I was wondering if, after reading numerous posts from 2010, I would ever see something more current and valid.  Thank you, Steve, for posting.

My company has been receiving faxes through our voice number.  My colleagues are able to divert the fax call to a facsimile to prevent any redial attempts.  After going through my list of fax removal requests, I did notice the last Central State Travel advertisement was from November 2011.  So at least our situation isn't as bad as receiving the faxes several times a week.  But as others have stated, CRTC rules in Canada ensure that a number should remain on a Do Not Call list for three years which, obviously, has not been honoured.

I am very happy to see that that the www.deletemyfax.com website is no longer available.  Why?  It shows that Homestead, the hosting company, is doing something.  As of this writing, the site's page shows the host's logo (see homestead.com) and the verbiage, "Sorry, the site you requested has been disabled."  In addition, the same information shows if you attempt to view www.centralstatetravel.com.

Perhaps we're at the end of the battle.  Or perhaps a phoenix will arise out of the ashes to start their questionable practices once again.

Things I do find interesting:
1. If these vacations are corporate overbuys, why the 90 minute presentation?  Would a corporation inflict a vacation presentation on its employees?
2. Mr. Hammond claims many satisfied customers, a "fact" which cannot be proved nor disputed.  I cannot help but notice that in many of his responses, he rejects anyone who states similar information which contradicts his company's practices, the kind of data which does not have proof or verifiable data.  So he can discredit information but provide his own without the same criticism?
3. The BBB website (previous links now outdated) currently does not provide any rating for Central State Travel, contrary to CST staff statements.  The site claims the information is being updated.  http://www.bbb.org/central-florida/business-r ... gs-fl-185544427
4. Perform a Google search on Central State Travel.  Wouldn't legitimate businesses have a website listed rather than numerous complaint pages in the search results?
5. Posts have indicated their address as 1113 E Altamonte Dr, Altamonte Springs, FL 32701, USA.  A Google Street View does not show a storefront for their business.  CST staff claimed to be at that location for 9 years.  Granted, they may not advertise or accept off-the-street patrons, as in an online-only business, however, this is still suspicious to not find any indication of the business at the location on record.  The date of the Street View image was recorded as April 2011.  https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1113+E+Altamont ... Dte1ZOo4sIsJ_iw
6. Why do their toll free numbers keep changing?  My fax from February 5, 2013 states their customer service line as 1-800-330-4068.  I called and immediately went to a voicemail message for "Carl Voisin," at least that's what the outgoing message sounded like.  The removal site, as stated by Steve, is no longer available, nor was the toll free removal number of 1-888-340-6081.

I am hoping the next time we receive one of these calls to our main number, we get the fax broadcaster's number and hopefully I can track it down.  If not, I'll see what the CRTC can do.

Frustrated,

-Chris

Some more fun stories!

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/8885569050

I'd really like to know how the "free vacation" ploy turned out above too. :)

Well, I must admit that this has been a very interesting read. I can't say I've had any dealings with the company personally, but just from what I've read here (from both users and company reps) I can only shake my head.

First of all, the website www.deletemyfax.com is not functioning (as of Feb 2013) because it has been disabled, which is unfortunate, because I too would like to remove my number from your list. Not because I care about the paper and toner it uses - my company pays for that, so its not sweat off my back - but because I have no intention of booking a vacation through a company that sends me unsolicited faxes.

I love to travel, and my wife and I have travelled many places through many different companies. We've had wonderful experiences and terrible experiences alike, but if I plan a trip - regardless of the cost - I want to know details up front. I want to see prices, hotel names / locations, cruise providers. I want to know all the in's and out's of a trip BEFORE I commit any amount of money to it. In this day and age, websites are reletively cheap and easy to manage. Your website provides no more information than your flyer does (funny enough, your flyer doesn't even list your company website - an alert sign if I ever saw one). How difficult could it be for your company to provide such detail? Even if I came across your company website during regular serching for trip providers, I would just move along when I saw that there is NO real information included. If you are the reputable and legitimate business you have passionately claimed to be, then why make potential customers jump through all these hoops?

I worked as a call-in customer service agent many years ago - and yes - there are people out there who yell and scream, for the sake of yelling and scrreaming, but it can't be everyone. Some of these people seem to have gone through the channels you've asked them to go through and for whatever reason they are still unsatisfied with the outcome. Your response has been to reply in an angry fashion at people who are now legitimately frustrated - rather than trying to work WITH them to correct the problem. That is mistake one in customer service. I know people are not always pleasant to deal with, but you need to take a more professional approach and address their concerns, not blame them for being upset.

