Donation Vehicle Program

I was referred to this company due to being involved in a group cruise for this summerI regret not doing my own independent research and price comparison for this cruiseAfter making several payments and having "miscommunication" in reference to what I was told at the time of the original booking and what actually happened, it ended in a cancellation of one of the two cabins on our reservation Our trip is planned for August and we just made our reservation in January and there was a $cancellation fee charged I understand a fee if you cancel or even days prior to a cruise, but a fee to be charged for a cancellation almost months in advance is crazyUnfortunately, there is nothing I can do, but warn people to do their homework and research on your ownThis is not a business that I would ever recommend to anyone else in the futureTheir customer service is terrible, the account representative has been rude and down right nasty to several people that made reservations with them; Darlene ReicesWhen there were issues with the reservation she was argumentative and completely unprofessionalNEVER BOOK WITH THIS PLACE!!! SAVE YOUR MONEY

The business response can be found below:ID# [redacted] I am answering the complaint filed with your office.. I believe [redacted] jumped to too many conclusions regarding his complaint. If he had read his paperwork...

he would have realized that we put in writing that it takes 8 weeks to receive his tax papers back from the charity.  His vehicle has to be picked up,assessed at our location, be put up for sale, and then sold..The sale result is what the actual tax writeoff is..This takes time hence we tell donors eight weeks to get the actual results. As to his second part the vacation voucher is real and thousands of people take advantage of it..It is part of a marketing strategy to get people to try out the resort for free for 3 days so they will come back again in the future and spend money..As for the part about phone numbers, he is also mistaken.  We have been in business for 16 years with the same phone numbers and that hasn't changed.  Also the numbers for the vacation package have been the same for at least 10 years that we have been dealing with them..  I called [redacted] and had this identical conversation after I received his complaint.  I hope this puts the matter to rest..Remember patience and understanding will always go a lot farther than jumping to erroneous conclusions.  Sincerely, [redacted] of Donation Vehicle Program for 16 years and still going....

Review: I had donated my 1998 Chrysler Town and Country minivan to the Donation Vehicle Program on July **, 2013.

For the vehicle donation (which was later delivered to the Dreams Foundation in Newburgh,NY) I was given a Vacation package and would receive a $500-$1000 write-off on my taxes. When I finally got the paperwork from them (which required multiple phone calls and literally took them months), I did my taxes in early 2014 and I correctly input the information for the write off using Turbo Tax. I even called the [redacted] to confirm I was inputting the info correctly, because it just didn't see, right.

What I was more looking forward to was the Vacation package that I received from the Donation Vehicle Program (for the van) that was presented by [redacted]). When I got the vacation information, I called [redacted] of the Donation Vehicle Program) to get some more info on the package. I was informed that it was a legit package and that there was no "end date" that it needed to be redeemed by.

Today (August **, 2014), I decided to check to follow up on the offer. My life has been pretty busy for the last year, including a lot of huge life-changing events, so it really prevented me from following up on it sooner. Since my schedule is extensively full, I decided that this would be a great gift for my mother (who hasn't been on a vacation for over 20 years). So I was naturally angry to find out that [redacted] has both of their phone lines are out-of-service, to find pages and pages online of their fraudulent business practices and to find out that the Donation Vehicle Program phone lines are also out-of-service.

I feel like I have been thoroughly screwed over and I would like reparations.Desired Settlement: Their responsibility is to honor the vacation voucher.

Business

Response:

The business response can be found below:

ID# [redacted] I am answering the complaint filed with your office.. I believe [redacted] jumped to too many conclusions regarding his complaint. If he had read his paperwork he would have realized that we put in writing that it takes 8 weeks to receive his tax papers back from the charity. His vehicle has to be picked up,assessed at our location, be put up for sale, and then sold..The sale result is what the actual tax writeoff is..This takes time hence we tell donors eight weeks to get the actual results. As to his second part the vacation voucher is real and thousands of people take advantage of it..It is part of a marketing strategy to get people to try out the resort for free for 3 days so they will come back again in the future and spend money..As for the part about phone numbers, he is also mistaken. We have been in business for 16 years with the same phone numbers and that hasn't changed. Also the numbers for the vacation package have been the same for at least 10 years that we have been dealing with them.. I called [redacted] and had this identical conversation after I received his complaint. I hope this puts the matter to rest..Remember patience and understanding will always go a lot farther than jumping to erroneous conclusions. Sincerely, [redacted] of Donation Vehicle Program for 16 years and still going....