My letter of complaint re: Uniworld cruise line
Jeff Gersten
Operators Association.)
Earlier today, I found their website and sent them the following e-mail.
I doubt that it will accomplish anything (other than making me feel good
about writing it), but you never know.
Sent e-mail message
From: JeffG...@webtv.net (Jeff Gersten) Date: Fri, Oct 24, 2003,
8:27am To: infor...@ustoa.com
Subject: Is there a code of ethics for tour operators?
If there is, I would like to lodge a complaint against Uniworld.
This is what they did to us. Back in July, we paid them a deposit for a
river cruise plus tour of Holland and Belgium. In late September, we
paid the balance that we owed them. Approximately 3 weeks after taking
our final payment, they chartered out our ship. They gave us the option
of another vastly dissimilar tour, but it was nothing that we wanted.
I have since tried to call them, but all they will say is we cannot talk
to you because you used a travel agent. Yesterday, (Thursday), I finally
got someone to talk to me. I wanted my credit card credited back
immediately because we need the credit to make alternate vacation plans
(partial payment due today, the rest soon). I was promised that it would
be expedited and done Monday. But even that is not fair. They had some
of our money for over 3 months and the bulk of it for almost a month and
gave us nothing in return, and now they are not only screwing us out of
our anticipated vacation, but taking their time returning our money.
Our travel agent could not believe that they could do this so close to
the departure date (late December). She also could not believe that they
could do this and offer no compensation. We have asked for our out of
pocket expense for travel insurance that we obviously would not have
bought if we had not booked a tour, but they will not talk to me and
tell our travel agent no. Personally, I also think we should be
compensated for the depression and headaches that my wife has been
suffering since the vacation that we thought would be perfect was
snatched from us.
I hope taking final payment and then selling out
your tour is not acceptable conduct according to your society. I would
hope there would be some sanctions against them. If this is acceptable
conduct, please let us know. If it is we would of course want to avoid
any tour operators.
Jeffrey Gersten
George Leppla
"Jeff Gersten" <JeffG...@webtv.net> wrote
>It seems that Uniworld is a member of USTOA (United States Tour
>Operators Association.)
FWIW... USTOA isn't going to do anything. In all likelihood, your "contract
of passage" with Uniworld says that they can cancel and if they haven't done
anything illegal I doubt that they will do anything other than forward your
letter to Uniworld... if that.
Unfortunately, the travel industry is unregulated and these associations
like USTOA, CLIA and even ASTA have no clout with enforcing any kind of
rules or ethics.
Let's face it, this is an industry where anyone with $495 can become an
instant travel agent. It is odd that the woman who cuts my hair for $10 has
to go to school, take a test and get licensed before she can cut hair... but
anyone can become an instant travel agent and take thousands of dollars
worth of bookings without any experience, licence or regulations. The
industry associations put up with that... even encourage it. They aren't
going to give your complaint anything more than lip service and that is a
damn shame.
--
George in PA http://www.countryside-travel.com
Norwegian Dawn http://www.cruisemaster.com/dawn.htm
Sleazy 3 - Carnival Conquest http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy3.htm
The Mother of All Group Cruises http://www.motherofallgroupcruises.com
BRENTSTELL
But you have to be licensed and have a
$ 50,000.00 bond in FL. To sell travel
I know CA, has a very strong licensing law.
Brent
George Leppla
"BRENTSTELL" <brent...@aol.com> wrote in message
Not very strong. In both states it is a simple registration and posting of
an inexpensive bond. There is no verification of experience, ability,
education of financial responsibility. In Florida, a new business does not
need to submit ANY financial information at all and just post a $10K bond.
Here is the Florida statute:
Sellers of Travel that DO NOT offer vacation certificates, must submit a
completed registration form, non-refundable fee and proof of assurance in
the form of a Surety Bond, Certificate of Deposit or Irrevocable Bank Letter
of Credit in an amount not to exceed $25,000. A Seller of Travel that does
no offer vacation certificates and that has a history of no unresolved
complaints may request a reduction of security by completing the
"Application for Reduction of Sellers of Travel Bond" and submitting it with
a copy of the Seller of Travel's federal income tax return or an audited
financial statement for the immediately preceding fiscal year. The criteria
for deciding the amount of the assurance is as follows:
$ 10,000 -- Newly established business, business under new ownership, or a
business that has been under the same ownership and control for at least one
year and has less that $500,000 in gross annual sales. (A newly established
business need not provide financial documents.)
