Authentic Vacations

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/04) */
This is a very serious allegation that she has put forth about us lying to get her money and this is most certainly not the caseThis client has been verbally abusing a number of our staff here and her claims of lying and deceit and not true
Here are the facts:
April 6, 2015: Client contacted us to create a custom tour for a Christmas vacation
April 15, 2015: Client reserved the tour with a deposit of $She reserved this on her online accountOne of the steps we require our clients go through is to accept our terms and conditionsThey can read these by clicking on a link next to the check box and they are also posted here online: http://www.*** Client did agree to these terms
Our terms clearly states: Reserve your vacation with only a 20% deposit and be protected by our Risk-Free Booking PolicyWith this policy you are protected against certain change & cancellation feesOnce payment has been made and your reservations have been confirmed, your 20% deposit becomes nonrefundableHowever, if your vacation is to Ireland only, and you cancel more than weeks prior to the start thereof, you may avail of our Risk-Free Cancellation Policyisk-Free Details: Life happens, we all know thatIf you need to cancel your Authentic Ireland vacation up to days before your start date, you may reschedule within days with no cancellation feesWe want your travels to be stress-free and happyNo worries, no pressureJust relaxation and wonderThat's what travel is aboutIf you need to reschedule your vacation, we will not charge you a change or cancellation feeWe will instead apply your nonrefundable deposit to your new vacation dates
On April 15, Client also received a payment confirmation which outlined all these terms so she had a copy of them
On May 21, Client called our office and advised us she would need to cancelWas very pleasant until she was told she would not receive her deposit backShe then verbally abused our staff with terrible language and a torrent of abuseShe immediately called back and verbally abused a second staff memberA manager than provided her with written communication outlining her options - she could reschedule her trip up to a year in advance for free (no cancellation charges) or be refunded all but 20% of her tour cost
On June 1, She called back and abused a third staff memberWe reached out to her to try to resolve this issue and provide her options, none of which were acceptable to her
On June 1, we contacted our Revdex.com Representative, Karen Fazzina for advice on how to handle a client who was falsely claiming fraud against our company simply because they were unhappy with our terms and conditionsShe passed ** off to the dispute department, but we never heard from them on this matterWe would like to resolve this as quickly as possible
We do not want our reputation to be tarnished by a client who is unhappy with our terms and conditions when they don't suit themShe booked with us on April and it was only on May when she tried to get her money back that she started claiming we lied to herShe had to accept the terms and conditions before making a payment, she was then provided all the terms and conditions in writing after making a paymentAnd it was more than a month later that she claimed she was lied to
We do want to resolve this matter but do not want this incident to go on our permanent record with the Revdex.com since we do not believe we did anything wrong here
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/06/05) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The business falsely states on it's main page that there is no risk for cancellationThe accusations of verbal abuse are also falseI made three phone calls, the first to my original representative and did very respectfully express that what she was saying at that time did not match what she had told me previouslyThe representative began to yell at me any which point I requested to speak to a manager as I did not want the situation to escalate, it was their representative that was verbally abusive to meShe said she would have a manger return my call, but that was also a lie, I received no callI waited a few hours and called back, again requesting a call from a manager and explaining to a very nice woman who answered the phone what has occurredThis representative was very apologetic and very kind and assured me she would get my contact information to a manager, again no callAfter a few days I called again, staying the same thing againAnd once again no return callIt was at this point I reached out to you and a few other agenciesI request that you please review the main page of their website as you will see it is deceptive, I have a screenshot in case they try to alter it
To date I have still not received even a phone call from a manager to discuss the deceptive practices of their employee, that is a basic courtesy that would be given by management that wasn't trying to hide something, and I still have not even received the money in addition to the 20% that I gave themIn order to receive that they are stating I must acknowledge their terms again, but I refuse to acknowledge anything other than that I was intentionally deceived
I do not accept their response and intend to continue to pursue a full refund
Final Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2015/06/25) */
The first one is the serious allegation that our representative lied to herThis person in question has been with the company for more than years and has an exemplary record and has never had one complaint made about her by either clients or staff membersShe is one of our best and most caring agents and has never once lied to a client or member of staffHowever, this client has verbally abused three members of our staff, two in the US and one in our headquarters in Dublin, one of who was reduced to tearsAll three of these staff members filed a formal complaint with senior management hereAnd we would like to point out that after the first complaints about this client, we contacted Revdex.com prior to this customer's compliant to ask for advice on how to handle an abusive client making claims of fraudWe would also like to point out that this client actually made the deposit via her online account and not via the agent she claims pressured her into making a depositWhen making a payment online, the client is presented our terms and conditions which clearly states that the 20% deposit is nonrefundableIf a client needs to cancel their vacation, we will not change any cancellation fees, we will hold their deposit on file to be able to use towards any trip in the futureThis deposit is also transferrable, so can be transferred to any friend or family member
The second issue we would like to address is the allegation that we did not answer to her calls to usThe customer does admit calling three timesEach time she called she threatened legal action and made claims of fraudOur policy in this case is to move immediately to communicating only in written form so we have written proof of each communicationWe want to avoid the "he said, she said" claims that cannot be substantiated on either sideBy keeping this written record, we have an accurate picture of the case at handAfter each call, the customer received written communication by senior management addressing her issue and laying out her options
One other thing we would like to point out here is that customer service is paramount to our business and we always provide our clients with 5-star customer service and always work with them if they are unable to take their trip until we have come to an amicable agreementThat's what our risk-free policy states we do, and we always follow thatWe hope our A+ rating with the Revdex.com has proven thisNumerous times we have fully refunded their trip costWe always try to work for the best interests of the clientHowever, once the client started abusing our staff members and claiming fraud and accusing a staff member of lying, we had to freeze the case pending our own internal investigation and decide the best course of action to take
From a legal standpoint, if we refund all her money, then we admit that we were in the wrong and did commit some sort of fraud, which we most certainly don't feel is the case hereSo we feel to be able to fully resolve this issue, this client would need to admit there was no actual case of fraud or lyingThat she agreed to the terms and conditions as statedThat she freely ticked the box of a binding agreement laying out our terms and conditionsAnd that one month after she agreed to these terms something came up in her personal life that made it so she could not travelThat these are the facts and not the trumped up accusations against our company made solely to get what she wantsBut so long as there is the threat of legal action of wrong doing, we are not able to refund her
We hope we can resolve this issue with the client and are not opposed to refunding her money in full, but if there is any chance of her filing charges of fraud, we are unable to refund herWe suggest she contacts the senior manager she was in communication with and see if an agreement could be made