ComplaintsforSouthAmerica.Travel Inc

• Initial Complaint

  04/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Booked a trip through Southamerica.travel for March 2020, got postposed because of Covid until Jan 2021. On December 30th, 2020 our trip for January got cancelled and were told we could reschedule it any time before Summer 2023. Contacted them a couple of weeks ago to reschedule our trip again for January 2023, received a kick back email stating they were no longer in business. Reached out to the contact they gave us and said we would have to be charged for the whole trip, like booking a new trip again. $17,000 down the drain... Insurance isn't going to help because of covid.

  

  Business response

  02/15/2023

  The pandemic was a difficult time for many companies, and the travel branch was particularly hit hard, with laws and special rules enacted to attempt to protect one party (consumers) oftentimes caused more harm to another party (businesses) than intended, as the lawmaking and rule-making often were created quickly without thoroughly reflecting on the consequences. We greatly regret that some travelers were caught in the crossfire, and appreciate the opportunity to explain what happened to SouthAmerica.travel:
  
  
  - Elevated Costs with no government support during 13 months of the pandemic -
  During the entire first year of the pandemic, SouthAmerica.travel made every effort to rebook all clients' travel plans, often multiple times, at no additional cost to travelers, with no knowledge or insight into when the pandemic would end and normal travel would resume.
  Emergency national pandemic laws enacted by *********, ****** and ****, where SouthAmerica.travel maintained offices, mandated that 100% of employees must be maintained in all offices, and paid full time by the employer (SouthAmerica.travel), during the entire course of the pandemic.
  ********* and ****** offered no government aid to the company to maintain staff, instead relying on the companies themselves to provide ongoing, indefinite financial support to workers. With no source of revenue for a company such as SouthAmerica.travel, this was unsustainable.
  
  
  - Unauthorized & Non-legal Customer Chargebacks Supported by Credit Card Holders Banks -
  Despite agreeing to written terms of payment of non-refundable items (20% non-refundable Tour Planning Remittance, 50% non-refundable cruise and lodge deposits paid out to the suppliers) many clients pressed their credit card issuers to chargeback payments made for services already rendered (non-refundable "tour planning remittance) or funds passed on to other suppliers (non-refundable cruise and lodge deposits)
  The credit card issuers, unlike prior to the pandemic, often decided unjustly to refund clients these non-refundable payments - with much of the funds already passed on to other entities - thus creating a deficit to the companys assets.
  
  * Example: $10,000 cruise package, including 20% ($2000) non-refundable Tour Planning Remittance for services rendered (planning and booking all aspects of the trip, often rebooked multiple times) & $5000 non-refundable Cruise Deposit, forwarded to the cruise supplier and no longer held by the company.
  * Client charges back the entire $10,000, despite knowing that $7000 has been rendered (Tour Planning Deposit) or passed to another service provider (cruise deposit) *********** is thus at a deficit of $7000
  * The cruise and lodge providers, who had issued future credits to these clients, refused to return any moneys to SouthAmerica.travel despite being aware that clients had successfully charged back their funds. In at least one case, a client even used the cruise credit despite receiving all funds paid in chargeback.
  
  
  Unfortunately, such client panic and egoistic actions were to the detriment of other loyal, faithful clients, who followed the terms they had agreed to and wished to rebook when the possibility presented itself, as well as to the entire company, depleting reserves and sending the company into a spiral. 
  While all clients who had paid just the 20% Tour Planning Remittance were able to travel with other partner agencies at no additional cost above what was expected, clients who had paid in full just prior to the beginning of the pandemic found their funds in the hands of these bad-faith clients.
  The result was a forced financial insolvency, after 21 years of existence and a 4.9 out of 5.0 customer rating, of **********************, on 6 April 2021.

• Initial Complaint

  12/08/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Booked a trip with SouthAmerica.Travel for May 2020 which was delated d/t COVID. Rescheduled for May 2020. In March 2020, we heard of potential delays in one of the countries we were visiting and were offered the opportunity to delay to December 2021. We agreed. When we reached out to confirm in April 2021, we received an email bounceback stating that the company had closed. We attempted to contact the company that SouthAmerica.Travel identified as taking over our travel itineraries, however they denied having any records or money transfer from our trips. We then attempted to contact the hotels that we were expecting to stay (from our itinerary), and each hotel stated there were no reservations in our name. We have been unable to reach any representative of this travel agent to date.

