Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/07/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I booked a trip through a Tours for the World (TFTW) travel consultant, *************. I paid the initial deposit of $300 on 8/15/19 to Tours for the World (see attached). Our travel dates (4/6/20-4/12/20) to ******** were during the height of the pandemic so the trip was canceled by Tours of the World due to the pandemic and the world shutting down. In a February 27, 2020 email, ****** advised that we would be allowed to use the monies paid towards another trip. In an email dated April 27, 2021, ****** advised that TFTW, have extended the date for travel credits to be used by December 2022 but in an email dated December 5, 2022 advised that TFTW won't honor my credit. I'm requesting a full refund of my $300 paid to TFTW.
  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/11/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 11, 2022/12/08) */
  Contact Name and Title: ************, Tour Coordi
  Contact Phone: ********************
  Contact Email: **************************
  Dear *****,
  Thank you for your request for information in regard to the above referenced matter. We would like to clarify the situation regarding your credit. As you stated, you initially paid a nonrefundable deposit of $300.00 on a ******** trip in August 2019 organized by travel agent, ************* and the trip was canceled due to COVID travel restrictions. Due to the given situation, you and other guests on this trip were provided a future travel credit until December 31, 2022. In June 2022, your travel agent, ************* wrote to TFTW that you were interested in applying your $300.00 credit for a trip to ********* during October 10-14, 2022 and rebooked you for this trip on June 10, 2022. Your credit at this stage was applied and arrangements were made for you and a companion for a land package to *********, ******** on October 10-14, 2022. At the time of rebooking, we provided the updated invoice with a final balance deadline of August 10, 2022. After the hotel and services were confirmed for your requested rescheduled trip, we did not receive the final pending payment of $958.00 by the deadline of August 10, 2022. We reached out to ************* on September 28, 2022 indicating the balance was overdue but that we could still accept payment by the end of that business day and if we did not receive the payment, then the funds already paid ($300.00 credit) would be forfeited as we were already past the deadline provided. In normal circumstances, any trip not paid by the final balance deadline is automatically canceled and funds paid are forfeited automatically but nonetheless, we provided one final day for the balance to be paid on September 28, 2022 by 5 PM PST. We received an email from ************* on September 28, 2022 in the evening that she had not heard back from you regarding this trip and as a result of nonpayment, your trip was canceled and the deposit was forfeited. Your $300.00 credit/deposit was utilized towards your reservation for *********, but as a result of not submitting the nonpayment of the balance for your scheduled ********* trip, we unfortunately cannot reinstate your credit towards another applicable trip. Your agent, ************* has been a client of TFTW for several years now and we have worked with her to ensure your satisfaction as best as we could. However, unfortunately, no further issue can be credited for a second time as once already applied towards a trip that was not paid in full, nor was the ********* trip canceled prior to the deadline of August 10, 2022 in order for us to be able credit once more. We do our best to provide future travel credit for canceled trips, but in this case, due to the failure of nonpayment and failure of cancellation of services by the indicated deadline, funds were automatically forfeited. We hope this clarifies the situation and please feel free to reach out to us should you need further assistance. Thank you for your understanding.
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (3000, 13, 2022/12/14) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  At no point, did I ask for the ******** trip to be booked. At the time, I was simply making an inquiry about the dates. Why would a trip be booked and my credit used without my authorization? Please provide documentation that I requested/agreed to move forward with the booking. Attached are the emails related to this matter and I look forward to receiving my $300 refund.
  
  
  Business Response /* (4000, 15, 2022/12/20) */
  ***** ****** purchased her initial trip via one of our clients, *************. Tours for the World is a tour wholesaler that exclusively works *** with travel agents. All communication regarding travelers is via their travel agent as we do not work with the direct consumer. We do not have direct contact with any travelers booked by our clients, and in this case, had not had direct contact with ***** ****** per our company policies. As already submitted in our documentation and response, we had written authorization from ***** ******' travel agent, ************* to reschedule the guest on June 10, 2022 for ******** on October 10-14, 2022.
  
  Ms. ****** is aware of the consumer complaint and submitted the enclosed email documentation regarding this case in which she discussed the dates alongside an email where she submitted the updated invoice to ***** ****** with the new price, date, and final balance deadline on June 10, 2022. Unfortunately, if a miscommunication occurred between ************* and ***** ******, Tours for the World has not been a part of their communication and have followed instructions provided by Ms. ******' agent. We, unfortunately, cannot honor the $300.00 credit as it was forfeited due to non-payment of the request for ********* booking for October 10-14, 2022. If the trip would have been canceled prior to the final balance deadline, there would have been no issue to provide a travel credit extension for future usage.
  
  We have sold land packages to our client, ************* for her customers for several years now and is a valued client of TFTW. For this original travel package that ***** ****** booked for ******** during April 6-12, 2020, there were other customers booked as well and have since been able to utilize their credits without any problems to various destinations. Lamentably, in this case, the credit was used towards a rescheduled trip that was not later not paid in full by the requested final balance and as a result, the deposit of $300.00 was forfeited per our terms & conditions which was informed to ***** ******' agent.