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Travel Scams
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| Recognize Fraudulent / Deceptive Vacation Packages |
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| Our certificates and offers are 100% legitimate, and we will be monitoring the company we are purchasing these offers from to make sure they stay that way and always deliver on quality and service. Here's a list of SCAMS I have fallen victim to in the past as well as some of my clients: Lead Generation Be aware that when you place your business card or name into a drawing for a free vacation, you may be added to a telemarketing call list unless otherwise specified. Telemarketers know that wishful thinkers are susceptible to their offers. Also know that your personal information, should you enter it, may be collected by unscrupulous operators via the Internet when you are visiting bogus travel-related sites seeking unbelievable deals on trips or airfare. Fly By Night Operations You get a notice that you have won a super travel bargain. All you have to do is make a deposit with your credit card and select your preferred travel dates. The trouble is you may never actually get your "bargain" trip because the travel proves to be a complete fabrication, your reservations may not be confirmed or because you must comply with so many hard-to-meet, hidden or expensive "conditions." Fraudulent telemarketers purporting to be travel agencies can offer substantial travel packages at comparatively low cost because they know they will never have to come good on their promises. The use of travel as a commodity makes the long-distance nature of the transaction plausible but also makes getting a refund next to impossible. Additional Costs and Upgrades Several companies overstate the amenities included, hide extra charges in "all-inclusive" packages, or charge you for products and services you never received. Free vacations often become assertively pitched "discount" packages, where you have to pay an excessively high price for some uncovered part - like hotel or airfare, or inflated charges for a "required" second person. So, your airfare may be free, but your anticipated $50 hotel room costs you $350. Perhaps a "handling fee" or "membership fee", anywhere from $50 to hundreds of dollars, is required as well. Some telemarketers say you've won — or been specially selected — for a trip then "bait and switch" you into spending additional money for "upgraded" hotel or other accommodations. You get a free or low-cost trip, but the room is cramped and grimy, the food terrible or nonexistent. The promoter then magically finds an upgrade at an outrageous price. In addition, many offers require you to pay upgrade costs to receive the actual destinations, cruises, or dates you were promised. Some may require you to pay more for port charges, hotel taxes, or service fees but not bill your card until after you return. They promise you a bargain-priced vacation. However, when you add up all the fees and extras, you wind up paying more for the "bargain" than for a conventional travel package. The total cost may run two to three times more than what you'd expect to pay, or what you were led to believe. They may also fail to inform you of their "no refund" policy or misrepresent it over the phone. Timeshare Sales Trap You take the bait and fly to Florida. When you try to pick up the vouchers for the rest of your trip, you find yourself trapped at a lengthy spiel on timeshares. You may also find out once you reach the final destination you are required to once again spend part of your vacation trapped listening to a lengthy and high pressure sales pitch for timeshare accommodations during your "vacation." Charter Flights Every year at spring break many students, who signed up and paid for vacation packages, are disappointed when no plane is available for the return flight. When they examine the conditions of their contracts, they find, in small print, a clause that says the travel agency had the right to postpone the departure flight by as many as three days without any advance notice. These students are left stranded in airports far from home, with no provisions for food or overnight lodging, just so the travel agency can save money, flying fewer of them during the off-peak days, once the break is over. A lot of college students use use charters for spring break but these flights are not covered by the same laws as commercial airlines (usually charters can be canceled for any reason by the operator up until 10 days before the trip). Charter flights can also raise prices before the trip as well but you can cancel if they increase the package price by more than 10%. Cruise Line Cancellations Some travelers reserve a specific cruising date, sometimes a full year or year and a half in advance. Then, shortly before the cruise, they are told that that particular cruise has been rescheduled. They are told that they can go on another one, on certain dates, which may not fit their work schedule. Most contracts say that a cruise line can cancel at any time, for basically any reason. Boat Ride to Hell Telemarketers can initiate contact with you