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.
January 15th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Hi Theo,
I was thinking we’d heard the last of Special-T (they also use the domains special-t-travel.com, freecuise.com and cruiseflorida.com and appear to trade under the name “Travel Shopping Spree” - all the pages linked here specify a Florida Seller of Travel License number of 23944).
Do contact the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services and record an official complaint about this sorry episode.
January 17th, 2007 at 4:20 am
Update to my previous posting:
I was charged on Friday evening (Jan 12, 2007).
Got call back from a lady on Monday(Jan 14, 2007).
I told her to cancel immediately. After telling her reason to cancel, she told me that she cancelled it.
I called back the office the next day, and asked about my status. A guy who spoke with me said that it has been cancelled. I did it to verify it.
I have not got money yet, but my visa company has said me to wait for another week. If money is not returned back to my account, I will file a dispute with Visa company, and then they will start investigation.
In the mean time, I sent an e-mail reply to cancel. Have got no response. I notified to local police. They told me to wait for some time. I sent an email to Florida Consumer Services using the webpage available in this section.
I cancelled my both the visa cards. So many phone calls, so many effort to be prevented from any scams in the future. I shall wait another 10 days and if my money is returned back, I will file a dispute with my Visa company and hopefully, I will be refuned because I have neither purchased any packages nor have signed. But visa company people are very helpful, and hopefully, every thing will work out. I shall keep up the update. Please check the comment section regularly.
January 18th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
I have been scammed by a company of many names: Travelcomm, Vacations inc., Travel Comm Industries, Partriot Travel, i.r.r. all of Florida. I have followed your directs in requesting a refund from them, which they called and said, “your request for a refund has been denied!”, I have filed a complaint with the Florida Dept. of Ag & Consumer Service, the Florida attorney general. Now what do I do? Are there any united states laws like those in the UK (consumer credit act of 1974) that I can get my MasterCard company to abide by?
January 19th, 2007 at 1:16 am
Hi All,
I have a very good news after a week-long confusion. I got full refund of my two visa cards each CAD$717.34, which I confirmed today with my visa card companies.
I am relived of all these problems now. My CAD $717.34 with CIBC VISA was cleared yesterday and my CAD $717.34 in RBC Visa was cleared/voided today. I have learnt a big lesson this time. Never give my visa card to unknown person and free-vacation deals or Disney land vacation except genuine organizations. I do not know what helped to get my money so fast and easily. But one this is true that this webpage helped me a lot to share my pain with others and to help file complain. It also helped me to learn that I should not give up until the end.
I wanted people not suffer like me, so I did the following during the week-long period:
1. Passed the story to local news broadcasting (CBC news, Canada)
2. Contacted local police here at Vancouver,
3. Contacted visa companies immediately and cancelled my both Visa cards,
4. Sent complain to Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, using their webpage. I tried to do all the avenues because I also wanted to help people know what’s going on with this FREE? vacation packages.
5. I sent about three emails including a letter using the format given above mentioning that I will file complain if the money is not-reimbursed within 30 days.
6. Kept calling them, and made sure that every thing is in order.
7. While my money has been cleared, just now while I am typing this comment, I got a phone call from my wife that a package has arrived from USA using DHL, by TG Travels.
I am wondering what the package might include? I got worried again. But then, I re-confirmed with my Visa card whether the money has really been reimbursed.
Its terrible experience, but finally, I am OK. I wish that all of you guys to get the money that you deserve for. My chapter has been closed now within a week time. Thanks god. Thanks every one. Thanks this web-page creator. Good bye
January 19th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Hi Gina, since you’ve already contacted the DOACS your next step is to contact MasterCard, tell them what’s happened, tell them how you tried to cancel, provide them with a DOACS case number if you have one, and ask them what they’re going to do to help you.
My understanding is that if the transaction was fraudulent, then Mastercard are liable for the full amount if the third party do not or cannot refund your money in full (because they, as the credit provider, are required to assume the liability).
January 20th, 2007 at 1:38 am
Just filled in everything, stupid stupid! I’m living in the netherlands and thought after subitting everything…. I should google something about this vacation. Just as y feeling sad, this is a scam. So now???
What to do?
Will I get a Phone call?
Is the guy actually going to make new creditcard accounts at Visa and mastercard?
What if I don;t have a credit card?
Should I worry?
Should I just trace the call and tell my phone company to send al the records of it to the Police station in Tampa and also in My hometown?
Thanks in advance, please contact
Youri, holland
January 23rd, 2007 at 12:05 am
Just letting you guys know that Special T Travel are still in operation. I ALMOST fell for this scam a week or so ago, but there was no way I was giving out my credit card number to a company I wasn’t familiar with, without seeing something in writing first. The best explanation they could offer to put my mind at rest was ‘this is the era of the computer. You can see our company’s genuine from the internet, it’s all in front of you.’ Well, anyone can set up a website. Anyone can also remove a website. Out of curiosity I googled the company to find out if I was right to turn down this scam. Glad I did! I can see why people fall for this, though. In the end, all I lost was the cost of the phone call, though it’s a shame even to waste THAT on these scumbags.
January 24th, 2007 at 12:36 am
Hi everyone,
I just purchased a package by phone with SunStar Travel before I get to know this website. I was wondering if anyone knows if someone finally got a refund even if they say the package is sold on a non refundable basis.
Thank you
M
January 24th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Hi there,
Yep, I’m feeling pretty stupid too. I have contacted my bank about 7 hours after giving my credit card details and they already have over $600 of my money. I will do my best to get it back though, it’s not looking like an easy task. I have been unable to contact them on the two phone numbers they gave me. I am pinning my hopes on the credit card company being able to help somehow. I sure hope Special T Travel do the right thing. Thanks for this web-site Action Plan.. Heres hoping..
January 24th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Hi Kerry (and others),
If you’re going through the process of asking for a refund, feel free (if you have the time) to register on the Vacations forum and describe more fully how you were sold to, why you were convinced to buy.
Then, as you go through each step, describe what you’ve done to get your refund.
By separating out those discussions it makes it easier for others in the same situation to help themselves because they don’t have to search so hard for related information.
Just create a new topic and start typing :)