tags: Scams
Florida Vacations - How to cancel.
June 16th, 2005, by Rich.
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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.
August 1st, 2006 at 8:46 pm
Hi, I just wanted to say that I also called Sunstar Travel and Tours Inc. first just to gain information on the package that was sent to our company via fax, I soon had my ear talked off and before long was unknowingly willing I am sure to give away my first born. I was talked into purchasing one of their travel packages they can be very pursuasive to say the least, this never would have happened had I first discussed it with my husband who was out of the country on business at the time. I am not saying it was not legit but after having read this website the day after my purchase as I had a very uneasy feeling, I had used my Capital One mastercard to purchase the package, however soon found out that they did not accept capital one so the transaction did not go through, they weren’t long calling me and asking me to find another payment route, I did through paypal but by that time I had developed a terrible feeling and when I responded that I had changed my mind, they used the whole non-refundable scenerio and I felt trapped.. After the phone call I began to do more active research on travel package scams and was becoming more and more uneasy so, I wanted to check them out specifically. I did a search through the Florida BBB and found them a member, this still did not put me at ease. I wasn’t even able to sleep and soon felt totaly violated, which was strange given I had basically brought this on myself, I think its the way they talk to you and pursuade you.. Three days later, I contacted my bank as I had paid through paypal and had them reverse the charge which they were able to do, I also put a block on my account to prevent anyone from taking that amount or any similar amount from my account without permission incase they tried to recover. I also canceled my credit card as I did not want them to be able to go after it for the money recovery as they did have my number and information. I got my money back yes, but today recieved a call rather irate sounding from “Jay” whom I see has posted above on behalf of this company. I did not take the call, instead made immediate contact with my lawyer who says what I did was within my rights as all contracts even those stated verbally to be non-refundable do have a refund time frame. I just wanted to post my story, incase someone who has just purchased and feels as uncomfortable after the fact needs a way to recover but it would have to be fairly immediate. If I recieve any harassments from the company my lawyer is more than prepared to handle them on my behalf. I have read through these messages and did read from another poster above that Sunstar Travel and Tours is a great trip package congrats to you. It is great to hear that in this world of what I am quickly learning are so many trip frauds there is at least perhaps reliable one, however it just wasn’t for me. I wish anyone else who chooses to use them the very best of luck and happy vacationing. I will be booking through my local travel agency……
August 2nd, 2006 at 8:56 pm
James, the exact same thing happened to me. Same guy “Eric”, same line about that
section of the law not applying.
I have just lodged a complaint with the FDOACS, and have been in contact with my credit card company MBNA. They have not been very helpful at all, one “senior account manager” telling me today that merchants do not have to follow the laws of their states, that they can make up their own refund policies.
Did you end up getting a full refund? I really hope I do, as I don’t have the cash to pay for that now. Stupid to sign up in the first place.
August 3rd, 2006 at 6:18 am
I think i am the newest guy who get scammed by GVD. They told me i filled out a ballot at a community talent show in Markham, Ontario (They finally came north of GTA in Ontario). They called me at 7pm today and their is a girl called Katrina, they told me i won the same GVM028 package and same story as everyone does and lastly she ask me for credit card number to secure this reservaion. I said if it was free why she insist me for a credit card, she told me this is just for reservation, I gave it to her (i am so damn stupid…=() and then the $ 798 USD sales pitch came up. I was heartbreaked that this girl did not tell me earlier after she got all the credit info from me. I told her I dont want the package and cancel it and she said it is already being processed. I said cancelled it once more and she hung up and she sounds mad. 3 minutes later, a guy called Greg called back and said he is the credit officer and said I owed them $ 798 USD and said I have to pay it, I said NO to him and he said “I am sorry but you are going for the vacation for sure so dont play games on us !” with a pressured and very unpolite manner. He makes me to record the transaction and hung me up right away after he reads my info once again with the info he got from his side. Now, I am already fraustatred about it because after i browsed thru this website on how this company tried to scammed people. I will call the customer service line for a refund tomorrow morning and see what they will do . I also prepare a letter that can be sent out anytime if they do not comply with my request. I hope someone can setup a website that can help to identify these scammers.
August 3rd, 2006 at 6:25 am
Forgot to mentioned, GVD uses this number 647-438-4333 to called you or displayed as ” Private Number” on your call display. So, if you seen this number, be careful and dont answer the call. I think they do have other outbound unknown numbers too…If anyone posted some more, the community would be greatly appreciated !!!
August 3rd, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Hi, just update everyone, I called today, the customer service did not ask me why to cancel but he told me as long as I postmarked 30 days within the package I signed up today, I would received a full refund on the package. He told me to send to an address 1701 Park Center Drive, Suite 201A, Orlando, Florida, 32835.. I dont know if this is right ?
