Well, it is Oct. 2012 and they are still at it!! I just got scammed as well and I am furious. I know it is my fault and I should have known, but all I want is my money back!! I tried going through wells fargo, but they said because I authorized the charge I couldn't get my money back. Like many of you I was transferred over and over and hung up on several times. These people are awful. I am sending them a written notice to refund my money and also contacting attorney generals in my state and in FL. If anyone has anymore info please let me know. I would like to also see how we can take this company out of business!!!! No more scams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Caribbean Cruise Line, also doing business as Florida Bahamas Cruise Vacation
www.123GoCruise.com
www.grandcaribbeancl.com
800-441-6306
561-424-0845
954-491-1120
954-343-6959
954-513-3069
800-231-1298
800-237-3503
800-221-8200
813-425-9400


Better Business Bureau
http://www.bbb.org/south-east-florida/busines ... 4161/complaints




http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4035

Received a phone call. No message left.

Input needed asap!
I was offered this package last year and was tricked into paying just under $600 for two people, Im aware of the 30 day cancelation fee and the florida law. Anyone tell me if it is 30 days from the initial 600$ CC payment? or 30 days from booking the vacation dates/ receiving your itinerary.

I have a new number these people called me from. It is 646-732-0971. from a so called lady named Denise. This is a New York City, New York number. When she gave me a customer service # it was the 800-231-1298 number. I was lucky and caught on to this fairly quickly, and called my credit card provider immediately and had the charges cancelled. I attended a rock concert in Oklahoma and entered this drawing. I assume everyone that entered this drawing got a call informing them of their good fortune. I know better than to give out my cc info, but they got me to. These people are fast talking and have perfected this scam. I found this site while looking online for the www.book4florida.com site to check it out. You guys saved me some money. Thankyou. I have one more number affiliated with this scam and it is 888-582-8228

I also got this call, and against everything in my gut, I gave in. My friend had won while we were at the Beer Festival, so I assumed it was legit. After talking to them, I called her, and she told me she hadn't even registered yet because she wanted to check out everything first (smart). She then told me that they called a few more of our friends, and that's when I started to get worried. I searched the numbers they gave me for customer care, and found this page, and thankfully I did! I appreciate people posting their experiences so I knew how to appropriately handle the situation. I called this morning and was transferred to a "specialist" named Phil. He was very concerned that something was wrong and continued to offer me special deals, and so on. I kept telling him that I am a teacher and school was starting soon so I just wanted to get the cancellation done. He talked to his manager and then came back with yet another offer. I told him that I was hearing him, but I felt like he was not hearing me. I once again stated that I wanted to cancel it. After 25 minutes on the phone with Phil, I was transferred to Chantel, who double checked that Phil told me about the "extra" special offers and the quickly and easily cancelled my reservations. I got the cancellation code and will be checking my bank account each day until I see the money back in there!

I agree, just let them finish what they want to tell you, tell them you appreciate what they are trying to do for you, but you would still like to cancel it. I did not have to bring up any legal issues, but I will be contacting the people who put on the festival to ask them if they could do away with that booth next year. Thanks again for all the help!

Hi,
I have had the same thing happen to me. I researched it on the internet and discovered how it's such a scam with extra charges etc. I canceled my VISA within 12 hours of "winning" this crusie. Am i safe?

Book4Florida.com

I received a cancelation number and was told that a refund would be given in 7 to 10 days.

This took me two separate phone calls, the first of which took 20, the second took 11 minutes.

Talked to Tiffany, who was a "specialist"      (I had other names for her at that time)

When I called there was lots of holding (beware that when there is no music they CAN hear you). You are just on mute and they are probably laughing at you while you freak out.  BE CALM AND PERSISTENT.

I did not have to use any legal threatening, instead I was calm and said that the offer was financially unsound for me at the current time and that I would like to cancel with a supervisor.

Good Luck Folks

Seriously, thank you so much for the info!! I got duped into this deal as well... what a rip. I definitely had to kick and scream and throw the law at them in order to get it canceled but they finally agreed to cancel it and refund my money... I have to wait 7-10 business days for the money to be refunded but I feel much better now. I guess as usual, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. I should have known better in the first place...

I have had the same bull happen to me and another guy in our regiment. I called them immediately to try to get them to stop the transaction. They hung up on me a few times, and then I managed to finally get through. They still tried to get me to stay with it, but told them no. They said it would take 9 business days to transfer the money back, I got the cancellation number. I contacted my CC company and they are familar with this company and said I did the right thing. I gave them all the information that was provided and they gave me the Florida State department to tell them what happened to cover all my bases. The website for the Florida State Department help is www.800helpsla.com so hopefully they will put the money back in, but Visa told me if it is not in by 30 days, then I can be helped. So hopefully this will help anyone if needed.

