Travel Agent Drama... Am I wrong??? *Long*

[ultimateme143]

I am so upset with my travel agent that I can't even sleep right now. I am hoping that maybe venting to you all will help. Where to start....

 

Over a year ago I booked our wedding with the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. We received a group rate which I was very pleased with. However, when booking a 'group' with them a booking form needs to be filled out with credit card/billing information for each room. I felt uncomfortable with having my family send me that information, plus since I already had so much on my plate I didnt want to be in charge of booking there rooms as well. A friend of mine suggested her cousin to me and since I didn't know anyone else I went with her.

 

For my own booking I did all the homework. I gave her the flight numbers, times, airline, everything. I told her that I wanted to stay at one tower for X amount of days and then X amount of days at another (the resort has multiple levels of towers) we were staying at a lower one for the begining and then going over to there best one for the honeymoon. I and she knew the prices per night. I did my numbers and knew what the total would be. She called me and said that she could do a package deal for me which ended up being $450 cheaper. Sounds great right

 

WELL, Come to find out the "package" only included the second half of our stay. So in the long run it would end up costing me over $1000 more then my original figure. We spoke about the issue and we ended up canceling with her and I ended up booking it myself. However, she was charging me $400 for a cacelation fee. My FI was pissed to say the least. He canceled the charge on our account and we received all the money back, the bank agreed she was in the wrong based on all the emails I had. I received an email from her today that basically cursed me out. She wants her $400.

 

I don't know what to do now. Can I trust her? She has all my family members credit card information and is in control of booking all the rooms. She hasn't submitted anything to the resort yet because she said she was waiting to do them all at once.

 

Does anyone else feel like they are fighting one battle after another? I am just so frusted with all of this that I just dont even want to bother anymore. Besides the help/ideas from everyone on here I am doing this all on my own. I wish I had someone to fight these battles for me because I am exausted.

 

Thank you for listening

[ErinB]

Did you sign a contract with her or her agency? That should clearly state the penalties for cancelling the trip.

 

Do you think she will book your family's rooms without issue or do you think she will intentionally mess up the reservations? Maybe ask your friend about this. You don't need to get her in the middle of it, but she might be able to attest to her character.

 

I also think you are within reason to draft a nice letter asking if she would still like to work on your account. Something like, I'm sorry we weren't able to work together in a parofessional manner but I would like to know if you are still willing and able to assist my guests with thier travel arrangements. If not, then will need to find another travel agent...

 

She can't just charge your relatives if no services are performed or received. It's illegal and the CC companines will issue a charge-back. It is more of a pain than anything else.

[ACDCDCAC]

wow thats not cool, especially when the cc compnay (thank gosh) decided with you and shows she was in the wrong to charge the fee. you would think that would set her straight.

 

idk if i would involve the cousin, i mean she must trust her character if she recommended her??

[Betsy]

What a headache! So now do you have to start all over w/ booking and everything? I hope you get it figured out!

[Jojo]

What a terrible thing to have happened. I'm glad you're able to share it with the girls on this forum. Good Luck!

[BachataBride]

I hear you about TAs...mine was an absolute nightmare too, but unfortunately we were too far into the booking process to back out.

If she is sending you nasty emails (make sure you track those!) then I would not trust her to deal with the rest of your guests travel arrangements - that is a disaster waiting to happen! I would suggest looking for a new TA asap - there are some great ones on here I heard! Also, Erin is right...if you didn't sign a contract then you are under no obligation to pay any kind of cancellation fees.

 

Good luck hun!! I wish you all the best!

[ultimateme143]

Thank you all for taking the time to read my vent. The good thing is that I dont have a contract. The bad part is that I would have to call all my guests and tell them that they have to book all over again. My FI is going to call her tomorrow to see where we stand. I just cant handle another confrontation. I will keep you all posted. Thanks again for the support.

[tylersgirl]

I don't blame you. IMO I would just go ahead a find another agent to handle everything.

[KHarrod]

Im so sorry that happened to you, I have problems with my TA as well.

[Nov-09-Bride]

That is horrible! I'm so sorry that you are having to deal with that! We had our share of problems with our original TA as well, but we soon dropped her! We have a friend who was recently married in the DR and she said to be careful with TA's... Sometimes they can be pretty "shady"... I dont think you have to worry about her using your friends and families' information and booking rooms without your permission. That sounds illegal to me. Did you sign a contract with her?? I will do a little research and get back to you.

 

Stay strong. It will get better.