This is an update to a complaint we sent a few days ago. From Rick Butler
Following posted by Channel 7 Television Station out of Spartanburg South Carolina
Consumer Affairs files Lawsuit against travel company
Wednesday, Apr 09, 2008 - 03:34 PM
By Heather Sullivan
E-mail | Biography
The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs has filed a lawsuit against VIP Travel, based in Lexington, South Carolina, saying the company has used unfair and deceptive practices in its solicitations. An attorney for VIP Travel says the company is cooperating with Consumer Affairs and taking steps to address those concerns.
Update: June 30, 2008 North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper SHUTS DOWN VIP Travel, Lexington, SC, FROM DOING BUSINESS IN NOTRH CAROLINA. Here's your link:
http://www.wral.com/5onyourside/story/2889334/
I suppose our complaint, and the many other complaints, shown on the various complaint boards, were just the ones reported.
From http://streettalkblog.com/?p=2660
LEXINGTON, SC: Yet another “travel company” in scam land? In early April, 2008, the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs filed a lawsuit against VIP Travel, based in Lexington, SC saying the company has used unfair and deceptive practices in its solicitations, specifically accusing the company of offering free rewards that the Department says were not really free, and not offering customers a three-day right to cancel their contracts.
Not only that, but the American Association of Travel Agents (ASTA) has kicked VIP Travel out of the organization.
It’s a familiar story with travel clubs, unfortunately, and this one (like most others) has a long list of complaints on Web sites such as Rip-Off-Report and Squeaky Wheel. Not to mention the unsatisfactory rating and the 119 consumer complaints filed with the SC BBB against the company.
Now the Pueblo, CO District Attorney and Southern Colorado BBB have issued an alert about a Myrtle Beach company called Elite Escapes International which reportedly specializes in “vacations and timeshare opportunities”. The company’s phone number was traced back to– guess who?– VIP Travel.
The Pueblo, CO alert, which calls it a nationwide scam, says that consumers have reported receiving bogus boarding passes in the mail purportedly from Southwest Airlines offering a free trip anywhere in the United States. The company sending the boarding passes is Elite Escapes International.
The local BBB investigated the situation with Southwest Airlines and reports that Tim Ruppel, vice-president of customer relations for the airline, says that Southwest neither honors nor recognizes the boarding passes.
According to Elite Escapes Travel, a different company not affiliated with the “scam” company, the Director of Investigations at the South Carolina Secretary of State’s office says VIP Travel’s parent company, registered in South Carolina, is called Grand Strand Palmetto Properties, Inc. They do business under many different names including but not limited to VIP Travel, Elite Escapes International, World Travel Consultants, TRIP Travel, Travel Resources International, Platinum Plus 2005, and Infinity Incentive Group, Inc out of Scottsdale, AZ.
Note that the status of Grand Strand Palmetto Properties, Inc. is one of Forfeiture/Administrative Dissolution as of 04/30/2008.
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