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.
October 4th, 2006 at 7:56 pm
Hi all those who have been scammed by Great Vacation Destinations.
I am in the process of trying to get $200 of my money back from the company.
They have refunded me all but that amount. I have sent the package back to the
company within the 30 day window for returns. I spoke to a very rude, and bossy
representative at the company today that stated that I would not be able to get
my money back ever, and that I infact owed them money still, for the trip.
I’m not sure what is going on with this. I did send them a letter cancelling
along with the package. I really do hope that this company goes broke, I feel
like they are trying to “scare” and intimidate me into taking this vacation.
I’m going to send another letter later today. Using the format someone else on
this website has used. Hopefully I’ll get my money back soon.
October 10th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Sweden: I just “won” a similar package from summerbay resort yesterday.
They said I was the winner of the day, they seemed professional, I guess I was caught up in the moment and yes I gave them my credit number.
The thing is I am from the carribbean, I hope my bank will be able to stop payment. I am going to call right now to see if it was already charged to my card.
Funny though - I was going to call their customer care to ask if I won why was my credit card number required. I just came upon this site by accident, wish me luck.
They sure had me fooled!
October 10th, 2006 at 7:52 pm
Note: “Michael”s supplied email (which is not published) is not an “@summerbayresort.com” address, so this message should at best be considered a personal opinion, and (as Michael states) it does not reflect any official corporate policy - reader discretion is advised.
I’m not actually sure that writing on here will make a difference. It is horrible that people seem to have lumped all vacation sales into the same category. I’m sure every last one of you have had a bad experience at some restaurant somewhere. I am willing to bet that you will still go to the restaurants to eat, maybe not that particular one.
I am also willing to bet that when talking about going out to eat, you don’t scream that all restaurants are a scam and to ‘protect your credit card’. Infact, were you to walk into, lets say McDonalds and start complaining and accusing the employee behind the counter for lying to you, or trying to steal your money because of an experience you had at Wendy’s that person would think you are directly out of your mind.
Well that is what I feel. Those of you that whine in here about other companies, worried about the services you bought from Summer Bay Resort, because of all this garbage bout GVD are sheep.
I will not speak for the entire company, or for the customer service department because I do not manage those parts. I will speak for the particular sales office that has been mentioned in this forum. That is my office.
I KNOW that the cancellation policy is explained. I KNOW that the agents explain ALL the charges involved, and that you will be charged on that phone call. I KNOW this because I monitor those calls. I make sure things that you are accusing my office of doing don’t happen. I work way too hard for my money to be losing such a great amount to ’scams’. Therefore, I make sure that someone else won’t experience that. I am willing to bet, that those who mention this office of Summer Bay have a very poor grasp of English and that the only way we can continue with those phonecalls is if that person says plainly that they understand.
IF YOU DONT, then you do NOT need to be calling ANY phone numbers in languages you don’t have a FLUENT grasp in. I speak a little Spanish, a little German, and a little French. I will tell you that I won’t call a pop-up in those languages because I know that I will not be able to grasp all of the conversation. So don’t you dare accuse us of trying to scam you out of your money, or lying to you. YOU had to say “Yes” at some point or the conversation would have never made it to you purchasing “something you don’t want”.
Nothing in the advertisement mentions free. The agents don’t mention free. In fact, it is a terminable offense to mislead customers. I have done this one more than one occasion.
I can tell you, as a manager, that we don’t want you to cancel. In fact, I tell my agents that I would rather the customer did not purchase AT ALL, than to be soft going into verification and cancel later on. It costs us more money to push people who don’t understand than it does to not have the sale at all. The merchant accounts used by various companies charge you a percentage of the amount charged to the card. Then, if there is a refund they charge us again for the refund. So we lose twice the amount, and gain nothing in return. Not to mention the fact of lost payroll because that time on that phone call could have been spent on one that could produce a customer.
We don’t mention luxury accomodations. They aren’t.
Summer Bay is a RCI Gold Crown Resort. Summer Bay is also a Better Business Bureau member with “satisfactory standing”. Walt Disney World cannot claim this. We can, and do.
