Help ! Travel Agency Shut Doors !!!

[my3kids]

...the payment in "cash" is the main reason i went with michael and dana this time instead of cruisequick, which was about $70 cheaper. I have no real knowledge of that company but i have met michael and dana before on a cruise and their reputation here on the DIS is great! The $70 difference was worth peace of mind to me....

I'm confused. Did you not go with cruisequick because you couldn't pay them with a check, or because you thought you had to pay them with a check? If it is the latter, cruisequick is very legitimate. If it was the former, I think I saw an address on the website where you could mail in a payment. If you have a low limit on your credit card unless you book a last minute trip which required full payment immediately you can pay $1K a month or whatever until the trip is paid, then you pay it off in these small amounts each month and you never get anywhere near your limit.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Have you tried the debit card route? Thats what we are doing with two staterooms and two reservations with Costco. This card acts as a credit card as well (as do most debit cards?). So just put that money into your checking account and you can "charge" it to your debit card.

I'm not sure that is totally correct. It seems that Debit Cards act more like checks than a credit card. While they do share some similarities, a debit card is not just like a credit card when it comes to reversing charges.

With a credit cards, if you paid for a product or service and recieved nothing, you can get a charge-back if it's within a certain period from the point it showed on your bill.

But with debit cards, I think you have to show evidence of fraud to get the charge reversed.

I'll admit I'm not SURE what I'm talking about (I don't have a debit card), but I do work somewhat in the financial industry, and a co-worker recently had difficulty getting his money back when someone used his debit card to fraudulently purchase software on the internet (I think his wife fell victim to a phishing email.)

What I do know is that the financial laws do differ from credit cards, to debit cards, to checks.

 

[Favorite Auntie]

If your debit card has a MC/VISA logo, you are protected. I believe that the most you could be responsible for is $50, and most banks waive that fee.

 

[Rence]

If your debit card has a MC/VISA logo, you are protected. I believe that the most you could be responsible for is $50, and most banks waive that fee.

Credit cards are regulated under the Fair Credit Billing act. So you are protected by law with a credit card. Debit cards are not protected by law.

Now in many cases banks, credit card companies etc. have setup policies that provide similar protection for debit cards to promote their use.

A MC/VISA logo does NOT make it a credit card and does not give you the protections of the Fair Credit Billing Act.

Best thing to do is to check with the bank that issued your debit card to see what type of protection they do offer. Remeber the protection is being offered by the bank and they can change their policies at any time.

More info - go to google and search for Debit Card protection, you will find lots and lots of warnings about the fact that you are not necessarily protected when you use a debit card.

One other consideration. You use a credit card. The credit card company does not have the money yet, you owe it to them. While you battle the credit card company, you have posession of the money. If you use a debit card, the money is gone and you have to fight and fight and fight to get the money back.

 

[fairytalelover]

Well we have our debit card with Bank of America and it has the Visa/MC logo on it and it also has full protection. You may want to check it out. We use it for all travel transactions.

 

[Amberle3]

For those with low credit limits - also try calling the credit card company and explaining that you have a large purchase coming up, the deposit has already been paid on the card and now the balance needs to be paid. They can temporarily increase the limit for you to allow for such things. They don't always do it, but they can.

I've had clients ask to pay me by cheque, and unless they're clients that I've known for a long time I really don't like to accept cheques. For one thing they're risky for me (if I don't know the client) but also they provide no protection to the customer at all.

 

[my3kids]

I think if is branded as a VISA debit card then it does receive the same protections as anything else VISA puts their name on. Now, if your checking account gets emptied it might be harder to function for a few days, but in the end you'll have the same security as a regular VISA Credit card.

 

[ivanova]

I'm not sure that is totally correct. It seems that Debit Cards act more like checks than a credit card. While they do share some similarities, a debit card is not just like a credit card when it comes to reversing charges.

With a credit cards, if you paid for a product or service and recieved nothing, you can get a charge-back if it's within a certain period from the point it showed on your bill.

But with debit cards, I think you have to show evidence of fraud to get the charge reversed.

pretty much that's what our bank told us

 

[gatour]

As others have said.

Credit and Debit cards are not the same in the eyes of the "law". Credit cards have certain protections that are regulated by Federal laws and regulations. Debit cards have no such Federal protections. The banks at THEIR OWN WILL may provide these same protections but MAY or WILL withdraw these protections at their own discretion.

This has not happened to me so I have no ax to grind against a bank vis a vi a debit card.

