Tags: Scams
Florida Vacations - How to cancel.
June 16th, 2005, by Rich.
Several people have emailed me, or left messages asking for help in getting a refund from Florida based holiday companies (such as AmeriVacation, YourVIPTravel, etc), either because they have bought in haste, or feel they have been misguided by the sales person. In this article I hope to condense all the comments from other stories into a simple action plan.
Your Rights
According to Florida State Law “You have a right to cancel your purchase and receive a refund within 30 days of the date of purchase” after which, “the seller has 30 days from the time of receipt of your notice of cancellation to send you a full refund”. [source] [corroborating source]
The law exists to regulate Sellers of Travel to and from Florida, as well as Sellers of Travel whose place of business is in Florida - it helps to maintain the reputation of Florida as a welcoming vacation destination and protects the citizens of any country by forcing licensed sellers of travel to follow strict rules, including the ones about refunds; so the suggestions listed here are valid from any country.
Action 1 - Call
- Call the number you originally dialled.
- Politely and clearly state that you are calling because you wish to cancel a contract.
- Ask them to confirm the company name and address to which you should send a cancellation letter.
- If the person on the other end bluffs or prevaricates, remind them that Florida State Statute 559.933 is quite clear on your right to a full and prompt refund.
- If they verbally agree to send you a full refund, accept this happily, but you should not stop yet because if they were to forget to send it, or lose the note to say that you’d called, or had a computer crash, (etc. etc.) then you’d have no evidence that you called within the 30 day cancellation period.
Action 2 - Write
- Write a letter of cancellation.
- This is a generic letter template.
- This is an AmeriVacation template.
- Send the letter by an international recorded delivery service.
- From the UK you could use International Signed For.
- Sometimes the companies will state that “you have to return the package”, this is usually just an obstruction tactic, but if they insist, take photographs (and scan or photocopy) everything that you return (example).
Action 3 - Complain always
If you you’re unhappy about the experience and wish to air your grievance, then please do. Lodging a formal complaint will quickly raise the profile of your scammer so the DOACS can monitor them better:
- Complain to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (who regulate the selling of travel in Florida) using this form.
- Inform your “local” national press so that others do not go through the same experience.
- In the UK there is the BBC’s Watchdog Programme
- In the Netherlands, there is Opgelicht.
Action 4 - Write to your credit card company
- Write to your credit card company and tell them that you are seeking a refund from the vendor.
- Explain why you feel the company misrepresented itself.
- Include a copy of the letter you sent to the vendor.
- Use local legislation if necessary:
- If you’re in the UK and the vendor refuses (or is unable) to provide a refund, then the Consumer Credit Act 1974 section 75 is your fallback. It makes the credit card company equally responsible for any misrepresentation (which in the case of AmeriVacation there has been), so should attempt to claim the refund from your credit card company.
Action 5 - Help Others
If you succeed in getting a refund, using this or an alternative method, let others know by describing your success below, I’ll modify the above steps as appropriate.
June 22nd, 2005 at 8:35 am
Has anybody received a refund?? It is obvious fraud, I really doubt they will allow any refund according to the law.. but I would like to be proved otherwise, as I am one of the naive people who gave my card details and got charged.
June 28th, 2005 at 12:33 pm
Hello Paul,
I can confirm that I did get a full refund. Just follow the instructions online and you will be fine.
June 29th, 2005 at 5:38 am
I am also following the instructions online. My company says that the travel package has been shipped already so I have to wait for it and then return it back. Only then the refund is possible.
I fear that I will never receive that offer. Maybe it would be wise to ask the travel agent of mail company address, contact details and the registered mail nr?
Is it also possible to receive a refund immediately after the purchase, if the travel company just cancels my registration number and gives me back money?
