tags: Scams
Ameri-scam.
May 23rd, 2005, by Rich.
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Two months ago I wrote a short article about a telemarketing call that I received from AmeriVacation. It has very quickly become one of the most viewed pages on this site, and also the most commented upon, by many people who are worried that they have been conned.
With just a little digging I’ve started to unearth some more information on AmeriVacation, and some “companies” that appear to be related.
It appears that AmeriVacation is only the latest front. They set up a website, to appear legitimate and then cold call people, anyone whose number they can get using an automated calling mechanism (which is very simple to do with a computer). They then sell a package that is not what it appears to be and then make it very difficult to obtain a refund.
Sadly the people that get scammed are often the most vulnerable people who can least afford to lose such a large amount of money.
Through my digging I discovered a little about the history of the scams, and a little about how they’re all related. What follows is a brief review of the links so that others may pick up the trail more easily.
The currently active websites (which can be linked through identical wording, identical phone numbers, IP addresses that resolve to the same physical machines, etc) are:
- www.amerivacation.com
- www.expertholidays.com
- www.yourvipholiday.com (bad press) (more)
- www.flbahamastravelhome.com
- www.mydiscountholiday.com (bad press)
- www.doublevacations.com
- www.affiliatedtravelnetwork.com
- www.brilliantholiday.com (bad popup press)
- www.destinationcenter.net
- www.myffc.com (bad press)
- www.mydiscountholiday.com
- www.floridaholidayusa.com - discovered July 2005
- www.holidayfloridausa.com - discovered July 2005
- www.sunrisetravels.us - discovered August 2005
- www.imperialvacation.com - discovered August 2005
- www.5starholidays.net - discovered August 2005
- www.floridatouristbureau.com - discovered August 2005
Now, anybody that sells a holiday from Florida, or sells a holiday to Florida must be registered. The last entry in the above list , “mydiscountholiday.com” claims a Florida Seller Of Travel License Number of ST35170. In fact, this next list of sites all claim to have that same license number.
- www.mydiscountholiday.com (bad press)
- www.usafamilygetaway.com (bad press)
- www.sandyvacationsllc.com (bad press)
- www.floridabureauoftourism.com
- http://www.destinationsforyou.com
- http://www.celebrationpromotions.com
Another useful thing for linking companies is the address, several of these companies have used “600 North Highway 1792, Suite 120, Longwood Fl 32750″ including:
- www.yourvipholiday.com
- www.usafamilygetaway.com addres link also mentioned here
That link is important because without it these appear to be two separate groups of companies, when in fact, it’s one big cloud.
The next link in the chain is the phone number, all the sites below are connected because they use the same UK freephone number 0800-917-7462. What’s especially nice is that three of them have also decided to share testimonials too!
- www.windsorvacations.com
- www.myvacationschoice.com
- www.vacations-paradise.com (bad press)
- www.sohovacations.com -bullshit testimonial (bad press)
- www.centuryvacations.com - bullshit testimonial
- www.firstclicktravel.net - bullshit testimonial
- www.usafamilygetaway.com
The other address in use is “7632 Southland Blvd, Orlando, FL 32809″ and this is used by:
- www.myffc.com
- www.mydiscountholiday.com
- www.brilliantholiday.com (bad press)
- www.destinationcenter.com
Currently www.destinationcenter.com looks like a bit of a sales force advertisement. However, by looking at the caches on google and web.archive.org, it’s apparent that it was also used as travel sales site (hence I got the address match above), selling these same packages - i.e. not just a coincidence, this was the same outfit.
So, who’s behind it? Well, according to this story, it all comes back to to a Altef Hemani (aka Alex Hemani), who has a history of such scams.
His name is as good as mud on the internet, so he’s tried to combat this by buying a few websites and and writing eulogies about himself.
Each of those sites, incidentally, is owned by the same company: Travel Express Investments 385 Center Point Cir, Altamont Springs, FL 32701.
What’s especially interesting is that the administrative contact for the domains is Arif Rajan who may be the same business man whos only newsworthy moment until now was that in 2002 he was was questioned and released without charge regarding money laundering for terrorist organisations.
Sources
Naturally the information I’ve been able to gather and present here is all freely available to the public. Please feel free to check, corroborate, dispute, disprove or otherwise extended it through your own investigation.
I have found the following resources most useful:
- http://whois.net/ which provides information about the owners of domain names.
- http://sunbiz.org/ which provides information from the Florida Department of State regarding companies, and the persons legally responsible for those companies.
- http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/ the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which regulates travel in Florida.
September 30th, 2005 at 8:29 am
Hi Rich
How is my change to get a refund from SunShineTravel. When they say´s, yes - we have received a cancellation letter from you, but not the vacation package before the 30 days, and then we can not refund you.
We have return the package, but they received the package pass the 30 days, because we have som problems with DHL, we thought they have returned it.
September 30th, 2005 at 1:42 pm
Hi Lone, contact the DOACS as soon as possible.
To paraphrase the relevant section of Florida State Statute 559.933:
What this is saying is that, firstly, you have thirty days from when you receive the package, this means that you have more than 30 days after the booking is made. It’s also saying that you only have to request to cancel, that is enough, if a licensed seller of travel refuses to honour a request to cancel, then they are being unlawful.
Returning the package is merely a part of the process, of course it should be returned promptly, but the Statute is quite specific that you only have to request the refund.
