Travelbridge false promises & coerced us *UPDATE ..this outfit is now playing musical offices
Like most I suspect, we were sucked into a sales presentation on December 22 (which was misrepresented to me as being a "survey" by the salesman who called me) with the promise of travel prizes. Despite assurances once we got there that it was not going to be a hard sell, each time we refused to sign up, another higher up salesman came over and coerced us further. This happened twice.
Prior to this we had booked a cruise with a reputable travel agency and this came out during the discussions. We were asked details of the cruise and cost which we provided and were assured by all 3 Travelbridge salespeople we talked to that we could save 50% of the cost AND even upgrade our cabin to a suite if we joined and rebooked it through Travelbridge.....well we finally caved in and bit signing up for a $2640 membership largely based on that claim.
I immediately faxed all the info to Travelbridge on the cruise asking them to quote it. They came back and quoted a price $361 less than what we paid. Although I requested them to fax me the quote I never got it. However I had paid $100 less than the cruise line advertised price of the cruise from my travel agency and the port charges were $460. If you do the math they may have just quoted the cruise price w/o port charges which would result in 0% savings and may have even been more expensive, but at most I would have saved about 14%....far less than 50% promised and as far as I know...no cabin upgrade. Disappointed I immediately (12/27) faxed a letter requesting a refund and outlining my reasons for wanting out.
I was called by a Ms. Parker in the Houston office wanting an immediate meeting with me regarding the letter. I met with her on 1/2. She was courteous, but basically told me that the salesman had misrepresented the potential savings for my cruise. She did state that there were cruises that could be booked for less. As I told her the salesman were very specific about the savings. I even advised them that I couldn't change the date of the cruise and they said no problem. They even said that Travelbridge would handle the cancellation, but I was later told by the Travelbridge agent that they wouldn't do that for ethical reasons and I would have to do it myself. I also questioned the value of the "Associate ID" card which we were led to believe would entitle us to discounts or upgrades if we presented it at hotels. My salesman even bragged about renting expensive suites at $59/night just by showing his card at the desk.
I've since talked to a couple hotel managers who questioned the legitimacy of the card.....and most laughingly I just got my card and it says on the back of it that it is "exclusively for internal use". However Ms. Parker assured me that with their training I could use the card to obtain discounts by presenting it at hotels, etc. In the end I told Ms. Parker that I still wanted out....She stated she couldn't authorize that but would fax my letter to "HQ" for approval and said I should hear something in 4 days or so. Well, I'm still waiting which is why I decided to write this.....Next step is the BBB and Texas AG's office.
Basically the moral of this story is that the Travelbridge sales staff will tell you anything to get you to sign up.....just be aware that they probably can't deliver their promises. I'll update when I get more information.
Mark
Friendswood, Texas
STOP! ..before you think about using the Better Business Bureau (BBB)... click here to see how other consumers were victimized by the BBB's false or misleading information. Don't be fooled! When there are thousands of complaints and other investigations underway by authorities, the BBB has no choice but to finally give an UNsatisfactory rating to a BBB member business that is paying the BBB big membership fees every year. When a business is reported that is NOT a BBB member, BBB files WILL more likely show an UNsatisfactory rating, then reportedly shake down that company to become a member of the BBB. One positive thing about the BBB is, either way, if a business has an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB, you can be sure, the business is bad. But what about all those BBB member businesses that had complaints filed against them? Consumers never get to hear about them. What about the BBB advertising to the public? Is this a false and misleading perception they are giving about consumer confidence when dealing with a business? Click here to understand more of what consumers and business alike are saying about the BBB. You decide.
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7 Updates & Rebuttals
connie
La Porte,Texas,
NEED SALES DIVISION INFO
#8Consumer Comment
Fri, May 17, 2002
If anyone out there is aware that the Houston Travelbridge sales division is still selling memberships please indicate location and phone number of where this is taking place. Also, please post the full names, if known, of their sales people. This information will go a long way towards putting a stop to this. Thanks!
