New Jersey Travel Agent Convicted of Fraud Responds
byCheryl Rosen/
This is part two of a two-part story.
在任何行业中,欺诈都不是新事物。旅行社可以是victims of fraud, as well as the perpetrators.
One travel agent who requested anonymity toldbeplay客服她雇用她“认为是完美的经纪人”的人的故事 - 直到她发现“他每天晚上都回家,看着每个PNR并投入他的个人奖金里程!”多年来,他收集了数百万英里,他用来个人商务级旅行,直到他开始向他的朋友们出售他用这些英里的门票。
“A bounce-back from an email raised flags,” she said. “We almost had to pay over $100,000 in debit memos! Then he had clients making out personal checks mailed to him for trips that he booked through the agency. Impossible to track...a nightmare! And he's still in travel!”
另一个经纪人告诉Travel Market Repor大约18个月前,她与丹尼斯·特纳(Denyse Turner)的一场磨合,当时特纳(Turner)在旅行社Facebook董事会上张贴了她正在离开一般业务,并正在寻找可以交出客户群的代理商。
在采访中,“正如我记得的那样,她问我这样的事情:用报价回复客户需要多长时间,我收取费用,我如何与客户沟通,我如何介绍最终文件,我要做什么样的跟进?大约两天后,我收到了一位代理商的消息,他在网上发布的培训音频上认识了我的声音。显然,特纳女士录制了我的记录并不是要移交客户并远离业务,而是要增强她的业务并使用我的电话,未经我的同意就记录下来,以训练她的子代理商。”
When confronted, she said her husband had just died and she was just trying to keep her head above water and grow her business. “At that point I told her I had consulted with my attorney and if she did not comply, I had my attorney at the ready to move forward with a lawsuit. She got the picture and as I understand from the agent who recognized my voice, all recordings were deleted.”
Turner tells her story
Reached bybeplay客服regarding this story, Turner emailed the following comment, which is printed here in its entirety:
“I appreciate the opportunity to offer a statement in response to my recent legal challenges. Let me begin by saying yes, some things happened — through no real fault of my own — and I have taken full responsibility for my actions and non-actions. I have also repented.
“在此期间发生了供应商创造的情况。我丈夫在关键状态住院。我是我的关注,因为我确定任何配偶会是。我通知了我的小组领导人,并答应在必要时进行跟进。我还承诺要偿还我的疏忽。不幸的是,我的幼儿园甜心过渡了。他是我的世界已有37年了,因此,这是我的主要关注点。这对我来说是一个全新的季节,这非常困难。
“我的问题是,人被阉割的我even knowing any details. I worked very hard in the industry to maintain integrity and a good name for myself and my agency. They are also lying. One agent said I spoke with him about being an IC. I can prove that this is untrue with an inbox with no messages and email account with no emails. Furthermore, as a YTBer, I was already working with a female host before I departed YTB. I also want someone to prove that I am still selling travel.
"These are the things that sadden me most. I've been a Christian my entire life and was married to a pastor for 37 years. There is no way that I would intentionally hurt, harm or injure anyone. I was the one harmed in this situation. People understand karma in all situations. I don't believe in karma but God’s laws are real. When you judge others, it will come back to you and you will reap what you sow. That's for me as well as others. I've already repented and have been forgiven. What about you? 'He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
She added that "bookings were made and in process. There was a supplier error that was made (supplier could not figure out how some bookings were eliminated from their system and others weren't). I later found out this was common (with this supplier) as it also happened to my long-time mentor in the industry. That error happened in the midst of everything else that was going on with my husband. I was his care coordinator. I just did not have the presence of mind to deal with it as it would have been dealt with had I not been going through what I was. Call it neglect; it may have been. But it was certainly not intentional neglect. There was no ‘stealing,’ no ‘fraud’ and no ‘lying’ on my part. I admit, the situation became messy but so did my whole life."
Consumers and agents can protect themselves
In the end, none of us can judge what exactly happened in the Turner case. But there are many cases of fraud every year, and it is important for consumers to choose a travel agent they can trust. Susan Alpert Wolfson of Go Astro Travel LLC counseled that, “if clients want to avoid falling victim to unscrupulous agents they should only pay by credit or debit card and they should make sure the payment is processed through the vendor and not the agency.”
But many travel agents pointed out that there are numerous reasons for them to pay suppliers directly and then bill customers. “We package trips and in order to add amenities in, we do take payments through our merchant account,” said Beth Malloch Schulberg of Cruise Holidays. “Please don't let one bad apple spoil it for everyone. I know from first-hand experience that the law of averages says there will be some in this business who rob from Peter to pay Paul. But that isn't the case for most of us.
"Thirteen years ago it cost me $35,000 to bail out another travel agency franchise with the same name to avoid the entire franchise being tarnished. She avoided being prosecuted and for that $35,000 she closed her doors and I took over her business. She had a strong business for a lot of years. Just was not a good business manager and it got away from her.”
ASTA offers verified agent certification program
Meanwhile, ASTA is addressing the issue in another way. At the ASTA Global conference earlier this month, it launched anew program“to build member knowledge about legal and ethical issues and boost consumer trust in ASTA agents.”
The ASTA Verified Travel Advisor (VTA) certification program offers nine courses on topics like “Ethics for Travel Advisors,” “Legal Overview for the Travel Agency Industry,” “Agency Relationships and the Law,” and “U.S. Travel Agency Regulatory Compliance, 3rd Edition.”
ASTA总法律顾问彼得·洛巴索(Peter Lobasso)表示,该课程仔细观察了ASTA的道德规范“并指示您必须处理某些情况的方式”。“人们认为他们对正确的事情有一种感觉。我们将其充实,并提供他们应该做的事情的例子。”
ASTA首席执行官兼总裁Zane Kerby说,ASTA将积极向成员和非会员以及消费者推销认证计划。
For more information on the program go to theASTA website.