 

[txaggie94gigem]

yeah...i debated whether to pay the cruise off in increments on one of our credit cards but i have to admit i was not sure if the trip would be covered if we did it this way...and i do have a debit card...last year we paid off our cruise through DCL by charging $500/day (the max) about a month before final payment was due. I did not send a personal check but a bank check from my back (cashiers check)...i guess i will have to consider doing this with my credit card company next year...maybe if i arrange it in advance and allow them to debit my back account that much they will allow me to charge the balance....if i charge it and even if there is no longer a balance on my card is it still covered?...just like in an event like this family is going through...would i get my $$ back?

this is the reason i did not choose cruisequick...i had not heard of their good reputation when i needed to make ressies and did not want to end up like this family!

 

[my3kids]

Travel insurance would definately still cover you if you paid in increments and not all at once. They consider the date of the initial payment and the final payment date, not how you paid along the way.

Cruisequick is great. I have paid incrementaly on 2 cruises with them. Had to end up cancelling one and had my money back really quickly, directly from the cruise line, just as it had been charged. It is really easy to make interum payments with QC also; they have a secure webform you can submit whenever you want to make a payment....takes about 30 seconds to fill out, then the cruisecompany makes the draw.

 

[dvcmember98]

DCL came through for my friends. My friends worked with a DCL Supervisor who jumped through some hoops and helped them line their vacation back up, took sometime to get everything worked out. They have a son that is graduating HS this year and a daughter that is 6. The daughter was devasted when she first heard they may not get to go, needless to say she was vary excited to find out they were still going to WDW and DCL. My friends are still having to pay for the trip, actually double if you think about it, but DCL offered them the same package as the TA at the same pricing. They are going to be crunched a little bit on time as far as documents and the sort, but hey they are finding out about why we enjoy WDW and DCL and the people that make up the staff. Thanks to ALL of the CM'S !!!
So, if your cruising on the June 16th 3 night cruise and you see a BIG guy, 6'4" 290lbs, with a crew cut and his family just call him "Big Dave" and ask him and his family if their having a Magical time.
I appreciate everyones response for help and I really appreciate DCL and the supervisor stepping up and spreading that Pixie Dust around for my friends. Oh and by the way they are going to deal with Disney Travel direct from now on.

C ya's !!!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I am so glad Disney came through for them.

My sister was in the same situation for her honeymoon about 2 years ago. They paid the travel agent full with different increments of cash throughout the year. 2 weeks before they were to leave and 3 days before the wedding they still had not received their docs. They were going to WDW for 7 days and on a 7 day DCL cruise. They called the travel agency and their travel agent was fired and the had no record of them paying their balance off (because they did it with cash) They called Disney and they cancelled the reservations because nothing was paid for. Turns out the travel agent took off with the cash. The agency said that there was nothing they could do and Disney was trying to redo their reservations at the price the travel agency quoted, but problem was my sister and BIL had already paid the amount. My BIL found out where the travel agent lived and he parked in front of his condo...one way in, one way out. He stayed there and pounded on his door until he came out. The travel agent said he was going to call the cops and report him of harrassment and tresspassing and my BIL said he would report him for stealing. The travel agent just happened to have $7,000 cash at his house to finally give my BIL back the money.

Lesson learned: never ever use cash for big purchases.

 

[dvcmember98]

Just FYI guy's.
The issue involving the agency my friends used is that it also involves more then just their family. They know of 12 to 15 families, know on a first hand basis, that have been bilked by this agency and the estimate is up in the hundreds of thousands of dollars that are involved from where many other people and or groups have paid in full for various other vacations only to find out that none of their money made it to their destinations. This even made the local news stations late last week.

 

[clten]

I just want to note that while there are dishonest people in every industry that these incidents should not make everyone bypass travel agents and book directly with vendors. Good travel agents do add value to your plans without costing extra.

If you are working with a travel agent you haven't worked with before, there are a few things you should do to make sure they are working for you. As a few people mentioned, the credit card charges should be billed directly by the vendor (cruise line, Disney Travel Co, etc.). As there are costs involved in charging the credit card, it doesn't make sense for an agency to cut their commissions by 2-3% just to pass the money onto the vendor. If the charge is showing up under the travel agency, call the vendor with your confirmation number and check how much money is credited to the booking. If it isn't close to what you've paid, call the travel agency immediately for an explanation. I am amazed at the number of people we work with who never look at their credit card bill! Credit cards do offer some protections but there are time limits.

If you are paying with cash or check, make sure you get a receipt for that payment. In the case where the employee pocketed the money, if they had a receipt, the agency would be responsible (they were the ones who hired a dishonest agent). If you are working with a legitimate agency, they carry error and omission insurance to cover oversights. But the most important thing is to make sure everything is in writing.

 

[dvcmember98]

did them no good when the agency itself shut the doors. Nothing was said about not using an agency. This post was about seeing if anyone on these boards had been in a similar situation and what advice they might have. This was not a bashing of Travel Agencies.