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.
February 6th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Hi EmSmitt,
A response is here on the forum.
Rich
February 6th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Rich! You are a hero!! you have given innocent, scammed & violated people a site for answers.
My scam with Travelcomm and all its aliases [details on the forum] is currently in mediation with Florida Dept. of Consumer Services. The department is seeking a permanent injunction against Travelcomm prohibiting it from violating Florida Statutes regarding sale of travel.
They are also seeking a civil penalty against Travelcomm. Also, the department is seeking restitution from Travelcomm for the persons that have been injured by the actions of Travelcomm.
It is anticipated that Travelcomm will deny violations of Florida statutes.
In order for the department to prevail in this case, it is necessary that everyone scammed by Travelcomm or its known alias to file a complaint. Also, the Florida DOACS has filed an action against Travelcomm Industries Inc. in circuit court in Orange County based on complaints already received.
Now, here’s the funny part! Today, I received a call from “Travelcomm Reservations” indicating they are calling to confirm my reservations at the specific hotel, I was told, was under construction and on another date, told this same hotel had no availability.
Another Travelcomm obstruction game. Now what’s going on Rich?
I do know Travelcomm is aware of my complaints filed with the DOACS and the Florida Better Business Bureau. is Travelcomm now trying to imply that I do and always have had reservations?
What kind of “game” are they trying to play now?
The spokesperson representing Travelcomm indicated that she was also part of the sunset group.
In correspondence from the better business bureau, Travelcomm indicated to the bureau that they were not responsible as they were only a “fulfilment company”, but my credit card statement indicates Travelcomm and Vacations Inc. as the sellers with both names having the same phone number on the statement. What a mess this is!
Needless to say, Travelcomm has not fulfilled my “refund request” and it seems as though they are trying another “obstruction game” with the state of Florida.
February 7th, 2007 at 12:54 am
For any one living in Canada; why not you better get “ANONYMUS CALLER ID” option from the telephone company. Its really useful feature.
For example, I had recently got this service from TELUS and it does not let any automated phone calls to my phone until the caller records his name and address. If mistakenly picked up, it also asks the receiver to record all the information while communicating. So, I found this is very helpful particularly, this is a restriction to all kinds of automated in-calls. On the other hand, for regular phone calls, it never blocks.
Riz/Vancouver
February 7th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I missed an other detail from my previous post: their argument for not giving me refund was (besides stating that during the ordering process I was told that this is a non-refundable purchase) that I bought a vacation which has an open date: I can go for vacation within a year, whenever I want. So they suggested to use this package or try to sell it to somebody. I still want my money back and I still believe that FL State law 559.933 is applicable for my case. Am I right?
February 7th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
EmSmitt, they don’t have a leg to stand on, if you want a refund, demand one using the steps above. I’m sure the DOACS will be delighted to hear about your trouble.
February 8th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Rich! Do you have any comments for my Post #332? I’m curious to know what your advise would be. Again, Thank You for your time and efforts!
February 8th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Hi Gina,
this is why using the forum is useful - it makes it very obvious which messages I’ve seen and thus stuff can’t slip by.
I dont have a clue if they’re playing games, but at least by describing their behaviour, it will be apparent for others who travel the same path.
In all of this your best protectors are your credit provider and the DOACS - these are the people who will be able to tell you what to do when strange things such as this occur.
—
If people want to talk about what’s happening with their holiday purchases, please, make it easier on yourselves and those who come afterwards - the forum allows for more focused discussion of particular problems, so it’s more appropriate than this long stream of information.
February 8th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
hello..i was thining of buying one of their offers..what is the scam? do you not really get anything, or is it not a good deal…seems to be ok…$700?
February 8th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Sarah - see: http://boakes.org/florida-travel-vouchers/
February 8th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Hi everybody,
I’ll add here my story with A STAR TRAVEL, very simillar to other people’s experience, but I want people to know they’re not alone and they’ll get their money back if they fight for it!!
THANK YOU FOR SETTING UP THIS WEBSITE - You’ve been GREAT and your help is soooo precious! GOOD LUCK!
A Star Travel & Vacations
12421 Nortd Florida Ave., suite C220
Tampa, Florida 33612 USA
Phone: 800-231-3760
Date of Purchase: February 6th
Product or Service Involved: Vacation package
On Feb 6th, at 8:45-9pm Pacific Time, I got a call from a rep at A Star Travel (his name Michael Tynklauk) saying I won a vacation package to Florida for 11 days, with mini cruise to Bahamas (3 days) - some of the details: 6days/5 nights in Florida at Radisson Htl, passes for 2 at Disney World,cruise on Regal Empress to Nassau, Bahamas, then back to Florida and car rental for 7days or passes to Universal Studios for 2 pers. He then tells me that will cost $798 US, plus I pay for hotel taxes, meals on land, port taxes, and other fees…Asked for my Master saying I need to secure the spot - gave the numbers to him, then more talk of how they’ll retrieve the money tognight, so I said hold on to speak to my husband. Got back to the guy saying NO, not a good idea right now. He said ok, since I didn’t go through 3rd party verification, no other steps to be taken… On Feb 7th at 4pm pacific time, called Master to find a charge of $ 946.43 CAD was pending to be processed to my account. Feb 8th at 8:00am pacific time, found out from Master the charge was declined as it was overlimit. Called A Star Travel (Feb 8 at 8:20 AM pacific), initially got a lady that would not give her name, said she’ll refund and searched my info for 30 min (asked again for name, city, CC number and PIN!!!). Said I’m not in their file, but will call back - never did. Called again on Feb 8th at 9:50AM got Rena from A Star Travel Customer Service, nice and helpful - said the card was declined and no instalments will be done without my approval through 3rd Party Verification. Got the company’s address for formal letter of cancellation - mailed today Feb 8th by recorded delivery service. Feb 8th, found out from Master the charge was declined as it was overlimit.
DON”T GIVE UP!
Ruxandra
Vancouver BC
CANADA