Enterprise
Vantage Deluxe World Journey has had slightly below 800 complaints lodged towards them since January 2020, in line with the state Lawyer Normal’s Workplace.
A rising variety of complaints are mounting towards Vantage Deluxe World Journey, a Massachusetts-based cruise firm.
The Massachusetts Lawyer Normal’s Workplace informed Boston.com in an electronic mail that as of Wednesday afternoon it had acquired a minimum of 793 complaints since January 2020 towards Vantage. This 12 months alone, there have been 156.
The majority of the complaints have come from out of state, the AG’s Workplace mentioned. Whereas in a position to help Massachusetts residents, the workplace recommends out-of-state clients contact their very own state’s AG.
Members of a Fb Group for “refunds, journey cancellations, and so forth.” associated to Vantage have been posting and inspiring others to file complaints to the AG’s Workplace.
Whereas the Massachusetts AG’s Workplace mentioned it has been in contact with Vantage, they have been unable to supply particulars of the continuing conversations. Vantage didn’t reply to a request for remark on the time of publication.
Michelle Sofa-Friedman is the founding father of Shopper Rescue, which helps shoppers cope with issues that come up with companies, together with Vantage. She mentioned the issues with the cruise firm began in the course of the pandemic, and it hasn’t gotten higher.
She’s serving to about 50 individuals who haven’t gotten refunds on journeys that have been canceled. Within the Vantage Fb Group, which she moderates, there are greater than 600 members.
She estimates that the typical sum of money owed to her purchasers is round $17,000. However she is aware of of 1 one who is owed $90,000, and issues have been “escalating,” she mentioned.
“I’ve a woman who was accredited in October for a $66,000 cancellation,” she mentioned. “Her husband died, and [Vantage] accredited [a refund] again in October, and she or he’s nonetheless ready for her refund. They’re simply not processing something now.”
Within the meantime, Vantage remains to be providing holidays, and at a reduction. However journeys are nonetheless being canceled, Sofa-Friedman mentioned.
“A few of the clients are going to the airport and discovering out that they don’t have flights, or they get to the airport and so they discover out that their cruise is canceled and so they have to return residence,” she mentioned. “These cancellations, they’re occurring final minute, a minimum of for the purchasers.”
For Florida resident Charles Moskowitz, additionally a moderator of the Fb Group, his discover got here within the type of a voicemail.
He says he misplaced $20,000 after his journey was canceled — twice. He initially booked a year-and-a-half in the past, and the comfort journey Vantage supplied, which was alleged to depart in April, was canceled, too. Moskowitz mentioned he’s been on greater than 25 “profitable journeys” with Vantage and “by no means had an issue like this earlier than.”
“I wouldn’t counsel doing enterprise with Vantage,” he says now.
“They wouldn’t reply us,” he mentioned about his makes an attempt to get in contact after the second canceled journey. “That was six weeks in the past, and a lot of the different folks which might be on Fb are in mainly the identical place.”
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