I just received an email asking how someone could get out of the MLM agreement as they keep charging her credit card. I asked her a few questions about the contract and this was her response:
I started in October with the first payment of $499.90 which included the first monthly payment of the $49.95 monthly fees.
They have charged my card for November and of course soon December. I paid a $149.00 RTA Certification Seminar fee. This seminar was cancelled because their IATA license has been suspended. So I've been requesting them to refund this amount since the day of the actual seminar which was on Saturday, November 17th, 2007. As of today's date they tell me they will, but as of yesterday when I contacted Chase they had not given me a refund.
My partner and I like to travel frequently and I figured we'd get discounts to really nice places, but unfortunately to date have not been able to go anywhere yet due to personal reasons. However, my ONLY priority for joining was to get an IATA number and ID card as a certified RTA (Referring Travel Agent) to travel at discounted rates.
RIght now all I want is to get my money back. I have sent them letters and are awaiting their response.
Will keep you posted and will fax you both contracts for your information.
I really love to travel and have traveled a bit. Before this, I looked in local colleges and in the internet on how to become a "REAL" travel agent, however, found there to be no real information. So if you have any real information for me, I'd like to check it out. Again it's really to be able to go to nicer locations and far away places at discounted prices. Isn't this what we all want after all???
Best regards,
(Name Withheld by JWF)
Obviously she has not given the business tie enough to work for her, but it does go to show that the primary reason for signing up was the cheap travel. Also, apparently the IATA card was a key factor in that decision for he.
ReplyDeleteDoes not seem like she understood she needs to receive $5K in commission before the card is hers, but I wonder how the program was presented to her initially.
And why is a CRTA seminar cancelled because they don;t have IATA cards any more.
Wow John - I thiink it would be great if you could post those two contracts here when she sends them to you!
ReplyDeleteSo now here's a woman saying, "I just wanted the Travel Agent discounts..." .... thought that didn't happen?
Of course she can contact her bank and dispute the seminar charge and can stop the automatic deduction as well...
"This seminar was cancelled because their IATA license has been suspended. So I've been requesting them to refund..."
ReplyDeleteCRTA tranings never have stopped. I don't think she has stated the real reason her class was canceled.
YTB has been excellent with their promises of refunds when CORRECTLY requested by members.
Another traditional travel agent.
ReplyDeleteWhy are they mostly ladies?
Erie County Travel Agent Admits To Scam
Spitzer’s Office Secures Felony Pleas on Behalf of 300 Victims
Attorney General Spitzer today announced that his office has obtained a guilty plea from a Western New York travel agent who defrauded consumers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Michelle Kasza, 34, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty to one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class D felony and one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, also a Class D felony. Kasza faces up to seven years in prison.
"Today’s plea sends a strong message to the travel industry that broken promises and misrepresentations to clients can have serious consequences," Spitzer said. "My office’s goal is to secure restitution for the hundreds of consumers whose vacation plans were ruined."
Kasza operated a travel agency from her home in a section of Buffalo known as Kaisertown, largely attracting new customers by referrals and through contacts in her community. For nearly a three-year period ending in the fall of 2000, Kasza engaged in a scheme to defraud approximately 300 Buffalo-area residents out of nearly $440,000.
Spitzer’s office began investigating after receiving numerous consumers complaints that Kasza had insisted on full up-front payments to make travel arrangements and then failed to do so, had charged travel expenses of one party to another party’s credit card, and then failed to respond to requests for refunds.
In one case, a South Buffalo tavern, Hopper’s Rush Inn, organized a group trip for its patrons to Las Vegas for last October. Although over 100 of the tavern’s customers paid $1,000 per couple to participate, Kasza failed to provide the promised travel arrangements.
Obviously this letter is a sham, because no CRTA classes were canceled, as the IATAN issue is irrelevant to YTB's certification. Attendance is free, for those of you still checking things out. If you paid for the certification, there is a money-back guarantee if not satisfied. Here is a link with the locations of seminars today through December 16, and other information: http://www.yourtravelbiz.com/rta/CRTA_list_new_repsite.htm
ReplyDeleteThis person is not an "MLMer". She makes no mention of any marketing she has done. She's looking for a travel club. Not someone I would want on my team.
