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My recent troubles began when I booked three flights from Florida to Hong Kong. For the past few years, I've been using a local travel agency for most of our travel. Once I've thoroughly researched online consolidators, I went back to my local travel agent armed with a firm idea of options and good pricing. They were accommodating in my dictating my desired price for them to match. I like to use a travel agencies because I like to have someone to blame, if anything goes wrong besides me. Someone with a face and a place I can visit, if need be. Seriously, for me, it's a backup plan, as it can give extra clout should a traveler need help.
I originally booked these flights more than eight months ago. So, imagine my surprise, when I wasn't able to get our necessary ebookings or tickets from the travel agency upon demand. They kept putting me off. All I had was my cancelled check and a couple of emails.
Finally, two weeks before we were due to leave, I made a trip to their office. It was closed. Once open six days a week, now the sign now said they were only open a couple of days a week. Finally I caught the husband of this duo, in at the travel agency. He puts me off another day, saying his wife was away and only she knew where she filed everything.
Long story short, when confronted, they never made the reservations, just cashed my check. They gave me a replacement check as a refund. Deposited that check, and of course, it bounced. The plot thickened when, not only did the agency close down, but also the travel agents apparently left the state. Nothing new in Florida, where consumer fraud is an everyday thing.
I'm trying very hard to remember that these are also hard times for lots of businesses. I hope this wasn't deliberate, but more an act of desperation. In other words, I'm not holding my breath, that I'll every see my $3,400 back and realistic in my knowledge that pursuing this legally will be another hassle.