September 30th, 2005 at 6:13 pm
Hi John W,
I’m in absolute agreement with you that Sun-Kissed Promotions Inc. is a legitimate (i.e. real) company. It is a registered seller of travel in Florida, and the DOACS have confirmed this to me personally, which I’ve already mentioned elsewhere. Furthermore both Paul Gustke (Florida Reservations Manager) and Lane Geyer (General Manager) have visited this site and been involved in the disussion, their comments leave me in no doubt that Sunkissed is a legitimate (i.e. real) company.
You mentioned that you had “experienced cancellations due to this site”, and in so doing you confused the disussion forum with the reason for the discussion.
This site contains comments from several Sunkissed customers, who, for various reasons, are unhappy because they have had difficulty interacting with Sunkissed. Jacqui Burger’s situation (for example) appears to have been caused by poor communication, and Lane Geyer’s comments support this interpretation. Lane’s comments suggest that Sunkissed does not have a resilient communications infrastructure; they also confirm and explain why people have had difficulty emailing, telephoning or just visiting the sunkissed website.
At the time of writing http://www.sunkissedtravel.com is again blank, whilst home.sunkissedtravel.com is working. Such communication problems are unlikely to leave a glowing impression on anyone who experiences them, or reads about them, but they are not the fault of this site, responsibility can’t lie with any party but Sunkissed.
Another factor that I think is worth mentioning is that there is confusion about the multiple Sunkissed brands, which is (I think) largely due to a lack of information. I had hoped to clarify this but Lane Geyer was noticably unresponsive to a direct question about the relationship between SunkissedTravel.com, travasaurus.com and RJRandall.com, even when reminded. Ignoring such a straightforward question; one that’s obviously there to reduce confusion and clarify matters, might be misinterpreted by readers.
There is a deeper issue however. People have left comments describing how they have received phone calls or popups from Sunkissed/Travasaurus in which they are told that they have won something. So the initial contact with potential customers is based on the pretext that the customer has won something, when they have not, so the whole relationship begins with deception. Once the “lucky winner” gets off the phone, they start to realise that they’ve just been talked into spending a lot of money that they had not planned for, and start to wonder (worry) about how to get their money back.
Such deception, in the eyes of many readers, is an illigitimate practice, it does not alter the legitimacy of the company, but it certainly diminishes it’s reputation. Such loss of reputation is (again) not the fault of this site, it is the fault of any company that engages in the practice.
Finally, regardless of whether they’re qualified or valid, concerns about the recent hurricanes are also likely to feature strongly in people’s consideration at the moment, so whilst a telesales pitch may be good enough to influence an impulse purchase, I speculate that customers are currently far more likely to reconsider after the call has ended.
In summary, I have shown that the cancellations you have mentioned are, a result of the underlying issues that are being discussed here, and not a result of “this site” as you originally stated. I am, of course, pleased to hear that this site may have assisted some readers to make a more informed decision than they would otherwise have been able to make, and I am pleased that I have also been able to assist them in acting promptly upon that decision by informing them of the rights granted to them by Florida State.
September 30th, 2005 at 6:45 pm
hi im linda, this company rang me and asked me if i wanted a cheap holiday to florida, they said it would only cost £598.00, we already booked our holiday and we just wanted to know if its a scam.
their telephone number is 0800 066 4935 and their website is http://www.celebrationworld resort.com
September 30th, 2005 at 7:01 pm
Hello again
Happy and releived, all too soon…
They got my money even though I had cancelled my card!
The bank says, that since they had ordered it on the 22nd of September then it was possible for them to get the money even from a cancelled card the 28th… I’m pissed at my bank, since I was told this was not possible… I haven’t recieved anything from Starr Getaways no e-mails or packages or anything, nor do I have the energy to fight, but I will have to find it…
TC
October 1st, 2005 at 1:50 am
I have just found out about Alex Hemani today and i actually work for him and dont even know what to do now…i have a wife and 3 step kids.
But i do know where to find him each day….is there a reward for him ? is he wanted by the police or journalists?
October 1st, 2005 at 7:20 am
Rich,
I did go to work for Eastern Pacific Holdings for 4 days until a person I had met in my apt. complex told me that it was not a good idea to be there because I could end up in big trouble because they were going to be raided soon so my initial plan went down the drain. They seemed to be legit but apparently not.
JohnW
October 2nd, 2005 at 6:46 am
The best way to get your money back is simply refusing packages and writing cancellation letters to all parties involved. If you don’t accept the merchandise it should be pretty obvious to the credit card companies and the scam companies that you decided to cancel your contract within the 30-day cancellation period. Accepting packages that you do no want, only complicates things. The scam companies could claim that you want to make the trip without paying for it. Those claims could make it difficult for the bank to rembourse you.
However, if you refused the package and written cancellation letters and your bank keeps on refusing to return the money, I suggest that you cancel your credit card or close your bank account and start looking for another bank. My bank returned my money after 15 days. I do not even know if AmeriVacation returned the money to them. The point is that the bank returned me my money because I could clearly demonstrate that I had been ripped off.
October 3rd, 2005 at 8:46 pm
Hi John (Smith), is your employment anything to do with the companies that have been mentioned?
October 3rd, 2005 at 9:00 pm
Hi Linda,
How refreshing to hear of a company ringing you and asking if you’d like a cheap holiday, rather than telling you you’d won something. If you’re not registered with any do-not-call lists then you’re the first person to comment who’s been contacted in a wholly legitimate manner. Let’s hope such honesty continues.
The company you mention (CWR) is, from what I can gather, a timeshare resort that had previously contracted out it’s marketing to Amerivacation, which is why it’s involved in this discussion.
Rich