"Agency issue"....???

[cruz chic]

I think an important part of the discussion with the credit card companies needs to be the fact that you're not disputing a charge for an item you bought that's been broken or damaged.

 

You're disputing a charge you made in good faith that was supposed to go to Holland America Line, not XYZ Agency.

 

You made the transaction 16 months ago (or whatever) and the agency charged your card at that time. Your previous experience was that the monies would be transmitted to HAL at that time. You now find out, 16 months later, that this did not happen.

 

AmEx says "membership has its privileges" ... make 'em prove it.

 

I agree....she did not get what she paid for. There should be a difference.

[LHT28]

 

Lyn, your suggestion for HAL to withhold commissions won't work. First, the ta wouldn't even book anything with HAL (or other CCL companies) knowing that they won't get any commission. Second, if commission is 10% they'd have to sell $80,000 worth of cruise booking just to cover the $8000. Future booking have nothing to do with the fact that Karen has paid in full for her cruise to the ta, and the ta hasn't forwarded the funds to HAL.

.

True... but at the present time they may have booking in the works with HAL & HAL can delay the commission payment on those that paid by CC directly to HAL.

I am sure the lady helping Karen at HAL has something in the works.

 

Lyn

[bksunbuddies]

Help please! I have gone to trip advisor to try to do the same but obviously I am not doing it right. Not sure where to go on site. Instructions would be welcome. Thanks

 

Go to Trip Advisor and try a search of Orlando cruise agency. If that doesn't work, try central Florida cruise agency.

 

Good luck

[lardor]

Thanks for this info..We & another couple have booked thru a Central Fla Tvl. Agent on a 28 day in Nov....Checked the Central Fla. BBC & the Agent is not registered with them.. Our Final payment, (over $6,000) is due Aug 23..Now I'm getting nervous...

 

Do you know if the Florida "Dept. of Agriculture" will give us info on this Agent even if we don't have a complaint against them?...If not, then wonder if HAL will give us the straight scoop about our Agent, before we give him our final payment..

 

Have booked with this Agent before & he came thru with everything he promised..Hate to be paranoid, but in this day & age one can never be sure...

 

Thanks..Betty

 

Hi B., remember you can always check on exactly where your up-coming $6000.00 payment is a day or two after he gets the final payment....and if there is a problem, you'll have plenty of time to solve it in your favor...Not to increase your paranoia, but I switched one of my reservations from a guy that works for the same company you're dealing with now, because I was "uncomfortable" with his answers to my questions....

L.

[Kween Karen]

Talked with HAL about 10:30. Told her the credit card was a dead end. She was still very nice....very positive....telling me to hang in there. Said she will wait to see if anything happens today as this was a deadline day and tomorrow is a new day. She will call me again today no matter what. I am RUNNING to the phone every time it rings......caller ID keeps saying something other than HAL!! (The good news there is that I just made a joke and I actually laughed!!!)

 

I will keep you posted. Thanks again for all the help and encouragement and prayers and virtual hugs!

[Mellowtraveler]

Just wondering. If a deposit has been made to a private TA and insurance purchased through them, and they go out of business before final payment is due, what happens? I'm beginning to think in this economy it pays to book directly with HAL.

 

What is a PCC ? Is that someone from HAL? Like a FCC ?

 

 

Carol,

We have had our TA go out of business. The cruise line took over the booking. We have also had the insurance company go out of business, along with our insurance premium money. We had an excellent TA who got us new coverage at their expense. In fact the insurance was better than our original. We have always used a private TA as we love the $200-$300 onboard credits they offer.

Marty

[GatorV]

This calls for my Grandmother's(still with us at 99)wise old saying and others too....

 

Just hurry up and wait

[arasg]

Thanks for this info..We & another couple have booked thru a Central Fla Tvl. Agent on a 28 day in Nov....Checked the Central Fla. BBC & the Agent is not registered with them.. Our Final payment, (over $6,000) is due Aug 23..Now I'm getting nervous...