Mr. Hammond and Mr. Hanna, if you are truly losing money on faxes that don't amount to sales, then I suppose from a business standpoint, the best advice I can provide to you would be to comply when the request to remove fax numbers are submitted. Simplify the process and make it stick. Don't make your potential clients jump through hoops by directing them to defunct websites or making them deal with (allegedly) poor customer service agents.  These are the types of things that give your company a "shady" and unprofessional image. Also, the funds lost through this practice could be saved or invested in a better website, higher quality customer service agents and more legitimate forms of advertising.

In doing so, you may find that with a change to your public image and business practices, potential customers may begin to seek you out (rather than running from you) and in turn, you could see your business flourish.

Hi Mr. Hannah,
I find it amazing that you would even respond.
Again I am receiving faxes and after a long process, including calling your -800-519-5174 line, I find that you cannot even identify yourself on the fax...that speaks volumes.
It say all the usual "to good to be true"offer, then lists that the fax is coming from:
CS Marketing Group
Licensed-Bonded-Insured-AITAN Accredited.
The AITAN number (10599820) belongs to Central State Travel.

The 800 line keeps changing but it always goes back to you guys.

If you are legit....then why hide?
If you are legit...then stop sending faxes when you have been asked repeatedly to stop.

I have also had your people hang up or be rude to me, just for asking that I be removed from the list.

People need to be warned about your company and if this annoys you, then stop annoying us by faxing.

You do not remove people from your fax list - you are dishonest.

Hope you continue to go bankrupt with your various travel companies

people like you are social leeches

Who gave you my fax number??? I did not call you or my company did not call you so why are you harrassing me with unwanted faxes? Your sales people seem to be upset when you call about the fax that you receive. I have never heard so much ignorant banter on the phone in my life!! And you wonder why people are leary about buying anything from you. If you are a professional company then I would suggest that your tone be changed in order to secure more business. Things must be slow since you buy fax lists and solicit customers in that fashion. If things are so great as your web site suggests then why do you have to justify your integrity by having your CSM have to explain things above?

This is not slander but the truth, there is a difference.  

Sincerely have a nice day. I know that I will regardless of your sales peoples rude behaviour.

I called and asked to be taken off the list and the telemarketer told me to go to HELL.

I called the 800 number twice and my fax number was not deleted.  The third time I POLITELY asked for the address of your establishment, thinking that if I write in my request, that it might get done.  The man who answered asked why I wanted the address and I told him.  He laughed and got very angry and sarcastic, then hung up on me.  I called back and asked politely again (although he didn't deserve it) for the address.  He resorted sarcasm, rudeness and very bad language, then hung up on me again.  So all that stuff about Please and Thank You and calling the 800 number to remove and calling the company for assistance is simply, simply not true.  I was shocked by the attitude and coarse language I received.  Oh, and the address?  Absolutely unwilling to provide it - I wonder what that means?

When my telephone requests to stop faxing us failed twice, I contacted our IT professionals to see if it was safe to use the "deletemyfax" website.  They said absolutely not. They investigated and stated their rationale, but I'm not an IT expert, so I can't repeat it sensibly here.  Bottom line, it is recommended that you do not use the website for making an attempt to have yourself removed from their fax database.

I telephoned their posted number to be removed from their fax mailing list (twice, but waited the 30 days they claim it takes before making the second call).  They kept faxing.  I telephoned the 800 sales number to ask for their address. A man laughed loudly and said, "Do you know how many calls I get like yours a day? I laugh at every one of them. Read the fax and do what it says", then hung up. I called back and asked for the address again.  The same man said "Certainly. Would you like the consumer address or the corporate address?" I replied corporate, knowing that he knew that I had just spoken to him.  His reply, "Certainly, it's 800-go-straight-to-h _ _ l, b _ t _  h" . Fill in the blanks for 2 common expletives. I am currently in the process of determining which authority I should contact to report him, including IATAN, whom they claim to be accredited with.  Low class, unprofessional, maybe not even a real business.  We'll see.

Gaz I do not know whether Jay and this company are genuine or not but it baffles me why you would post this conversation on the net, in it the one who acts like an idiot, is not him, but you!

Funny, I never took arsenic but I know it's poison. We don't have to let you steal our money to figure out that you're crooks and frauds. Keep breaking the law ... let's see how it plays out LOL.

