Imperial Majesty Cruise Line Vacations Charged my credit card when explicitly asked not to Ft. Lauderdale Florida

I was planning to be in Florida the winter of 2008 with a relative and when the mailing from Imperial Majesty arrived at my home here in Canada, I decided to find out more about it thinking that it might be a possible activity for us when we were in Florida.

I called and was given a great deal of information and a strong sales pitch which included the high pressure tactic that I had to decide right now or the opportunity would no longer be available.

I questioned them about refundability if we were not able to take the vacation and was assured that that would not be a problem. So I gave them my credit card number and then just to be sure, questioned them once more about the redundability and when I sensed they were starting to hedge on this, I decided, no, I better not do this and clearly stated that I had changed my mind and they were NOT to charge my credit card.
So needless to say, I was very surprised when my next credit card statement included a charge for $898 US from Ramada Plaza resorts. They had gone ahead and charged my card despite my explicit instructions not to.

When I called them to protest and to ask for a refund, they said it couldn't be done because there was a thirty day limit after the order has been made for refunds. When I pointed out to them that I had clearly asked them in our telephone conversation NOT to charge my credit card, they offered to listen to the tape of the conversation to check my claim and would get back to me.

They did not get back to me so I called again and was told that the recording of the conversation had been stopped before the end and that they had nothing that indicated that I had asked them not to charge my card so there would be nothing they could do for me. I ended the conversation by saying that I considered this to be theft and would have to look into what to do about it.
Several months later they called me to see when I wanted to take my vacation with them! So again I went over with them the whole story and reiterated my belief that they had stolen from me and I expected to be reimbursed. To date, I have not received a refund and have not heard from them.

Glen
Brampton, Ontario
Canada