There are agents that will say whatever they need to to get the sale. My job is to make sure they don’t. And if for some reason one gets by me, I do my best to make sure that the customer is taken care of. Most of the time, you customers, don’t bother to write things down, don’t bother to listen to what the agent says because you are set on the word ‘free’. You focus on a wish, instead of dealing with the reality of the situation. It is an advertising method.
By yelling ‘foul’ or ’scam’ because you didn’t bother to pay attention is slanderous at best. It’s actually quite insulting. You don’t know me or anything about me, and yet accuse me of lying, cheating and stealing. How do I know that you aren’t lying to me, or my sales agent? I’ve been listening to phone calls where a customer accused my agent of cursing at them, promising the customer things that weren’t in the package and I was listening from start to finish. The agent was polite and professional. Should I not lump you all into that category? The rude obnoxious customer that is just out to get something free from anyone and everyone?
Those of you that have contacted Summer Bay Resort (we don’t do outbound calls) and feel that you have been scammed, you can feel free to call me. 1-321-397-1870 or 1-800-404-9769 will work. My name is Michael, ext 387. I will help you any way I can. But remember, this is a business, treat me with respect and professionalism and I will be more than happy to help you in any way I can.
I stand by my company, and by my work.
October 11th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
I am responding to Kathy.
If this is Kathy R. Your statements are quite untrue in that according to our records and speaking with “Joe”, You did confirm that you did have your package and you were upset because you think that you were not told about a tour.
You were told about all as told and promised. You have received all and this has been settled with Joe personally and all was agreed upon. If you have not received your package as you say, I will personally send you a NEW PACKAGE, a SECOND package at our expense through An express mail service so that you may sign for it and then you can not continue with your bashing.
You were played back the audio receipt, your verification and you listened to it and agreed that you were told all, “but must have not been paying attention or whatever…”, The last accounts of this that I can find this moment were as of December 2005! Why you chose to come on this site and bash our company is beyong me.
I ask that if you have a problem, consult our customer service department and I want them to involve me personally so that I can hear your complaints and solve as needed. NEVER have you been misrepresented or pushed away, NEVER have you been avoided.
So please do not say things that are not true, and instead, contact us and verify what you need to. Contact us if you truly have not received your package and give us the address you can receive your package and we will express mail it and gladly display the received copy for anyone to see that would like.
WE are a very good company, and we do all we can to make sure that we travel all as told and promised and we have virtually any complaints that are unresolved. we work hard to be the best at what we do, and we treat all clients with respect and take care of all problems rapidly. There is more to a story than meets the eye, and I hope that the readers here are smart enough to take that into consideration before beliving people who are just bashing to get what they want in an unconventional manner.
I have proof of all I say and do, and our company is a very respectable and established company that is licensed, bonded and insured so that every client that makes a purchase with us is secured! Sorry, but we have always done the right thing and always will.
Kathy, please contact Customer service (1-800-786-5502) and I am sure that we will resolve your issues the best way possible.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:00 am
I have a friend who called me and said he was at the Richmond Night Market a few weekends ago and said he had put his name down to win a prize. It was that same as this one. When he told me thay called him and said he won but had to fork over $798.00 I told him forget it, it’s a scam. I remember years ago, Fitness World had the same idea going at the PNE, they were handing out “scratch and win tickets” everyone won but again, but here was the catch, you had to take out a 3 year membership. So, in essence, the trip wasn’t free at all. I hate companys like this who take advantage of gullable people.
October 12th, 2006 at 8:48 am
Dear Jay,
Please find attached, copies of some of the e-mails between Joe and myself. The initial ones show where I was told that this was not refundable. Please let me know if according to Florida law (not Sunstar policy) was it??
The last ones indicate where I have been repeatedly asking Joe to send the package. He indicates he has sent it but will send another package courier so that we can have a tracking number. I have never received the package! If Joe in fact sent it courier you should have a signature on file. Please post it for us all.
Even though you indicate December 2005 was the last time we corresponded, please note these e-mails go into June.