August 3rd, 2006 at 3:17 pm
Hi Peter, their website lists the address as “Great Vacation Destinations, Inc., 7301 West Oakland Park Blvd, Lauderhill, FL 33319″. I also checked the Florida Division of Corporations and you’ll notice that their official mailing address is “4960 Conference Way North, Suite 100, Boca Raton, Florida 33431″. So what you might have is the address of a sales office, I couldnt’ say which one you’re best choosing, but I’d be tempted to go for the legal corporate address and the address given to you.
August 3rd, 2006 at 5:26 pm
hello everyone, I wrote above about having been manipulated into purchasing a package through Sunstar
Travel and Tours, I am finding that way too many of these vacation packages sound the same, frankly it scares me. I have recieved terrible voice mail messages from this company over the past three days, demanding that I find a way to pay them back the payment I had reversed. I am pretty confident that they cannot force me to have to pay up. just wondering if any of you know whether I am safe or should I contact someone to stop these harrassing calls (ie: my lawyer?). They are leaving me messages at home and at work, and they are being very demanding. I have all intentions of sending back this package they claim to have already mailed out to me which I have yet to recieve. Am I correct to believe that in doing that, I should be off the hook? If anyone has any suggestions or experiences that can put my mind at ease???
August 4th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
I received my refund from GVD by sending a registered mail (Canada Post) of the cancellation letter to the address below.
Great Vacation Destinations, Inc.
7301 West Oakland Park Blvd
Lauderhill, FL 33319
UNITED STATES
I’m really glad I got my credit card number changed so they couldn’t charge my credit card in the future. I read that Stephanie has had her card charged again a month later. I’m sure this is grounds for her credit card company to dispute it and reverse it because it’s an unauthorized charge. They may have the first one taped recorded as authorized, but they don’t have the second one taped.
Better be safe than sorry, change your credit card number. So long as you have second credit card (which is a good idea anyways as a backup), then it shouldn’t be as much trouble as Great Vacation Destinations has been. The way they’ve gone about this has made me feel like they are indeed scammers and everyone should boycott Bluegreen Corporation as well because it’s their parent company. If they want to show you how seriously they take vacationing, then this is very bad example.
August 5th, 2006 at 5:07 am
I was scammed by GVD as well.
I got a call from GVD yesterday around 8:00pm (August 3, 2006) and found out that it was a scam after I gave them all my credit card info. They just said that it was for information purpose. So I called the customer service (1-800 number) this morning and I told one of the reps that I wish to cancel the contract. His name was John and he gave me his extension number instead of employee number. I asked for it but he said he didn’t have the employee number.
He said that he will give me a full refund since it’s been less than 30 days of the purchase. (In my case, it was less than a day.) He also said that the process will take about 7-10 business days so I will receive a full refund ($798 US) by next Friday or the following Monday (August 14th). I also asked him to give the company name and address so that I can send the company a cancellation letter. He said I didn’t need to, but I told him that I wanted to make things clear just in case. He gave me the address of the company and the address was the following:
Bluegreen Direct
1701 Parkcenter Dr.
Suite 110
Orlando, FL 32835
Peter, it seems that the address you’ve got is identical to the one that I’ve got except for the suite number. I don’t know why they aren’t the same but I checked the address twice so it should be correct. I don’t know if I should send another cancellation letter to GVD because Bluegreen Direct seems to take care of things. All the reps seemed to be nice. So don’t worry too much about their attitude. I think it depends on who you talk to.
I’ve done everything I could. I sent a cancellation letter as a registered mail to them and it costed me $30.05. They’ll be receiving it on Wednesday morning.
I called the credit card company(TD Trust) and they said that I should wait for 7-10 days until GVD or Bluegreen Direct pay my money back and then I can dispute the charges against them.
I also called my lawyer and asked him about it and he suggested that I’d send a cancellation letter to them and wait for 7-10 days.
The only thing I could do now is just wait and trust their words. But since it was a verbally made promise, I’m still in doubt.
I’ll make another call on Monday and ask them if my refund is being processed.
Wish me a good luck and I wish all of you who are going through the same procedure I do lots of good luck!
Please email me at yurim1105@hotmail.com if you just want to talk to me or share your stories with me. I’ve got better after I talked to my friends about it. So please feel free to talk to me if you need a friend.
Also, for those who have got their refunds back, is there anything I should do? 7 days seem too long to wait…
August 7th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
Well, everyone has their case doubt differently because for me , they told me i have to receive my package first before I could take any action on cancellation and as long as is within 30 days of the timestamp, I would be able to cancel but for you, you dont need to cancel with the package sent back to them, so I felt weird on mine tooo… pls comment ?