GoAhead Vacations, PO Box 380037, Boston, MA - I booked a tour with GoAhead Vacations by telephone, paying a $450 deposit. I was told that the full price of my vacation would be due in 14 days, but that if I wished to cancel up until the due date I would

GoAhead Vacations, PO Box 380037, Boston, MA - I booked a tour with GoAhead Vacations by telephone, paying a $450 deposit. I was told that the full price of my vacation would be due in 14 days, but that if I wished to cancel up until the due date I would receive a full refund.

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Complaint against: GoAhead Vacations, PO Box 380037, Boston, MA 02241-0837 I booked a tour with GoAhead Vacations by telephone, paying a $450 deposit. I was told that the full price of my vacation would be due in 14 days, but that if I wished to cancel up until the due date I would receive a full refund. I received an invoice from GoAhead Vacations dated 6-28-04. The payment due date noted was 7-9-04. On 7-9-04, I called GoAhead Vacations because I had some additional questions before I felt comfortable making the full payment. I received their answering service and was unable to speak with anyone directly. I logged into my account at their web site and left the following email via their “contact” site: “Today is the final day that I can cancel my reservation and receive a full refund. I called your office with some additional questions, but reached your answering service. Please cancel my reservation at this time and notify me of the refund arrangements. I may re-book the tour, if still available, after additional consideration. I like the structure of Go Ahead, but am interested in an extension to Tibet rather than Thailand. That may not be possible through your agency, but I would consider making other arrangements for the extension. Please provide me with any information that you may have regarding such an option.” I had concerns that since I logged this information on their web site I had no verification that I had done so, or of the date. So I emailed them the same message from my email address. I did not hear from GoAhead over the next three days, but it was a weekend. On Monday and Tuesday I logged into my account at GoAhead’s website. My trip still showed active with full payment due. On Tuesday, July 13, I emailed GoAhead the following message: ‘Greetings: I did ask for a response and have not yet received one. Please see the following sent July 9: "Today is the final day that I can cancel my reservation and receive a full refund. I called your office with some additional questions, but reached your answering service. Please cancel my reservation at this time and notify me of the refund arrangements. I may re-book the tour, if still available, after additional consideration. I like the structure of Go Ahead, but am interested in an extension to Tibet rather than Thailand. That may not be possible through your agency, but I would consider making other arrangements for the extension. Please provide me with any information that you may have regarding such an option. Thank you for your assistance."’ By today, Friday, July 16, I still had not received a response. I checked their website and my tour still showed active with full payment due. At approximately 12:10 MDT I telephoned GoAhead Vacations and spoke with Adrian. I advised her that I wanted to cancel my reservation and inquired about the refund. She said that I was calling past the date when I could obtain a refund. I told Adrian that I had emailed my cancellation request by the deadline, but had received no response. She asked me to hold. I was on hold approximately 20 minutes, after which time the phone rang me through to another line and I was placed on another automated hold. I assumed I had been transferred to a supervisor. Within a few minutes someone picked up the call, answering “EF Education Tours.” I assumed that since GoAhead was one of the family of EF companies, per their brochure, that I had been put through to the main office. I was wrong. When I expressed my complaint they said they needed to transfer me to GoAhead. I advised her that I had been on hold with GoAhead for over 20 minutes and they transferred me to her. She said she needed to transfer me back. I asked if she would transfer me back to a person, not a hold line. She said “most likely.” I, of course, was transferred to a line on which I was again on hold—back with GoAhead. I stayed on hold for approximately 5 minutes, the phone rang me through to another line—it was the answering service. I said that I needed to speak to a live person from GoAhead. She said that was impossible—they had transferred their lines to the answering service. It was now about 12:45 MDT, I’m assuming 2:45, EDT, in Massachusetts, where GoAhead is located. I left a message asking for immediate response. By 3:30 MDT I had still not received a response from GoAhead. I logged onto my account at GoAhead’s website and discovered that my tour had been cancelled. I called GoAhead to confirm that I would receive my refund. I reached their answering service. I left a message. I also left the following email: “I AM VERY ANGRY! I HAVE AN INVOICE DATED 6-28-04, STATING PAYMENT DUE DATE OF 7-9-04. I WAS TOLD WHEN I BOOKED MY TRIP THAT IF I CANCELLED WITHIN 14 DAYS I WOULD GET A FULL REFUND. I CALLED ON 7-9-04 WITH QUESTIONS. I WAS UNABLE TO GET THROUGH. I SENT A MESSAGE VIA THIS "CONTACT US" SITE. SINCE I WAS UNABLE TO ASK MY QUESTIONS AND IT WAS THE DEADLINE FOR REFUND I REQUESTED THAT MY TOUR BE CANCELLED AND I BE CONTACTED BY EMAIL WITH CONFIRMATION AND NOTIFICATION OF REFUND PROCEDURES.

