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:08/25/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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.

  The ***** trip NIGHTMARE!!! On 12/15/22 Ms *********************** promised to pay the balance of $1480.94 (she was payed $******* for a trip she canceled 3 times ( xclusive world travel), 3rd being the final cancelation. on 12/20 she claimed she did not receive a credit to her account, ****** did not credit her and in her experience it takes 3-4 months to get the credit. I waited until 8/5/23 to follow up on the balance owed by Ms. ****** and xclusive world travel, no reply so I sent a follow up email 8/11/23 of which she responded "I will check with Travel Joy to confirm what is owed to you and I will let you know next week. Until then you will have to wait." she made me wait almost a year at this point. She also started insulting me with a second email on the same day. On 8/15/23 she sends me a follow up to let me know she is waiting a response from travel joy. (a response from and outside company pertaining to her transaction, originally she said nothing went to her bank account, then stripe. the stories are conflicting). on 8/23 I sent yet another follow up email for an update, she responded on the 24th "I only see $125 refunded back in march. will let you know as soon as I hear back from travel joy."The trip to ***** was originally scheduled for January 2022, she canceled the trip for a group of 24 people and said in whatsapp the she was rescheduling for march ************************************************************************************** ans, warning the group about ms ******* She then removed those members from the chat to silence them and ultimately silencing/discontinuing the group chat. She rescheduled it again for 10/2022. Ultimately canceled our trip on 9/26/22 before the trip, she advised us all to make a claim against Allianz. She said a member called Atlantis and cancelled the trip. I reached out to Atlantis on 9-29-22 and they said there were no bookings for those days for our group.I would like to get back what is owed to me *******

  Business Response

  Date: 08/25/2023

  ********* thank you for expressing your concerns.  Im confused about the different amounts that you are stating I was paid and from whom as well the 3 times the ***** trip was rescheduled.  The trip was unanimously agreed upon by the group to reschedule 1 time from January 2022 to October 2022 due to Covid flaring back up.  Unfortunately the trip did not take place due several factors with guests in the group ultimately causing cancellation.  The trip was planned through a vendor, Goway.  If and when you called Atlantis, you would have been redirected back to the travel agent.  Trip protection is essential whenever youre traveling.   Im sorry that you felt that my response to your demeaning emails and attacks towards me was insulting.  Please keep in mind, you received the allotted amount from Alliance after filing your claim.  Due to everything that you dealt with regarding the claim and trip cancellation, I offered to give you the difference from the 80% refund. I have followed up with Traveljoy regarding the remaining amount and I will make sure that you receive it as soon as its returned.  Again, my deepest apologies to you and your wife for causing this hardship.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/04/2023

  The vendor did not resolve the issue nor did she refund what is due of $1554.72 as shown in the attached statement from ************   Where is my refund?  One year later and still my refund has not been returned.   If you take a look at the complaints about this business its becoming a pattern.  What are my next steps?

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/05/2023

  I emailed Travel Joy yesterday evening on Labor Day and they had a one day turn around response to my question today September 5 2023. I have attached the email thread thus far and have replied and attached BBB.  Per Travel Joy policy/guidelines monies collected are transferred to their customer within 1 week and as early as 1-2 day turn around. Today marks 11 days since I initiated this complaint and I have yet to received an update from Ms.Canada nor my refund due in the amount of $1554.72.  Waiting in excess of 10 months patiently........   Where is my refund?   I would appreciate Knowledgeable, professional and honest customer service. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/13/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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 was invited to travel with a group to ***** that booked a trip to ***** through Xclusive World Travel with ***** ****** for accommodations based on double occupancy for a total of $3338.00 at ******************* in ***** for May 24, 2023, through May 30, 2023. In April 2022, I made my initial payment and my final payment was made March 2023 for a total of $1721.91, my travel companion paid *******. When we arrived at the hotel to check in on May 24, 2023, the hotel staff told us that I had a balance owing on the account of $4118.40, my traveling companion and I had to pay the balance or be without a place to stay in a foreign country. We tried several times to contact ***** via phone calls, emails, texts and whatsapp. ***** never responded to us personally, she instead addressed the group via whatsapp and said that she would resolve the issue. Since May 24, 2023, ***** has failed to refund the monies paid to her for the accommodations that she was supposed to pay the hotel. I have tried to settle this with ***** several times, and she has not followed through refunding the money. As more people began to arrived at the hotel, they ran into the same issue. ***** had not paid the hotel with the money we paid her/Xclusive World Travel llc for our accommodations. We later found out that there were other groups that booked through her/Xclusive World Travel llc that paid for accommodations, but the hotel never received any payment from ***** ******.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/27/2023

  Im really sorry that this unfortunate event took place.  This group started out with 44 rooms booked with deposits.  I explained the terms and conditions to each person, including the group leader.  In the event attrition falls below a certain amount, prices are subject to change and/or the group could be canceled.  45 days prior to departure the group, there were only 12 rooms booked, a lot of requested changes, a returned payment with the inability to contact the customer.  May 22nd I verified all names that were provided to the hotel.  Upon Staceys arrival, the groups cancellation had started taking place.  I was informed I was being penalized $13,457 due rooms that were held with no payments.  4 rooms of the 12 had been canceled prior to me knowing what was happening.  I worked at trying to get this fixed the same day and get them in their rooms.  Each one of them paid for their rooms prior to me getting this resolved, they also disputed the charges the same day before the credit could be issued.  This should have never happened and could have been resolved the same day if disputes would not have started coming through and there was clear communication on both sides.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/06/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  Me (*************************) and two of my cousins (*******************************, *********************) have been making payments to ***** ****** of Xclusive World Travels, LLC for an all-inclusive resort in ***** since May of 2022. Each person has paid *********************** $1419.79 over the course of this time with the final payment in March of 2023. The trip was a larger party of approximately 40 rooms, however about 12 of the rooms had issues similar to ours, either the room was not booked at all, or we were asked to pay the full amount when we arrived to the resort. I am filing a complaint because services were not rendered by this travel agent, nor has a refund for the money that was given to her been returned. I have documentation of the payments as well as the resort payment that had to be paid in full at the resort. *****, has not provided any resolution nor explained why the rooms were not paid for ahead of time despite being paid in full. Had we not had other means to pay for the resort we would have been stranded in a foreign country for 5 days or had to buy return flight home with no services rendered.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/14/2023

  Once again, my deepest apologies to you and your guests traveling with you for the unfortunate incident that occurred to your room reservation. 