in several ways: they may send direct mail to you stating you will receive a "fantasy cruise holiday" vacation including a "luxury" cruise, then direct you to call an 800 number; and they also send unsolicited faxes to your business notifying "all staff" that the "wholesale travel department" has only a few Bahamas cruise packages remaining at a special corporate rate and that you should call immediately if you are interested in purchasing one; they send electronic certificates to your e-mail address congratulating you on "winning" a fabulous vacation for a very attractive price. Some say you have been "specially selected" (only people with e-mail qualify) for this opportunity. As mentioned, leads are also gathered at local fairs and trade shows by "lead generators." Booths are decorated with banners or signs inviting people to "register" for a vacation. You register thinking you are entering a draw to win a vacation. Regardless of the method of contact, you are led to believe you are part of a select group of people specially chosen to receive this vacation package. Once they have you on the line, they describe an exciting vacation in Florida and a "luxury cruise" to the Bahamas. They state that the vacation is worth a significant amount, sometimes as much as $2,500, but that you will pay a much smaller amount to receive it, typically $398, $498, or $598. They urge you to immediately "secure" or "register" the vacation with a major credit card. They also say that the payment covers the cost of your accommodations in both Florida and the Bahamas, as well as the Bahamas "cruise." They inform you that you must purchase the vacation immediately. If you request time to think over the offer, or receive it in writing, they respond with canned rebuttals such as "this is a limited promotion based on availability" or , "each confirmation number can only be activated once, so you cannot call back and reactivate your number" or "by the time you receive something in the mail, the limited number of vacations will be gone." In fact, there is no limit to the number of such vacations for sale. So you give your credit card number to the convincing operator. Once that is obtained, they say you will be switched over to a "supervisor." In actuality, the call is transferred to the "verification" department at their headquarters, where a third person comes on to the line to confirm details of the sale. Unlike the sales portion of the call, the "verification" is tape recorded. During the verification, they ask for your credit card number again, quickly review the details of the vacation package and, in some but not all instances, tell you for the first time that you will have to pay additional charges for "port service reservation processing fees" and that the vacation package is "non-refundable." These disclosures occur only after you have provided a credit card number which will be charged within minutes of your hanging up. In the travel certificate industry, the amount you are initially charged during the sales call is known as the "front end" fee. This is because you do not receive a vacation for the money initially charged to your credit card, nor does that front end fee pay for your vacation. In fact, most, if not all of the front end fee pays the owners and their telemarketers for their sales efforts. For your initial $398, $498, or $598, you receive nothing more than a package containing a short video, some advertisements and a "reservation request voucher" for the Bahamas cruise and the Florida vacation. When you receive the vacation package you discover that you will have to pay more to take the vacation you thought you had already paid for. You find you have actually just paid for the "option" to purchase a vacation and also realize that you did not win a thing. The required additional payment, or the "back end" fee, is at least $198 to $316. They state that the back end fee is for "port reservation processing fees." In fact, the back end fee pays for most, if not all, of your "cruise" to the Bahamas and your vacation accommodations. Should you call and attempt to cancel your vacation it is flatly stated that they have a "no refund" policy and that you cannot cancel your initial purchase. If you read the fine print on the back of the reservation vouchers that are included in their vacation packages, you will discover that they actually do have a return policy within a specified number of days, depending on the state in which you live. If you return the vacation package, even following the instructions on the back of the reservation voucher, you inevitably receive your package back, often several times, until you either give up or call a law enforcement agency, the Better Business Bureau, your credit card company or a private attorney. People who seek third party assistance generally receive a refund. Those who do not are generally stuck paying for the misrepresented vacation package. Should you be one of those relatively few people who decide to pay the extra "back end" fee to take the vacation you will find that the vacation is not the "fantasy cruise holiday" you were promised but a five to six hour ferry ride to the Bahamas and back. The