December 12th
I have been told by my lawyer that I would have 10 days to cancel this contract without penalty as that is the rule in Canada and you solicited in Canada. Kathy
December 13th
Understand, that our packages actually have a 30 day cancellation policy, IF YOU PURCHASE AT THE RETAIL PRICE OF $2700.00, you purchased a discounted package that was offered on a first come first serve basis at a 75% discount, just as you buy anything on a clearance sale, you are told in the verification that these are sold on a non refundable basis, and you agreed and understood that. Joe
April 24th 2006
Hi Joe,
Still haven’t received the package(s)?? Can you track it through the courier?
Kathy
May 8th 2006
Hi Joe,
I have yet to receive this information. Please let me know where we are at as the auction is next month.
Thanks,
Kathy
May 8th 2006
Kathy, this is not right because I have sent this package and I do not understand why it did not arrive. PLEASE, verify once again the address so I can cross reference with the shipping..
JH
May 8th 2006
I Confirm my address for the 2nd time
May 14th 2006
What did you find out? Kathy
May 16th 2006
Still nothing, what did you find out? How did you actually send the package? Kathy
May 17th 2006
The Package is sent US MAIL…
I am sending you another PACKAGE TODAY, BECAUSE IT BEING CANADA, THERE IS NO WAY TO DO DELIVERY CONFIRMATION. I AM GOING TO THE POST OFFICE IN PERSON TODAY AND EXPLAIN WHAT HAS HAPPENED AND ALSO ASK IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN DO TO MAKE SURE THEY HAVE A SIGNATURE FROM YOU THAT IT GETS TO YOU.
THE ADDRESS I AM SENDING TO IS :
SAME AS BEFORE, AGAIN, BEFORE I SPEND THE MONEY TO EXPRESS THIS, VERIFIY THAT THIS IS THE ADDRESS YOU WANT THIS SHIPPED TO. I DO NOT KNOW WHY THE PAST PACKAGES HAVE NOT ARRIVED BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT BEEN RETURNED OR SENT BACK HERE. IF THEY CAN NOT DO A SIGNATURE TYPE THING, I WILL SWITCH TO DHL. PLEASE CONFIRM AND I AM GOING TO RESPOND WITH THE TRACKING NUMBER AND WE CAN BOTH WATCH THIS.
JH
June 8th 2006
Hi Joe,
Still no package. Now it has been 7 months or more. Did you have it couriered? The address is correct yet it has never arrived. Can you provide me with a courier number so that I can track it? The children’s miracle auction is this month.
Thanks,
Kathy
June 18th 2006
Hi Joe,
Sorry to bother you, but I have yet to receive any documents regarding the package that I signed up for in December.
If you have sent them via courier, can you provide me with a tracking number so that I can follow it. Otherwise can you let me know where we are at with this.
Thanks, Kathy R
I have not received a response from the last 2 e-mails.
Jay I did not say that Sunstar was not legitimate. I note that you have far less complaints than other companies. What I did say is that if you are legitimate, your customer service is very poor. It is now 10 months later and I still do not have my package.
I am an honest person but I expect honesty and integrity from others. I spent $600 to buy my sister and her family a nice cruise as she had been diagnosed with cancer and always wanted to go on a cruise. I was told it was all 4 star accomodation but it wasn’t and so I was embarrassed to offer her the package at all. In December she is going on a different cruise.
I regret purchasing the package not because I regret my decision, but because I believe I was told one thing and given another. But, if I was not in a legal position to return it (as per Joe), then I would try and make the best of a bad situation. I thought I might donate the package to the Children’s wish foundation. Again, because the kids are ill, the quality of the accomodation is not high enough to donate. But they said they could possibly use the package for their silent auction in June. Still no package. It was good for a year (without an extension fee) and you require 30 days notice to book so where does that leave me?
I am willing to phone you and if you are able to rectify the situation, I am certainly willing to post that on this site as well. I acknowledge that Joe appeared to be trying to help me but when I was finally going to have a tracking number (yeah - proof it was sent) and suddenly the e-mails stop what would you think? You too would think you had been taken.