They got my mom too for over $700.00.  But I got them to reverse the charges on her credit card. It showed up on her statement today. Hallelujah. So I thought I would share and hope this helps anyone else who reads this. It took me 4 tries and an hour on the phone. But worth every penny. or $700.00!

These are the two numbers I called. 1 800 231 1298 and 1 800 221 8200. Ask to speak to a supervisor. They will give you a hard time but keep insisting. I also told them I was recording the conversation which I was. So I had their name and time of call to prove I was calm and rational to deal with.

When you finally get a supervisor on the line, tell them you want to cancel your reservation and that under the Florida Law you have this right. I am from Canada and this applies to Canadians as well.

Read them the law statement below. Also check out the website at the end of the message.

FLORIDA LAW - 30-day Cancellation Period - Vacation Certificates ONLY. Applies to Canadians as well.
 
Florida law gives the consumer some protection in the matter of cancellations, by providing that a contract for a vacation certificate may be canceled in writing within 30 days of purchase or receipt of the vacation certificate. The consumer may also cancel if the accommodations and facilities are not available as provided in the contract.

If a travel package is not a vacation certificate, then the law requires that the consumer be informed that it is non-refundable before making any payment or signing a contract.

Keep in mind with regard to cancellations: the entire amount involved is refundable. Unethical sellers of travel may offer to refund all but a certain amount, but they are required to refund the full amount paid to the seller of travel, if the consumer cancels the vacation package, in writing and returns the vacation package, within 30 days of purchase or receipt of the vacation package.

CHECK THIS SITE OUT AS WELL
http://www.800helpfla.com/travel_text.html

I too got a call back from this company after filling out a raffle ticket at a Sportsmen show... and sure enough a couple days later they call back and say I won the 8 day vacation to Florida and the Bahamas.  Foolishly, and against my better judgement, I gave them my CC info thinking it must be a legitimate company since it was at a convention centre, but after reading these stories I immediately called back. First they said I would have to call back in an hour because their Refund Specialists were busy, then called within an hour and was told I had to call back within 24 hours because my account information was still processing.  Finally, the next day I call and am able to speak with their Refund Specialist, whose job is to try and avoid giving you a refund.  He was a relatively pleasant fellow, but said my claims that everyone who enters the raffle is a winner were unfounded... even after I told him my friend also got the same call saying he won and I read the stories online.  Eventually after listening patiently to his attempts to sell me on cheaper vacations he patched me into his supervisor, after about 10 minutes or so of being on hold.  She also tried to sell me on another vacation, but said she gave me my refund.  I'll have to wait to find out because my CC company didn't have time to update my statement yet.

Even if it was a legitimate business and a good vacation I would never use them due to questionable business practices and playing off of peoples assumptions that they won something from a raffle... when it turns out everyone who enters the raffle is a winner.  It's lower than telemarketers/scammers because they give you a false sense of trustworthiness.

I have sent the convention centre an email regarding that booth and requesting they disallow their attendance in the future.

Also, I did some digging on this company and found that the book4florida.com website is run by McKenzie Cook Travel.  I found this through a case study written by the creator of the database for that site on google.  Here's a snippet of the study... "The key requirement was to provide a split branding, which would niche focus on their two main destinations, Benidorm and Florida. As such we co-branded their main website under two separate brands, go2benidorm.com and book4florida.com - each of these websites is backed by the same automated booking system, but separately branded to portray the diverse requirements of the respective target markets. ".  So McKenzie Cook Travel is the one responsible for this scam, offering "wholesale prices for vacations".... unless they are also working under someone else

This time they were stationed outside the 2010 Harvest of Hope music festival in St. Augustine. They? had a legitimate-looking booth, with forms to fill out your name, phone, and address to win a promotional vacation to the Bahamas. They were pretty convincing and here's how:

A few days later, I received a call from representative named "Andrew Thomas" saying that I'd won an 8-day vacation for myself and any friend. The scam company even called themselves the "Hope Festival Promotional Vacation" so it made it seem as if they were part of the venue. From here, Andrew went into the details of the vacation:

For $299/person, where this vacation would normally cost $2500
*8 days vacation anytime from now till 18 months from now
- 3 days in Orlando, FL for the Magical World of Disney at a Ramada hotel
- 2 days cruise to the Bahamas on Celebration Cruise Line (plus $129/person for port fees)
- 3 days in Ft. Lauderdale, FL  (Receive a complementary $50 gift certificate)
- Free breakfast, lunch, and dinner
- Free rental car, or $100 reimbursement for gas if I take my own car (he quoted the laws of FL regarding rental cars)
- This entire offer is transferable. I can sell it or give it as a gift.
*PLUS a free bonus package:
- 3 days/2 nights in Vegas, NV
- 4 days/3 nights in Mexico
- Only $129 more if I want to include other people on this vacation


I was immediately skeptical when he asked for my credit card information and declined my offer to call him back (he said "there's a long list of people who really wanted this limited-time opportunity"). I asked him for an email of all the details of this vacation. After all, why wasn't any of this information written down? He said that once he receives my information, he'll transfer me to a verification line, where I would be verified, and all the information would be available on the website given to me at that time.

