Fine Food and Wine Cruise, Theft, Did Not Return Deposit for Cruise Atlanta, Georgia

 Jonathan - You claim to be so on the up and up but you are a liar. We spoke with your office within days of you filing bankruptcy (or at least stating you were not going to fulfill your obligations on the TJ Tahiti event) and you took our money. You and Maydel should be in jail. You should be ashamed of yourselves as you go ahead and take money from hard working people. You are a bad person, a thief and should be checked out by the Feds for fraud among many other potential FEDERAL charges. You never returned our calls. So if there happens to be one exception to many, that is a fluke. We have been advised that you are operating a new cruise company, primarily for nudists. This is amazing that one week you can declare bankruptcy and steal people's money and the next breath put on a different mask, create a new company and suddenly be back in business. That's called fraud Jonathan. You took our deposit money to fund your other adventures which is the ponzi scheme referred to in previous posts. It is only slander if the accusations are not true. Keep trying to defend yourself. The law will catch up with you and the federal investigators will indict you before you know it. The criminal justice system is watching you - you can take THAT to the bank.

Are you still committed to 100% customer satisfaction? After everything Tobin James did for you, you've basically created a ponzi scheme and have bilked hundreds of people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now youve left Tobin James holding the bag. We knew you were a dirtbag way back in 2011 and tried to warn others on this site. Now it seems many many are coming here to report their stories. How sad. This is your "MO", not the first ponzi scheme youve done and based on your extensive history, likely wont be the last!

Tobin James is as much of a victim as the rest of us. They had no knowledge that Fine Food & Wine Cruise was going bankrupt. Tobin James had already done 3 successful cruises with FF&WC and had no reason to suspect that they would go bankrupt. TJ is working with Paul Gauguin to try and salvage the cruise. Hopefully you have disputed the most recent charge on your credit card. I will post updates as I find out more information.

1-6-13

Thanks for the advanced notice given to Tobin James Winery on 1-5-13 (the sponsor of the cruise), not your clients that you will be filing for bankruptcy and that our dream vacation is in jeopordy. This has devastated both my wife and myself. This was a dream vacation for us that would have celebrated a milestone birthday for my wife.

Is the trip still on? If your filing for bankruptcy, where is the money going to come from to pay for the trip. We have done research and you have not paid for trip insurance, plane tickets even the extra night in a hotel room.  We gave you money up front, pre paid in good faith and there was no follow through by your company. Scam Scam Scam!

We have contacted your company along with the Tobin james Winery and have not been given any assurance that the trip is still on. I find it appalling that your company along with Tobin and James Winery still have the trip listed on your web sites. SCAM SCAM SCAM

Shame on the Tobn and James Winery for being a part of and promoting your business. We and other honest people have been duped!.

In the morning I wil be directing my attorney to research the matter along with notifying local officals to initiate crimimal prosecution.

It is with great pleasure that I have complete resolution of this dispute.  Fine Food and Wine Cruise.com has refunded my entire deposit and satisified my request.  This situation was a learning experience for me and I have learned to ask about cancellation policies in advance of making any reservation.  These policies vary from company to company and a consumer has to be aware of those differences.  I would like to thank Fine Food and Wine Cruise.com for their responsible resolution and refund of my $1975 deposit as requested on Friday April 1st.  While we had a difference of opinion as to the events that led us to this dispute, it seems that cooler heads have now prevailed and I am happy to have this now behind me.  With this resolution, this consumer feels that Fine Food and Wine Cruise.com has performed admirably.  I learned this morning that I am not able to remove the original post so it seems only right that I give a glowing update to clear this company's name.    

I would like to offer Fine Food and Wine Cruise.com well wishes in their future business dealings.     

Surely you were all satisfied. Surely the cruise was fun, what isnt to love? Great wine, great people, a beautiful ship...
 Yes we wish we could have gone. However, that doesnt negate the fact that none of the "policies" were explained to us until AFTER they had our money. We didnt book through the website or via e mail- we booked directly with Lori on the telephone.

We would have been satisfied clients also if we went. We never would have sent $1975.00 if they had explained that it was NON REFUNDABLE at the time of booking.

That is the core issue. Not whether the cruise was any fun or not. We're quite sure it was, and have looked at many photos from friends that got to go.

again no rip off here, you booked a cruise that has a policy and they stand by it. Not a bad company but a bad consumer, you admit you never checked there web site that cleary states their refund policy, they did not hide anything from you, you booked a cruise you could not afford and now want your money back. So you got ripped off and in actuality you did not stop crying

I am a satisfied customer, having traveled with Fine Food & Wine
Cruises twice.

I have quite a different experience than the one quoted her in this complaint.

My wife and I booked a cruise over one year in advance, and with only a few months till departure, our travel plans changed we needed to cancel our cruise.  

Jonathan asked if we would like to transfer all monies paid to date, to a cruise at a later date or when convenient.  We were outside the refund policy option, and Jonathan could have told us NO!!! &  sorry. BUT …  We were give the option to rebook, and took advantage of it, rather
than the alternative of losing our money. 

