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Prologue

A friend who is a lot of fun, as well as generous, invited us to be her guest at the McLean Orchestra Gala – a Venetian Masquerade Ball at the Italian Embassy on April 14th, 2012.  We bought a couple of Venetian-style ceramic masks and had a great time – good cocktails, food, wine, conversation, and entertainment. Well, except for the ending, when we discovered that someone had stolen the masks we had left on our table while we visited the dance floor.

There was a silent auction, which was pretty lame, but also a live one, which included some interesting trips, among other things – e.g., pearls, the opportunity to conduct the orchestra, and a 2-year lease on a Mercedes C-Class coupe.  We noticed that trips seemed to be going for reasonable prices (I didn't notice what the Mercedes went for), so we bid on a 14-day China trip, which sounded pretty good – $8,400 for everything.  However, when we received the envelope with the information, we found that it wasn't arranged by a local travel agency, but by an organization called the Fundraising Travel Foundation.  The Attachment shows the rather sparse information provided.

When we searched the Internet for "Fundraising Travel Foundation," we found nothing!  Being a little nervous at this point, I emailed the McLean Orchestra president, whom we knew from the Tower Club and Hillwood, and with whom we had conversed at the beginning of the gala.  He contacted the head of the organization, Wade West, who sent a reply that included a link to the website of an organization that was actually the parent of the Fundraising Travel Foundation. The website included a video that was mainly a promo for non-profit organizations to use their services, although there were a couple of trips mentioned.

So we sent in the "Award Certificate" and for more than a month encountered one problem after another with the travel agency handling the trip.  Finally, in exasperation, I sent the following email to Wade, which initiated an unbelievable series of haranguing responses from him, to each of which I responded only with "an even-handed presentation of facts and our concerns" – although I did manage to include some pretty good zingers.  And in each case, he, as well as I, CC'd various Orchestra officers, each of which could only serve to continue to lower their opinion of him.  I've deleted their names in the notes that follow.

Jack

Subject:

Disastrous Experience
Date:

Wed, 23 May 2012 15:31:29 -0400
From:

Jack Ludwick <jludwick@ieee.org>
To:

wade@afauctions.com
CC:  deleted

As you know, we were initially concerned when, after making a substantial purchase from an organization, which seemed to be totally anonymous, you contacted us to assure us that you really were legitimate.

However, as world travelers since our first trip to Europe in 1967, (see www.jludwick.com for some of our more recent travels) we have never since then experienced such a debacle as with your selected travel agent.

We sent our Award Certificate by Certified Mail on April 18.  The Post Office return receipt shows it was received April 20.  May 3 we received a request for travel dates – the form said it was sent May 1, 11 days after receipt of our Award Certificate.

Since the Award Certificate was sketchy on details (one paragraph for a 14-day trip), I called the specified travel agency number May 4 at 11:20 and asked for a real itinerary.  Sam(antha Khalil) seemed surprised, saying that they normally sent that out after the trip is finalized.  I said we’ve always known the itinerary in the beginning; for one thing we may want to do research on the places we’ll visit.  She said she’d email it after lunch.  Having received nothing, I called again at 4:25, when she said she’d send it before she left for the day.

 It finally arrived May 7, and although it gave more detail, it was by no means complete.  For instance, it only described when we’d receive four lunches and two dinners of the “23 scrumptious gourmet meals” mentioned in the Award Certificate.  So I emailed her asking which other ones were included as well as which river cruise line would be used.  I have a service that tells me when people open their messages – it said she viewed it at 1:36.  To date we have received no response.

 In the meantime, we discovered other disturbing facts:

 * The itinerary provided, although lacking in many details, was adequate for us to realize that it was the same, including dates, as “Virgin Vacations China” [the link to the 2012 trip has expired, but the pertinent images are provided as attachments in later emails] which did provide us with the level of detail we’ve always expected. 

 * The IFTA acronym in her official looking IFTA_Travel@yahoo.com email address (International Federation of Travel Agents?) seems to have no travel-related meaning.  There is a Virtual Tourist website and one in Thuringia Germany, but it seems that otherwise it’s the International Fuel Transit Agreement.  In any case, this is the first time I've encountered a business that uses a Yahoo address.

 After consulting a Foreign Service friend who lived in Beijing for several years, and seeing what was still available on the Virgin Vacations website (some had sold out since our Travel Dates form was sent) our first two choices were October 18 and October 4 (our friend said it was better to be there at the end of the week-long October 1 National Holiday, when all of China is touring, than at the beginning.)  He said if we had to have a third choice, it would be September 6, although it would be very hot and humid at the time.

On May 14 we sent by Certified Mail the Travel Dates and to expedite the reservation process, sent an email with attached pdf files of the completed form and required passport pages.  The mail was received on May 17.

Having heard nothing by May 21, I called and had to leave voice mail.  Of course, by now Sam’s caller ID reveals who we are.

 On May 22, still with no response, I called and again and had to leave voice mail.  This time I also mentioned the May 14 email.  At 1:49 my service showed that she viewed that message. Obviously she is not in the habit of regularly checking the Travel Agency's email.

It has now been another day with no response, and I’m afraid we’ve reached the end of our rope.  Please refund the portion of our purchase that was actually intended for travel, and we’ll arrange any future trips with our usual responsive travel agent.  Of course, the portion donated to the McLean Symphony will remain, and I guess your 10% fee will be a lasting reminder to caveat emptor

Regards,

Jack & Betty Lou Ludwick


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