Where to report dishonest travel agent?

First of all, I know it's against CC rules to list a travel agent by name so I won't do that.

 

What I'm really asking is what I should do when my travel agent does not live up to her word. She promised to match a larger agency's obc but really only gave me half of what was agreed upon so not only did I lose money but a more honorable agency lost business.

 

I contacted her while on the cruise about this issue and received no answer from her. That was almost a month ago. Since then, she has not responded to any of my emails or phone messages. I lost close to $500 by booking through her and not only would I like to get my money back, but would also like to warn others before she "scams" them as well. Not to mention she might still have my credit card number on file and I worry about this as well.

 

The $500 she owes me may be lost for good but I would like to warn others. This particular travel agent is frequently on these boards but does not advertise here. I'm guessing the Better Business Bureau is my only option but as I know she takes advantage of discounted travel agent cruise fares, would like to alert her preferred cruise lines that she is involved in dishonest sales practices.

 

Please let me know how and to whom I should report her. Her website shows she is a member of CLIA so I guess I should start there?

 

Any input is very much appreciated.

Absolutely report the TA to CLIA.

Does she work for an agency? If so contact the manager.

Write to the better business bureau.

You can report her to the consumer fraud division, usually a section of the state's attorney general's office, in the state where the agency is located. Before you go that route, I would do as another poster suggested & contact someone in management at her agency 1st. You may also be able to give her bad reviews on something like Angie's List.

Seems to me that you might want to report her to the mods if you know her screen name.

Thank you for your helpful input.

 

She owns her own agency so no manager to report her to but her agency is actually part of a large cruise agency franchise. But I'm guessing once she's bought and paid for the franchise, they have very little say over her business and probably rarely step in and only do so if the money amount reaches felony levels.

 

Thanks again. I will write to the BBB, her state's fraud division and also give the corporate office of her franchise a try.

 

I'm still kicking myself for falling for her line about helping out the little guy instead of booking through the larger agency. I'm a small business owner myself and it's sad that travel agents like her give small businesses a bad name.

Don't bother wasting time contacting CLIA -- they won't do anything for you and have no complaint procedure.

 

The only qualification to be a CLIA agency is that your membership check doesn't bounce. The only thing that will get you kicked out is if your membership check DOES bounce.

Unless the OP has written confirmation of what the TA promised it's pointless to attempt reporting this matter to the Better Business Association or any other for that matter.

 

Additionally if the OP received any price reductions after the initial bookings any OBC offered by the TA would be adjusted accordingly.

Report to CLIA. If the TA works for an agency contact the owner. Also if the agency doesn't respond to the Better Business Bureau.

 

Keith

Unless the OP has written confirmation of what the TA promised it's pointless to attempt reporting this matter to the Better Business Association or any other for that matter.

 

Additionally if the OP received any price reductions after the initial bookings any OBC offered by the TA would be adjusted accordingly.

I have the emails she sent agreeing to the amount of obc. We spoke several times over the phone so she might think our agreement was strictly verbal and actually have forgotten I have it in writing. With this in mind, I will email her one more time reminding her I DO have it in writing and that I will report her if this isn't resolved ASAP.

 

Thanks.

Just an idea...I've seen it work many times.

 

Go down to your local court house, grab a small claims form, fill it out, then email it to her expressing your intent to file the small claim plus court costs. Maybe that'll be enough to motivate her to fulfill her side of the contract.

How terrible. Agree with what others have said & good luck to you. Let us know how it turns out if you get a chance.

a friend of mine was an avid reader of Rip-Off Reporter

 

I do not know how much they get involved but she has talked about how things were resolved. If nothing else, it gets the word out in yet another forum...

WarumistdieBananekrumm,

 

Thank you for posting and sharing your complaint. I was hoping it was the same agent but the name isn't even close and she's located in a different state. I wish you luck in getting your complaint settled and am sorry you have fallen victim as well.

 

Cruiseco,

 

Thank you for the info on CLIA and how sad they don't handle customer complaints.

 

sounds like there are more than one dishonest/incompetent 'fly by night' "professional Travel Agents" operating and utilizing the name of a MAJOR Travel Agency to instill trust ......

 

thanks for your response; was hoping for the same agent as well .....

 

we too tried to give an 'at home business' a break - with wailing kids in the background, - envisioning a hard working, responsible single parent trying to make it .....

 

-- investigation however shows, she is just an irresponsible individual lacking work ethics among other necessary attributes for running a successful business -

 

we make screen prints of all findings - eventually publishing those upon resolve one way or the other, on every and all related sites ......

 

(she advertises on 17 different web-sites, including in Germany....!)

 

placing reviews

cruise critic

trip adviser

send to each cruise line's administration / customer service

plus put website up

plus complaint with federal and state authorities AL, GA

better business etc

all cruise booking and websites;

 

looks like this measure is the only available option to WARN others booking in an apparently unregulated industry;

we will include full names other than on CC, ......

 

wishing you good luck in your endeavor;

please update with your results -

so will I - keeping you posted.

In addition to reporting to the BBB, I would highly recommend contacting the franchise parent company. I believe the franchisee's are contracted under the franchise agreement to behave ethically so I am sure they would want to be made aware of this situation. Best of luck!

Lets see...

 

Angies List

Facebook

Pinterest

BBB (even if it does not help...they will have a record of complaint for the next person)

Twitter (ask everyone to re-tweet)

LinkedIn

Every other discussion board to which you belong

 

Just be completely honest, don't embelish and have fun.

a friend of mine was an avid reader of Rip-Off Reporter

 

I do not know how much they get involved but she has talked about how things were resolved. If nothing else, it gets the word out in yet another forum...

 

I have the emails she sent agreeing to the amount of obc. We spoke several times over the phone so she might think our agreement was strictly verbal and actually have forgotten I have it in writing. With this in mind, I will email her one more time reminding her I DO have it in writing and that I will report her if this isn't resolved ASAP.

 

Thanks.

 

Did the rate you paid for the cruise ever go down/get adjusted so that was the reason for the reduced OBC? Did you know there was a problem before you boarded the ship?

 

Make sure you send her the email showing where she agreed to the amount.

 

So, she was suppose to give you $1,000.00 OBC but you only got $500.00 OBC? You said you are out $500.00, and she only gave you about half of what was agreed.

In addition to reporting to the BBB, I would highly recommend contacting the franchise parent company. I believe the franchisee's are contracted under the franchise agreement to behave ethically so I am sure they would want to be made aware of this situation. Best of luck!

 

These types of agents are typically not franchisees so you don't have the usual consumer protection you would have from any laws regulating franchises in your state.

 

Instead, they operate under an independent-contractor type of arrangement. But that's not to say that a complaint to the "host agency" might not do some good.

I guess it depends on how much grief you want to inflict.

 

If a local TV station has an "Invesitgative Team" you can contact them and possibly make life completely miserable for the TA and make a great many people aware of their professionalism (or lack their of).

Was the agreement on the OBC in writing? If not, you probably have no case. However, do make sure that on sites other than CC and in person you do bad mouth this individual.

 

DON

Was the agreement on the OBC in writing? If not, you probably have no case. However, do make sure that on sites other than CC and in person you do bad mouth this individual.

 

DON

in most states an email would be sufficient. If its verbal did you send a email confirming it to the TA?

Did you report her to your cruise line?

Did you report her to your credit card company???

Make sure you post reviews on sites like trip advisor and yelp as well. You might not get your money back but you can hurt them in their pocketbook if even one person doesn't book due to the reviews. Just be factual and try to keep emotion out of the review. Sometimes the owners responses are off the wall and they do even more damage to their reputation.