Vantage Deluxe World Travel

We traveled on Vantage cruises several times and had good travel experiences. Recently we had our first experience with cancelling a Vantage cruise and trying to get a refund from Vantage. We cancelled our cruise more than 120 before the departure date of the cruise, thereby entitling us to a full refund, minus a small cancellation fee. That was December 30, 2021. It is now February 16, 2022 -- seven weeks later. We have not received our refund, nor has Vantage been willing to provide any estimate of when we might expect to receive it. A search of online reviews of Vantage (TripAdvisor, Yelp, BBB, etc.) shows that providing refunds to customers is a very low priority for Vantage. Many customers have been waiting for months for their refunds; some have been waiting for more than a year. It is interesting to me that Vantage is able to TAKE our money in minutes when we schedule a cruise (via echeck, from our bank account, sometimes while we are still on the phone scheduling the cruise), but Vantage is not able to REFUND our money even after weeks or months. In the meantime, Vantage has interest-free use of our money. In our case, Vantage has $48,932 of OUR money. They have had some of it since 2019! While other companies have adjusted their business plans to deal with the new realities of the worldwide COVID situation, Vantage simply continues to use the worldwide COVID situation as its excuse for dragging its feet on generating refunds. I don't understand (yet) why the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office won't go after this company -- many, many people have been harmed by Vantage -- but I'm working on it. I'm also working with my attorney. In the meantime, I would appreciate any assistance you can provide in helping me to recover my money from Vantage Deluxe World Travel. By the way, I would never again recommend this company to anyone else.

We regret Ms [redacted] is not pleased with our cancelation policies and procedures The passenger would have been subject to 65% of the value of the journey as cancelation fees as stated in our Tour Participation Agreement's schedule of cancelation fees In fact, it is out of goodwill that we are waiving the cancelation fees for herOur accounting team has processes to be followed, and all refunds from Vantage will be processed accordingly within days back in the method of payment

Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted] I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved Regards, [redacted]

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted] While Vantage stated that they will be reimbursing me for the entire amount ($2398), they made a small deposit to my account of $on April without any explanation of their action? The complaint remains open Regards, [redacted]

It is possible that the procedure was not followed properly in order to remove you from the system, or it could have been a system glitch We apologize for the inconvenience

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted] Please add your rejection comments below Business stated that my refund was returned to my checking account on 11/23/ When I checked my bank account activity and balance today, 11/26/2016, it is clear that the money I paid for the cruise was NOT returned on 11/23/ Furthermore, there are no pending transactions on my account from Vantage In addition, it is preposterous that Vantage would recommend that their customers not book airline tickets that carry penalties to arrive to a cruise departure Practically every airline charges a fee for changes or cancellations How am I supposed to get to the cruise? Do they expect me to swim over to Europe? It did not take this company days to receive my funds when I booked this cruise I think it is absurd that I have to wait days to get my money back for promised product and services that this company failed to deliver to me I am very disappointed Regards, [redacted]

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2017/03/31) */ [redacted] ordered a [redacted] truck cap on 05/21/WedTruck caps are special order with a$ [redacted] depositOn every invoice it states that special orders are non-refundableWe contacted [redacted] on the following dates: will try for sat21/11/ in moncton working till Sept Will be back in town to have it installed after that- [redacted] 05/09/ [redacted] CALLED 21/08/- [redacted] 13/6/ [redacted] cancelled his order and we advised him that his deposit was non-refundableThe customer did not pay the full amount of the truck cap he ordered

Thank you for bringing Ms [redacted] 's complaint to our attention We certainly apologize for any inconvenience our mailings may have caused Her name has been permanently removed from our mailing list We are sorry if her previous request to be removed was not successful She should see any advertising materials completely cease within the next 6-weeks