June 29th, 2005 at 9:42 am
The email address of Amerivacation is customersupport@amerivacation.com. It is important that you send them an email and keep a copy of it in order to have proof that you did want to cancel the trip right away. Also write immediately a cancellation letter and send it to:
AmeriVacation
7800 Southland Blvd. Suite #120
Orlando, Florida 32809
Specify that you want to cancel your vacation package and that you are entitled to a full refund (Florida State Statute 559.933). Refuse the package sent by DHL(!). It is also important that you send copies of your email and you cancellation letter to not only your credit card company but also to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, also inform them about your actions. They will help you out.
July 4th, 2005 at 4:42 pm
Today I found out SunKissed Travel was a scammed. I purchased a 5 day Orlando vacation with tickets to Disney, rental car plus 3 days in Daytona. I made this purchase end of May 2004. Unbeknown to me I found out in June that I was pregnant, I should have cancelled the vacation then but I wanted to honor my conmitment and they told me I had 18 months to take the vacation. I thought by November 2005 I be ready for a vacation after having a baby. So today 7-4 I called customer service to give them 3 months notice for my vacation in November. I was shocked to find when I called the number it has been disconected. Then I went on the website and it brought me here. After I purchase the package I went on sunkissed travel and saw they had a page I thought they were ligit and the woman on the phone told me they had been in business for long time and they were not going anywhere. Is there anybody I can call after this time since I just found out this was a scammed. Do I need to notify my credit company and let them know of this. I was going to honor my end of the deal and just found out it was a scammed it wasn’t my fault that I learned late of this or is it?
July 6th, 2005 at 9:17 am
i have been just received my package with vouchers, an invoice and a freindly letter from Expert Holidays. I am planning on going next year, only hope that the company has not gone broke.
What is the scam about, one person on the website tells that her friend went last year, so maybe it is only one problem that the person who owns these companies is not quite legite, but maybe trips are ok. I got a Pop-on and contacted the travel company my self.
Now I looking forward to a great trip next year. Maybe we are all just to suspicious, because it is american and it is agressive. My husbands colleguage also went last year, and the only catch was that they had to listen to time-share sales talk for about 90 minutes.
So lighten up and try not to be so suspicious.
July 6th, 2005 at 11:39 am
Lene, People should be MORE suspicious, not less, the scam is three fold:
I wrote about an unlawful telemarketing call I received and since then many thousands of Europeans have since visited my website, many of whom have commented that they (a) can’t afford the holiday they just unwittingly bought and (b) they want to cancel and get their money back.
I’ve said before that I hope anyone that does take the holidays actually gets there and gets something good (although no evidence has yet emerged after several months, and for the same cost you could have a holiday you choose rather than one that is sold to you), but that’s not what this story is about.
This story is about how to cancel; how to make sure you get every penny back, AND how to ensure that the right authorities know that something is amiss. The story exists so that I don’t have to suggest the same process to every new person who asks what they should do because they are terrified that they’ve just done something very silly, and unwittingly invested in a vacation that they can’t afford.
July 6th, 2005 at 8:49 pm
OK.
I AM FRENCH, AND YOUR BEAUTIFUL EXPERTHOLIDAYS CONTACT ME BY
THE NET. WANT TO SELLING A PACKAGE ORLANDO.DAYTONA.BAHAMAS
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ? ROBBER ? SWINDLE ?
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP
REGARDS FROM PARIS
July 7th, 2005 at 4:31 am
Hi Rich,
I’ve received an email saying that the refund has been posted and should be reflected in my credit card bill soon. I hope they make good on the email and will post on my blog if/when I see the money in my bank. =)
To the rest of you who are trying to get a refund, follow the steps indicated above and persevere. I believe the refund process is purposely lengthy so that they can continue to sell you the package. That’s what they tried to do with me - calling me up after I’d already received an email saying that I would get a refund and trying to get me to keep the package.
July 8th, 2005 at 10:10 am
Hi Rico, you have to make up your own mind - this is just a personal website (and not a helpline, sorry).
It should be fairly obvious to you that you are not a competition winner because there is no competition; you’re just being marketed to.
You must make up your own mind on the value of what you’re being offered and understand all the costs involved in taking the vacation that is being sold to you. Flights, Insurance, Hotel Tax, Port Tax, Spending Money, etc.