Current Affairs

On the weekend of July 23rd through the 25th Scott Brunnenmeyer, Director of Operations, joined the nation in honoring the fallen and wounded soldiers at the Families United National Weekend of  Remembrance as Sundance Vacations sponsored the Weekend event.

The event kicked off on Friday night with the Gold Star Family dinner in Washington DC. Families United invited all families that had lost a soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan, which brought over 500 families throughout the country. They bring these families through various events throughout the year; this being the largest event. This was a formal event that seated families together by state for an evening honoring their Heroes and allowing them to share their stories with each other. Among the families at the dinner were top ranking officials, 3 star Generals, Admirals and a keynote by Vice Joint Chief Of Staff General James E. Cartwright.  Wayne Newton, with the USO, also performed at the dinner for the Fallen Soldiers’ families. The honorable Scooter Libby was also present for the dinner.

Scott, who is also a Captain in the Army, said that, “It is amazing to see such great family oriented organizations like Families United that will continue to support the fallen soldiers’ families. It gives great reassurance that if something ever happened that my family would have great support.” On Saturday, they had a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which Scott said was “the most emotional part of the whole weekend.”

Following the event in the Arlington Cemetery, there was a  “Hero’s Festival” and concert by country singer Aaron Tippin  at Six Flags America. At the festival the families were able spend time with Armed Service members and enjoy a hot and fun-filled day at the amusement park. Throughout the day there were moments of silence and a lunch/picnic for the families.

On Sunday there was a final service at Washington National Cathedral. Many families stayed to attend the nations largest most respected cathedral for a religious service. Throughout the whole weekend across the country many businesses and news stations were taking time to remember our fallen heroes as well. Scott said that “ I am greatly moved that Sundance Vacations decided to sponsor the event and that I was able to be there for it all.”

For more information on Families United check out the website FamiliesUnitedMission.com. The website lists events and ways to get involved. The next event being held is the Pennsylvania Gold Star Family Luncheon, which will be held in Philadelphia on August 14th.

Although Sundance Vacations President John Dowd has been attending the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) meetings for the past 18 years, he recently joined the organization. ARDA is a Washington D.C.-based professional association representing the vacation ownership and resort development industries. Established in 1969, ARDA has approximately 1,000 corporate members ranging from privately held firms to publicly traded companies and international corporations with expertise in shared ownership interests in leisure real estate.

ARDA promotes the growth and development of the timeshare/vacation ownership industry through a variety of capacities: Advocacy, Networking, Business Partnerships/Bridge Building, Outreach, Knowledge, and Support and Development.

Sundance Vacations wasn’t a member of ARDA in the past, simply because it was more focused on timeshares. The industry is constantly changing, and ARDA now fits the Sundance Vacations product better. ARDA is redefining leisure travel. According to ARDA, “With today’s evolving vacation home market, consumers have an increasingly diverse marketplace and options in leisure travel; the growing variety of vacation home options includes Timeshare/Vacation Ownership; Fractional Ownership/Private Residence Clubs; Destination Clubs; Condo Hotels; and Traditional Second Home Ownership.”  

For more information visit www.arda.org

Sundance Vacations employees including Sundance Vacations President John Dowd recently attended the Best Places to Work awards ceremony in Hershey, PA.  Sundance Vacations was named one of the Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania for 2009. The company finished among the top 30 in the statewide employee poll for large-sized companies (251 or more employees).

“Sundance Vacations provides a stable career for hundreds of PA employees. Despite the current recession, great things are happening at Sundance Vacations – including making the Inc. 500/5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies this year, said Sundance Vacations Founder Tina Dowd. “We’re honored that our employees have also named us as one of the Best Places to Work in PA. We’ll be celebrating these achievements and many more at our annual awards gala in two weeks,” added Dowd.

Congratulations Sundance Vacations employees!!

No SCAM here.

We go to crazy efforts to maintain the highest levels of honesty among the Sundance Vacations staff members.  This means silent monitoring for the telemarketing staff, secret shoppers for our lead generators and videotaped presentations for our sales staff.   Everyone who knows us also knows that we like to get feedback both good and bad about their Sundance Vacations experience.

A few nights ago we got a call from an acquaintance.  “I just got a call from one of your telemarketers and they told me I won a free cruise from Sundance Vacations.  I thought you should know,” she said.

“Yeah, thanks.  Can you tell me who it was so I can fire him or her.  They are definitely not allowed to say won,” thanked John.