  

  Business response

  02/08/2023

  The pandemic was a difficult time for many companies, and the travel branch was particularly hit hard, with laws and special rules enacted to attempt to protect one party (consumers) oftentimes caused more harm to another party (businesses) than intended, as the lawmaking and rule-making often were created quickly without thoroughly reflecting on the consequences. We greatly regret that some travelers were caught in the crossfire, and appreciate the opportunity to explain what happened to SouthAmerica.travel:
  
  
  - Elevated Costs with no government support during 13 months of the pandemic -

  During the entire first year of the pandemic, SouthAmerica.travel made every effort to rebook all clients' travel plans, often multiple times, at no additional cost to travelers, with no knowledge or insight into when the pandemic would end and normal travel would resume.

  Emergency national pandemic laws enacted by *********, ****** and ****, where SouthAmerica.travel maintained offices, mandated that 100% of employees must be maintained in all offices, and paid full time by the employer (SouthAmerica.travel), during the entire course of the pandemic.
  

  ********* and ****** offered no government aid to the company to maintain staff, instead relying on the companies themselves to provide ongoing, indefinite financial support to workers. With no source of revenue for a company such as SouthAmerica.travel, this was unsustainable.
  
  
  - Unauthorized & Non-legal Customer Chargebacks Supported by Credit Card Holders Banks -

  Despite agreeing to written terms of payment of non-refundable items (20% non-refundable Tour Planning Remittance, 50% non-refundable cruise and lodge deposits paid out to the suppliers) many clients pressed their credit card issuers to chargeback payments made for services already rendered (non-refundable "tour planning remittance) or funds passed on to other suppliers (non-refundable cruise and lodge deposits)

  The credit card issuers, unlike prior to the pandemic, often decided unjustly to refund clients these non-refundable payments - with much of the funds already passed on to other entities - thus creating a deficit to the companys assets.
  
  * Example: $10,000 cruise package, including 20% ($2000) non-refundable Tour Planning Remittance for services rendered (planning and booking all aspects of the trip, often rebooked multiple times) & $5000 non-refundable Cruise Deposit, forwarded to the cruise supplier and no longer held by the company.
  * Client charges back the entire $10,000, despite knowing that $7000 has been rendered (Tour Planning Deposit) or passed to another service provider (cruise deposit) *********** is thus at a deficit of $7000
  * The cruise and lodge providers, who had issued future credits to these clients, refused to return any moneys to SouthAmerica.travel despite being aware that clients had successfully charged back their funds. In at least one case, a client even used the cruise credit despite receiving all funds paid in chargeback.
  
  
  Unfortunately, such client panic and egoistic actions were to the detriment of other loyal, faithful clients, who followed the terms they had agreed to and wished to rebook when the possibility presented itself, as well as to the entire company, depleting reserves and sending the company into a spiral. 

  While all clients who had paid just the 20% Tour Planning Remittance were able to travel with other partner agencies at no additional cost above what was expected, clients who had paid in full just prior to the beginning of the pandemic found their funds in the hands of these bad-faith clients.

  The result was a forced financial insolvency, after 21 years of existence and a 4.9 out of 5.0 customer rating, of **********************, on 6 April 2021.

• Initial Complaint

  10/14/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  South America Travel booked a trip for us and we went on 3/13/21 - we were then told to return to the US within 36 hours of our arrival due to covid. From the time we arrived home until we got this letter of South America going bankrupt, we were working with our agent to reschedule for 2/22. I tried reaching out to the agencies that are listed on the letter, 2 out of the 3 said they never recieved any info from South America Travel. The only one was the Galapagos cruise, but their credit is limited and we supposedly lost the airline fare, which i am now told was unrefundable. Once I realized we were getting no where with the agencies, i contacted Citi card, who claims that they cannot do anything, because South America Travel isn't bankrupt, just insolvent (doesnt make sense), but they say to contact each individual vendor we were to deal with - I do not have that information. The reason it is over the 12 mos is because I was trying to work it out on my own to no avail.