At this point, I fell for it, gave away my credit card info, and was transferred to another line.

"The verification number is 18527114" *repeated once*

From there, all of the details and my personal information was confirmed. The new guy gave me a reservation number that he repeated several times. And there were 2 websites:

Cruise Information
http://bahamascelebration.com/

Reservation Information
http://www.book4florida.com/
This website had a username and password. He said it would take 72 business hours to get my information onto the site.

This is quite an elaborate scam. I looked up both websites while I was on the phone. At first, second, and third glance, the websites look legitimate. Right now I am at this point where I have realized I've been had. Since most of you were successful, I will try to get a refund first thing Monday morning.

HA!
I'm supposed to give a call back or vice versa with my prepaid credit card information (that has no cash on it anyways and never does since I never use it) but yeah, I thought something was up with this whole ordeal aswell after some of the things that were said in me and the scam man's conversation were pretty much contradicting itself..
Anyways I'm so just going to play with the telemarketer before completely telling him off....

This is my last entry.

I eventually called my bank (Wachovia) disputes office. They said since I gave my CC#, I was agreeing to operate under their terms. The rep offered to call the cruise agency, so I held while she did so. She got through to a supervisor in about 10 minutes -- a feat that has, as you can see above, taken me well over an hour in two tries without success. The supervisor was much kinder than the hard-seller, although she did offer one last time the same package at half-price. She then promised to refund my money and gave me a cancellation number. I kept a close eye on my credit card statement and did receive a credit for the full amount about 6 or 7 business days later.

So in short, you can get your money back, but it helps tremendously to have the backing of an institution. If you find yourself in my shoes, I suggest you go straight to your bank and have them call while you hold. It will save you a lot of runaround.

got suckered into buying the trip. then decided to do some homework because they didn't give me the chance to at the beginning and found all the hate mail on here. i got a full refund. just call. don't take no for an answer and they have no choice but to give you your money back and send notification in the mail on the cancleation. get your credit card numbers changed. if you don't trust the company... don't trust the telemarketer.

Here's my second try:



9:45 Carlson picks up, after I wait a few minutes. Transfers me to cancellation.

Fred -- Insists that since I'm not a Florida resident the 30-day cancellation law does not apply. Tells me that his brother-in-law, who is a judge, agrees with him (major slip here -- company would advise about this if true. He's relying on his "judge brother-in-law"?).

He continues to ask why I feel I have been lied to. I say I do not have to tell him and that the Florida law is the only thing he needs to know. He keeps putting me on mute (not hold) and supposedly talking to his supervisor. Says the company does not operate on a "cancellation basis" and thus I am not able to cancel although we may be able to "work something out."

He mentions that for me to know the Florida law I must have gone online somewhere and read on a website that I should say this. I don't deny it; I only tell him that what I read on the Internet was the Florida state law.

10:09 -- transfer to supervisor again.

10:15 -- disconnected again.

I received multiple calls today from an unfamiliar number.
 (718)713-3412 and (718)228-1764

Eventually, I answered and a very nice man, or so I thought, told me my name was picked out of the local beerfest cruise drawing and I "won" a "free" cruise.

His b***s*** promo (all for $299/pp)
*8 days FL & Bahamas cruise
     -Orlando for a few days with car rental, hotel, and 100$ theme park included
     -2 day/2 night cruise to the Nassau, Bahamas on Celebration Cruise Line (plus $129/pp for port fees and a free $50 voucher)
     -3 days in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (w/ a free stay at Sheraton or a "nice, well known" hotel, free breakfast, lunch and din, and a rental car)

*PLUS a free bonus package:
   - 3 days/2 nights in Vegas
   - 4 days/3 nights in Puerto Viaterra (sp)

After reading everyones similar stories, I can 100% agree this is a scam. I answered the first call and then he had to call me back because I didnt have a pen and paper available. When he did called me back, he did his promo sell and then said do you have a credit card in your name? I told him I did. He asked if I would want to take the $299 charge and I told him I had to think about it and call him back. He said that I wont be able to call back and receive the same offer because once my "information" (name and cell #) goes off his computer screen then he can't pull it up again. I either had to pay for it now or not get it. I told him, I thought I won a cruise so if I needed to call him back to give him my final answer then why wouldnt I be able to. He said that either I take it or don't. Regardless, b***s*** company.. don't do it!

