the kiosk and they still kept my info.. those [***]!

Here was the # they asked me to call back if anyone wants to block them or just call them back and give them hell:

1-877-603-7365 x28

I'd rather sit through a PMR seminar then to read this book you wrote.

Thanks Andre. That's good info.