Thread: Travel Agent Fiascos

Know, and I mean seriously know everything there is to know about your travel agent. She/he may not know as much as you think they do - and may not even be legitimate or licensed.

As of this morning, formal complaints have been filed with the Attorney Generals from Florida, California and New York were SOT are required. I also filed a formal complaint with the US Attorney General.

Stay away from Dianne Tuttle, Academy Cruises & Tours.

As I understand it, because Tuttle has allegedly violated the statutes that pertain to Sellers of Travel, in California, New York, and Florida, as well as elements of the Consumer Protection Act, the State Attorney Generals and the US Attorney General can evoke criminal and civil penalties, and seek restitution on behalf of consumers. Originally, Tuttle took $1,800 from me and has used that money for her own purposes. She has repaid only $800.

I also filed the complaint with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. If I did not get my money back, and the supplier (the cruise line) didn’t get it, then is Tuttle declaring it and the interest earned as income? Why not let the tax people audit and find out.

Research your agent before you give them any money. Know what you are paying for.

Best of luck on getting this resolved to your satisfaction.

Unfortunately, your bad experience is repeated too many times! Good advice to do your due dilligence in vetting a travel agent.

The system is a little different here in the UK, but I would alway make sure my travel agent is an ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) member.

This is why we always tell people to do these things;

1) Make sure the agent is not charging your credit card - the cruise line should be charging it. And NEVER send cash, money order, or check!

2) Make sure you get a confirmation from the agent that comes from the cruise line. Then go onto the cruise line's website and verify you have a reservation.

3) Don't book online. You don't know who owns the website and even if there is someone available to help you should you have any problems. Call the agent, talk to them, and ask questions.

Unfortunately, there are always a few people in every profession that ruin it for those who are reputable, hardworking, and dedicated to their profession.

Often, even checking their credentials with CLIA or the cruise line doesn't provide definitive proof about their commitment to their clients. But again, the same thing can be said about most professions, so I hope you don't let this steer you away from using a reputable agent, because they really are the best way to book your cruises.

Pete

I hope you can get all of your money back. It's a shame that these scammers can besmirch this occupation when there's so many legitimate, caring TAs.

I Googled this story and it seems to me that there may be more to it than we're hearing from the OP, Janet Horton. The TA has been in this business for a very long time.

I appreciate everyone's comments as I continue to pursue getting a full refund from Dianne Tuttle at Academy Cruises & Tours. You are correct, you does appear to have been in business for a long time, but, now we are learning how badly she has conducted her business and how she has taken advantage of her clients. Time will tell. She still owes me $1,000 after paying me $800.

As an update to my efforts to collect the $1,000 still owed to me by Dianne Tuttle, Academy Cruises & Tours, I thought I would send you a copy of the text of the letter to the California Seller of Travel Enforcement Division. Also, it has been found that not only did she misrepresent her industry affiliations, the Travel Institute is investigating her credentials and they have removed her links from their websites, and she is operating without a local business license, apparently she does not hold an SOT in Florida or New York, and does not have a license to conduct business in Alabama or Kentucky where she was selling travel - to me. Anyway, here is the content of my latest letter -

I feel compelled to site the obvious, because sometimes the obvious is overlooked. Tuttle stated in her response to you that she did an enormous amount of work securing hotel space, shore excursions, and blocking space with the cruise lines for both cruises and therefore she was entitled to keep the $1,000 deposit required by her. Is that statement false and misleading, misconduct, misappropriation, misrepresentation, or fraud?

The fact is, the joint venture was cancelled on Friday, October 15, 2010 and Tuttle acknowledged the cancellation on Monday, October 18, 2010 – prior to making any arrangements. Tuttle in that same email informed me she decided to make the arrangements anyway. The arrangements referred to included hotels in Alabama, New York, and Florida, and two different cruises on Carnival. This would be hotels, shore excursions and blocking cabins for two cruises, over a two day weekend when a majority of these services are unreachable and her office is not open for business.

When I directly contacted the Hyatt in Fort Lauderdale, the Marriott in Mobile, and Carnival Cruise Line, they did not confirm that any reservations or arrangements had ever been made. Tuttle has also not provided any proof that any arrangements had ever been made.

The contract agreement also clearly stated the requirement for a $1,000 deposit for Carnival – which was never given to Carnival because no arrangements were made. That is a direct contradiction to what Tuttle responded to you. The contract agreement stipulated her fee was 2.9% yet, the contract agreement, signed by her, also states, in the event of either party cancelling prior to the final payment due date, each would suffer their own losses for any pre-sailing costs incurred. The contract was cancelled on October 15, 2010 and acknowledged by Tuttle on October 19, 2010.

Tuttle failed to tell you she was in direct breach of the contact agreement and the terms of the contract. You were previously provided with a copy of that contract. I will leave it to you to determine if her failure to address the contract agreement, and her apparent breaches, and her statements concerning arrangements she supposedly made, are false and misleading, a misrepresentation, misconduct, or fraud.

Thanks for keeping us aprised of your dealings with this. I know it can be really frustrating and unfortunately, it's people like this that make the whole industry look bad.

I hope you will be able to get your money returned, but it appears it may be a lost cause. Personally, I would be writing letters to the State Attorney General's Office and telling how this lady defrauded you. Perhaps they may decide to seek legal action against her.

Best of luck on this.

Pete

As a former travel agent, stories like this really trouble me! While the agency for which I worked was (and is) highly respected in the community, there were some "shady" dealings way back before I retired in mid-2002. Still, none of the shady stuff involved clients!

I am always upset when "blanket condemnations" are levied against the travel industry. However, applying a blanket condemnation against any scumbag in any industry is okay with me!

SWR