cruise ship you're booked on may look more like a tug boat. The hotel accommodations they provide are shabby, and if you wish to stay at the better-known hotels and resorts referred to in the solicitations and brochures, you must pay yet more undisclosed "upgrade" fees; otherwise you must endure the substandard accommodations provided. Never Never Land You receive in the mail an "Executory Writ of Authorization" which certifies that you will receive a "World-class Florida / Caribbean Vacation Package . . . including all accommodations and two Round-trip Airfares!" The certificate also states, "This special package is sponsored by, and designed to promote, select hotels, resorts and airlines." The certificate displays hotel logos including those of the "Best Western British Colonial Beach Resort" and the "Nassau Marriott." To receive your vacation package, you must call right away. When you call their 800 number you reach a telemarketer who reiterates that you will receive a "promotionally discounted vacation package." They say they can offer such a "fabulous vacation" at an extremely discounted rate because they purchase large volumes of rooms from the specified hotels which, in turn, are promoting tourism in Florida and the Bahamas. They say you are guaranteed to stay at the British Colonial Beach Resort in Nassau, Bahamas and that the vacation package is valid for 18 months, but that your reservations must be made at least 60 days in advance of the requested travel date. They indicate that they are a full-service travel agency and that they are the ones to call to book your reservation dates. This special limited time offer will cost you only $495 which you must pay immediately with your credit card. Through the use of stall tactics and blackout dates they either manage to have the offer lapse or they have disappeared completely by the time you decide to book. Lifestyles of the Poor and Unfortunate Several states are suing National Travel Services Inc. and Ramada Plaza Resorts, both of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., their owners, and Robin Leach, who pitched their vacation offer. The suit alleges that the companies used Leach's "celebrity endorsement" to convince consumers they had won, or were entitled to, a luxury Florida vacation and cruise to the Bahamas. After paying you'd receive a video hosted by Leach in which he repeatedly described the vacation as "world class" and "an experience you'll never forget." You'd also receive travel certificates featuring Leach's picture and the message: Robin Leach says, "Pack Your Bags!" As a condition of the trip, the certificates failed to disclose that you were required to attend lengthy timeshare presentations lasting up to five hours and pay sizable expenses and "port fees" to the promoters. You would eventually find out that you had won only a chance to pay as much as $1,000 for a seven-day Florida vacation in substandard accommodations and a bonus Bahamas' cruise which was actually a one-day ferry ride and a game of "Las Vegas style" bingo. There was nothing free or fabulous about these dream travel packages. This was a trip to nowhere that you'll try to forget, but can't. Canadians continue to receive "special deal" offers for a $1600 voucher towards an all-inclusive, first-class Caribbean holiday from Ramada Plaza Resorts (rprvacations.com) despite over 665 registered complaints at PhoneBusters regarding their practice of immediately charging $2500 to callers' credit cards after asking for a down-payment. Insisting that the packages are non-refundable, company reps feel that because written scripts are used there is no possibility of abuse or misunderstanding. Some tips: Buy vacation travel from a business you know. Deal with members of a professional association and realize that few legitimate businesses can afford to give away products and services of real value or substantially undercut other companies prices. Verify arrangements before you pay. Get the details of your vacation in writing and a copy of the cancellation and refund policies. Don't accept vague terms such as "major hotels" or "luxury cruise ships." Call to verify your reservations. Look up numbers rather than using those provided. The entire operation may just be a front using mail drops and call forwarding services, all leading back to the same operation. Learn the vocabulary. "You have been specially selected to receive our SPECTACULAR LUXURY DREAM VACATION offer" doesn't mean you'll get a free vacation. It means you'll be "offered an opportunity" to pay for a trip that may fit your idea of luxury or not. "Subject to availability" means you may not be able to get the accommodations you want when you want them. "Blackout periods" are blocks of dates, usually around holidays or peak season, when no discount travel is available. Don't send money by messenger or overnight mail. Some scam artists may ask you to send them a check or money order immediately. Others may offer to send a messenger to pick up your payment. If you pay with cash or a check, rather than a credit card, you may lose your right to dispute fraudulent charges. |
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