Source International Travel

Seller of Travel Program
"">Office of the Attorney General
I am in receipt of your letter dated July 17, 2014, regarding the above file. I called your office to acknowledge same, and to understand the guidelines of the response requested. I spoke with one of your analysts, ***, who was very helpful in explaining the procedures; specifically, I wanted to understand if I was required to send in my voluminous email responses to this client's emails to me, which in March alone, had to be well over emails! I was told I could summarize the situation and did not have to provide every email response
The client, *** ***, booked various tours, through me, with the tour operator, G Adventure Tours. Deposits and payments were called in to G Adventures, and they charged the client's card directly, based on their published tour prices.
The client received an exclusive 20% discount on the tours, off published prices, based on a certificate I was given at a convention seminar, upon conclusion of my meeting with G Adventure sales staff. The certificate code was required when I made the bookings; without the code, the tour prices would be as published, on their websiteTherefore, through my efforts attending a seminar on a Sunday, the client was afforded this exclusive 20% discount. The 20% added up to approximately $discount, on the booked tours, which is a substantial amount; G Adventures confirmed these discount amounts to me, by agency statements
The certificate discount of 20% applied to new bookings only; at the time, the client already had some tours booked, that were at a promotional 15% discount. G Adventures, at my request, allowed *** to be given the 20% off on a Galapagos tour that her friend *** *** was entitled to, only, as a new booking; per the certificate rules, she was not entitled to the 20% off of $400, but I made a special request on her behalf, and G Adventures kindly agreed to the additional discount
Therefore, she received the 20% discount for tours she did qualify for and even for a tour she did not qualify for, based on my special efforts
The client was informed that the tour operator would not allow the final payments to be made in Canadian dollars, despite being requested, prior to the final due date.
In your file, the client attached two emails she sent to me, one dated March 4th and one dated March 5th; if you review the emails attached, the one on March 4th states:
"If they insist on charging me in USD, I'll give you my USD Visa card"
The email dated March 5th states:
"If they insist on charging me in USD, then call me for my USD Visa #"
Those two emails clearly show she was well aware of the USD only policy, by her own admission, prior to final payment and instructed me to use her USD visa card account. I called her, as instructed and was given the USD visa account number. Prior to payment, she ***ged her mind, and instructed me to use two other credit cards, to pay off her two tours, because she wanted the free travel insurance those cards offered her, provided by her CAD credit cards, per her information to me. Therefore, by her choice, she decided to use the CAD cards, rather than her USD card, fully aware the payments were going to be made in USD, so she could receive free trip insurance
In conclusion, *** *** was informed correctly, benefited from my 20% discount, received mailed invoices and was afforded all professional services; I spent a lot of time answering her constant multiple daily emails, and phone calls, for months. Her letter to you is inaccurate, misleading, and on too many levels to even begin to address, with simply outrageous claims of unsubstantiated figures. Further, her behavior towards me, the tour operator, and others, included harassing phone calls, emails and action so disruptive that a restraining order could be considered, if her outrageous behavior did not cease
Also, although *** includes *** ***'s name, I have never received an email, phone call or complaint from *** during this whole time and I notice she did not sign the letter to you. None of my comments pertain to Darlene, as she has been perfectly reasonable during this entire transaction
In my many years of being in business, I have never seen such blatant out of control actions, from a client; the Revdex.com executive in the regional office told me that I had an A+ rating with his association, with zero complaints, so I think that record speaks for itself, and they are being provided the exact information I provided your office, in response to another of her claims.
Should you require additional information, please contact me. I do appreciate the opportunity your office afforded me to state my side of this case and the professionalism displayed by your staff, regarding this matter
Best regards,
***
*** ***, MCC
Owner
Source International Travel
Golden Lantern, Suite E
Laguna Niguel, CA
###-###-#### Direct/mobile
***@travelgroupoc.com

Client statements are or inaccurate. Client was advised of charges in USD; client emailed agency authority to charge on her USD visa card. Client then ***ged her mind, and authorized charge on her CAD card, via email, so she would receive ***ited free trip insurance from card. Client's statements of foreign ex***ge losses are and show lack of understanding of the worldwide currency ex***ge marketAny ex***ge fees are usually minimal, set by client's card issuing bank and are between client and bank. Tour operator sets retail pricing, not the agency; no refund is due client from tour operator or agencyAn exclusive agency discount of over $2600, or 20%, was applied to tours, confirmed by tour operator; client was advised of discount, via email and final invoice was mailed to client via postal mail

Review: I have a complaint against Source International Travel, owner [redacted], ACCOwnerSource International Trave[redacted] Direct/mobile[redacted]I asked [redacted] to book 4 tours with G Adventures this year, specifying I want to be charged in CAD $ (I am Canadian living in Vancouver, BC, Canada). At the time of putting down deposits ($250), [redacted] did not mention G Adventures' policy of charging in the currency of the travel agent (not the client). When I reviewed my Visa statement, I then noticed the charge was US$250 converted into CAD$285. I immediately told [redacted] about this and only then did she mention b/c her company is American, G Adventures will charge me in US$.After adding up all my Visa charges, my May and June tours to Peru and Galapagos, my girlfriend and I end up paying C$1100 each extra due to the charges made in US$ instead of CAD$. Also, [redacted] promised a 20% discount on the tours, yet I do not see them applied.Despite my requested requests, [redacted] has not emailed me an invoice showing all the charges from G Adventures.Desired Settlement: A total refund of CAD$1175 being:C$811 = difference between the promised "20% off" on Peru tour (G Adventure's regular web price C$3300 * 0.8 = C$2639) vs what I was charged C$3450C$363 = difference between the promised "20% off" on Galapagos tour (G Adventure's regular web price C$2699 * 0.8 = C$2159) vs what I was charged C$2522

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Seller of Travel Program