Peter Greenberg: A Misleading Travel Policy

By: Peter Greenberg | Source: AARP.org | 2009-08-03

Q: Peter, I have a problem I need your help in resolving. My parents—New York seniors on a limited income—spent over $9,000 on a dream trip to Europe that they purchased from Vantage Deluxe World Travel in Boston.  They also paid the company close to $1,000 for travel insurance, after being told that, with the insurance, if they had to cancel the trip for any reason, they would receive a refund, and that if they purchased [the insurance] quickly, the company would waive the "pre-existing conditions" exclusion.

Vantage promotes its insurance claiming that people who purchase it won't forfeit the cost of their trip even if they must cancel, that the "full value of [their] investment is protected," etc.

My parents were greatly looking forward to the trip.  However, a few weeks before the scheduled departure, my 80-year-old father had a serious heart attack and complications left him unable to take the trip at the scheduled time or any time thereafter. When we tried to get a refund, the company provided a credit for a future trip. Although we've explained that my father can no longer take the type of trip they sell and have offered medical documentation, the company claims the credit is all it's required to provide and is refusing to return their money.

I filed a complaint with the BBB, but it did not have any effect. How can my parents get their money back?  How can we let other unsuspecting seniors know about this situation so they don't fall into the same trap?

–Catherine
Washington, D.C.

A: It appears your parents thought they were doing the right thing by buying the Vantage travel-protection plan, but it ended up not being what they thought it was. Then, to add insult to injury, the company refused to budge on giving any type of refund.

I contacted Vantage on your behalf, and I must tell you their response to me was troubling, too. The company claimed they could not send me a written reply (this is a red flag). But in our conversation, they said they do not believe that THEIR marketing materials were misleading or deceptive. They disagreed with my assertion that using the words "fully protected" and "cancel for any reason" would lead just about anyone to believe he or she would get a refund if unable to take the trip, and Vantage claimed that they "cannot be held responsible if a customer fails to understand the nature of the policy they are buying." They added that although the policy did not offer a cancellation refund, it did offer other benefits, such as medical evacuation services and travel-delay reimbursement.

Second, they maintain that the phone agent who spoke with your father fully explained the details of the travel-protection plan and never used the word "refund" during the conversation. They said that a recording of the phone call does exist, but they did not permit me to listen to it.

Third, they did not offer any type of refund. They were quite firm that the travel-protection program does not allow any kind of cash compensation, only credit for a future trip. The Vantage representative simply reiterated the previous offer of a partial credit for a different family member to take a trip.

To me, it appears Vantage has not behaved well, and certainly not in terms of the spirit in which it marketed and sold its insurance product.

So, given the impasse, here's my advice: You always have a legal option—so you might want to pursue this in court. However, you also had a responsibility here, as I also advise, to do your own due diligence before buying any travel-insurance product.
 
For example, I always counsel people to buy travel insurance when they book expensive tours, with the very important caveat that they should not buy it directly from the tour company. This is mainly so people avoid losing their investment if the tour company goes bust—because if the company closes, the insurance policy goes with it.

But you also just learned from experience that tour companies may not always sell you a policy that's good value for the money. It's an inherent conflict of interest for the company offering the tour to also sell travel insurance, because the company's primary motivation is to protect their bottom line, not yours.

Also, you should always read the fine print. If an agent tries to sell you a policy over the phone without offering to let you read the policy first, don't do it. Do your research before you sign on the dotted line to see exactly what is and is not covered.

In this case, the fine print would have revealed that Vantage's policy offered no cancellation refund, only a credit for a future trip. That isn't really travel insurance in the classic sense. Indeed, Vantage does not even call the policy "travel insurance." They use the term "travel protection," which is ironic, because it does not protect you from much of anything.

In my opinion, it's misleading at best for a company to charge almost $1,000 for a plan that really only offers you a credit for a future trip. Many other travel providers would give you the same benefit for free, either as a matter of company policy or for a minimal fee. I realize there are intangible administrative costs the tour company bears, but that is not an excuse to keep nearly $10,000 of a client's money and not even to offer a partial refund.

Again, my advice here is that it seems you do have legal options to pursue here, but I am not a lawyer and don't play one on TV! Consult your attorney. And good luck.