I have fallen for the same scam. I called Wachovia to get the charge stopped and will continue pursuing that route as soon as it is posted to my card. In the meantime I decided to give the scam artists' "customer service" number a try. Following are the notes I took during the process. I'll follow-up after my next attempt.


8:45 Britney. I tell her I want to cancel everything.

Transfer to "cancellation specialist"

Carrie Ann

Give phone number and reservation number again

9:05 "Procedure" involved me explaining how things were misrepresented and her rebutting all of it very rudely. Obviously trained to do exactly this. I ask to speak with her supervisor over and over, she says customer service sent me to her, that she is the proper person to speak with. She says they do all kinds of other companies and they must all be scams too. She says I'm accusing them of falsifying everything. I repeat "I want a refund. I want a refund." I tell her that under Florida state law I have a right to a refund within 30 days. I repeat that several times. She says she's just going through procedures. I finally settle in and let her go off. I tell her my phone is plugged in and I have all night. She finally mentions a superior who has to verify procedure or somesuch, and I say I want to speak with the superior.

Transfer to "superior"

Obviously on mute for a while instead of hold -- no sound. She asks for my name again. Now on hold (commercial playing).

9:16 still on hold.

9:25 still on hold.

9:28 they hang up on me.

Went to a local "Taboo" show.I got this message saying I won a trip.Before I even called I googled the #.This site gave me the info I needed.I had entered for a basket and no trip.What a scam.Thanks for sharing your stories :)

Did the cancellation numbers work? My Visa company told me I had to get a cancellation email for it to be valid. Just did this today been on the phone with Visa but they said to go through the company. I mentioned the cancellation number but she said it doesn't do anything??? Is that true?

I just got off the phone with them and I had to be a little bit forceful but I got through to the supervisor. 5 days for a refund, my credit card company has been notified. Hopefully it comes through. The person I spoke to was very nice but had to finish his speech before transferring me.

We called to get a cancellation done and as long as you are nice and listen to their long story without interrupting they will give it back to you. we told them we needed the money and there was no option available for us to travel right now and we didn't have to fight or be abused...just listen to their long stories and being patient with three transfers. Overall about 25 min and we had a cancellation # so hopefully this will work out for everyone. We also made a point to contact the venue and let them know that this had happened. GOODLUCK!

Yeah, I signed up for the free vacation at a festival here.  I got a call from Florida Bahamas Cruise Vacations.  I'm an idiot and gave the credit card and had $598 taken out.  I am just recently finding out it is a scam or fraudulant program.  My biggest problem is that I did this back in June 2009 and it is January 2010.  I'm gonna try to see if I can get money back, but most likely not.  I'm trying to plan a day I can call them because from what I hear, it's gonna be a long phone call!  I am filing a complaint with RipReport, I'm going to contact the Attorney General of my state and the state of Florida; I sent an email to the CLIA which is apparently a program for proper cruise line conduct or something.  I'm going to keep checking this site to see if there are any other actions I can take regarding this.  Thanks to some of you for the ideas already.

Oh and I canceled my credit card no matter what, just incase.

Ok I called back and it wasn't as hard as people say it is to cancel. I did go in circle talking to multiple people, they tried to give me discounts and better deals yadiyada but keep saying you want to cancel. and finally they transfer you to PAM the Supervisor. She's actually very polite and seemed to understand my situation. She tried to talk me out of canceling by lowering my fees. I said no and then she gave me a cancelation number. Now I have to wait and see if my money will come back on my credit card.

Yup same here, I went to the local Sexapalooza show and got a call  from them (1-800-231-1298) except STUPID ME!! I went for it. Right away I had second thoughts...so don't ask me why I did it arrgh! I'm so mad at myself. I called my Bank yesterday to cancel right away but the charge was already showing to them. The bank told me to try and get a refund from the company and if not, to call back and they would dispute the charge once it shows on my account....Anyway I'm going to do everything to get my money back.

Advice to everyone, hang up next time!!

Very Very happy to hear that. In the process of calling the credit card company now... they customer service people hung up on me.

we went to a local Sexapalooza show over the weekend and my husband and I, as well as our friend who was with us, all got a call saying we filled out a ballot at the show and won this trip... although we all know for a fact that the only ballot we won was for a basket of stuff and not for a trip.  The same stuff $299/person and then 60days before it was port fees of $149/person... the minute I said our credit cards were maxed she said 'we can't hold it, sorry' and hung up...  luckily no one bought it, but they make a convincing argument...

she said the company was FBC Vacations, and she gave me bahamascelebration.com as the website and 1-800-231-1298 as the customer service number.  She had our name, number and address so she must have gotten it from a list the company bought...

I hope you all get your money back!

Did you recieve your money back which are going through the same thing.