$15,000 -- Business under the same ownership and control for at least one
year with gross annual sales between $500,000 and $1,000,000.
$20,000 -- Business under the same ownership and control for at least one
year with gross annual sales between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000.
$25,000 -- Business under the same ownership and control for at least one
year with gross annual sales over $2,000,000.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The registration fee is $300 per agency. That is it. Pay the fee, get
your license.
Cruzinsure
>like USTOA, CLIA and even ASTA have no clout with enforcing any kind of
>rules or ethics.
Especially CLIA. "CLIA" stands for "Cruise Line Industry Association." Not
Cruise Line Passenger Association. Not Cruise Travel Agency Association.
As their name applies, their #1 goal is to further the interests of the cruise
lines. Everything they do, from their seminars to their lobbying, is to make
more money for the cruise lines. Seminars like "How to Sell More Cruises" will
indirectly help travel agents but their primary concern is to get more
passengers on the ships.
CLIA offers NO method of or interest in resolving disputes between passengers
and cruise lines or between TAs and cruise lines. And all you have to have to
become a CLIA-authorized travel agent is a check that doesn'y bounce.
Ray Goldenberg
<geo...@cruisemaster.com> wrote:
>Not very strong. In both states it is a simple registration and posting of
>an inexpensive bond. There is no verification of experience, ability,
>education of financial responsibility.
Hi Everyone,
As a matter of clarification, the bond is very expensive for CA
agencies. You can use a trust account for your funds in leu of the
bond. If the agency is based in CA it must also pay into a
restitution fund. This fund protects CA residents in case the CA
agency goes under. Those agents that are outside of CA are suppose to
register (but not pay into the fund) if they are selling to CA
residents. Anyone who is a resident in CA should make sure that your
agency is registered whether the agency is inside or outside of CA.
Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Jeff Gersten
>FWIW... USTOA isn't going to do anything. In
>all likelihood, your "contract of passage" with
>Uniworld says that they can cancel and if they
>haven't done anything illegal I doubt that they
>will do anything other than forward your letter
>to Uniworld... if that.
>Unfortunately, the travel industry is
>unregulated and these associations like
>USTOA, CLIA and even ASTA have no clout
>with enforcing any kind of rules or ethics.
You are absolutely right. This is what they sent me. But, it still felt
good writing to them.
Dear Mr. Gersten:
Thank you for your correspondence. We have forward a copy to Mr. Heinz
Neiderhoff, Vice President Product Planning, Uniworld. We will retain
the original in our files.
As a volunteer trade association, USTOA's role is education, tour
promotion and financial protection for consumers should any of our
Active members incur bankruptcy or cease operations. We are strictly
prohibited from becoming involved in or regulating any Member's
marketing and/or operational activities (such as service, pricing or
policies).
However, we are certain, that a representative from Mr. Neiderhoff's
office will contact you shortly to resolve this matter.
Very truly yours,
R.E. Whitley
United States Tour Operators Association 275 Madison Avenue Ste 2014
New York, NY 10016
website: www.ustoa.com
Telephone: 212.599.6599
Fax: 212.599.6744
Copy to: Heinz Neiderhoff
Vice President Product Planning
Uniworld
17323 Ventura Blvd.
Encino, CA 91316
Jean O'Boyle
"Jeff Gersten" <JeffG...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:150-3F999C07-35@storefull-
You are absolutely right. This is what they sent me. But, it still felt
good writing to them.
Copy to: Heinz Neiderhoff
Vice President Product Planning
Uniworld
17323 Ventura Blvd.
Encino, CA 91316
Jeff, I would write a letter to Heinz Neiderhoff too, in case the copy to
him gets lost in the mail. I would also mention to him that you have posted
your complaint to a cruise internet news group who will be very anxious to
hear how Uniworld treats its clients when such things occur.
Good Luck,
Jean
Chad O'Brien
dispute the charges on your credit card. I had no problems in the past with
American Express and they didn't charge me the $50 nominal fee as with other
credit cards. Bottom line: you didn't get the services as advertised and as
you requested. Let the credit card company do the work for you.
"Jeff Gersten" <JeffG...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:12200-3F...@storefull-2311.public.lawson.webtv.net...
Donnassei
Good letter, hope you get some response, if you do, let us know.....