Thank you for bringing to our attention the concerns of Mr [redacted] and Mrs [redacted] The matter has been brought to our management's attention where we confirmed that the passengers did cancel within hours All of the cancellation fees will, hence, be waived and the passengers will be receiving a full refund for the monies on their reservationsAll refunds from Vantage will be processed within days The pricing of our journeys is as advertised in US dollars based on double occupancy The promotion out of which the passengers booked is actually [redacted] (an email promotion) that does not notate a "for 1" promotion We do use the "for 1" promotion and as such specify the price the trip was being sold at which has a strike-thru line across it and the new price which is reduced by half is printed right below the old price in bold letters With regards to the funds that were processed at the time of booking, the passengers did authorize this to be processed from their checking account They called to cancel the next day at which point we cannot stop a transaction that has already been processed from our end The reservation would have had to be flagged to be cancelled, and then be processed by a member of our cancellations team After the decision is made on the refunds due to the passenger, they would only then be due for a refund which is processed within days as per our terms and conditions We cannot reverse a bank transaction that occurred the day before The time frame that the reservations agent gives is to alert the passengers in case they need to make a transfer into their account to have enough funds for the transaction as it my vary depending on the day of the week and the relationship between our respective banksWe thank the passengers for their patience while the matter was resolved and apologize for any misunderstanding on their cancellation time frame

We regret to hear that Mr& Mrs [redacted] experienced any difficulties with their post trip survey We have already spoken to the passengers to resolve this issue The survey has been reopened to them to resubmit their responses We are glad that the passengers enjoyed their journey and the services from their tour director, [redacted] We hope to welcome the passengers back on another Memorable Journey with Vantage

We thank you for brining to our attention Mrs [redacted] 's concerns regarding her parents' journey which was overbooked Firstly, we sincerely apologize that the overbooking call was not done earlier Our operations team is doing their best to adhere to the standard timeline regarding overbookings The passengers have been fully refunded for the journey in the amount of $20,back to their checking account Furthermore, we have been in communication with the passengers to apologize for this unfortunate incident While overbooking is the industry standard, their sentiments are certainly understandable We are sorry for their disappointment as well as the inconvenience the overbooking may have causedAs a gesture of goodwill, hence, we have offered the passengers a complimentary cabin on a future French Waterways journey departing in August or September We will continue to work with the passengers to confirm a date on which we can accommodate them We hope that this gesture will assuage the passengers' concerns and trust we will be able to welcome them on a truly Memorable Journey with Vantage very soon

I found the [redacted] card reimbursement for the charges I did not notice the charges had been refunded on Feb 28, because I was not expecting to see a refund from [redacted] , I was expecting a refund from Vantage Vantage refunded part of my excursion payment because of some date changes last year and they sent it directly to my checking, so that is that I was expecting to see in this case alsoHad that been communicated to me last February I think this complaint could have been avoided I am glad the issue was resolved Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted] I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved Regards, [redacted]

Thank you for bringing Mr& Mrs***'s concerns to our attention We regret that their itinerary was affected by low water on the river as well as a cargo vessel that was stranded on the Danube During this unforeseen circumstance which was out of Vantage's control, we did our best to accommodate our passengers in deluxe hotels The passenger did already sign a release form These are not hotels that were contracted out earlier as this was an emergency situation Of course, there are multiple websites that rate hotels Vantage uses the industry standard to rate the hotels we choose We have to, hence, respectfully decline the passengers' request for any compensation for this matter?

With respect to the number of passengers who may travel on the trip, the trip documentation for this trip clearly and expressly provided that “While we advertise small group travel of to travelers, we reserve the right to occasionally exceed that amount.” We believe that this reservation of rights is ultimately important to cost factors that benefit all customers

Thank you for bringing to our attention the concerns of Mr& Mrs*** We are sorry for the passengers’ disappointment due the overbookingCorrect, it is indeed our policy; however, as [redacted] had described, a computer glitch can also be involved As noted by the passenger, overbooking is done by Vantage as is the industry standardWe do this because historically, some people cancel their tour after they book with us Overbooking is done in the best interest of our customers and Vantage With the revenue produced by filling spots on our tours that would otherwise go empty, we maintain exceptional value on our toursThe passenger notes that other passengers in his cabin category paid a lower price for their cabins There are numerous promotions Vantage has at any given time which a passenger may take advantage of when booking their journey We do not guarantee anywhere that any two passengers will be paying the same exact price for cabins in the same category This will depend on the discounts offered in the respective promotions being used As such, we cannot refund the passenger because other passengers may have paid a lower price for their cabins The passengers were refunded for the price difference of the cabin as well as offered an additional discount of $per person Also, they were offered the chance to move their departure to a different date so that they could stay in the same cabin category We regret the passengers were not pleased with these options Furthermore, we have offered the passengers an additional future travel credit as a goodwill gesture for the inconvenience We will increase the future travel credit offered to $per person The passengers' frustrations are understandable We hope they will accept the credits in the spirit they were intended and allow us a chance to arrange their future travel plans