  
  This was a contracted group traveling to ***** May 25th 30th, 2023.  Contracted groups receive a special rate, a certain number of rooms must be completely booked and paid for in order to keep the special rate, there is a penalty for attrition and unpaid rooms within a certain timeframe and final payment is due 65 days prior to travel.
  ********* started out with 44 rooms, by April, the rooms were reduced to 12 rooms 3 of which I had to solicit to fill the rooms so that the group would not loose the group rate.
  The booking link created for this group had the Terms and Conditions as well as the Cancellation Policy.  The final payment due date was March 25, 2023.
  Several zoom calls were made with the group discussing the trip.
  There was a ************** created to communicate before and during trip on updates regarding the trip.
  Trip protection was highly recommended.
  (This was outlined in the link)
  
  On March 27, 2023 (2 days after final payment date), ******************************* submitted her final payment of $152.00.  On March 30, 2023, Courtenays payment was returned NSF.
  Unsuccessful attempts to contact her via Traveljoys messenger were made March 30, 2023, April 17, 2023.   I could not call her because the phone number she provided for her, and ********************* were incorrect.  I reached out to the group leader to inform her of the returned payment on 4/21/2023 and asked for her assistance in helping me get this resolved.  ********* leader said she didnt know who *******************************, *********************, or ************************* were, but she would try to find out.  I again reached out to the group leader on 4/26/2023, she still didnt know who they were.  ********* cancelled their room due to the contractual agreement that all payments must be received within 65 days of travel.  Any cancellations 45 days prior to travel would not be refunded (stated in the booking link for the group).
  
  On 4/29/2023, the group leader told me that she found out who invited them and that they would let ******************************* know of the return payment. 
  
  On May 8, 2023, ********* submitted the $152 payment.  The payment cleared on May 11, 2023.  I contacted the hotel trying to get the room reinstated for the same group price and to transfer the funds over.  ********* created a new reservation however the money was not transferred over, the person I spoke with stated all monies were forfeited.  I escalated the request up to management and was waiting on their response. 
  
  On May 11, 2023, ************************* contacted me inquiring about their itinerary, I explained to her that all her payments were received however the final payment for the room was returned causing the cancellation.  I explained that I was still working on it. 
  I had numerous conversations via WhatsApp and one phone call in May while I was working on getting this resolved.
  
  On May 24, 2023, I was notified by the vendor/hotel that there were penalties for this group in excess of $13457 that must be paid, or all rooms would be cancelled.  I reached out to the vendor to get clarification, to no avail.  I then reached out to my attorney to assist with this. 
  I attempted to explain to ************************* what was going on and that my attorney is working to get this corrected ASAP, she sent me a message via WhatsApp stating that she was going to press criminal charges against me and my business for fraudulent and reckless behavior avoiding the true cause for the cancellation of their room, the final payment was made by ******************************* was returned NSF.
  This was a group going and their family was there, they were not without a hotel room as they stated.  ********* took the opportunity to go onto ******** while my attorney and I was working to get resolved and post that I stole money from them prompting her ******** friends to reach out and make threats to me, my family and people on my ******** page.
  My attorney was able to gain resolution with the hotels corporate office.  Those affected by this are receiving a refund for payments made within **** business days, unless charges were disputed, and a credit was issued or there is legal representation stated.  A letter was sent to each person notifying them of the refund. 
  Im truly sorry that it could not get resolved prior to or during their stay.  However, Im happy everyone will be getting their money back.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/20/2023

  I am rejecting this response because:   the business owner states that she was unable to reach the party after the payment didnt go through, however the numbers that she listed on her attachment are the correct numbers and were not used. Also, she had my contact information and never reached out to indicate that the room was in jeopardy despite regular WhatsApp messages and me asking for the booking confirmation. If this were the case, it could have been rectified immediately. I attribute this to poor organization and not able to manage the 40+ rooms that she took on. 
  
  She states that we were not stranded in *****, however the only reason we were able to afford to stay at the resort after paying her our money without a booked room, was because a family member paid nearly $5,000 to cover us at the last minute, otherwise we would have had to go back to the US which again would have been a costly flight the day of. 
  
  The business owner stated that she did what she could to rectify the situation, however while she was in ***** (allegedly) not once did she go to the resort to resolve this matter so that it was not a burden to her paid guests. Additionally, when we spoke to the resort staff they stated there was no prior reservations made under any our names or by the booking agent which also falsifies her claims that our room was the cause of a penalty. It is my understanding that there was another party separate from ours who also had issues with their rooms and had to pay upfront. It is my hope that they also filed complaints so that a pattern of behavior can be established and this business is demolished immediately! 
  
  Lastly, we have still have not received a refund from the business despite her written note that those who were affected would receive a full refund within **** business days. As of today it has been 13 business days since her email. 
  
  
  Thank you, 
  
  
  *******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/31/2023

  Hi,

   

  After ongoing attempts for communication I have now received a refund from the vendor for the original complaint, on July 25 2023.