October 12th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
I checked with Joe and for whatever reasons Kathy, some of those emails were not received. He is an honest person and a great owner and always does as he says. I also checked with Shipping and the US POST OFFICE today and they verified what Joe told you in that there is no way to track the package unless you send by an express courier which would cost triple the cost of sending it through the mail.
It was SENT using the GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL system several time, because each of the packages we have to pay for from our printers, and I show the packages ordered and sent out in our log. I have no clue as to why they were not received or to where they were delivered. Again, please call us and I am sure that we can find someone to resolve the situation. We always try in every way to cure all problems with clients and work hard at doing the right thing. I spoke with Joe and he is going to DHL OR FEDEX you TWO packages, one for you and one for the charity organizations that you mentioned.
He also said that he would personally set up your cruises for you with Royal Caribbean so to make sure that we get you all you wish to do. Please call and speak with myself or Rosalie and give us the exact physical address to have them deliver and once it is sent I will post your tracking number so that all can see that we do indeed fulfill our promises and we can all wait for you to receive the package as promised.
Secondly, you are 100% wrong in what you say about the resorts we use, I do not know how you are assuming that the hotels are not good when you claim to NOT HAVE YOUR PACKAGE??? Sorry, but if anyone would like to check out our resorts such as the Radisson Worldgate Resort in Orlando, or the Cocoa Beach Hilton in Cocoa Beach or any other you wish, they are not shabby resorts as you say and they are actually very nice accomodations. The Aquamarina Beach Resort in Cancun is a 4 star resort so is the Flamingo in Puerto Vallarta, look it up for yourself, a good website that is unbiased is http://www.travel-center.com You can see all of the caribbean resorts and their ratings and pictures. Again, we aim at traveling all of our clients and try our best to accomodate all.
IF you call in, and give us the address correctly we will attempt this again. And Again, I am going to post the tracking info so that all can track with us and see that you are being sent things as said.
Thank You,
Jay Hammond
October 13th, 2006 at 3:46 am
Hi Everyone,
Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who has posted on this site. The comments and stories I have read have really helped in my struggles to secure my refund. You will find that the following is very similar to the other stories on here.
So like all of you, I bought into the whole vacation package proposition with Great Vacation Destinations (“GVD”). I won’t bore you with all the details of the initial phase of the chronicle… and will simply skip to the part regarding the first refund call.
My first call to GVD occurred on or about 9/28 – 2 days after the purchase. I explained to the rep that I changed my mind about the package for personal reasons and needed to cancel it. The rep was a tad bit discourteous and told me: (1) that she could not offer the refund to me; (2) that I would need to submit a letter to GVD stating my reasons for the refund; and (3) that there was nothing else she could do for me on her end. Further, she stated that GVD will “review” my letter upon receipt but there was no guarantee that I would get my refund — it was up to the discretion of the “authorities”. In addition, she kept asking on the phone, why I would accept the package in the first place if I didn’t want it.
Frustrated, I called again later on that same day and spoke with another rep. The rep pointed out that I already called earlier and spoke with someone and asked why I was calling again. I merely stated the same reasons and that I was not satisfied with the first call. He told me that I would have to do what the first rep advised – send in a letter.
This phone call lasted for about 45 mins. During this call, I stated over and over my reasons for wanting to cancel and requesting a refund. The rep kept on attempting to lure me back into the pressure of keeping the package because of the many benefits. In fact, he even suggested adding other amenities onto the package. Finally, after battling it out with him for 40 mins., he told me that the best he could do was offer me half of the charged amount. He wasn’t able to offer me the full refund because he “would get in trouble by his boss and would get fired.” I continued to demand the full refund but was unsuccessful. The rep then told me to send the package back along with a letter stating that I wanted to cancel the purchase. His boss would then review the letter and get back to me regarding the refund. He then told me that I would get the full amount credited once they receive the package. I then accepted the half refund at that point but informed him that I will still pursue the other half and that my mind was made up.
To date, I still have not received any refund to my card…not even the half.
