Complaint Review: Global Services - GSI Travel Club - Shawnee Mission Kansas

First, I gathered up all my evidence: - a postcard promising roundtrip airfare for two to anywhere in the USA plus hotel accommodations - my notes from my telephone call to Global Services' marketing agent showing the terms and conditions of the offer - a copy of the vacation certificate that Global tried to give me after the presentation (which can be found on the website of Worldwide Travel, a Deerfield Beach, Florida company) Next, I figured out who I was suing: During the phone call, the company claimed to be named "Global Services Network". When I went to the presentation in Maryland, the sign on the building said "Global Services Network". I checked with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation's website and did a "Business Entity Information" search on "Global Services". That showed: Entity Name: GLOBAL SERVICES OF KANSAS, INC. AKA GLOBAL SERVICES, INC. Dept ID #: F06757520 Principal Office (Current): 5320 COLLEGE BLVD OVERLAND PARK, KS 66211 So, I went to the Kansas Secretary of State's website and did a "Business Entity Search" on "Global Services", which showed: Current Entity Name: GLOBAL SERVICES, INC. Business Entity ID Number: 2928372 Current Mailing Address: Robert J. Rayburn, III 5320 College Blvd. Overland Park, KS 66211 Next, I had to figure out where I was suing: Since the contract was formed over the phone when I agreed to attend the sales presentation, and I was in Fairfax, VA during that phone call, I figured that Virginia had jurisdiction. Also, since Global solicited me by a personal mailing to my home address in Virginia, I figured that also gave Virginia jurisdiction. Alternatively, I could have sued in Maryland, since I performed my end of the contract (attending the sales presentation) in Maryland. But, since I live in Virginia, that was most convenient for me, so that's where I chose to sue. Next, I looked on the web for how to file a small claims case in Virginia. I found the form to bring suit (a Warrant in Debt) online on the Virginia Court system's website. I filled out the PDF online and printed out a bunch of copies. I also learned from the web that to have the papers "served" on an out-of-state corporation, I needed to hire an out-of-state process server (expensive), serve by certified mail on the Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth, or serve by mail on the Virginia State Corporation Commission. I chose option 2, but I later learned that option 3 is preferable. I filled out and printed out the form (also available on the web) for serving process on the Secretary of the Commonwealth. I brought about 5 copies of each of those forms to my local courthouse (in Fairfax, VA), paid the $36 filing fee and the $28 process service fee with two separate checks, and received a court date of my choosing. Before the trial, I looked through the Virginia Code, which is available online. I noticed the "Consumer Protection Act", which specifically forbids misrepresenting the source or sponsorship of a promotion (which Global clearly did, by sending a postcard appearing to come from Delta airlines). That act also specifically forbids promising something that is never intended to be delivered. (I had pretty good evidence that Global had violated this, too.) The Act specifies triple damages for willful violations of any of these laws, meaning that I could collect triple the cost of the airfare and hotel accommodations that they promised but never delivered. And, even if the judge didn't want to apply the Consumer Protection Act for some reason, I could still fall back on claiming a plain old "Breach of Contract". Before the trial, I also got some price quotes on flights from Washington DC to Hawaii and hotels in Hawaii, since that's where I would have traveled had Global given me the roundtrip airfares and accommodations as promised. On the day of the trial, I showed up at the courthouse and followed the signs to my courtroom. The judge called my name and the defendant's name, found that we were both present, and sent us to another room for a trial with another judge. The judge asked me to make my case. I spent about 5 minutes giving a brief summary of the events, showed my evidence (the postcard and the travel certificate), cited the Consumer Protection Act (which I had printed out and passed up to the judge), and mentioned Breach of Contract. I then showed the price quotes for flights to Hawaii, justifying