“Not allowed to say won?  But what about the free cruise”, she asked in surprise? “They shouldn’t be able to tell people they are getting a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas from Sundance Vacations.”

“Let’s start from the beginning.  It’s important that you be specific.  Did one of my staff members use the word won,” John questioned?

“They said I was picked for a free cruise from Sundance,” clarified our friend.

“Did you specifically hear the word free?  Didn’t they tell you that you’d be responsible for some taxes and fees?” asked John.

“ Yeah, they said $200 bucks a person and that I had to come to your office to listen to a presentation.  So you mean to tell me the person was telling the truth?  If I come over to your office, listen to a sales pitch, I’ll get a free cruise to the Bahamas,” she asked incredulously?

“No, not a fee cruise,” he keeps correcting her.

“Ok, whatever.  So you don’t care if I make an appointment to get the free cruise? I don’t have to buy anything?”

“No, of course not.  But stop saying free cruise,” he reminds her.

This conversation illustrates the exact problem that we face each and every day when communicating verbally with millions of travelers.  Sundance Vacations is truthful and honest in those communications but today’s very causal listeners are apt to paraphrase for ease of repeating just as our friend did.

Searchers can find seething comments claiming to unveil Sundance Vacations as a scam.   Unaware, consumers read a slanderous or false post and then unknowingly add to the misconception by typing, “ I knew this was a scam.”  In this next example a poster writes, “I researched the program and found out that my “free” and “won” cruise will cost over $800 dollars if it happens at all.”  Unfortunately, by “research” the person is referring to anonymous, inaccurate, unofficial, casual, paraphrases found on the Intranet.

When trying to judge for yourself whether Sundance Vacations is a scam these are the facts that you can consider. 

Sundance Vacations has been in business since 1991.  That’s an 18 year business history.

Sundance Vacations was awarded the Torch Award from the Northeast and Central Pennsylvania Better Business Bureau in 2005.  The Torch Award is given to a company that demonstrates ethical behavior.  During the Torch Award process we were “secret shopped” by the BBB director at that time.  He visited our office and personally congratulated Sundance Vacations on honest communications through-out his entire test.  Some bloggers will say that we somehow bought the Torch Award.  That’s just a slanderous lie.

Sundance Vacations is a member of the Better Business Bureau in every state that we operate in.  We maintain a high grade with the BBB.  We are not complaint free.  Any organization that interacts with more than a million consumers every year is going to generate some unavoidable complaints.  We address every complaint that we become aware of and solve them to the customer’s satisfaction.

We have won awards from our industry trade groups.  We are the recipient of several “Call Center of Distinction” awards from the Association of Teleservices International.  Again, this involves secret calls to our telemarketing staff to determine if they are staying on script.  Nay-sayers would also claim that we are somehow cheating in this achievement.

We have been named one of the Best Large Company’s to Work for in Pennsylvania for three years in a row and one of the Best Company’s to Work for in Illinois.   We employ hundreds of employees nationally.  Again, I’m no expert but being an educated businessperson I believe that keeping a scam secret from the authorities would be pretty difficult to do.  In 18 years wouldn’t at least one employee have blown the whistle, like at Enron. 

The fact is, THERE’S NO SCAM HERE.  Sorry to disappoint.  Any consumer who reads the frequently asked questions on the Sundance Vacations website will have a great experience with the wholesale vacation company.  

The Sundance Vacations Haunted House “Sundance at Sundown” was a HUGE success. The Haunted House was held at the company’s corporate headquarters on October 22^nd, October 23^rd, and October 24^th.  Sundance Vacations participated in USA Weekend’s annual Make a Difference Day event. The MADD is a day dedicated to giving back to your community.

The entry fee was $5. Sundance Vacations also provided baked goods to all guests in efforts to raise more money. Sundance Vacations raised $1300 for the SPCA (Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) of Luzerne County. All proceeds raised were donated to the Luzerne County SPCA. “Consumers who don’t know Sundance Vacations may be skeptical or even misguided by thinking that Sundance Vacations is a scam,” said Sundance Vacations Founder Tina Dowd. “But, our employees illustrate who we are and what we believe in by their actions every day. This charity project fits two of our core values: to create fun and to give back. We’re proud of Sundance Vacations’ reputation in the community,” added Dowd.

Last year employees helped raise $2, 830 for Habitat for Humanity.

