So....I need to fire my Travel Agent/Old Thread...New Update

[CarolAnnC]

The question of legality, I believe, was the fact that the OP had paid his cruise in full to the Travel Agent, who then did not provide the payment to DCL in a timely fashion. The issue of the passengers then not being able to book their excursions at 90 days with DCL came up, though they had paid in full to the agent, he had not sent the payment to DCL on behalf of the client. It may be legal to collect interest on the money, but is it legal to hold the money and not pay off their cruise with it? Perhaps you know? If it is legal, I am never moving to CA! LOL! Thanks!

Which is quite legal in California. As despicably as the travel agent has behaved, he is entitled to withdraw the interest earned on the client's trust account and transfer it to his general accounting bank account.

§ 17550.15. Sellers of travel; deposit of money into trust account; withdrawals; responsibilities; bond
....
(c) The seller of travel shall not in any manner encumber the corpus of the trust account and shall not withdraw money therefrom except as follows:
....
(d) Subdivision (c) shall not prevent payment of the interest earned on the trust account to the seller of travel.
California Business & Professions Code

Tom - I hope your cruise was magical

 

[atinkerbellmom]

The reason we do not use a TA. ONe cruise it was actually 9 SRs of us and we booked with DCL directly and it went flawless. Now grant it, I like "playing travel agent", ask any of my meets thread family, but I can not stand the middle man thing..... I sure hope it has all worked out for the orginal poster as the trip is now... Tom here is a little from a Tink

 

[jlima]

The question of legality, I believe, was the fact that the OP had paid his cruise in full to the Travel Agent, who then did not provide the payment to DCL in a timely fashion. The issue of the passengers then not being able to book their excursions at 90 days with DCL came up, though they had paid in full to the agent, he had not sent the payment to DCL on behalf of the client. It may be legal to collect interest on the money, but is it legal to hold the money and not pay off their cruise with it? Perhaps you know? If it is legal, I am never moving to CA! LOL! Thanks!

The travel agent DID pay DCL in a timely manner (if shipping an overnight package on the due date can be described at timely!). . . . but he didn't pay it in time for the OP to take advantage of booking his shore excursions at the 90 day window (how he could claim to be a preferred DCL provider and claim to not be aware of booking windows is beyond my comprehension). This TA was looking out for his interests (earning interest on his client's money), rather than providing good service to his clients. What the travel agent did was legal . . . but not very ethical.

 

[HoosierFrog]

I would be more concerned that the TA was involved in a Ponzi scheme. The funds sent in for this trip went to cover someone else's trip and once the TA received payment from someone else, it would go to cover this trip. Dangerous grounds.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

I would be more concerned that the TA was involved in a Ponzi scheme. The funds sent in for this trip went to cover someone else's trip and once the TA received payment from someone else, it would go to cover this trip. Dangerous grounds.

I think you've got it right. Holding the money isn't illegal, but using my money to pay off someone else's vacation might be.

But, how do you prove it???

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Well, I guess a little good luck has come our way.....

Our request for Brunch in the private room at Palo was granted!! I received an email from DCL this morning. We cruise in less that 4 weeks!!

 

[dredick]

Well, I guess a little good luck has come our way.....

Our request for Brunch in the private room at Palo was granted!! I received an email from DCL this morning. We cruise in less that 4 weeks!!

happy to hear some good news!! We are hoping for the private room ourselves! Let us know how you like it!!
4 weeks, it will feel like forever!! I still have 10 weeks!!! OMG, I'm dying to get on that boat!!

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Just when I thought it was safe to open my mail......

I just received a copy of Mr. Mungary's response to my comments on his letter to the BBB:

Dear Ms. Paez,

I have reviewed the information that you sent to me including Mr. Bell's response to our letter. In his response to us he made comments about various parts of my letter; however there was nothing new said or any new requests made. I understand that Mr. Bell is upset about the circumstances surrounding the final payment of his bookings. At this point I feel that he is continuing to complain about the issues that have all been resolved. All the bookings are cross-referenced, paid in full and available to book shore excursions. In fact we were just notified by Disney Cruise Line that Mr. Bell and his family have already printed their electronic documents on May 28, 2008, effectively they removed our agency from the equation. At this time Mr. Bell and his family have everything that they need to board the ship in July. As they have elected to utilize electronic documents Disney Cruise Line will not be sending any documents to our office

I am sorry that Mr. Bell was not satisfied with his experience with our agency. My staff and I worked diligently on his and his family's behalf and his bookings were handled per normal office procedure. If Mr. Bell has any questions or concerns about his bookings he is free to contact us. At this time as he has all the travel documents necessary to travel I would simply wish him and his family a great vacation.