P.S.- You can just post it right as a rebuttal to my post & enter it as consumer suggestion.
this outfit is now playing musical offices
#80
Wed, May 15, 2002
For some reason this outfit is now playing musical offices in many of it's Texas cities.....but they are still in business unfortunately...The new Houston office is in the Fiesta Shopping Center at the intersection of 1960 and 249. It's not terribly well marked, but it is adjacent to Petsmart. The address and phone number is:
281-477-7600
Fax: 281-477-7577
12922 Willowchase Drive
Houston, TX 77070
The Dallas office is:
214-441-9595
Fax: 214-492-1945
1825 Walnut Hill Lane Ste 104
Dallas, TX 75038
Not sure why they are all moving although the rumor is that they are not selling in Texas right now. Also, the Texas AG refunds should be going out in the near future....would love to see someone post info on the refund such as what percentage was actually refunded.
I have reached a settlement with Travelbridge?
#80
Wed, April 03, 2002
After a long and laborious effort I have reached a settlement with Travelbridge. I won't go into the details of the settlement, but it was wholly satisfactory to me.
Why did they settle? Certainly I had threatened legal action on my behalf, but I think this outfit is more afraid of bad publicity or any action that might lead to an organized effort to fight them.
By all means if you have a legal claim, threaten legal action, small claims are usually pretty easy to file but also begin organizing a picket of their offices or help others to initiate legal action, write TV stations, the BBB, newspapers...whatever it takes and be relentless.
Most importantly, make sure Travelbridge is aware of your activities and aware that you are going to be a big troublemaker for them if they don't settle with you.
The Texas lawsuit settlement isn't going to get you much so if you are counting on that, forget it. I talked to the AG's office and they admitted that individual payments would be a small fraction of what was paid for memberships.
I've wondered what other Class action lawsuits would be available and came within 2 inches of finding a lawyer to discuss this with....particularly at the federal level since they operate over state lines. Something someone may want to consider.
At any rate....I'm out of here. I wish everyone luck in dealing with this company.
It's in the mail.....NOT
#80
Mon, January 21, 2002
Well, it has actually been a week since Travelbridge told me that the procedure for receiving refunds is in the mail. I called this morning and not surprisingly nobody from Member Services was available.
I have consulted a consumer fraud attorney regarding this and he believes that I have a very strong case should I want to take this to small claims court under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. He based this on my taped conversation with Ms. Parker. In the increasingly likely possibility that this does come about I would love to connect with as many other people who feel they have been defrauded as possible. Please Email me at mevert@cprk.com. I would also like to get a campaign going to notify the consumer investigators at Houston TV stations for a possible story.
Update 1/21/02
#80
Mon, January 21, 2002
Well, Travelbridge did call back after a few hours and I requested that they fax me the "procedure". It was a letter acknowledging receipt of my letter of 12/27 and advising that Travelbridge VP Pete Vincent will "review your concerns so that we may reach a mutually beneficial resolution for all parties concerned".....and then stating that he will submit his recommendation to the Board of Directors on 2/08/02. I would be notified within 10 days of the Board's decision of what that decision was.
I have written and mailed a detailed letter stating that I believe that they are in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, including the text of that act that applies and the specific reasons why I believe they are in violation of that. I included other information as well setting a deadline of 2/10/02 as the point where I would begin legal action against Travelbridge.
Travelbridge Update January 16
#80
Wed, January 16, 2002
I did get a call back from Travelbridge. I was told that they got my letter and was sending me a "procedure" for obtaining a refund. My attempts to find out more about the "procedure" were futile...."It's in the mail".
Travelbridge Update January 14
#80
Mon, January 14, 2002
Well its 12 days later and no word from Travelbridge on a refund. I have also faxed my original letter to HQ in Palm Springs and I called them. I was given a 1-888 number to call and told to ask for someone in membership services. I have called the number 3 times now and spoken to a receptionists. Each time all the membership services people were 1)Busy, 2) Out to lunch, 3) In a meeting. I left callback numbers all 3 times and have yet to get a response.
I have also discovered that the Austin Fox TV affiliate has a warning about Travelbridge on their consumer webpage and they are also planning a negative feature consumer story about Travelbridge.