Sundance Vacations takes pride in raising money to help out in their local communities. We thank each and every one of the Sundance employees who helped make the Haunted House a success. Did you come to the Sundance Vacations Haunted House? Did you have a “spooktacular” time? If not, what charities have you been working on in your community?

Sundance Vacations invited five Parent Teacher Organizations to a private showing of the company’s “School Bucks” program at the company’s corporate headquarters on Monday, October 5th.

Sundance Vacations introduced their “School Bucks” program. The program was designed to help Parent Teacher Organizations obtain money for their organization without having to fundraise.

PTO’s in attendance were: Crestwood High School, St. Nicholas Elementary school in Wilkes-Barre, and Lee Park Elementary in Hanover Township. The company held a drawing for all PTO’s in attendance. Sundance Vacations contributed $1000 to Lee Park Elementary-the winning school. Lee Park plans to put the monetary donation towards their school’s annual Santa’s Workshop in December.

Sundance Vacations Celebrates National Customer Service Week

Sundance Vacations has approximately 50,000 customers and we’re still counting! The company was founded in 1991 to provide quality vacations at a fraction of the retail rate. Travel choices are endless in this destination-based program that enables customers the opportunity to vacation in many popular resort areas.

Did you receive outstanding customer service or have a great experience with the Sundance Vacations Customer Service Department? We would love to hear about it! Please share your experience with us by posting a comment below.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett, and Sundance Vacations Founders John and Tina Dowd

Sundance Vacations continues to keep up with their local communities. Sundance Vacations Founders John and Tina Dowd along with Carbon County Republican Committee friends and family recently gathered for a special meet and greet with Attorney General Tom Corbett. General Corbett spoke about the current political conditions in Harrisburg. Following the special meet and greet, General Corbett and the crowd attended a fundraiser picnic for Steve Serfass, a Republican Candidate for Carbon County Judge. With just 67 days left, General Corbett encouraged the crowd to get their vote out. General Corbett impressed the crowd including 14 year old Morgan Dowd. Following the picnic, Morgan said, “I like him, he’s practical.” Pennsylvania Senator David Argall was also in attendance at the meet and greet with Attorney General Tom Corbett. Senator Argall was impressed with the turnout despite the torrential downpours.

Sundance Vacations recently donated to the RAACE Foundation. The RAACE (Race Against Abuse of Children Everywhere) Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect children against sexual abuse. Sundance Vacations was contacted by Mr. Brad Brickel, a RAACE participant, to sponsor him in a RAACE fundraiser. Sundance Vacations Founder Tina Dowd received the call and was eager to help. Tina Dowd presented an idea to give employees the opportunity to donate their employee incentive points to the RAACE Foundation. When announced, Marketing Department employees were eager to donate their points. The employee’s V-points were then converted into a cash donation. Sundance Vacations raised a total of 85,504 V-points. The company generously matched the money raised, making the GRAND TOTAL– $3,353.00.

Great Job Sundance Vacations, it’s always nice to see employees come together and make a difference!!

What are some charities that you have volunteered with or donated to?

Every year right before the annual company picnic, Sundance Vacations holds an essay contest for all employees and their children. This year’s essay topic was “What is your favorite vacation destination?” There were two age groups. The first was age’s 8-13 and the second was age’s 14-college. One winner was picked from each age group and awarded a $500 scholarship. The essays were judged by Sundance Vacations Founder Tina Dowd. A small ceremony was held at the company picnic (Dorney Park in Allentown, Pa) Sundance Vacations VP of Marketing Joe Molitoris announced the winners.

This year, for the age group 8-13 the 2009 winner was Courtney Allen. Courtney is 11years old, and a 6th grade student. Courtney is saving her money for a rainy day. Some of Courtney’s interests include: Drama, Basketball, and has participated in Forensics with her school. Courtney currently made the honor roll for the 08-09 school year. Courtney’s mother Christina Allen is a Manager in the Inbound and Rescheduling Department for Sundance Vacations.

For the 14-college age group, the 2009 winner was Marie Ripa. Marie is a night shift marketer in the Sundance Vacations Mount Carmel office. Marie is 18 years old. She is a student at Brown University. In her spare time Marie enjoys hanging out with friends, reading, playing the violin, and playing on the computer. Marie is very modest about her “hard to beat” bowling skills. She is currently also learning four different languages, Spanish, French, Italian, and Latin.

Congratulations to both girls!