I have held off writing this for about 6 months now for fear of further embarrassment to my parents: they now feel that they must speak out about being defrauded by Patricia Anderson.
My elderly parents planned to celebrate their 50th wedding annversary in 2006 in Ireland. Both were born in Ireland but had not visited in about 23 years. This would probably be their last visit to the land of their birth.
They contacted Bearcountry Vacations and eventually paid almost $8000 for a holiday package but did not finalized the dates. Patricia Anderson told them that they could confirm the dates later, closer to the date of the holiday. She told them the package was guaranteed for 5 years. That their money would be refunded, minus a small administration fee should the holiday be cancelled 30 days prior to the holiday.
When they had the date set they attempted to contact Bearcountry Vacations but were unable to, it seemed that the had disappeared. It was only recently the were made aware of Rip Off and all the complaints against Bearcountry Vacations and that they were victims of fraud. They felt violated and embarrassed; they blame themselves for being so stupid to have trusted this woman.
My question is: how can someone like Patricia Anderson publicly commit fraud and get away with it, is there any chance of her ever being prosecuted? Oh yes, my parents did go on their grand tour of Ireland.
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