How can you be so sure of yourself that you can honestly call us fraudulent if you have not used our service? In an effort to change your attitude and for you to see that our company is a GREAT company and that we do exactly what we tell you and promise you, I am going to invite you to take  the vacation FREE OF CHARGE, you will only be responsible for the Taxes aboard the Cruise ship which are normal for all and the $2700 Vacation package will be yours for FREE. This is in an effort to change your attitude of how we operate and that our company is legitimate and true. SO, basically, I am offering you and your spouse to take advantage of the vacation without purchasing on the contention that when you finish your travel, that you will come back on here and RETRACT all that you are saying and RETRACT the negative comments and Write something positive.
Here on the public forum, I am calling you out... My goal is to prove you wrong and for everyone to see that as a Legitimate company, we are here offering this package to you for FREE  To prove you wrong. Basically put your money where your mouth is!
You have no excuse, because you are NOT being "ripped off" or "Scammed" or "Fraudulently sold" ANYTHING, and you are getting it for FREE! You can contact us directly toll free at our number 1-800-260-4461 or whichever you like, By the way, Just for those who do not believe, everything on our package is also in WRITING on our website, Centralstatetravel.com under the TRAVELON banner and continue to the second TRAVELON banner under USA/CANADA. EVERY TERM AND CONDITION is there, what other company does that? SO, make your own mind up... Believe as you wish, but do not rely on the negative comments of someone that just is angry because they received a fax... If you received it in error, please contact our website, at www.deletemyfax.com and enter your number and I can assure you that it is deleted from OUR list, I can not speak for other companies, but from ours it is definitely removed. By calling in and being rude and abusive to an agent will get you no where, do as we ask and the fax will be removed. No problem. I am awaiting the respone from this person that is so sure we are a scam... Lets see how it plays out..

Bruiser, you can go directly to our website at www.deletemyfax.com and have your number removed from our list. That is the most direct way. We apologize for the inconvienience and will have it removed.

hahaha..... Mike S. the attorney.... too funny!!!  How many years in school to become an attorney and he's too stupid to press spell check?

I apologize for my sloppy typing, the website for the deletion is www.DELETEMYFAX.COM
Sorry for the error.

Good Day, and I am the owner of Central State Travel and I am only responding because I feel the need to address some of the interesting claims all of you make. Let me start by saying this. Jay, is here to manage the company and being pro-active on a board like this is a good thing in that "at least we do care".
As for the opinions and ideas some of you have, those are your opinions and MOST if not ALL have never traveled with our company. Our company has an excellent rating and the only complaints that are really there are those of people receiving faxes.
As for the person who claims to know all about the BBB, let me explain, and you may verify if you like, that the BBB does not accredit travel agencies any longer and have not for the past few years. They do however give a grade rating which we do have an A+ rating. Look up some other companies and see their ratings..
As for the most recent comment on Timeshare, first of all, we do other things besides timeshare and some of our packages have nothing to do with timeshare. As for the timeshare experience, it is what you put into it and how much interest you show as to how much time you spend there. Our company only asks that you complete the  tour and if you are interested in purchasing timeshare you can continue with the sales people from there. We only oblige you to about 90 minutes.
Next, as for the person who knows about bonds and all, obviously you do not know the laws and ALL TRAVEL AGENCIES in the state of Florida are required to be BONDED. Caught? at what? We have done nothing wrong and EVERY TRAVEL AGENCY FROM STARTUP IS REQUIRED TO HAVE A $50,000 surety bond in the State of Florida. To get your license, you obviously have to prove to the State that you are NOT a SCAM and that you are following the state guidelines and responsibilities. As for the verification, we do not use an IVR, we use a Third Party Verification called Contract Genie out of texas because once you make a recorded verification, it can not be changed, altered or removed. It is there. It is indeed security in that WHAT YOU WERE TOLD can always be brought up and listened to again.
I will only say that buying a discounted vacation package is a great way to save a lot of money and to enjoy a fun vacation at a fraction of the cost. If it does include a presentation, it is up to you how much you want to stay after the 90 min. If you want to know the truth about something, you need to listen to people who have actually traveled on our package and NOT someone who is speculating because "EVERY COMPANY OUT THERE IS A SCAM" . We work very hard to do the right thing and to offer the best vacations at a discounted price. We include Free car rentals or rebates and many incentives to make your vacation enjoyable.
Our company works very hard to eliminate any number that does not want to receive faxes, We have our own website we pay for to remove them, and they do get removed. Remember, every fax we send out costs our company money to send out, it makes no sense to continue to send to someone who does not want to receive them. Why would we want to continue to lose money? Again, if you received a fax, please follow the directions at www.deletemyfac.com, here you will see clear instructions, just follow them and all will come off within a couple of days. I clear many myself and I see it all the time, people do not follow directions and entre the numbers wrong, I spend hours trying to decipher what they put in and also to clear the bad entries. Just follow the directions precisely and your number will be removed. I apologize if some do not like the faxing but it continues to be a wonderful form of advertising when we have our packages for sale. Again, If you have not used our package or our services, how can you rate our company. For those thousands that have  traveled with us, we thank you and appreciate your business.

