getting ripped off

[gingerBcookie]

dear hubby decided to surprise me with an all inclusive package to puerto vallarta, which we have been talking about visiting for a long time. he is a very trusting person and handed over $700 dollars to an agency that came to his workplace and promised this great deal. as touched as i was by this generous and loving gesture, i am much less trusting and a WHOLE lot more jaded. i start looking into the company and calling them to try to ge info on our supposed trip. they start telling me that i can''t get any info until i mail in another $99 per person. after a lot of talk and not wanting to lose out on our non-refundable $700 or having hubby feel bad, and feeling time pressure to book a place cuz we are trying to coordinate the tip with another couple, against my better judgement i give in and mail the check. they tell me the resorts available, 3 supper crappy, one ok and one nice. then they tell me if i want to go to any of the non crappy ones, thats an extra 200-400 per person. then they tell me they won''t even tell me which is available until ALL my money is sent in. when i insist on hearing which ones are available before i send another check, the agent STARTS TO SCREAM AT ME ON THE PHONE

she won''t let me talk to a manager either. note that all this is after two weeks of leaving messages that aren''t returned, being on hold for hours, and being hung up on repeatedly because they are "having phone difficulties." AND with all these delay tactics we lost the flight deal and now tickets are double the cost they were last week which is an extra $400 now. hubby filed a complint with BBB (which btw they have a banner on their webpage that says BBB sucks, wonder why?

) and i called a stop payment on our check. so how much money did we lose?

$700 deposit + $400 extra cost of tickets now + $30 fee for stop payment on check = $1130;

emotional damage, stress, and very valuable time wasted not included.

can anyone beat that rip-off and make me feel slightly less stupid for letting us get swindled?

p.s. can i post the name of the company that ripped us off so ppl can know not to fall for it? i don''t want to break any rules

 

[hikerchick]

i hope you can post the name of the company cause I would want to know.

 

[marvel]

You poor thing!! I''d be livid too

Check out this website ripoffreport. Maybe they are listed in here and you can see what other people have done.

I''d also look into small claims.

~maria~

 

[Allisonfaye]

This is why I use my credit card for everything. This is the exact kind of scam that you can easily get out of paying for when you call your credit card company. I am so sorry that this happened to you.

Here is my dumb victim story to make you feel better: I was about 19 and my grandfather gave me a little bit of money for graduation. My dad also gave me some $$. I wanted to buy a car.

The car was a used VW rabbit (if you recall those). I paid around $1,800 for it. I didn''t get it checked out because I was too stupid to know any better. I know. I know. Dumb. The car drove for two days, stopped and had to be towed. Turns out, the car had been wrecked so badly that it was unfixable and undrivable. I got $250 in salvage for it. To tell you the truth, I am glad it happened. I envisioned lots of revenge scenarios to get even with this seller. But I never did anything. The reason that I am glad it happened because it taught me that people will do anything, anytime, anywhere to get your money. I never trusted anyone again. I don''t give money to telemarketers or people who send me requests for it in the mail. If Jesus Christ himself showed up at my door and asked for money, I wouldn''t give it to him. So in the long run, I think it probably saved me as much as it cost me. I don''t fall for anything. Period.

Hopefully, your husband will have learned a lesson here. I hope you get to take a nice trip somewhere anyway.

 

[hikerchick]

This isn''t my personal story but one of my co-worker:

He had saved $6000 to buy a motorcycle and he thought he found a perfect one within budget on Craigslist so he contacted the guy who told him that he needed to send the money to a third party company, who will then deliver the motorcycle. Unfortunately, my co-worker is from another country and was not used to the "safe" ways to buy things in the US and he sent the third party company a money order and never heard from the guy again. The professional looking website was gone, the email address cancelled and there was nothing he could do because the guy was out of state and the FBI who would deal with such fraud done across state lines only does so if the sum is greater than $25,000 . . .

So, he was out $6000 . . . made me SICK for weeks, he got over it faster than me. I still can''t believe all this happened to him but there are crooks everywhere . . . I am so sorry this happened to you, I hope you can get it resolved.

 

[monarch64]

I don''t know if this will beat yours Ginger, but I''ll tell it anyway to console you a bit:

DH grew up around Chicago, has a degree in criminal justice, is pretty street-smart, etc. I am from a little farm/factory town in Indiana, OTOH, and try not to be naive...having lived in the west burbs for the past few years with him I''ve learned a lot. Anyhoo, two years ago he came home one day with this set of speakers and some other stereo equipment that he was beaming over...of course I asked him how much, and where he bought it, and he tells me he was just getting gas and these guys in a big white moving truck looking thing pulled up and told him they had this set of speakers, etc. that they were supposed to deliver but couldn''t find the address, and did he want to buy it for the low, low price of $200? Apparently they told him they were top of the line speakers and he was getting a sick deal, so they even waited for DH to get cash from the ATM, and sent him home with these questionable electronics. As soon as he told me that, I was like, you got sooooo taken! What?! You can''t be serious. I went straight to the computer and looked up "stereo deals" or something on truthorfiction.com and there was the same story. Of course the speakers were total crap, as was the equalizer or whatever else it was that came with them. $200 down the drain but a lesson learned. All I can say is thank god he researched diamonds before he chose mine. That could have been a complete and utter disaster, LOL!

Hope something good comes out of your situation, GingerB. At least you know now you''re avoiding what could quite probably have been a crappy trip and a waste of even more money. Good luck.

 

[njc]

Oh Ginger, I am so sorry. That sucks. I hope you are able to figure something out to get some or all of your money back.