 

Do you know if the Florida "Dept. of Agriculture" will give us info on this Agent even if we don't have a complaint against them?...If not, then wonder if HAL will give us the straight scoop about our Agent, before we give him our final payment..

 

Have booked with this Agent before & he came thru with everything he promised..Hate to be paranoid, but in this day & age one can never be sure...

 

Thanks..Betty

 

Most Agencies are honest hard working people. If nothing shows up under BBB is probably a good sign(most companies don't pay to be members), but complaints will show up. It only takes a couple to hear about all the horror stories. Your deposit should have shown up on your CC statement as HAL. If it showed the TA's agency, that would give me concern (eating the service charges is strange to begin with...means most likely they are using the cash to float their business).

 

Is the Agency ARC appointed http://www.arccorp.com/index.jsp (just ask them...) or IATAN http://www.iatan.org/iatan/ and registered with the state(--Florida http://www.800helpfla.com/travel_text.html) for hints of who to call and check.

 

Like I said, a good TA will always be working hard for their clients to not worry and look out for their best interests and get them great deals. There are a few in EVERY profession that give a great big black eye.

[NWWanderer]

Karen, good to hear you're laughing at least a little! I've been following this thread and was hoping for a quick, positive resolution for you. I hope it still can be resolved by the TA making good, but if not, I wouldn't give up on the credit card company angle. As others have posted, this isn't a situation where you are disputing an incorrect charge which does have to be done within 60 days. This is a different scenario (no services rendered for money paid) and I'm believe the credit card companies treat it differently and the 60 day rule doesn't apply (an example of this would be when an airline goes bankrupt and you bought your ticket more than 60 days in advance). I would call back and ask to speak to a supervisor.

[Jimsgirl]

I have been reading this and desperately hope that the victim will get her cruise.

 

One thing I noticed was the number of posters who assume that various Law or State officials will deal with the "crooked agency". Personally I do not think the pster will get any satisfaction from any State/Law office

 

As the resident of a condo complex here in Florida where the Manger embezzeled ove 1.2 MILLION dollars from our accounts I can tell you the following, even with hundreds of stolen cheques, faked bank statement, stolen CD's , a mountain of evidence supplied by us the victims.

State Att - "We cannot get involved , contact your county Attn

County Atty -" We would have to wait for the police to investigate and ask for warrents"

Police-" We need time to sort through all this mass of evidence" So far they have had 11 months and they have only spoken with her once and she is a free as a bird, riding around town in a very expensive SUV she bought with a cheque she stole from us.

Gov of FL-' Thank you for your letter which I have passed to DBPR"

DBPR- "We will send you the forms to file a complaint " - this was done 10 months ago - no action as yet from DBPPR.

State Federal REPS (two ) asking they contact FBI to get them involved Rep #1 "This is a matter for your local police" Rep #2 after 7 months said he had forwarded my letter to FBI

FBI - No response at all.

 

Sorry to rain on anyones parade but the posters is "on her own" apart from our good wishes.

[SueOverend]

Talked with HAL about 10:30. Told her the credit card was a dead end. She was still very nice....very positive....telling me to hang in there. Said she will wait to see if anything happens today as this was a deadline day and tomorrow is a new day. She will call me again today no matter what. I am RUNNING to the phone every time it rings......caller ID keeps saying something other than HAL!! (The good news there is that I just made a joke and I actually laughed!!!)

 

I will keep you posted. Thanks again for all the help and encouragement and prayers and virtual hugs!

 

Keeping it all crossed for you Karen. We have to make payment to our agent next week - have read this thread tonight, I'm now a little worried. I'm sure you will get this sorted eventually, but it must be incredibly stressful - I can't imagine how awful. Sue

[NetwrkEng]

As far as I can tell from this thread this is nearing the end of day 3 trying to get something done that takes minutes.

 

I dont now Karen and don't really feel qualified to give advice but these people are obviously floating the cash. Like all of these types of schemes the last ones in are left holding the bag at the end.

 

Their web site is up and they are still no doubt taking in $ and double billing once they have cc information which seems to be standard practice for them not an "accounting error".