The time share scam is not a quick tour. They lead you through a maze of doors, most times they try and get something or hold something over you to anchor you to the room so they can finalize the sales attack!. And I say attack because they should stop when you say " I am sorry but I am not interested" but they don't ...the barrage continues. If you find your self in a situation like this screaming at the top of your lungs and kicking down doors works well until you see the light!!! lol It's forceful sales techniques they don't listen to the prospective buyer they just try and pressure you into signing something. I know people who feel obliged and they sign up because they have anxiety about turning people down. These are the targets of these companies.

you don't have ANY rating with BBB as you are not a BBB accredited company.....the "A+" that shows when you search is simply because you are not registered.....before you start stating about legal reprocussions....maybe you should do your homework.

Something tells me that "Jay" is more than a CSR....since his name is ON EVERYTHING to do with CST......either he's lying about who/what he is, or he's a sucker for his bosses to pawn everything off onto....

either way - sucks to be Jay.

As the Customer Service Manager - are you not doing the EXACT same thing by coming onto this page & ranting about how poorly your company is being treated?

have you ever been on the other end of the phone for one of these calls?

Stating that you are licensed & bonded doe not mean that you can't/don't scam - it simply means that you haven't been caught......

I find it interesting that CST is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau, however have had complaints against the company for products/services that required the BBB to resolve them.....

I find it hard to believe that all the people that are "angry" callers haven't been prodded.

If it is such a legitimate sourse, then why is it not legal in YOUR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN to do fax spam?

Considering Central State Travel is NOT registered with the Better Business Bureau - what you've said here doesn't hold much water.....sounds more like YOU ranting about other people ranting!  Its also quite curious that you were under a different company name until just a few years ago......skeleton in your closet?

I have personally called & requested that my fax number be removed, and 6 weeks later, I'm still getting faxes from you (and YES - it is your company......like each of the previous 5 received)

I am not surprised that people are angry & frusterated with you & your company.

Understabaly, it is not nice to have people calling angry & taking it out on CSR's (having done Customer Service for over 10 years - I understand completely), however - people don;t call angry for no reason & to yell back or hang up on people is definately NOT good business practice.  The fault lies with Central State Travel - if you are getting THAT MANY calls about your faxes - maybe you should rethink faxing them.  Rule of thumb......if potential customers in YOUR OWN country don't want to receive your faxes - safe to assume no one in CAnada wants them either.

Reading the complaints on this page are not what would deter me from using CST's services.....the responses from thie employees is what would have me run the other way.

By the way:  just for future reference, stating that your company has a 3rd party company do recorded verifications means nothing, anyone can pay a 3rd party to record & keep their phone calls.....its NOT for the protection of your customers, it is to protect the company (common business practice) and an IVR is not a company.....it means "Interactive Voice Response" system......which is an automated system.

