My wife spoke to a guy on the phone, Jovon, that works for a promotional travel company. She was informed that we've been chosen for a free cruise.instantly, my wife asks whats the catch. Jovon explains that this is not a gimic, rather, his company does this promotion so that the next time we travel... We would consider using his travel agency. We googled the travel agency and the website seemed legit.
WE could get 4 cabins for a maximum of 16 of our friends to join us. The only cost that we would be responsible for would be the taxes for the cabins and alcohol... 88$ each. WE rounded up 4 other couples and paid $352 by credit card. We were told that we would recieve the appropriate paperwork in the mail. 1 week passed by... No mail. We called the 1-800 number and always got voicemail. The representatives always seemed professional and courteous. Today we tried to log on to the site, but needed a login # of some sorts. The rep called us back and said to login as a first time user. I began to hit a bunch of dead ends on the website and decided to research a little more.
I quickly realized from an easy yahoo search of scams and yth vacations, that i was dooped! The address on the website is listed as an address for multiple travel/vacation business'. My bank statement had "travel 8" something or the other as the collectors.
I called today and was pretty upset, demanded a refund and was told the money could be used as a credit toward other travel. Was redirected to the manager, at which point I got a voicemail and no return call. My bank is filing a fraud claim. Hope this helps someone..
Lesson learned... Do your research 1st. If it's too good to be true, it usually is!
I plan to report this the FTC and the BBB of Batavia, IL!
0 comments