 

If it were me I would not be waiting for phone calls anymore I would be making them. Along with emails to the "agency" telling them that unless the payment is made TODAY. I am going to post information on your practices on every site I can find. I'm calling the local consumer reporters for the papers and TV stations in the area etc.

 

Squeaky wheel type of thing...

 

Antagonzie them? If they had $8000 of my money I'm all over the nice guy approach by now. But, that's just me.;)

 

Good Luck Karen! Really hope it all works out.

[Kween Karen]

Nope...not going on 3 days.....been FIVE days! Received the first phone call alerting me on Friday afternoon.....now it is Wednesday afternoon.

 

At THIS point I am still trusting in HAL and their experience with this kind of thing.

[clyde3]

I just talked with my credit card company to get the details of disputing a charge, what it would take and how long to get my money back. (This is what the HAL lady told me to do....and then report to her)

 

Amex told me that there is a 60 limit on disputing a charge. Mine has been 16 months. The man said he would try to put it through....that is his job....but said he has worked there a LONG time and has NEVER seen on go through that is that old.

 

I have a call in to HAL and am waiting for her to call me back.

 

S00000......really no news at this point.

 

Karen, Did you mean to say 60 day limit? This does not seem very long.

[kyriecat]

. . .

Well, the cruise was wonderful !!! but upon our return on Feb. 4th and

checking my mail --- I see that a charge of $ 900 had been made to RCCL on Dec. 30th (without my previous permission or knowledge). I immediately called the cruise line --- was told that it was made by the TA.

Then called the TA and was told that their accounting dept. "had made an error in submitting my payments" to RCCL and the additional charge was correct.

 

Well --- I HIT THE CEILING --- told them that I had paid in full (per their invoices which also stated that my trip was "paid in full") in June and that their mistakes were NOT my responsibility. I

also started a dispute with my cc companies which took about 6 weeks

to ultimately be told that "as the monies had been paid over 6 months prior" there was nothing the cc companies could to do to get my money back. But, I said " the product was NOT delivered to me until Jan. 4th".

That didn't make any difference. The cc companies go by when you Pay

and not when you RECEIVE the product. (at least in this situation). . .

Sherrie,

I haven't heard your whole story, but I am confused by the part that I snipped above. If you previously paid in full and had documentation to that effect, I don't understand why your CC company wouldn't let you dispute the additional $900 charge. If the charge was made on Dec. 30th and you reported it on Feb. 4th, that is well within the usual 60-90 days that the CC gives you to dispute a charge. It shouldn't matter that the original cruise payment was months previously because the $900 was a separate charge. Once you dispute it, the vendor needs to provide proof that they had authorization to bill the amount. Since you had documentation showing that you had already paid in full, the CC company should have refunded the charge.

[gemgia]

Karen, good to hear you're laughing at least a little! I've been following this thread and was hoping for a quick, positive resolution for you. I hope it still can be resolved by the TA making good, but if not, I wouldn't give up on the credit card company angle. As others have posted, this isn't a situation where you are disputing an incorrect charge which does have to be done within 60 days. This is a different scenario (no services rendered for money paid) and I'm believe the credit card companies treat it differently and the 60 day rule doesn't apply (an example of this would be when an airline goes bankrupt and you bought your ticket more than 60 days in advance). I would call back and ask to speak to a supervisor.

 

 

This is very good advice. We had a situation a few years ago where we purchased subscription performance tickets. The company went out of business well past the 60 days that we charged the order. Our credit card refunded us the money for the shows that were cancelled as services were not received. In your case you are at risk of not receiving the service that was charged. I would call your credit card company and speak to a supervisor.

[SHERGIB]

Worriers can also worry that the cruise line will go out of business. Regency Cruise Line went out of business, stranding passengers and crew, a few months after we sailed on the Regent Star.

