Complaint Review: Millennium Travel and Promotions - New Smyrna Beach Florida

My husband and I were given a travel certificate for Millenium Travel and Promotions on November 2, 2012 for two airline tickets and a cruise voucher. It required certain paperwork and deposits to be returned to them within 21 days, so we got everything together and mailed it back to them in early December 2012.

Then there was a black hole of communication. After a month or so, we received paperwork requesting several travel dates and more money in the form of cashier's checks to be returned within a week. Once again, we filled out all the paperwork, got the checks and sent everything back to them by their deadline.

Another communication blackhole.

After two months, we received something saying that airfare would not be possible in April and asking if we wanted to continue with another date. We again filled out their paperwork and waited.

Same situation three months later, but this time stating that neither the airfare nor cruise would be available in August. Again, we filled out their paperwork stating we still wanted to move forward with the vacation. Now we were getting excited because we knew they HAD to give us the trip we'd requested for October, which is the one we really wanted.

But when we got the trip information in August, they were requesting so much additional money in fees that it would be cheaper for us to book our own airfare and cruise directly through the companies themselves. On August 7, 2013, my husband had email communications (which we still have) with an agency representative stating that we'd like to cancel and get our money back (more than $800 at this point.) She was a little snippy in her final message, but said that it would take 2-3 days to process the refunds.

It's is now October 2, 2013 and we STILL have not received our money back.

My husband contacted the company today where someone named Cassie rudely told him that the checks were sent at the beginning of August. When she finally stopped talking over him long enough to understand that we hadn't received the checks yet, she snapped that it would take them 30 BUSINESS DAYS to get confirmation of a stop payment on the checks before they could reissue and send them. He had to call back twice to get someone else on the phone to confirm that Cassie had even placed the stop payment on both checks because she was in such a hurry to get off the phone.

Okay, I can understand checks getting lost in the mail, but...30 business days for a stop payment? After nearly a decade in the banking industry, I can guarantee that it doesn't take that long to confirm a stop payment is in place. It's takes 24 hours, assuming you aren't ordering it on a holiday or a weekend. So, either the employees don't have a clue what they're talking about or they're outright lying to avoid returning our money as was promised nearly two months ago.

I would also like to add that my husband and I attend presentations every two or three years where these types of travel awards are given away and this is the ONLY time we've ever had one of the promotional companies act so completely incapable of performing basic job tasks.

If this situation drags on into November, I would be extremely motivated to take legal action against this company. The level of incompetance they've displayed is almost a little difficult to believe is real. At this point, I'm nearly convinced that they had no intention of booking a cruise for us and were strictly trying to scam us out of our money.