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.
December 3rd, 2006 at 7:20 pm
Hi!
I bought my trip a year ago and they promised me up to 24 months time to take the vacation. I now have started to plan for the trip and only now found out this was a scam! I’ve tried calling up all the phone numbers there is for Starr Getaways but with no luck. I’ve left messages on their answering machine which they say they will return, but of course don’t.
My only hope was to be able to take the vacation, but now it seems impossible as I’m not able to get them on the phone nor do
they reply my emails…
Is there any possibility to complain now and get my money back?
I surely don’t want to fax them the vouchers as they request the bookings are done! It would probably just give them opportunity to charge my account again. Does anyone have any experience of booking the trip?
I am taking a world tour starting on February and this vacation in Florida was supposed to be my first destination. I will write to my credit card company but does anyone have any good advice on how to gt my money back since I really was going and didn’t even think about complaining within those 30 days…
I really could use that money for my journeys!!!
December 6th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
please anyone out there can help me, im afraid i also fell for the smooth talking sales people[3] because i thought i had won a holiday for four people but it would cost me only
ยง898.my companion gavr me her credit card because she had more funds than me at this time we both thought god had given
us this amazing holiday because we had not been able to afford to do anything but work for the last 4 years due to
having a son of 4.5yrs of age children cost more than you think…… the deal was with summerbay resorts.com
orlando,florida,bahamas,+bonus mexico.
regards
si……
December 6th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
The steps described above are fairly detailed and have worked for many people. Beyond that that there’s not much help anyone can give you. Good luck, and let us know how you get on… the more people describe what happens to them, the more others will be able to find help with whatever stage of the process they’re at.
December 9th, 2006 at 3:42 am
I work for the Summer Bay Resorts the promotion department. What surprises me about the people that complain is that when you call in all excited about winning something.We give you all the information about the vacation. We give you web sites to go onto. you talk to at least three people who give you the same exact details. We make a voice recording and tell you on tape what you are getting. Then you yell when you don’t understand. We give you plenty of time to ask questions. I in fact ask you if you have any questions.
I think if you are a credit card holder your should know if you give your credit card number and exp date that you are being charged something.
There are scams out there you do have to be careful but our resort is registered with THE BBB so you can read up on our resort.
We have been around for ages and We do have a reputation to upkeep.
Myself I love working here and my only job as far as I am concerned is to help people with their vacations with anyway that I can.
December 11th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
YEAH FOR SUNSTAR …. With reference to my experience with Sunstar travel, I am writing to inform you all that, as he indicated, Jay from Sunstar travel has couriered my vacation package to me. I am not sure when/if I will be using the package but will post my experience if I do.
December 14th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
Thanks for this Rich. I just ran across this on Guardian’s website:
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/insideit/story/0,,1971224,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1
Half way down the page there’s a Macromedia Flash advert that tells me I just won a vacation from “Travel Services, 13176 N. Dale Mabry Hwy, Suite #156, Tampa, FL 33618″. The website is hosted at https://www.ashoppingspree.com
I’ve suggested to the Guardian they need to look into this.
December 14th, 2006 at 10:52 pm
I don’t suppose you have the swf in your browser cache do you?
December 19th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Did anybody had dealt with A1 travel reservation or fun time getaway? My mother in law was contacted by somebody from http://www.sunnies.com that sold her a dream vacation with no obligation to buy nor no charge for now.
We did check with VISA and there is a charge of 708$ (canadian fund). We are from Canada the company which charged my Visa is A1 travel reservation - I send them a letter that I want to be reimbursed.
Anybody had experience a similar situation with that company?
Thank you very much.
Great web site.
December 21st, 2006 at 4:26 am
I feel incredibly stupid for falling for the GVD vacation. I had red flags and alarms going loudly when he asked for the credit card number, but after about 15 minutes of talking about the Attorney General’s office and the BBB, etc, I finally relented. I knew my wife would be thrilled.
I should have known better when he wouldn’t let me get back to him about it. I had to give it now. I thought of so many things I should have said, but only after it was over. They called me at work, so I didn’t have a whole lot of time to fiddle around.
I have already called my credit card company and changed my number and disputed the charge. I plan on calling GVD in the morning to cancel. It’s a shame, my wife was so excited to hear that we had “won”
For the travel agents, for me it’s not that I believe all travel companies are scams, it was the technique of “needing” our credit card number on the spot and not letting us call them back or check them out. I should have known better, now I do.
I’ll keep y’all updated on whether I receive a refund. But luckily, I know what to expect.
December 21st, 2006 at 5:09 pm
As predicted, I had trouble with the first man I talked to. He would not give me a refund unless I had a specific complaint about the package. I told him that I felt like I was deceived, and he played the tape of confirmation person (not the first person I talked to). I even used the Florida Statuate and he came up with some bs about not being a lawyer or not being here to interpret law. Our conversation got nowhere, so I called again.
The second girl was more accomidating, but not by much. She still gave me the runaround, but after being put on hold a couple times, offered a greater discount, and me giving her the statute, she finally verbally agreed to the refund.
I’m not stopping there. I’ve already complained to the DOACS and plan to send one to the BBB. I’m even thinking about sending a letter to the editor in my local paper so that others know what they’re getting into.