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # [redacted] I'm not sure how long this can go on because I all receive is one lame excuse after another from a company that's supposed to care about it's customers but can't even muster a good explanation as to why they were months late responding to our concerns That includes numerous emails, with to the head of customer service who promised to get back to us within a couple of days when conversing on the phone and hard copy letters sent to the corporate office and to the CEO himself That essentially says all there is to say: Vantage really blew it and has no plausible explanation/excuse for their actions Their numbers as to who left the ship and when are wildly inaccurate as is their claim to the availability of seats on the early morning flights I know because I personally checked with the airlines, both the day before when I was begging to be put on one of those flights and again at the airport later the next day after those flights had taken off Instead of playing this back and forth game with Vantage where they offer weak excuses and inaccurate reportsI feel my best recourse at this point in time is to let others know what happened so they can make informed decisions as to whether or not they ever wish to travel with Vantage As a member of [redacted] to name a few, I will write to all of these organizations and inform them of the events that occurred I'll be sure not only to let them know what happened but Vantage's terrible communication skills, total lack of customer concern and the willingness to show preferential treatment to some passengers over others I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and asked them to show just cause for their actions but they haven't and, obviously, can't I thank the Revdex.com for trying to intercede and I'm sorry I had to involve you at all but, as you can see, I wasn't ever going to get anything out of Vantage without your assistance Regards, [redacted]

We regret that Mrs. [redacted] was not pleased with our response. We apologize for any miscommunication or misunderstanding. The process by which Mrs. [redacted] can use the voucher towards a trip has been previously explained. Again, unless the journey is one departing within 90 days, she does not have to pay in full at the time of booking, and then send in the voucher to be reimbursed. The passenger can feel free to browse our journeys on the website, and call us to book her trip and make use of her voucher. We look forward to welcoming Mrs. [redacted] on one of our Memorable Journeys.

Thank you for bringing to our attention the concerns of Mrs***. We apologize a response was not sent to her promptly as we certainly want to make sure to follow up and address our passengers’ concerns. Heavy storms affected this cruise causing a delayed arrival into port.
The original disembarkation time was changed accordingly due to the weather. Our flights department, hence, managed to rebook all passengers to fly out the following afternoon keeping in mind the working hours of the port authorities in order to clear customs. Only two passengers were booked on an early morning flight due to availability. In order for these passengers to make their early morning flight, it was essential that they disembark the ship and stay overnight at a hotel. All other passengers were put on one motor coach transfer the following day to catch their flights in the afternoon. We apologize for any inconvenience that the passengers experienced. Vantage did its best to accommodate passengers in the face of the delayed ship arrival into Toronto at a great expense to us. No further flight changes were possible at the time the passengers requestedFurthermore, we agree that itinerary changes need to be communicated effectively so that the correct expectations are put forth for the passengers. Our marketing team does its best to notify passengers accordingly via their online My Portfolio account. There are circumstances which require an itinerary to be changed on site which we note in our terms and conditionsWe hope the above clarifies Mrs***’s concerns. Despite this hiccup at the end of their journey, we trust they enjoyed their cruise experience and look forward to welcoming them back on another Vantage journey soon

We are refunding this customer for the hotel roomThis will be resolved immediately

Thank you for bringing to our attention Ms***'s concernsWe regret that the journey she was interested in could not be offered to her at the $price. As we state in our literature, however, "prices and inventory are subject to change. Please refer to our website for the most
up-to-date inventory and prices." Furthermore, we are sorry that her inquiry was not responded to earlier via email. We trust the above clarification is helpful and recommend Mrs*** refer to our website for the most up to date prices on our journeys. We hope to welcome her on a truly Memorable Journey soon?