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Further investigating The VIP Pass Singapore

Stock photos, recurring sales alerts and an MLM affiliate program. Here's part 2 of my investigation into VIP Pass Singapore.

Itโ€™s been roughly two weeks since I first wrote about The VIP Pass Singapore, highlighting its non-transparent pricing, questionable hotel partnerships, dubious use of media mentions/ awards, and shall we say interesting corporate structure.

Since then, VIP Pass has taken down its original Facebook post (possibly because they got tired of curating the comments), and removed the logos of various hotel chains from its website. 

Screenshot of VIP Passโ€™ now-deleted advertisement

At the same time, theyโ€™ve not addressed or even doubled down on the following:

  • Price: The VIP Pass still advertised at S$399 for six nights, despite the fact nights 4-6 have a compulsory cleaning fee of S$50 each. What has changed is the โ€œoriginal priceโ€, which was increased to S$2,093 from S$600. Yay for even more savings!

And just as a side note, am I the only one wondering why they keep saying โ€œfreeโ€ when you, um, have to pay money?

  • Awards: The Agoda Gold Circle award, which Agoda confirmed was not awarded to VIP Pass, is still displayed prominently
  • Media mentions: โ€œAs featured onโ€ continues to list numerous media outlets where I can find no trace of VIP Pass being mentioned. Well, with one hilarious exception- The Straits Times has now been added, even though the original article has mysteriously disappeared.

Good thing they took a screenshot of it; just a pity about the typoโ€ฆ

But thatโ€™s not all. Iโ€™ve been digging deeper into VIP Pass, and discovered a few more practices that really need highlighting. 

VIP Pass testimonials

VIP Pass has added a section filled with reviews and testimonials of โ€œamazing VIP experiences across Singaporeโ€.

If thatโ€™s not a ringing endorsement, I donโ€™t know what is. Letโ€™s read more about these โ€œamazing VIP experiencesโ€!

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Hereโ€™s Bill, who looks full of energetic energy as he energetically energizes the energy around him. โ€œNice hotels advertised, unbelievable prices!!โ€ says Bill. Thatโ€™s right Bill. I find the prices unbelievable too. 

But itโ€™s amazing how Bill stays energetic. Heโ€™s out there giving 10 tips for maintaining a positive attitude, 9 strategies to combat burnout, sagely LinkedIn advice, and dishing the dirt on the top 3 teeth whitening products of 2021. 

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My goodness, heโ€™s everywhere. If someone deserves six relaxing nights in a hotel, itโ€™s this man. 

Then thereโ€™s Shan, who says โ€œgoing to fully utilise for vacations planned after MCO, heh!โ€ I wasnโ€™t aware we had an MCO in Singapore, but now that the air travel bubble corridorโ€™s been mooted again, itโ€™s probably only a matter of time. 

Shan, or shall I say โ€œsmiling girl in white crew neck t-shirt and blue denim shortsโ€ is wearing a Stranger Things t-shirt, visible when we zoom and enhance. 

But Shan also comes in cherry versionโ€ฆ

โ€ฆVisit Taiwan versionโ€ฆ

โ€ฆand conveniently enough, โ€œdrag your project hereโ€ version. 

Another busy soul. I hope she enjoys her six nights at the Value Hotel Thomson. 

And finally thereโ€™s Sylvia, who says โ€œI got 3 rooms for 2 days for a big family holiday celebrating grandpaโ€™s birthdayโ€. 

Aw. Itโ€™s sweet she could find the time to do that, given how busy she is gracing the P&G careers pageโ€ฆ

โ€ฆnot to mention finding true love in Hong Kong via Match Dating. 

Iโ€™m not going to clog your screen with reverse image searches for every single photo, but one thingโ€™s for sure. These arenโ€™t photos of actual VIP Pass customers. 

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So the photos arenโ€™t legit, but what about the words? I think thereโ€™s questions to be asked here too. Hereโ€™s a still from a Facebook ad that VIP Pass is running. Nurul, supposedly from Singapore, says โ€œkids loved the huge poolโ€ฆgoing to use the VIP Pass for the next trip hereโ€. 

Thatโ€™s nice, except elsewhere on the VIP Pass website you find the exact same quote again from Nurulโ€ฆthis time from Penang. 

And then thereโ€™s Shan and Suraya, which VIP Pass would have you believe hail from Singapore. 

Even ignoring the whole MCO thing in Shanโ€™s quote, I think thereโ€™s good reason to doubt this claim. 

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Suraya and Shanโ€™s reviews are sourced from the reviews section on the VIP Pass website, which is more of a comments system (no verification required). These reviews are dated 8 June 2021, before VIP Pass even went on sale in Singapore. 

Make of that what you will. 

VIP Pass sales notifications

When you visit the VIP Pass website, youโ€™ll see a notification popping up every now and then on the bottom right of your screen. 

This is a common feature on e-commerce sites, known as โ€œlive sales notificationโ€ or โ€œrecent sales notificationโ€. Itโ€™s social proof 101: people are more likely to buy something if they know that others are doing the same (FOMO is a powerful thing). 

While itโ€™s obviously intended to drive conversions, thereโ€™s nothing wrong with live sales notifications per se. Other sites like Book Depository do it, and as long as itโ€™s truthful, why not? 

The problem arises when you start doubting the veracity of the underlying data. My suspicions were triggered when I noticed the same names appearing over different days. 

To document this, I observed the VIP Pass website on two different dates, about a week apart: Friday 2 July and Thursday 8 July. I opened the website in one window, and placed it side by side with clocktab.com to show the current date and time. 

Hereโ€™s the samples from 2 July.