I SENT THE SAME MESSAGE ON THE SAME DAY FROM MY EMAIL ACCOUNT. A WEEK LATER I STILL HAD NOT HEARD FROM YOUR COMPANY. I SENT A SECOND EMAIL--NO RESPONSE. OBVIOUSLY I HAVE DOCUMENTATION OF THE EMAILS, DATES, AND REQUESTS. TODAY I CALLED AND SPOKE WITH SOMEONE--NOT SURE OF THE NAME, ARIANA MAYBE--SHE TOLD ME THAT I WAS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR A REFUND SINCE THE CANCELLATION AND PAYMENT DATE HAD PASSED. I TOLD HER THAT I HAD SEND EMAILS ON THE CANELLATION DEADLINE.

SHE SAID SHE NEEDED TO PUT ME ON HOLD AND DID SO. I WAS ON HOLD FOR 20 MINUTES, AFTER WHICH I WAS ELECTRONICALLY TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER NUMBER AT EF TOURS. THEY SAID THEY COULDN'T HELP ME AND NEEDED TO TRANSFER ME BACK TO GOAHEAD. I ASKED IF I WOULD SPEAK WITH A PERSON AND NOT BE ON HOLD. THEY SAID YES. THEY TRANSFERRED ME. I WAS ON HOLD ANOTHER 20 MINUTES, AFTER WHICH I WAS TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER LINE--YOUR ANSWERING SERVICE. I SAID I NEEDED TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE IN PERSON. THEY SAID THAT WAS NOT POSSIBLE--MIND YOU THIS WAS 12;45 MDT, I'M ASSUMING 2;45 EDT.

I LEFT A MESSAGE ASKING SOMEONE TO CALL ME IMMEDIATELY. OF COURSE NO ONE DID. AT 3:30 PM MY TIME I CALLED AGAIN. ANSWERING SERVICE OF COURSE. I LEFT MESSAGE, BUT CAN HARDLY BE BLAMED IF I'M SKEPTICAL OF RECEIVING A RESPONSE. I LOG INTO MY ACCOUNT AND FIND THAT INDEED MY TRIP IS NOW CANCELLED. I'M ASSUMING THERE IS NO REFUND COMING MY WAY. NOW, NOT ONLY AM I OUT $450, I COULDN'T GO ON THE TRIP IF I WANTED TO!!!!! I ASSURE YOU I SHALL BE CONTACTING THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU, TRAVEL ASSOCIATIONS, AND POSTING A COPY OF THIS MESSAGE ON EVERY WEB SITE I CAN FIND!!!!!!” On my way home from work I told myself that I may have an email from GoAhead at my home email account advising me of the refund arrangements. I had no email from GoAhead. I did however have a voicemail from Adrian. The content of the voicemail is summarized in a copy of the email I just sent to GoAhead: “I just returned home to a voicemail from Adrian saying that GoAhead did receive my email sent 7-9-04 to cancel and intended to respond, but somehow hadn't. She stated that my deposit was the cancellation fee because the deadline to cancel was 7-7-04. However, when I booked the trip I was told that the full payment would be due in 14 days and that during the same 14 days I chose to cancel I would receive my a refund in full. My invoice from GoAhead vacations is dated 6-28-04. The date on the invoice for final payment is 7-9-04, 14 days after the invoice. I cancelled within the 14 day limit. I demand a full refund!! I assure you I will be following through.” I sent the email and logged on to lodge a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I assure you, I’ve never lodged a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or anywhere else before. I read the BBB instructions recommending that I contact the business before lodging a complaint. Although I have done that, their instructions also recommend speaking to the owner or manager. I will try to do so tomorrow, but am not optimistic of the results. I googled “GoAhead Vacations” and “complaints” and found a listing with your website, discovering that I’m not the first to have an issue with GoAhead. Hence I am lodging my complaint. If I had received any kind of contact from GoAhead throughout this saga I would have been willing to work something out, as I think you can tell from my earlier emails to them. At this point, I’m totally disgusted—if just booking a vacation is this difficult, I can’t imagine relying on them to guide me through China, Thailand, or Tibet. Any assistance you can provide in securing a refund of my $450 deposit would be greatly appreciated. Curt P Lakewood, CO 80228 Curt P Click this link to e-mail the above consumer: //