the $5,000 I had sued for. The judge then turned to the person (a non-lawyer) representing Global and asked him to explain his side of the story. That person just read some notes that must have been written by someone else. He said something along the lines of "I don't know anything about the laws that the plaintiff just mentioned, but our company policy is to do all our contracts in writing, and the plaintiff has no written record of any contract with us. Also, the alleged agreement over the phone was not a contract because there was no meeting of the minds." The judge then ruled that there was a contract and that Global breached it. The judge then looked at the Consumer Protection Act I had handed him and saw a "$1000 minimum damages" clause for wilful violation of the Consumer Protection Act, and so ruled that I should get $1000 from Global. (I had asked for more, but the judge wasn't going to change his mind at that point.) So, I thanked the judge and left. A few weeks later, I got a check in the mail from Global for $1000. A month or so later, the court clerk told me that the judge had also awarded me my $64 filing fees, so I faxed Global and asked them for $64 more so that I could report the entire debt as paid. A week or so later, I got a check for $64 from Global. So, I sent a letter to the clerk, with a courtesy CC to Global, and reported the debt as paid. General tips for suing companies: Make sure that you get the name and address of the company right. Many companies operate under aliases and have multiple addresses. Each company has exactly one full name and one designated address for receiving legal papers. Though the company may have headquarters or operations at a certain address, their legal address at which to sue them is likely a different address. Companies should be sued at their registered agent's address. Each state requires that each company registered to do business in that state set up a registered agent (sometimes called a resident agent) to accept process (court papers) in legal matters. You can find the company's name and designated legal address from the business regulating agency of the state where the business is registered. Different states have different names for their business regulating agencies: - Virginia's is the "State Corporation Commission" - Maryland's is the "Department of Taxation" - Kansas's is the "Secretary of State" - Arizona's is the "Corporation Commission" - Usually, you can find it from the state's general website. To start a lawsuit, you need to have the lawsuit papers served on the company at their legal address. If you're suing Global Services, the name and address are: Global Services, Inc. c/o Robert J. Rayburn, III 5320 College Blvd. Overland Park, KS 66211 If you're suing Worldwide Travel, the name and address are: W-W TRAVEL CENTERS, INC. c/o COVE & ASSOCIATES, P.A. 225 SOUTH 21ST AVENUE HOLLYWOOD, FL 33020 If you're suing Perfekt Marketing, the name and address are: PERFEKT MARKETING, LLC c/o TOM SHANNON 1568 N WAKONDA ST FLAGSTAFF, AZ 86004 Make sure that the company you're suing has assets or cash flow. Otherwise, your judgement will be worthless. - You can see how long the company has been in business from their filing with their state's business registration agency (see above). - You can also get an idea of how long they've been in business from their Better Business Bureau record (if they have one). - If the company has no website, they probably don't have much of a business. - If you do a web search for the company's website and get very few results, the company probably doesn't do a lot of business. To learn how to start a small claims lawsuit in your state, do a web search on "small claims [your state]". Alternately, call your local courthouse, ask for the small claims court clerk, and ask for instructions. Many states have forms and instructions online. In preparation for your day in court: - Organize your evidence (receipts, brochures, e-mails, canceled checks, etc.) - Practice presenting your case to a friend to make it coherent and concise - Look up your state's laws online and read through the Consumer Protection Act. It will likely have something that will help you, and the judge will be impressed if you can point to the code section that supports your case. In court: - Dress well. - Be concise and respectful of the judge's time. - Relax, you're not expected to be an attorney. - Just explain everything to the judge in plain english. Good luck!