From the very first contact we had, Jonathan and his staff had shown us the utmost professional and courteous treatment. We were emailed receipts, and understood the policies prior
to booking... With today’s access to the internet and emails. I think it’s unheard of to have not Verified, and or visited their website. I don't understand how they chose a cabin type, or reviewed the trips itinerary. And all this was done over the phone? WOW  

This consumers needs to be better informed, how not to expose themselves to undue risks.. One must always verify and Verify again, before you give credit card information over the phone. In this case you had nothing to worry about. As we found Fine Food & Wine Cruises to be Honest and Reputable every step of the way...

YES we will be traveling with them in the future again
and again..  

From a Satisfied Customer....... :)

I am a satisfied customer, having traveled with Fine Food & Wine Cruises twice. I have quite a different experience than the one quoted her in this complaint. My wife and I booked a cruise over one year in advance, and with only a
few months till departure, our travel plans changed we needed to cancel our cruise.  

Jonathan asked if we would like to transfer all monies paid to a cruise at a later date or when convenient.  We were outside the refund policy option, and Jonathan could have told us sorry. we were give the option, and took advantage of it rather than the alternative of losing our money. From the very first contact we had, Jonathan and his staff have treated us with the utmost professional and courteous treatment. We were emailed receipts, and understood the policies prior to booking...

With today’s access to the internet and emails. I think its unheard of to have not Verified, and or visited their website. I don't understand how they chose a cabin type, or reviewed the trips itinerary. And all this was done over the phone? WOW  

This consumers needs to be better informed, how not to expose themselves to undue risks.. One must always verify and Verify again, before you give credit card information over the phone.. In this case you had nothing to worry about. As we found Fine Food & Wine Cruises to be Honest and Reputable every step of the way...

I believed this complaint has allot of holes in it, and it’s just not Believable.  It’s quite the opposite from our positive experienced..

YES we will be traveling with them in the future again and again..  
From a Satisfied Customer....... :)

My wife and I have been on three wine cruises through Fine Food & Wine Cruise (FF&WC). In fact we were on the cruise that this couple cancelled out of and it was wonderful. In all cases FF&WC made their policies very clear, both on their web site and in their emails. We have found dealing with FF&WC to be a completely honest and forthright, with no hidden policies or unethical behavior. I for one would never send any deposit money for anything without fully understanding the cancellation and refund policies. I am sorry that this couple lost their deposit, especially when they are having economic difficulties, but the FF&WC policies are not hidden or a mystery. FF&WC also encourages cruisers to purchase trip insurance as a protection against unforeseen events and many of these insurance policies have an optional coverage for "cancel for any reason".
 
We will continue to do business with FF&WC in the future and are already set for their cruise in July onboard the Wind Surf.

PS, Item #4 where he claims that he offered to let us carry over our funds for a future cruise is just an out and out lie. We were NEVER offered that. Just goes to show more of the poor integrity of this company, trying to make their company sound above board.

Our claim is not false. We feel that other consumers have a right to know about this company's practices.

Even given the benefit of the doubt in dispute line item #2 where they claim to have sent a receipt clearly stating their policy- we didnt ever get a receipt with policies, however, if we did get one, it was by his own admission AFTER the money was sent! This is like closing the barn door after the horse runs away.

I have copies of everything to substantiate our claim. We booked over the TELEPHONE with their personnel in April 2010. She never mentioned anything about a cancelation policy, just to send the money (which we did). The very FIRST time we were directed to your website (to see when the 2nd deposit was due) was in May, when she e mailed me to ask for a 2nd deposit. They had our money THIRTY DAYS before we were led to their website for anything. And even then, we were never directed to a "cancelation policy". We were also never given a receipt or anything in regard to booking. All we have is a canceled check.
We have e mails backing up our claim. 
 
They will not ignore this situation any longer.  They cannot compel us into a contract that we not only never knew about, but never agreed to.

Let me first say that I am the owner of the company and have had to deal with this person directly. Our goal is to create 100% satisfaction with our thousands of guests and we succeed 99.9999% of the time. I feel terrible that we have not been able to achieve that with this couple but at the same time while we will bend over backwards to satisfy someone we will not be blackmailed either.

Facts:
1. They booked a cruise with us and the payment policies were clearly spelled out both on our website and in writing to them
2. They were emailed a receipt which clearly had our payment policies on them as they are on our site as well, which they had no problem with.
3. Months after booking they emal'd us to cancel the cruise due to an adverse change in their financial condition.
4. Even though the payments to that point were non-refundable as we were inside of the cancellation period we offered them the ability to transfer 100% of their deposits without penalty to any of our future cruises. While this is not part of our written policy we always bend over backwards to work with folks as we understand situations change.

Unfortunately, this couple did not want to honor their agreement for the cruise nor did they have any interest in working out a way for them to get the full benefit of their non-refundable payment without penalty (try doing that with the airline).

Unfortunately they then resorted to a series of emails threatening us with a campaign of slander of we did not return the non-refundable deposit. As I said at the beginning we will work with anyone but will not be blackmailed with slanderous actions.