We purchased a vacation to Mexico. Booked & paid now they say they want $1800.00 more. Help!?

Question

Dream Vacations say they want more money because a mistake was made during booking on line and the flights for 2 of the 7 passengers were not charged for their flights. So now they want us to either pay $1800.00 more for the trip or refund our money. Vacation is planned for October.

Answer 1

a contracts binding tell them to pay it themselves

Answer 2

There was no "mistake".

This is one of the ways for them to use the cheap fare to lure you in, make you feel sorry for cancelling the trip.

It happens a lot in vacation packages online.

Answer 3

That sounds kind of dodgy if you ask me. I think that legally Dream Vacations would have to pay for their mistake otherwise as Janice K says it really looks like the old bait and switch routine, intentional or not.

I recall a few years ago that one of the major online travel sites had an error programmed and something like 90 or so people got a flight to Finland (I think) for pennies. I know they honored the price, not sure if it was because they were legally obligated to or they just didn't want the bad press.

Who are dream vacations by the way? Is it http://www.dreamvacations.ca/ ? If so, then they would be governed by TICO. ( The Travel Industry Council of Ontario http://www.tico.on.ca). You could call TICO and ask them what their advice would be.

If it's not them then you could look for a similar travel industry board in your area. Good Luck.

Answer 4

Jump online to Kayak.com and take a look at ALL FLIGHT and HOTEL prices listed through out the US for your destination city. Kayak is great and they will look up EVERY site in the nation for you at once so just sit back and let it do it's magic.  You might find that it is cheaper then what it would cost you to pay the extra 1800 dollars. Then look up local travel agents in the city your visiting. Back in Hawaii, the best way to get a deal on a Hawaiian vacation is to call a Hawaiian travel agent. Hello, these guys deal with local customers every day so they know exactly where the deals are out of their local airport! Obviously, you'll want to find a reputable company THEN pay with a credit card that has both fraud protection AND travel protection. Really I think Dream Vacations should have to eat their own mistake or at least half of it. I mean come on, they were the ones to go OOPS! Alas we don't live in a perfect world. Consider sending 5 letters to the "contact us" section of the Dream Vacation website. This is the magic number that triggers a manager to "have" to get involved. Then don't let him/her say a word. Ask to speak only to this persons supervisor. This should put you somewhere in the upper management arena and these guys are the bosses of the bosses of the people you spoke to who first started this dilema. Be firm and show that you've done your homework. Chances are you'll be in communication with the person who can simply push a button and presto, "What 1800 dollars and have a great trip"! At which point you thank them up and down for their masterful people skills and get to practicing your Salsa.

Have a great trip and when this is all done, send me a postcard! Adios.