World’s Largest Travel Membership Club Suspends Membership Sales In Poland Due To Assessment by Local Regulator
Action comes as a result of being unfairly and unreasonably targeted by the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKIK)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, March 23, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — inGroup® International LLC has made the difficult decision to suspend the enrollment of new Members on its website http://www.incruises.com/ who are Polish residents. Additionally, the company has stopped accepting payments from all existing Polish Members.
inGroup customers from Poland that have existing travel reservations will not be affected. And existing Members can fully use their Reward Points to book future travel, or they can request a refund. Either way, existing Polish Members will be fully protected and made whole in this decision.
This inGroup decision is a consequence of the incorrect assessment of the inCruises® Membership offer by the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKIK).
In March of 2021, the UOKIK published a list of cryptocurrencies they deemed potential frauds. To our surprise, the inCruises Membership offer was included on this list. inGroup has never operated any type of cryptocurrency business. Nevertheless, despite repeated calls to remove our name from this list due to its defamatory nature, the UOKIK refused to acknowledge the correct and legal nature of the inCruises membership business model.
In response to this listing, inGroup retained legal counsel in Poland and has engaged with regulators, providing everything that was asked to clear this situation. inGroup’s founders and top executives have spent many hours meeting with government officials to resolve this matter. During these meetings, when it became apparent they could not label us as a cryptocurrency scheme as originally published, they ultimately found an obscure Polish law, unique only to Poland, called a “Consortium or Argentinian Scheme.”
According to this obscure law, Polish companies can’t group customers’ funds to negotiate better terms with third-party providers and provide discounts to their customers. inGroup has proved that this is not how our business model works.
inGroup has also emphatically stated through this process that:
#1 – We have not intentionally targeted Poland. We have never made any mass advertising efforts, nor do we offer our website in Polish to sell our Membership or any related services in the Polish territory.
#2 – Polish residents found our offer online, bought our Membership, and booked travel services from our US territory-based website.
#3 – Our model adheres to the description of Poland’s legal network marketing business model. We sell a membership service with a genuine market value for our Members.
#4 – Since July 2016, every inCruises Member has saved money on every cruise vacation booked through inGroup. ALL Rewards Points gained are immediately available to use in bookings from day one of Membership.
#5 – Even if Members stop paying, they will never lose their travel value as their Reward Points never expire. Plus, all Membership payments are insured against the unlikely event of inGroup’s insolvency.
InGroup International’s Co-CEO Michael Hutchison traveled to Warsaw in June 2022. He praised the Polish government’s efforts in welcoming refugees from Ukraine. Likewise, inGroup has been helping Ukrainian residents.
As part of this decision, existing Polish Members can request a refund of their available (2 for 1) Reward Points. Refunds will be calculated based on unused Reward Points minus any travel benefits already received. Or existing Polish Members can keep and use their valuable Reward Points to book travel without making any further additional membership payments. So, Members will continue to benefit from this valuable service that has already helped hundreds of thousands of cruise passengers travel more and for less worldwide.
Notwithstanding this setback, inGroup will continue seeking to engage with fair-minded and sincere members of the Polish government to create a path forward where Polish residents can again participate actively in the Membership and benefit from its outstanding offer.
About inGroup International, inCruises, and inStays
inCruises is the world’s largest subscription-based travel membership club and a division of inGroup International. Since launching its flagship inCruises membership in 2016, the Company has added more than one million Members and Partners in 200 countries. inStays was added in 2022, giving Members access to 200,000 different cruise, hotel, and resort offers. inGroup is making a measurable difference in its Club Members’ lives and is committed to providing a sustainable business ownership opportunity to its growing Partner team. In addition, the Company is committed to positive global corporate citizenship by supporting Mercy Ships, 4Ocean, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and Ukrainian Relief efforts. For more information, visit in.Group and inCruises.
CONTACT: Contact: Beatriz Díaz Vázquez beatriz.diaz@incruises.com