I, too, received a postcard in the mail stating that I would receive, at my request, roundtrip airfare for two to anywhere in the USA plus 2 nights of hotel accommodations, and that I should call 800-413-5613 for details. I called and was told that I would get the above mentioned airfare and hotel accommodations if my wife and I attended an advertising presentation with Global Services Network in Columbia, MD. (I, too, live in Northern Virginia.) The representative on the phone listed all the terms and conditions, which were few and acceptable. We agreed to attend. We attended the presentation on 8/12/2007. During the presentation, they tried to sell us an overpriced membership in a travel club. At the end of the presentation, we declined to join the club, but they still needed to make good on their promise of airfare and hotel accommodations. They tried to give us a "Vacation Extravaganza" certificate from "Worldwide Travel Center" in Deerfield Beach, FL. The certificate had many additional conditions not in the original agreement (made over the phone), such as: - we had to put down a $100 deposit (no details on how/whether we'd ever get this back), - we could only travel on a Tuesday, - travel would be subject to _their_ availability (so, if you wanted to go somewhere expensive, they could just say "unavailable") - they pick the travel dates (if the travel happens at all) - they could change the terms and conditions at any time without notice - accommodations were subject to their availability - accommodations might be a "motel" We refused to accept that certificate, pointing out that it did not meet the terms of our existing agreement. They noted our refusal, but didn't do anything about it. The next day, I called the Global Services headquarters at 913-451-0960 to complain about the bait and switch. They gave me the run-around for a few weeks. In the end, they insisted that they owe me nothing because I didn't have the original phone conversation in writing. I filed a case with the Better Business Bureau, but that got nowhere. The BBB seems to be a toothless organization. Compliance is voluntary, and Global wasn't volunteering to help. On October 17, 2007, I filed a case against Global Services, Inc. in the Small Claims Division of the General District Court of Fairfax, VA. On December 7, 2007, the case went to trial. A non-lawyer employee of Global showed up to represent Global. I made my case pretty simply, showing the postcard promising the airfare and accommodations, describing the phone conversation, and describing what happened at the end of the advertising presentation. The defense made the same argument as before: "We owe the plaintiff nothing because the contract was not in writing." The judge ruled that Global had, indeed, breached its contract with me and had violated Virginia's statutory law. The judge then awarded me $1,000 (statutory damages) for Global's intentional violation of VA's Consumer Protection Act. Worldwide Travel's vacation certificate can be found on their website: www.worldwidetravelcenter.com / SALES / pdf / WWTC-VE-Brochure.pdf Comments from other people who were victimized by Global Services can be found by googling the marketing phone number, 800-413-5613 . Also, if you search the "misc.consumers" or "misc.legal.moderated" newsgroups for "Global Services", you'll find more consumer testimonials (including mine, with more details). groups . google . com / advanced_search?hl=en&q=&hl=en& All the participants (that I know of) in the scheme are: The marketing company: Perfekt Marketing 3015 S. 48th Street Tempe, Arizona 85282 The vacation club company: Global Services, Inc. 5320 COLLEGE BLVD OVERLAND PARK, KS 66211 The travel certificate company: W-W Travel Centers, Inc. (doing business as "WORLDWIDE TRAVEL CENTER") 160 SW 12TH AVE DEERFIELD BEACH, Florida 33442 I believe that each partner is complicit in the scheme and is liable by itself: Perfekt Marketing is liable because its mailings and call center representatives are fraudulent (promising rewards they know the customer will never receive). Global is liable through its marketing agent, Perfekt Marketing. Global profits from Perfekt's misrepresentations, yet does nothing to stop them. Worldwide is liable through its distributing agent, Global Services. Worldwide profits from Global's misrepresentations (direct and through its agent, Perfekt), yet it does nothing to stop them. By the way, Perfekt Marketing is run by THOMAS KELLY and BILL FAUTSCH. (Source: AZ Corporation Commission: http://azcc.gov/ ) Those same two people used to run a company named "Smart Advertising Solutions", which was ordered to pay $250,000 in fines for fraudulent marketing in 2006. (Google '"THOMAS KELLY" "BILL FAUTSCH"' to see the Arizona Attorney General's press release on this.) I am very interested in seeing unethical companies penalized so that their fraudulent tactics cease to be profitable. I am not a lawyer, nor am I an expert in these matters, so please don't rely on anything I say. I recommend that you, and anyone else experiencing a broken promise from any of these companies, file a case against the offending company/ies in small claims court. I found it to be very easy and inexpensive. I'd be happy to give you tips if you'd like. I can be reached at (((ROR redacted))) Good luck. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.