ReplyDeleteWow! One "disgruntled MLMer" and 300 disgruntled victims outside of the MLM travel industry all screwed by one travel agent!
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Fishy. Which contract is she posting? This one?
ReplyDeletehttp://campbellandliu.com/files/RTA_Terms_and_Conditions_5.1.07.pdf
If so, from what I read you need to cancel within 5 days to receive a full refund.
Also, the Dania event that your emailer is referring to was moved to the first, not cancelled.
Hey I agree---she should have read whatever she signed. I have not seen any contract from her, but I tend to agree with most of the commenters here. She was looking for feeebies and discounts--but if that is how it was presented to her---you cannot blame her.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the other report from Erie County, New York, it is obviously old news because Eliot Spitzer has not been AG for a while!
John said, "Regarding the other report from Erie County, New York, it is obviously old news because Eliot Spitzer has not been AG for a while!"
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter...it won't be forgotten. You didn't get the point.
One "disgruntled" YTB'er wants $149.00 refund which she will get.
300 "disgruntled" folks wanted their $400,000 back which they didn't get.
One is honest and a MLM company.
The other was dishonest and was a traditional travel agent.
Your posts are getting very..b-o-r-i-n-g....snore. We need some meat and potatoes for your next topic!
That's what cracks me up. These people that look to this for discounts. Don't they realize they could take that 500+ and go on a really great trip? Or take the 50 a month and spend it on the 50 a year it costs for AAA! Now that's an awesome discount card.
ReplyDeletegood point, lmnop!
ReplyDeleteJohn: If she continues to send you emails I suggest you contact her ISP.
ReplyDeleteI too think the letter is a sham. Somehow, as you need, these conversations or contacts and communications materialize.
Amazing. I guess it makes you a sham too.
"OLD NEWS"...You've been attacking our model for months while your own conventional agents are ripping off 300 customers. I don't recall you even mentioning it on one of these YTB slam sites. Speaking of refunds, I know your so concerned about travel rip offs you'll be leading the charge to get the $400,000+ stolen my one of your own, back to those customers,
Right?
I would like to put out a call to all YTB agents to donate 10% of all future pay and identify these customers and see that they get full refunds. To bad you where too busy attacking us to think of them, huh?
Did I miss it?
I still have not changed my mind about you and the cordinated attacks (ok within days of each other) from RCCI and IATA...all designed to have the biggest, most negative impact on YTB possible.
The entire time, your leaders, media and you keep mum on one of the biggest travel rip-offs of the year. I would say in years, but that wouldn't be true, would it?
We both know this type of thing has been happening for years.
It is travel pro's like this that give travel and any booking model, a black eye. Do you have any plans on doing anything about it? If you don't I will.
Like I mentioned to you in one of my very first communications and on your BS petition, you erased, nothing personal, you erased many
comments that did not fit your agenda, Like I said, You need to clean up your own industry, before you spend too much more time attacking us.
If you choose to continue in the same vein...I intend to do like-wise starting my blog with Kasza as the new poster child, for why you need to book online and pay the vendor direct. WARNING DO NOT GIVE YOUR TRAVEL DEPOSIT DIRECTLY TO YOUR TRAVEL AGENT...FOR YOUR SAFETY, BOOK DIRECT ONLINE.
An additional 10,000 online travel booking customers in 2008 created by your own "professional"crew and the bad press created from it. You guys make the mortgage industry look good.
Knowing what I know, I sure won't ever hand a convential travel agent a check for any travel I take in the future.
RobertsResorts.Net
Kasza's scam was a typical pyramid scheme taken to the next level.
ReplyDeleteUsually receipts from new customers are stolen to help book travel for older customers.
Looks like Kasza didn't want to get involved with all that bookeeping and just stole it all.
I will be contacting Erie County on Monday to see how the conventional, "professional" agents and media dealt with this HUGE RIP-OFF.
Watch for my new blog...Conventional Travel Agents and CASH: A Bad Mix
RobertsResorts.Net
Kasza's scam was a typical pyramid scheme taken to the next level.
