My father has been scammed! By Travelcomm! Help!

January 3, 2007 12:36 PM

Anyone with experience on getting vacations from the scam co Travelcomm, please advise. Alternatively, if you can help me get my money back, all the better... For you innocents, read and beware!

My father bought an all-inclusive 6 days/5 nights Cancun vacation, non-inclusive 4 days/5 nights Orlando vacation, and a non-inclusive 4 days/3 nights vacation in Acapulco from Travelcomm in March 2005. Travel is NOT included. These vacations are valid until 2007. He paid $681 on his MasterCard for these.

To use these vacations, one must fill out and mail a reservation form 45 days in advance of travel. You choose two date ranges, and they will try to give you your first choice. But as they can't guarantee any dates, you have to wait from them before reserving air tickets. Or requesting vacation days. It seems that they try to make it as hard as possible for you to use these vacation vouchers.

On 12/27, my sister tried to use one of these vacations. At first, they hung up. On the second call they said that the vacations have expired. My sister asked them to investigate, and Aklema said that she'd call her back. No response.

Today I called, got Aklema, and everything has a surcharge. For hotel taxes, it is $99 per person per hotel. For traveling in the peak season of Jan, Feb, and March, we will have to pay $200 per vacation.

Moreover, they are no longer 'doing business' with Acapulco. So they want me to go to Las Vegas or extend my stay in Orlando. But I want to combine the two trips: Cancun and Acapulco together. To go from Cancun to Las Vegas is not as practical. When the rep heard that, she warned me that it would be very hard to combine vacations. When I said that Travelcomm was thus not fulfilling the sale contract, she claims that my father paid for Cancun and the other two vacations were free bonuses. My receipt doesn't show that anywhere in writing. In fact, it says that "the packages are good for 2 to your ordered destination (as stated above), and up to 2 adults and 3 children at most other destinations".

I looked online, and this company has a long history of scamming. You too can find out about their horrible business model by googling 'travelcomm' and 'scam'. My dad bought the package from a pop-up ad, if that tells you anything.

So, my question is: how do I get my money back?

I called MasterCard, and they said I can send in a written dispute if their terms do not say that they can replace Acapulco. Nowhere does it say that, but the separate terms and conditions statement for Cancun claim that "this vacation package is valid for the next 12 months", even though what my dad bought was valid for 24 months (it says so on his receipt). But it also say that "Travelcomm assumes no responsibility for any written or verbal representations made in conjunction with this offer by any agent or distributor other than those specifically contained within the terms and conditions of this offer". But I think this only applies to Cancun, as that is what it says up at top.

What can I do?

posted by beautiful to shopping (9 comments total)

These places often sell you deeply-discounted vacations which in reality are surplus rooms at resorts that are shopped around to various vacation retailers. It's very common to see these types of "free vacations" offered as a promotion at car dealers, etc. One of the largest such operators is My Free Travel based out of Chicago. If you know how the system works you can get some pretty good deals. Excess cruise ship rooms are often shopped around the same way, which is why you always hear about people winning a cruise in some contest or promotion; it's cheap marketing.

But it sounds to me like your dad bought something that was marketed as a vacation but did not include travel. If the fine print says that the package does not include travel then there isn't much you can do. $681 for 13 nights in 3 different locations is a pretty good deal no matter what you look at it.

Call the company and get them to reserve you for a specified date-range, look around for some cheap flights (try lowballing it at priceline) and enjoy the vacation.

Side note: I often find pretty good vacation packages that include air travel at both Cheapcaribbean.com and lastminute.com.
posted by camworld at 12:50 PM on January 3, 2007

Is the written dispute different from a chargeback? From what I understand chargebacks are basically a simple refund and are fairly easy to obtain with some evidence that you've been ripped off.
posted by loiseau at 12:55 PM on January 3, 2007

Photocopy everything pertinent, send it to MasterCard. Be persistent and thorough, and make MasterCard reverse the charge.
posted by theora55 at 12:59 PM on January 3, 2007

I would quite trying to work something out with this company. You'll only be disappointed in the end. Yes... follow the advice of other posters and get your dad's credit card refunded via a charge back.

You can also write to the Consumerist. Several companies who have been featured there have worked out speedy resolutions. Others just make asses of themselves.
posted by kimdog at 1:35 PM on January 3, 2007

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

camworld, you must be better at this than I am. Because just to go to Cancun for 2, I have to pay an extra $400. I'm pretty sure that will be the case for Acapulco. So $800+$681 already spent is $1481, if not more, since some of the posts I've read online about the company mention this. I still think this is a raw deal.

kimdog, I just wrote to Consumerist!

And I think that I'll try MasterCard. Is it easy to get a chargeback? Esp for a sum like $681?

Thank you everyone!
posted by beautiful at 2:26 PM on January 3, 2007

The $681 your dad paid is only for hotel accommodations - for THREE different places covering 13 nights. That's a pretty sweet deal unless they put you in 1-star and 2-star shit-holes.

Add travel costs, hotel fees, taxes, garutuities, etc. and your cost will be roughly the same as paying for a package from a qualified vacation place. I mentioned a few earlier.

All is not lost with Travelcomm. Call them up and see what kind of arrangement you can get while still allowing them to honor the trips/certificates your dad bought. If they're unwilling to compromise, then go the Mastercard route. Remember, Travelcomm has access to many thousands of rooms at hundreds of resorts in dozens of locations. They'll also be able to help you determine a good date-range to plan a trip. Anything in-season or during a long holiday weekend is already out and they'll nt be able to honor those dates, since they're selling excess rooms in the first place -- which do not typically exist during the buy periods.

But don't expect to get something for nothing. $681 for 13 nights is a pretty sweet deal and in my opinion your dad is getting what he paid for. I would only contact consumerist and the BBB if they are truly trying to rip you off, but from your description above it sounds like they're trying to honor what they sold -- even if their biz model is shaky and a bit slimy.
posted by camworld at 3:30 PM on January 3, 2007

More research shows that this company is pretty sleazy. There are numerous lawsuits against in progress.

I still maintain that you should try to get them to compromise and provide exactly what your dad was sold. If they only want to upgrade you and hit you with fees, then ask for a full refund. If they refuse, then go to Consumerist, the BBB, etc.
posted by camworld at 3:45 PM on January 3, 2007

camworld writes "That's a pretty sweet deal unless they put you in 1-star and 2-star shit-holes."

Trust me, that's where they're staying. Go with MasterCard, and tell your dad to never ever do this ever again. There are perfectly reputable places to go to get cheap vacations. Go with them exclusively.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 4:50 PM on January 3, 2007

I think you might have a good angle for requesting a chargeback based on the "$200 surcharge" thing. If the contract you entered into (or your dad entered into) doesn't say anything about additional fees, or generally makes it out to seem like the price was everything excluding travel, tacking on an extra $200 is a pretty big change of terms.

I'd photocopy everything, and stop calling the company. Nothing they say on the phone is going to be worth the electrons it takes to convey it to your ear, because if they're really the kind of scum I think they are, they'll say all sorts of things as long as there's no way for you to prove it. It might be worth writing them a letter or two (certified mail, naturally) requesting that they either honor the original terms or give you a refund -- they'll never do this, but then you'll be able to show MasterCard that you tried. Then write a letter to MasterCard, giving the sequence of events and referencing all the supporting material, and request a chargeback.

Oh, and be sure you emphasize to your father that buying stuff from pop-up ads is a no-no.
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:57 PM on January 3, 2007