  

  Business response

  02/08/2023

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to ************************ questions. There is a legal standpoint to the response, and an ethical standpoint, and I would like to address both.

  According to the booking conditions (terms) of SouthAmerica.travel, once the date of travel has approached, there is no obligation of refund to a client, for any reason apart from the company refusing to supply the service. Clients are required by our terms to hold travel insurance to cover such trip interruptions, and for most types of trip interruption, even the coverage from a major bank's credit card suffices. However many (but not all) policies had exceptions for incidences such as the pandemic provided.

  SouthAmerica.travel naturally wanted to help everyone to the best of its ability plan and re-plan their trips, and an ongoing effort to do so occurred also with *********************

  As ******************** points out, her credit for the ******* / Galapagos portion of her trip, which made up approx. 60% of the total trip price, was still available for her to use until it expired at the end of 2022. I am unaware whether she used this credit in the end. Another portion was used on her originally scheduled dates, as the couple did begin their South America trip and were advised to return to the US to avoid having the borders closed for an indefinite period of time.
  
  For the remainder of the trip, while the companies ******************** contacted could not honor the actual reservations and payments of the hotels for the remainder of the trip, they would waive the tour planning remittance, thus reducing the price by 20%. The total loss to ******************** having taken advantage of these opportunities would have still been significant, however it would have been limited to approx. 20-25% of the total, with the advantage of departing up to 2 1/2 years later.

  The pandemic was a difficult time for many companies, and the travel branch was particularly hit hard, with laws and special rules enacted to attempt to protect one party (consumers) oftentimes caused more harm to another party (businesses) than intended, as the lawmaking and rule-making often were created quickly without thoroughly reflecting on the consequences. We greatly regret that some travelers were caught in the crossfire, and appreciate the opportunity to explain what happened to SouthAmerica.travel:
  
  
  - Elevated Costs with no government support during 13 months of the pandemic -
  During the entire first year of the pandemic, SouthAmerica.travel made every effort to rebook all clients' travel plans, often multiple times, at no additional cost to travelers, with no knowledge or insight into when the pandemic would end and normal travel would resume.
  Emergency national pandemic laws enacted by *********, ****** and ****, where SouthAmerica.travel maintained offices, mandated that 100% of employees must be maintained in all offices, and paid full time by the employer (SouthAmerica.travel), during the entire course of the pandemic.
  ********* and ****** offered no government aid to the company to maintain staff, instead relying on the companies themselves to provide ongoing, indefinite financial support to workers. With no source of revenue for a company such as SouthAmerica.travel, this was unsustainable.
  
  
  - Unauthorized & Non-legal Customer Chargebacks Supported by Credit Card Holders Banks -
  Despite agreeing to written terms of payment of non-refundable items (20% non-refundable Tour Planning Remittance, 50% non-refundable cruise and lodge deposits paid out to the suppliers) many clients pressed their credit card issuers to chargeback payments made for services already rendered (non-refundable "tour planning remittance) or funds passed on to other suppliers (non-refundable cruise and lodge deposits)
  The credit card issuers, unlike prior to the pandemic, often decided unjustly to refund clients these non-refundable payments - with much of the funds already passed on to other entities - thus creating a deficit to the companys assets.
  
  * Example: $10,000 cruise package, including 20% ($2000) non-refundable Tour Planning Remittance for services rendered (planning and booking all aspects of the trip, often rebooked multiple times) & $5000 non-refundable Cruise Deposit, forwarded to the cruise supplier and no longer held by the company.
  * Client charges back the entire $10,000, despite knowing that $7000 has been rendered (Tour Planning Deposit) or passed to another service provider (cruise deposit) *********** is thus at a deficit of $7000
  * The cruise and lodge providers, who had issued future credits to these clients, refused to return any moneys to SouthAmerica.travel despite being aware that clients had successfully charged back their funds. In at least one case, a client even used the cruise credit despite receiving all funds paid in chargeback.
  