 

We were on the Regent Sun when the company went belly up. Stranded in Jamaica which was not the worst place to be stuck. They had never paid for our hotel which we were booked into a week later but had paid the air from Jamaica back to Hartford. so we stayed a few days and flew home. Filed a claim with the cc co, even though we had paid months before with all documentation included a prorated part of the cruise we took. We were credited with all monies including the charge for the hotel and the fee to change the air reservations. We did not ordinarily use a cc but we have ever since. Hopefully, Karen problems will be resolved.

[Tenngal]

Karen,

I assume you have trip insurance? (If this has already been mentioned, forgive me, as I just now skimmed through this thread.) Perhaps you can contact the trip insuror, to see if you have any options through them?? After all, you have PAID for this trip, regardless of who actually got the $$. So, maybe, the insurance will cover the cost, then go after your TA in a legal action.

 

Wishing you all the best...

 

(This thread has been the best suspense reading I've done in years!:eek:)

[ocngypz]

Karen,

I assume you have trip insurance? (If this has already been mentioned, forgive me, as I just now skimmed through this thread.) Perhaps you can contact the trip insuror, to see if you have any options through them?? After all, you have PAID for this trip, regardless of who actually got the $$. So, maybe, the insurance will cover the cost, then go after your TA in a legal action.

 

Wishing you all the best...

 

(This thread has been the best suspense reading I've done in years!:eek:)

 

Travel insurance does not cover you in case of bankruptcy of the agency you purchased from.... only the cruiseline, airline, etc.

[Kween Karen]

Karen, Did you mean to say 60 day limit? This does not seem very long.

Yes.....60 days is what they told me.

[travelingfast]

I don't think any of you have anything to worry about unless your travel agency has the word "store" in their title. Karen, why would you not ask for a supervisor at the credit card company? You are taking this so calmly. I would be out of my mind.

[serendipity1499]

Hi B., remember you can always check on exactly where your up-coming $6000.00 payment is a day or two after he gets the final payment....and if there is a problem, you'll have plenty of time to solve it in your favor...Not to increase your paranoia, but I switched one of my reservations from a guy that works for the same company you're dealing with now, because I was "uncomfortable" with his answers to my questions....L.

 

L...Agree, You're right!...M. & A & John all think I have too much time on my hands ;) & becoming paranoid....LOL

But, rather than take the chance M & I are both going to call Div. of Consumer Services (Dept of Agriculture) tomorrow (they closed at 4:45 today) to try get some info about our Tvl. Agent..

Thanks..Betty

[cusyl]

I might add that if anyone wants to find out about a Florida business they can go to sunbiz dot org and find the registered agent for that business.

[dandro]

So, it's been 5 days since the original phone call from HAL, and no progress has been made? No payment from the TA?

 

I was hoping to log on and find out this has all been resolved.

 

Hope you are doing O.K., Karen. I would have been going at that TA with both barrels. Have you contacted any law enforcement agencies, DA's, etc.?

[Benita]

L...Agree, You're right!...M. & A & John all think I have too much time on my hands ;) & becoming paranoid....LOL

But, rather than take the chance M & I are both going to call Div. of Consumer Services (Dept of Agriculture) tomorrow (they closed at 4:45 today) to try get some info about our Tvl. Agent..

Thanks..Betty

 

Betty, Just check your credit card statement online, or dial the customer service number on the back of your credit card a couple of days after making any payment for a trip. If the statement or automated system says the money was charged to HAL, you are OK. If it was charged to a TA, I would call the credit card company and cancel the charge and call the agency and tell them you will not allow the money to go to the agency and if they won't put the charge through to HAL you are transferring the booking to HAL or another TA.

We have booked more than 40 cruises through travel agents, both online and in person and every time the charge was put through the cruise line. We do book a fair amount of land trips with an online agency which discounts us if we pay by check and the check is made out to the agency. When I do that, I call the tour company, whether it be Tauck or Globus or any of the others a couple of weeks after sending the check and make sure they have been paid. I also buy cancellation insurance within a week after my deposit to cover me in the event of the TA or tour company going bankrupt (but never buy the insurance from the TA or tour company, because then I will not be covered if either the TA or tour company go belly up). Make sure the insurance is bought from an independent insurance company - we pick one from insuremytrip.com