My Vacation Connection -Blue Lagoon Travel
Complaint 169791 Details

My husband and I attented a sales presentation in Ocala, Fl. During this presentation we were told how we would have significant travel savings up to 65% if we booked all of our future travel with this travel club. Including cruises, hotels, airfare, golf fees and what they called "Hot Condo Weeks". An example of a hot condo week was presented as spend a week in the Virgin Islands, or Hawaii, Belize, or Jamica for $295.00. Since we were planning a family cruise in October 2012 to Mexico we thought we would save quite a bit and would recoup some of the $4,643.95 we had spend to join. Our first attempt to save was when we were planning a trip to Georgia at Stone Mountain and called to book a hotel. I had already been on line checking prices because I wanted to see what were our savings going to actually be. They were 0.00 -the price we were given was exactly the same price we got on line. When I questioned Blue Lagoon about it I was told they do not quarantee a lower price all the time but that they do their best to beat prices from the internet. This is not at all what was presented to us when we signed up. I decided to try again for our cruise. In June I made several attempts over a period of 4 weeks with Blue Laggon to book a cruise to Mexico two cabins 5 people. I say many attempts because I decided again to look on line and call a travel agent to see what were my significant savings going to be. Again 0 -thats right my savings were 0. First I was told a much higher price then the travel agents price, when I questioned Erica the customer service manager at Blue Lagoon Travel the reason she gave me was they can not compete with the travel agent prices because they sometimes buy blocks of rooms. I called my travel agent and she said sometimes that is true -however in this case not true. The price given to me was the same price if I had called Carnival myself and booked it would be. I called Erica back then Erica gave me a price that was $15.54 cheaper then the travel agents, not the huge savings I was looking for, or promised when we joined but still cheaper so I said go ahead and book the cruise.This was at 12:41 pm at 1:18 I faxed back to Blue Lagoon an authorization with my credit card info to book the cruise. I thought I was done -at 3:04 pm I received an e mail not a phone call that stated the price I was given was no longer available and that they needed to charge my credit card an additional $310.80 more for the same cruise for the same room because the price had gone up before they could reserve the cabins. I told them do not book the cruise do not charge my credit card and I would book with the travel agents price which now came out to be $116.40 less then their price. Oh when we joined we were given a piece of paper that clearly states if we find a lower price anywhere that if we let Blue Lagoon know the same business day they will match or beat the price we find or refund us the difference. When I asked about the price match guarantee I was given no answer, no promise as to when I was going to get the difference instead I was told I can not help you with that. When I asked who could help me with that I was told by Erica the customer service manager to call back and leave a message with customer service. I was in shock -I am talking to a customer service manager why do I need to call back and leave a message for customer service to call me back about the price match guarantee. I expressed my concerns for all the deception and asked to speak to someone above her the customer service manager. I stated I wanted a refund from the travel club that promised huge savings and has delivered none. Erica's response to me was call back and leave a message to file a complaint but also that we only had three days to cancel and our three days was over in April. Then I stated I would file a complaint with the BBB and contact the State of Florida to report fraud and the Federal Trade Commission. Erica responded good luck with that. I have left 6 messages no one has called me back. I am in process of having our credit card company investigate right now. I am still awaiting a response and I will be contacting the Federal Trade Commission. My husband and I want our $4,643.95 refunded back to us for the misrepresented services we were promised.