Heritage For the Blind Vehicle Donation?

I heard on a Sirius commercial today that Heritage for the Blind has a nationwide car donation program. They say if you donate your car, you can get a vacation voucher.

Since Mandy and I are thinking about which charity to donate her old car to, I looked up this website to see what it was all about.

First of all, the website doesn’t look very good and that always raises red flags.

Then I look at the fine print for the vacation voucher. Get this:

There is a one-time non refundable $15 processing fee in order to redeem this certificate to receive the reservation request form.

Right off the bat I don’t get this. I’m giving them a car and they can’t pick up this measly $15 dollar fee.

Do I get to pick the hotels?

No, but you do get to pick the travel dates.  Remember, the hotels make their money on re-bookings.  This is why we always place customers with the best possible hotel accommodations available in the cities of your choice of availabe cities.

I don’t even get to know what kind of hotel they’re going to give me. I’m all jazzed about going on a fancy, free vacation and they could possible stick me in a La Quinta inn or something.

After I pay the $15 redemption fee, what other costs do I have to pay?

You will be required to pay a “Reservation Guarantee Deposit” of $25 per night.  You will be required to pay a $33 per night “Tax & Fee Deposit” when you register your reservation request form.  Taxes & Fees normally range anywhere from $4-$33 per night.  Any unused portion of your “Tax & Fee Deposit” will be refunded to you 30 days after travel.  Your “Reservation Guarantee Deposit” will also be refunded in full 30 days after travel.

At this point I could be on the hook for up to $33 a night for “Taxes and Fees!” and that doesn’t include putting up money another $25 a night for a deposit! What is going on here??

What is the “Reservation Guarantee Deposit” for?

This is a refundable deposit that is required before we can move forward with a reservation.  As long as you show up to your booked reservation, your “Reservation Guarantee Deposit” will be fully refunded after travel.  This covers our company from people that do not show up to their booked reservations.  The hotel charges us if someone that we book does not show up, so this deposit covers our costs if you do not show up.  If you do not show up to your booked reservation you forfeit your “Reservation Guarantee Deposit”.

If this is just a free voucher why do they care if I go on the trip or not? It should just be part of their expenses to get a free car from me. I think they want this so they can put you on the hook for “Taxes and Fees.”
Can I cancel?

The fee you pay to redeem this certificate is NON-REFUNDABLE, regardless if you use the promotional offer or not.

Needless to say I won’t be using this service.

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