Click to enlarge

Note how Siti Sarah, Tan Fui Fui, Lam Foo Keat, Lisa Lee, Lim Bee Ann and Fida Hossain all made purchases. 

Hereโ€™s the samples from 8 July.

Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge

Hello, whatโ€™s this? 

Here we are nearly a week later, and Siti Sarah, Tan Fui Fui, Lam Foo Keat, Lisa Lee, Lim Bee Ann and Fida Hossain all appear again, still tagged as โ€œabout one day agoโ€. Thatโ€™s really stretching the definition of โ€œone day.โ€ 

Now, itโ€™s certainly possible that these individuals did buy a VIP Pass at some point. However, showing the same names every day on loop with the implication that theyโ€™re recent sales is a questionable practice at best. 

VIP Pass MLM affiliate program

VIP Pass customers may have noticed an โ€œearn free holidaysโ€ tab in the memberโ€™s area. 

Clicking on this leads to an invitation to become a VIP Pass affiliate, earning a 15% commission on every pass you sell to friends and family. Gushes Malik from Malaysia:

โ€œIn less than a day, I made RM238.80 while watching 2 Netflix movies at home! I sent my affiliate link to my friends on WhatsApp, next thing I know I have made a good amount of commissions, with no effort! Now I have 7 months of FREE Netflix subscription. Thank you VIP Team!!โ€

Now who can argue with that?

Certainly not Noile Lim (spell it backwards), who is excited about the prospect of earning a good amount of commissions while watching Netflix movies at home. Noile loves luxury staycations, great deals and popular music.

Her eyes stare into your soul

Noile is also entirely fictitious, her photo courtesy of thispersondoesnotexist.com, a website which uses AI to generate portraits of imaginary people.

But that hasnโ€™t stopped her from registering as an affiliate of The VIP Pass. After entering some basic demographic detailsโ€ฆ

โ€ฆshe receives an email informing her sheโ€™s now part of the family! A pity the Telegram link doesnโ€™t work, but still. 

Noile now earns a 15% cut of every membership she sells through her affiliate link to family and (soon to be ex) friends. 

Thatโ€™s not all. The affiliate platform has the ability to add sub-affiliates in a scheme it literally refers to as โ€œmulti level marketingโ€. Affiliates can recruit further affiliates, and earn an unspecified cut of whatever sales they make. 

Noile gets on the phone with two of her closest friends, and in no time flat, they become her sub-affiliates. Sheโ€™s well on her way now to lots of Netflix!

I shall be very interested to see how this MLM program develops. 

Conclusion

The marketing tactics used by VIP Pass should be raising more than a few eyebrows, and perhaps the team might consider this for their weekend reading. 

GOOD GRIEF LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER, BOY

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Iโ€™ll say once again that there are many fantastic staycation deals out there, and this isnโ€™t one of them. Visit Trip.com. Visit Traveloka. Visit Klook. Bookmark the SHAโ€™s staycation deals page. But please, donโ€™t spend SS$399 S$549 on a VIP Pass. 

Unless you use Noileโ€™s affiliate link. 

(Cover image: VIP Pass)

Aaron Wong
Aaron Wong
Aaron founded The Milelion to help people travel better for less and impress chiobu. He was 50% successful.

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JW19

MLM, the communism of the product sales world and a pertinent Malaysian favourite. MLMโ€™s are the mother of all scams, thank God its outlawed in Singapore. Time to swipe left for VIP pass. Thanks Aaron.

HQ20

Malaysia Boleh! hahaha.

Chew

Why didnโ€™t God prevented it from happening? Who tell you MLM is outlawed Singapore? Donโ€™t simply give wrong information

drakka66

Iโ€™m betting that these VIP Guest articles will figure high on your list or โ€˜Most Fun Articles of 2021โ€™ when you do your year-end review. ๐Ÿ‘

Tse

I wish I were more mature, but Iโ€™m not.

Iโ€™d drag my project over Shan

Sorry.

LionDen

Haha! Noileโ€™s address is 38 Oxley!! Lolโ€ฆ

Freddy

The stock photos are hilarious!

Chris

Scam period

Adam

The same Noile Lim that tried to buy miles and got shut down by SIA?

Raymond

Another great piece. If only the MSM spend as much as you on their articles.

wowza

For all you know they may really post Noile Limโ€™s affiliate cheque to 38 Oxleyโ€ฆ then youโ€™d be kicking yourself!

Happy Camper

She looks hot (hey, I havenโ€™t been out of the country since Feb 2020)! Can I get Noileโ€™s number please??

Lynn

Hi Aaron, is VIP holidays working the same? They claim they selling package deals via Marriot vacation club. Wondering if they are legit.

ZYX

Youโ€™d better get better offer from Marriott directly. I think most of the properties are in US, never heard of one in SEA region.

ZYX

Most of those Marriott Vacation Club properties. Similar for Hilton

Michael

Any plans to review sellmymiles.com?

JW19

I donโ€™t think there will be plans to recommend selling miles being that it is against bank policy.

Michael

Ok the site is most likely illegitimate.

BK

This is obviously a scam. I was scam once with unsold.com. The company just went bust. Go google it. Now they have changed name to VIP holidays.
Buyers beware.

Chew

Their website in April 18,2022 mentioned Singapore police blocked their website earlier but after investigation found nothing wrong with them and their website is working again.

Lianne

I reported them and got them blocked, if they are unblocked someone just needs to report them again.

Lianne

i reported them to the Singapore Police Force after being scammed and asked the police to take it down last June. wish i read your articles before i got scammed.

Last edited 1 year ago by Lianne