As to disputing the charges on your credit card, yes, you can do that, but that
also can take up to 3 billing cycles to go through. Hope you get the credit
ASAP. Funny, when you have to pay the final payment using your credit card,
its just about instand, but takes forever to reverse it, doesn't seem fair??
Donna
Tuesday Chat Host
http://www.cruisemates.com
Jeff Gersten
>Surely, you used your credit card to make
>payments, so why don't you simply dispute the
>charges on your credit card. I had no
>problems in the past with American Express
I did call American Express and explained the situation. They checked
and I had not yet been credited with either my deposit or final payment.
They advised me that since my cruise had just been cancelled within the
last few days, I should give it a few days for the credit to be in their
system. If it was not there by early next week, I should call them back
and they would decide if I would need to write them or if they could
handle the dispute of the charge over the phone.
Uniworld has agreed to credit our card, but they did have use of our
money, and still do, until it is credited back.They also have some of
our credit line tied up, which luckily was not needed for charging our
new trip, but might have been. Also for the next bill, and possibly the
one after that, our balance will be less than zero, so we will in effect
be giving American Express an interest free loan.
The main point, which I hope is not getting missed, is that these people
took our deposit and final payment and then very late resold what we had
bought and paid for in good faith. Other than loss of good will, there
is no penalty to them for this conduct. They meanwhile have a policy
where there is even a penalty if you cancel after making your deposit
and before making the final payment. They are totally unethical people
and I hope anyone considering using them will heed my warning.
Linda Coffman
> As to disputing the charges on your credit card, yes, you can do that, but
that
> also can take up to 3 billing cycles to go through. Hope you get the
credit
> ASAP. Funny, when you have to pay the final payment using your credit
card,
> its just about instand, but takes forever to reverse it, doesn't seem
fair??
Actually, it *can* take two to three billing cycles to get a refund issued
by some travel vendors (such as a cruise line or tour operator).
However, when a credit card holder disputes a charge, the issuing credit
card company generally posts at least a temporary credit immediately. I know
that American Express follows that procedure and they will accept a
cardholder's dispute report over the telephone. In a situation like the one
related here, a credit will come much more quickly from the credit card
company than the tour operator (or cruise line).
Linda
-----
CruiseDiva.com
http://cruisediva.com
George Leppla
"Linda Coffman" <lindac...@comcast.net> wrote
> Actually, it *can* take two to three billing cycles to get a refund issued
> by some travel vendors (such as a cruise line or tour operator).
It can but it shouldn't. Companies like Carnival, Royal Caribbean and
Princess routinely have credit card refunds processed within 24 to 48
hours... or about the same amount of time it takes for a charge to be made
and posted to your account when you make a purchase. Companies who claim
that it takes 2 to 3 billing cycles to process a refund are basically
holding your money and collecting interest for as lone a possible. NCL is
horrible in this regard.
Processing a credit card refund should take no longer than processing a
credit card charge... assuming the company is on the up and up.
Susette405
>Princess routinely have credit card refunds processed within 24 to 48
>hours... or about the same amount
NOt always the case... I had a client that I made his final payment. $470
RCCL charged $1100 THUS causing him bounced checks... I had called IMMEDIATELY
the same day back to tell them of their error, they said it will be refunded 72
hours or up to 5 days,. I SAID WHAT? It should be instant like if you went to
Sears or sometthing. ThIS WAS A NIGHTMARE took 8 days seems they request it
but they have to also do something else woth it to transact and that was not
done. it was alot of BS in my opinion... and his bounced check fees ( he even
sent his bank statement) they gave him onboard credit... This was a nightmare!
Susette
Join us on our Annual Group Cruise 29Nov03 Navigator of the Seas
Check out our new website: www.cruiseoutlets.com
Susette405
>Jeff, I would write a letter to Heinz Neiderhoff too, in case the copy to
>him gets lost in the mail. I would als
and send it CERTIFIED signed receipt requested
Linda Coffman
> It can but it shouldn't. Companies like Carnival, Royal Caribbean and
> Princess routinely have credit card refunds processed within 24 to 48
> hours... or about the same amount of time it takes for a charge to be made
> and posted to your account when you make a purchase.
I agree, George. The cruise line that took two billing cycles to refund my
deposit was Costa. I've had better service from others, including NCL.
Eileen Garland
booking through a TA, the point is that there are TAs like Suesette who
actually go to bat for their clients.
Eileen