BrazilianTravel.com took my money

I had a very bad experience with this company (http://www.braziliantravel.com/) and would strongly dissuade anyone from purchasing their services. They scammed me: I paid them for some plane tickets which I never received, and they have belligerently refused to give me a refund.

Early last summer, I solicited several travel agencies for inexpensive tickets to Brazil. BrazilianTravel.com was the cheapest so I bought from them. They proceeded to stall delivery of the tickets for over two months, up until a week before the date of the presumed departure, blaming the delay on the airline. I did not receive so much as a confirmation number for the flights.

I called the airline, Tam, who claimed that there were no active itineraries for a passenger of my name for the flights/dates in question. At this point, not having received the tickets and worrying that I'd been the victim of a scam, I demanded that they refund the money. They promptly indicated that they would and then proceeded to just as quickly do nothing.

Repeated phone calls and e-mails have either been ignored or met with denial of their wrongdoing, blaming the bank, and, in general, unapologetic standoffishness. I tried to reverse the charge through my bank, but BrazilianTravel.com told them that since the debit was authorized they didn't have to give the money back. I and others with whom I have spoken now have legal actions pending in the State of New York against the operators, Marcio Fontes and Sabrina Carvalho.