Right after that convo, I wrote a letter to GVD memorializing all events that took place up to that point. As I hadn’t received my package yet at the time, I just mailed off the letter. I sent it via certified and first class mail.
I received my package about 5 days later. I wrote another letter to GVD and sent it out along with the package 2 days ago, via registered mail…I tracked it and they have not received it yet.
Today, a rep from their cancellations department called in reference to my first letter. As they left a voicemail message for me, I called them back. I was placed on hold for a half hour before a live rep came on the phone. I stated that I was returning a phone call from their cancellations department and that I needed the full amount charged refunded back onto my credit card. The rep was really rude to me and stated that it is not possible as they do not issue refunds for just “cancellations”. I further advised her that the rep I spoke with previously told me that I was able to get my full refund if I returned the package. She became defiant and asked me who told me that, because it wasn’t true. She stated that it did not work that way. At that point, I was aggravated and furious. I felt that I was given the runaround and that I will never resolve this issue.
She kept making reference to my first phone call with GVD wherein I accepted the offer and asked why I would cancel if I initially agreed upon it. She was very rude and kept on talking over me while I attempted to explain my situation. In fact, she even asked that I not interrupt HER while she was talking. Frustrated, I threw out some language regarding Florida State Laws. She then stated, rudely, that she was aware of the statute but that refund still could not be honored because I willfully “accepted” the deal. She then placed me on hold for 10 mins. She came back on the phone and blandly stated, “We will honor the refund. You will receive it in 7-10 business days.” And that was it. End of phone call.
Let’s see if this refund will really be honored.
While I knew that the package was legitimate and not a scam, I still needed the refund because of financial reasons. The reps will keep trying to make you feel like the purchase was a definitive decision that you made and that there is no turning back once you agree. Simply put, these people will keep giving you the runaround to keep their business. In fact, they are not even nice people. They are trying to sell their vacations…the least they can do is be courteous. I am glad that I got this over with but am really appalled by their lack of proper customer service. This experience has caused them to lose any future business they may have had with me, or anyone I know for that matter. I wanted the refund because of CURRENT financial issues.
This is it for me. Let this be a valuable lesson learned. If you would like a refund, DEMAND it. I feel like I had to go through so much just to get back what I was entitled to all along. People make mistakes. And people change their minds.
Hopefully, my story brought about some light and reassurance in your process and struggles. Keep your heads up!
PS…they were able to offer me the refund even though they hadn’t received the package yet…
October 13th, 2006 at 8:40 am
Dear Jay,
Thank you for your response. I am working long days right now and will call this weekend.
I got my information about the hotels from a website that Joe referred me to. The accomodations were 3 star but I really was told by the initial sales clerk that the accomodations were 4 or higher. I assume now that some are 4 (the locations you mention) but others (Orlando) are 3. The Childrens wish foundation have to go with quite high quality accomodations because the children are all sick so they need to be assured of higher end accomodations.
I do believe that you mailed the packages. I don’t know why they didn’t arrive. Again, I acknowledge that during the first 6 months, Joe personally looked after this and seemed very helpful and sincere. It was only the tail end where I felt that I had been strung along. If he did not receive those e-mails then that would explain the sudden silence. They did not bounce back to me so I don’t know where they went.
We could go back and forth and back and forth about what I think I was told and what Joe says I was told. We will never be able to settle that part of this. It doesn’t matter - if you can help me out I am content.
My boyfriend lives in Orlando. Maybe you can get the items to him and he can bring them to me at Christmas. That will save you money and accomplish our goal. I will phone this weekend.
Thanks again,
Kathy
October 13th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Thanks to you guys and this website I didn’t get scamd by Great Vacation Destinations. I was working at the Fall Home Show in Toronto and filled out a ballot during my lunch bread and yesterday I got a call saying I won the trip to Florida/Bahamas. BUT I had to give them my credit card info so they could charge me a “SMALL” promotional fee of 390/person. I told them that I would think about it and after some pressure give them my info they said that they would call me back on Sunday. I can’t wait for them to call back …. that is if they actually will