My story doesnt total the same amount of money, but at the time (college) it was ever penny I had. DHs bday is Christmas Eve, so for a combined B-day/Christmas present I saved for 6 months so I could buy him a Playstation2 beause they had just come out. For whatever reason I used eBay to buy it. I had never really used it before and didnt know what to look for in sellers and ended up having $325 taken from me. All I had to give DH was a CD I had already bought and I balled my eyes out when we exchanged gifts. He gave me beautiful necklace and I gave him a CD.

I have never bought anything on eBay since.

 

[Cehrabehra]

when I was 19 or 20 I got a card saying "you are guaranteed to win one of these prizes!!" and of course I called in - the WORST case was a sapphire and diamond bracelet...

so all I had to do was try this new FREE luggage that just had a credit card s&h charge of $4.99.

Get luggage - stinks to high hell, still wonder if it was made from human skin or something equally putrid. Never used it. Gross. Gag.

Get bracelet - I''m happy... I''m young and it is gen-u-ine diamonds and sapphires! It took several years for the gold plate to start wearing off and I knew even pre-pricescope that the cuts on the stones were AWFUL but it was pretty to me and the nicest piece I had at that point lol I think I even wore it when I got married!! haha (now I look at it and am like OH MY GOD!!)

Get credit card bill - "four ninety nine" was $499.00!!!!!!!!!! For shipping and handling????? I just ate it. I was young and stupid and naive about that and I told myself my bracelet was worth at *least* that (insert eyeroll here). I also swore to never tell anyone and I think I''ve only mentioned it about 5 times in over 15 years and here I am blabbing it on the *internet* for your comfort ginger LOL!!

BTW I''m sorry you got screwed

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 3/13/2007 9:18:29 PM
Author: monarch64
I don''t know if this will beat yours Ginger, but I''ll tell it anyway to console you a bit:

DH grew up around Chicago, has a degree in criminal justice, is pretty street-smart, etc. I am from a little farm/factory town in Indiana, OTOH, and try not to be naive...having lived in the west burbs for the past few years with him I''ve learned a lot. Anyhoo, two years ago he came home one day with this set of speakers and some other stereo equipment that he was beaming over...of course I asked him how much, and where he bought it, and he tells me he was just getting gas and these guys in a big white moving truck looking thing pulled up and told him they had this set of speakers, etc. that they were supposed to deliver but couldn''t find the address, and did he want to buy it for the low, low price of $200? Apparently they told him they were top of the line speakers and he was getting a sick deal, so they even waited for DH to get cash from the ATM, and sent him home with these questionable electronics. As soon as he told me that, I was like, you got sooooo taken! What?! You can''t be serious. I went straight to the computer and looked up ''stereo deals'' or something on truthorfiction.com and there was the same story. Of course the speakers were total crap, as was the equalizer or whatever else it was that came with them. $200 down the drain but a lesson learned. All I can say is thank god he researched diamonds before he chose mine. That could have been a complete and utter disaster, LOL!

Hope something good comes out of your situation, GingerB. At least you know now you''re avoiding what could quite probably have been a crappy trip and a waste of even more money. Good luck.

too funny... my husband did the same thing - except they were "extra" speakers from the new movie theater being built.... and he only paid 50 bucks for them and they''re very good!!! I''ve always wondered if it was a scam but we didn''t lose anything... we still use them and it''s been gosh, over 5 years probably 8?

 

[monarch64]

Ugh, I still can''t believe I even wrote about it on PS! I just feel like it''s that story of "if it''s too good to be true.." kind of thing. Which it was. I mean, honestly, if someone comes and solicits you for something and you hadn''t even thought you needed it, especially in a gas station (or wherever) parking lot, you more than likely do NOT need or even want it! DH is remodeling his basement "man space" currently and just got rid of all that stuff that he never ended up using anyway. $200 sat there for 2 whole years and wasn''t even used...to me that was $200 that could''ve gone toward bling, lol!

 

[codex57]

Is there a consumer affairs division in your state? maybe try calling the attorney general? At least try the local police and see what they say.

Police won''t care unless there''s a crime. So, you''re going to have to try and paint this in a "fraud" kind of light. They took your money, but wouldn''t do anything until you gave them some more money.

If they''re local, I''d also consider suing in small claims.

 

[upgrading mama]

wow, all of these stories are awful!!

The worst so far that has happened is that we have a guy working for a vaccuum sales company stay here in one of our cottages, and he wrote us a bad check, so we basically rented to him and his group for a week free. We were out about 700 bucks ,(he did pay a little with cash upfront) and we did call a cop friend of ours. He opened an investigation, but the kid was already fired from his company and running all over CAnada. And there were warrants for him in antoher province already. a real winner.....

Anyway, we were just in Nueva Vallarta in January and it is just beautiful!!! I hope you guys get to go down there sometime.

TRY www.selloffvacations.com for some great last minute deals..

 

[gingerBcookie]

We''ve filed a complaint against them with the BBB and apparently they''ve had multiple complaints filed against them in the past, like 54? We also placed a complaint against them on their own website and the agent immediately called say ing that it was our fault and we should have sent them the extra money earlier and that to remember out money in non-refundable.

Sorry, i don''t send money until I''m positive with what I''m getting, and based on their behaviour I am GLAD we didn''t send money in earlier.

Reading all these stories makes me a little sick over our society. I can''t fathom wanting to hurt a perfect stranger. How do these people live with the knowledge they are purposefully hurting someone?