Sincerely,

Craig Mungary
Manager

 

[TiaMaria]

Just when I thought it was safe to open my mail......

I just received a copy of Mr. Mungary's response to my comments on his letter to the BBB:

Just as we predicted - no docs. What a liar - filling out online check in does not prevent DCL from sending out the cruise docs and luggage tags.

Oh well, Tom - getting luggage tags from the porters is a small price to pay to be rid of this unprofessional, unethical (and probably illegal - judging by what he is doing with customer funds) sham of a TA! Good riddance.

And DCL - if you are listening - PLEASE remove said sham of a TA from your "Authorized" list.

Tom - I hope you and your family have the most fantastic time - you all certainly deserve it. Enjoy.

 

[Buckeye Gal]

...Tom - I hope you and your family have the most fantastic time - you all certainly deserve it. Enjoy.

Amen! Have a great time!

 

[slindamood]

I think you've got it right. Holding the money isn't illegal, but using my money to pay off someone else's vacation might be.

But, how do you prove it???

1. Ask for a proof deposit from the trust account. The CA law allows the agent to hold the money in trust, but not to hold the money. It is toprevent the Ponzi scheme as referred to.

2. The agent is just that - your agent. When you specify it is time to turn the money over to DCL, or that you want the money turned over immediately, it is your call, and the agent violated your instructions. And your instructions were quite reasonable, given that you, the client, would benefit from timely payments.

I sure don't like the CA law - I think that trust interest should belong to the client.

Have a great cruise!

And thanks for sharing all of this. You have brought to light some important considerations when choosing a TA.

 

[eeyoregon]

OP: Ok, now that my blood pressure has returned to normal after reading this entire thread, I just want to say HAVE A GREAT CRUISE!

I am sooooo happy that you are rid of that agency. They sound like the type that stock piles their clients cash and don't pay the cruiseline/airline/hotel etc. and then close up shop overnight with all of your money leaving you SOL.

 

[rahrah]

Just when I thought it was safe to open my mail......

I just received a copy of Mr. Mungary's response to my comments on his letter to the BBB:

And this response means that some BBBs will report this TA as not having any "outstanding" customer complaints.

One resource I like for this sort of thing is The Ripoff Report.

You may want to read some reports on the BBB.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Good news/Bad news

My wife went by the Travel Agent's office today to see if our documents had arrived (she was in the neighborhood). They had arrived yesterday!

But..........

The TA hadn't had a chance to go through them yet, so she couldn't pick them up.

Mr. Mungary also told her that if she wanted to pick up documents for anyone else in the party, he would need something in writing.

 

[HoosierFrog]

I seriously think he's just trying to make it as difficult for you as possible.

 

[jlima]

Mr. Mungary also told her that if she wanted to pick up documents for anyone else in the party, he would need something in writing.

Just write up a letter for each person traveling that says "I give ___ permission to receive my cruise documentation" and make the signatures different on each one. He won't know any better.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Since things are pretty much and a stand still with the BBB, I thought I would check to see if the Attorney General had done anything with my case. So, I sent a quick email late last night.

I received a response already this morning:

Dear Mr. Bell,

Thank you for contacting the Attorney General's Office regarding your Seller of Travel question.

Central Valley Cruise Adventure has not responded to the first complaint letter, another letter was mailed out on July 3, 2008. A copy of that letter was mailed out to you as well. We gave the Seller of Travel 15 days to respond to our second demand. We will keep you informed as soon as we receive any response from them.

 

[safetymom]

Good for you with following up on this.

 

[3Charbys]

What a trooper!! I think you have had quite a battle so far, only a few days left before you go...
Wishing you a wonderful cruise and victory in your quest with the Att General!

 

[Buckeye Gal]

Well, Tom??? Did you have a wonderful time?!! (**fingers crossed**)