ReplyDeleteUsually receipts from new customers are stolen to help book travel for older customers.
Looks like Kasza didn't want to get involved with all that bookeeping and just stole it all.
I will be contacting Erie County on Monday to see how the conventional, "professional" agents and media dealt with this HUGE RIP-OFF.
Watch for my new blog...Conventional Travel Agents and CASH: A Bad Mix
RobertsResorts.Net
EAB--why would I report her email? She was not harassing me. SH=he was not continuing to email me from multiple email addresses after I told her to stop...
ReplyDeletePlease make sure you post the blog address so we all can follow it. I suggest a different blog provide than the old one you used....you seemed to have issues with how to use it. Maybe something a bit more simple for a simpleton?
PS
Spell check--it's a wonderful thing!
What a bunch of B.S.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, if someone wants to have their card not be charge anymore, all they have to do is change the info in their back office.
1) The CRTA seminars are still going on, and the lack of IATAN has nothing to do with it. A few new RTA's who signed up under me are attending as we speak.
2) Most people take up on the option of registering for the CRTA and then paying for it (and becoming certified) AFTER the class.
3) At our meetings, we tell people that if their primary reason for joining is for the cheap travel, then don't join.
YTB didn't give up on her. She gave up on herself. I agree with what the second anonymous said.
I went to a YTB recruiting meeting 2 weeks ago and it was presented as being well worth joining just for the insider discounts and FAM trips. They didn't mention just losing RCL and IATAN. The top guy did show his "back office page" on the overhead and show how much he had made since June...he had two teams that made him $1000 each...but when I pressed him to see his commission page...and I had to ask more than once, it was mostly just some 6.00 commissions. They didn't really amount to much, but he mentioned how "you can see they really add up". They didn't add up to $50 a month.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really didn't like is that I'm going on vacation in January and every part of the trip... car rental, cruise, hotels... that I compared to the YTB site I can get cheaper elsewhere online or from a regular travel agent.
To add to my above post...just called one of the hotels I'll be staying at...they told me "No IATA...no discount".
ReplyDeleteIf you choose to continue in the same vein...I intend to do like-wise starting my blog with Kasza as the new poster child, for why you need to book online and pay the vendor direct. WARNING DO NOT GIVE YOUR TRAVEL DEPOSIT DIRECTLY TO YOUR TRAVEL AGENT...FOR YOUR SAFETY, BOOK DIRECT ONLINE.
ReplyDeleteEarl, you seem to have forgotten about the YTB agent that was on the news a couple of weeks ago who ran off with a rather large sum of money. If you are going to post a warning, make sure you are warning people about how many dishonest YTB agents there are as well.
Yes I heard about the agent. Now fired and the company as already announced they will stand good for moneies taken. Period.
ReplyDeleteI did not see any such offer in any conventional travel articles, ever. Why not? Where is the leadership? Where are the vendors and associations? Where is the media standing in this regard.
Why are you not outraged and attacking? Never mind.
RobertsResorts.Net
Yes I heard about the agent. Now fired and the company as already announced they will stand good for moneies taken. Period.
ReplyDeleteI did not see any such offer in any conventional travel articles, ever. Why not? Where is the leadership? Where are the vendors and associations? Where is the media standing in this regard.
Why are you not outraged and attacking? Never mind.
Yes your right about my writing skills lacking. I have spent a lifetime marketing, not writing about marketing. You'll see my skills in this area far superior to yours, as well. So your point is?
RobertsResorts.Net
Yes I heard about the agent. Now fired and the company as already announced they will stand good for moneies taken. Period.
ReplyDeleteI did not see any such offer in any conventional travel articles, ever. Why not? Where is the leadership? Where are the vendors and associations? Where is the media standing in this regard.
Why are you not outraged and attacking? Never mind.
Yes your right about my writing skills lacking. I have spent a lifetime marketing, not writing about marketing. You'll see my skills in this area far superior to yours, as well. So your point is?
RobertsResorts.Net
Fat Man (EAB, aka RobertResorts.net) - Why do you post everything twice? Are your fingers too wide to only hit the enter key once?
ReplyDelete