  Unfortunately, such client panic and egoistic actions were to the detriment of other loyal, faithful clients, who followed the terms they had agreed to and wished to rebook when the possibility presented itself, as well as to the entire company, depleting reserves and sending the company into a spiral. 

  While all clients who had paid just the 20% Tour Planning Remittance were able to travel with other partner agencies at no additional cost above what was expected, clients who had paid in full just prior to the beginning of the pandemic found their funds in the hands of these bad-faith clients.

  The result was a forced financial insolvency, after 21 years of existence and a 4.9 out of 5.0 customer rating, of **********************, on 6 April 2021.

• Initial Complaint

  05/18/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Company has gone out of business. How contact someone about bankruptcy claim?

  

  Business response

  02/18/2023

  Dear ****************,

  SouthAmerica.travel LLC closed due to financial insolvency on 8 April 2021. As there were no remaining assets to distribute, the company did not enter into a bankruptcy filing.

  The pandemic was a difficult time for many companies, and the travel branch was particularly hit hard, with laws and special rules enacted to attempt to protect one party (consumers) oftentimes caused more harm to another party (businesses) than intended, as the lawmaking and rule-making often were created quickly without thoroughly reflecting on the consequences. We greatly regret that some travelers were caught in the crossfire, and appreciate the opportunity to explain what happened to SouthAmerica.travel:
  
  
  - Elevated Costs with no government support during 13 months of the pandemic -
  During the entire first year of the pandemic, SouthAmerica.travel made every effort to rebook all clients' travel plans, often multiple times, at no additional cost to travelers, with no knowledge or insight into when the pandemic would end and normal travel would resume.
  Emergency national pandemic laws enacted by *********, ****** and ****, where SouthAmerica.travel maintained offices, mandated that 100% of employees must be maintained in all offices, and paid full time by the employer (SouthAmerica.travel), during the entire course of the pandemic.
  ********* and ****** offered no government aid to the company to maintain staff, instead relying on the companies themselves to provide ongoing, indefinite financial support to workers. With no source of revenue for a company such as SouthAmerica.travel, this was unsustainable.
  
  
  - Unauthorized & Non-legal Customer Chargebacks Supported by Credit Card Holders Banks -
  Despite agreeing to written terms of payment of non-refundable items (20% non-refundable Tour Planning Remittance, 50% non-refundable cruise and lodge deposits paid out to the suppliers) many clients pressed their credit card issuers to chargeback payments made for services already rendered (non-refundable "tour planning remittance) or funds passed on to other suppliers (non-refundable cruise and lodge deposits)
  The credit card issuers, unlike prior to the pandemic, often decided unjustly to refund clients these non-refundable payments - with much of the funds already passed on to other entities - thus creating a deficit to the companys assets.
  
  * Example: $10,000 cruise package, including 20% ($2000) non-refundable Tour Planning Remittance for services rendered (planning and booking all aspects of the trip, often rebooked multiple times) & $5000 non-refundable Cruise Deposit, forwarded to the cruise supplier and no longer held by the company.
  * Client charges back the entire $10,000, despite knowing that $7000 has been rendered (Tour Planning Deposit) or passed to another service provider (cruise deposit) *********** is thus at a deficit of $7000
  * The cruise and lodge providers, who had issued future credits to these clients, refused to return any moneys to SouthAmerica.travel despite being aware that clients had successfully charged back their funds. In at least one case, a client even used the cruise credit despite receiving all funds paid in chargeback.
  
  
  Unfortunately, such client panic and egoistic actions were to the detriment of other loyal, faithful clients, who followed the terms they had agreed to and wished to rebook when the possibility presented itself, as well as to the entire company, depleting reserves and sending the company into a spiral. 
  While all clients who had paid just the 20% Tour Planning Remittance were able to travel with other partner agencies at no additional cost above what was expected, clients who had paid in full just prior to the beginning of the pandemic found their funds in the hands of these bad-faith clients.
  The result was a forced financial insolvency, after 21 years of existence and a 4.9 out of 5.0 customer rating, of **********************, on 6 April 2021.

*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. ↩