In reply to you on your information. Our faxes are sent by an advertising company that we hire and pay to send the faxes out. We do not send anything from our offices. The number listed that it is being sent from would virtually do you no good as to they are servers LOCATED in Canada to my understanding and that is why we have our number and name posted clearly on our document which is more than any other company would do. We also pay to have the numbers deleted and we do indeed delete them. If you are receiving a fax, we paid for it. If you do not want it or do no respond to it, then we have LOST MONEY and that is not our goal, so of COURSE we are going to delete the number.
From my experience, most people on the deletemyfax.com site have issues because they do not like to follow instructions. The first being do not include a "1" or dashes or spaces, just INPUT your number as it says and it gets deleted. Calling in and screaming at Sales agents here does no good because they are SALES AGENTS. They will kindly take your number off the list if you approach them in a NON HYSTERICAL manner and Call as an adult and ask to be deleted. Screaming, Yelling, etc, is when you just irritate the both of you and nothing gets done. Just my advice.  So Again, in response to  your comments about putting our number in the header, we have no control over that and if the company physically doing the faxes puts the number it is being faxed from, it would do you no good and you would either get a busy signal or a constant ring since there is no one there that answers or sits at a line that is connected to a server. Hope that explains that.
As for our company, Central State Travel has been in excellent standing for as long as the company has been in existance. Those that wish to refer to anything with Sunstar Travel, Central State Travel is a different entity and SUNSTAR NEVER went BANKRUPT. IF someone wants to prove that wrong, then please show that to me legally that they did. The ONLY COMPLAINTS THAT THEY TRULY HAD WERE WHAT?? That referred to FAXES being sent and  NOT TO BUSINESS PRACTICES.
Our vacations that we sell are legitimate vacation packages. YES, to get the rates and amenities we do, it is possible that there is a presentation involved. Currently, we don not have a Timeshare presentation but a simple meeting with the travel coordinators to go over getting vacation deals through our vacation club priveledges. If you are interested in TIMSHARE, we are happy to find someone that will tour you. AND, also, all are quick to talk but for going through the presentation, we give an ADDITIONAL Gift such as a FREE ONE WEEK CAR RENTAL. I challenge  you  to look up the going rate of a rental car at Christmas Time here in Florida and if it is not worth your time to take the 90 min for a $650 value, then I will personally make a deal with you, I will defer the presentation if you pay full price for the rental car from our company plus pay the difference in hotel costs during the holiday seasons. Before someone out there is quick to point out or call this a "SCAM" point out where the scam is! We make it clear to you every part before you buy, we verify all and record all through an outside company  to assure you are getting what you are told and promised, and to be sure there are no hidden fees or costs. What more can we do to protect you or to be clear of what we are doing? Again, My writing here is to answer to the information given and explain why you see no numbers at the top, as well as to clear up the scam rumors. I hope I have made it clear and for anyone that wishes to learn more, feel free to contact us anytime at 1-800-867-3570. Try kindness and calling as an adult and not screaming, cursing and insulting people who are trying to make a living in this hard day and time. With technology today, most receive the faxes on your computer, JUST DELETE. For those that still use the regular fax machine, check your settings, You can BLOCK out any fax number you want.
For those that can not or are too lazy to do anything and rather complain, go to the website, follow instructions and you will be deleted, but do not call screaming at agents, because that is not going to get you anywhere, They do not work ion Advertising nor have anything to do with it. They will assist you if you approach them kindly and act human. Thanks
Jay

Mike S, the "attorney" who has such nice things to say about Central State Travel: This is interesting. If other posts are correct and spam faxes are illegal in the United States, and all of the people receiving these faxes are Canadian, it would be reasonable to assume that you are also Canadian.

But Canadian lawyers are not called attorneys. This is a uniquely American thing. In Canada "attorney" means something else entirely and no lawyer would make such an error.

I'll also note that "Mike's" post accords with the textbook example of a plant. "I was skeptical too, just like all of you guys! But I gave it a shot and wow was I convinced!"

Frankly, I would be leery of trusting ANY post on this thread in support of Central State Travel given the flags raised by "Mike."

Anyway, our office receives several of these faxes weekly and has done so for years. All attempts to have our number removed have been met with silence or abuse. This wastes our paper, our toner, and ties up our line.

If these advertisements were truly legitimate and Central State Travel genuinely wanted to reach only those interested in the ads, then they would not fax from a private number and they would include the faxed-from number on their fax header so uninterested businesses could block the faxes on their end when attempts to have their number removed failed. It is quite as simple as that.

Like the other Canadians I am receiving unwanted faxes.  when I called Central State Travel to be removed from their list, I was met with abuse from the male who answered the call.

What a load of hogwash. I have repeatedly requested for months for our fax number to be removed and it has not been.

You a***ole,
Ultimatum for you!
Your choice stop sending out unwanted faxes.
If not,
The resoult: you got 50 pages fax of video camera manual today. (you like it??)
If not or yes you will get it every day up till you shut off your fax machine.
This is not everithing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next I will set up my computer sending outgoing calls on your call toll free numbers continiously 24 hours a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your line will be usless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How abaout that a***ole???????? It not cost any money to me!!!
I`m a computer geek, be carfu what you doing.


I have more suprise to you!!!!!!!!!!!!

You posted yorself ha ha ha,
You b*****d!!!!

These guys operating from a boiler  room, I guess  they are associated with scam in Canada years ago to be an  "independent travel agent" pay them $400 and get a travel agent  ID. They sad you will get a huge discount in hotels airfare etc. In the same time they tried to sell healthy food products. After  this presentation, I started  getting these faxes. These IDs  were bogus of course. They are long term crooks, I`m surprised they still in this business.

You are a***oles bla bla bla
I recomend to everyone nodealing with them at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I made an atemt to get they fax number to dump tonns of fax as a present for them, they sad it is not public.
I`m sure they have one I wish to know that.
Any one know I`ll be very glad.
send me to   g9951@hotmail.com
Or any idea how I can make somthing bad for them
I`m sick to get every week 10-12 faxes in the last 5years
removal not working at all.