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Report: #1466448

Complaint Review: Trip Masters - Nationwide

  • Submitted:
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  • Reported By: Marisol — Modesto California United States
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  • Trip Masters Nationwide United States

Trip Masters TripMasters not only ripped me off and scammed me out of money but then blamed it on my husband and I for not knowing about a G20

*Consumer Comment: Sorry...

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My husband and I have to plan travel at least 6 months in advance because of his schedule. I did that and we planned on a trip which was one of our dreams to see the glaciers and the penguins in Patagonia. It cost us a fortune. Since this was to be a trip of a lifetime we only made reservations in five star hotels when available (some of the more remote locations had four star hotels). We paid over 8700 dollars for the trip. My husband because we were vacillating on the idea of going decided to purchase 1st class upgrades (another 2,000 dollars having nothing to do with tripmasters). 

All of a sudden a month before we were to leave we got an email from Tripmasters saying that because of the G20 coming to Argentina the national airport would be closed (not the international airport) and that it would change our trip in horrible ways. The first is that we would have to stay a day later or leave a day earlier from Buenos Aires. The second being that we would have to stay an extra day or two in Barlioche and that our dream of seeing the glacier in El Calafete would not be possible because the two nights and three days there was reduced to less than 24 hours (in other words a long layover in an airport for no reason) and that we would have to pay for all the changes ourselves. 

We told them our dream was to go to El Calafete and that the trip became absurd after that because whenever there are G20's around the world there are massive often bloody protests. And as I began to investigate this it seemed that travel agents worldwide knew about this Garda knew about it https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/171156/argentina-g20-summit-in-buenos-aires-nov-30-dec-1-airport-closures-update-2  Trip advisor knew about it https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294266-i977-k11901756-G20_meeting_in_BA_late_Nov_to_early_December_be_aware-Argentina.html  Flyer talk knew about it https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/argentina/1922631-aeroparque-close-29-november-3-days.html Perfil knew about it https://www.perfil.com/noticias/actualidad/cerraran-tres-dias-el-aeroparque-jorge-newbery-para-la-cumbre-del-g20.phtml  and on and on .... 

So, a lot of what we wanted to do in Buenos Aires would not be feasible because of the massive police presence because of the expected protests and the airport is closed. 

But, Tripmasters did not tell us about it till a month before we were going to leave as they tried to tell us we would have to pay for the hotel charges etc then we could be reimbursed through our travel insurance after we completed the trip. 

I called and said they should have known about this and should have told us when we booked this. I was told that we did it on the internet. Aren't they still a travel agency. I told I would only be reimbursed for 1/3 of the money if we cancelled (and that doesn't include the upgrades, tranfers, and tours which we paid for not through them). They told us they could not have known and that if I was so SMART I ought to have known about the G20 in advance. I have nothing to do with the travel industry. I just trust them to make appropriate arragnements.  I told them I was not willing to ruin my husband's only vacation this year and not get my money back because as a travel company they should be aware of what was going to happen and if they were decent at all could have said let's reschedule your trip. But, nothing at all. 

When I called them: they were rude or indifferent. I tried on several occasions. Nothing no help at all. One time I said the word "d**n" and the woman told me she would no longer speak to me because I used a profane word. Seriously? I'm about to lose a fortune ... I have asked to speak to managers and have waited for hours on the phone for nothing at all (I have a job too) ... twice I was told a manager would call me back to no avail 

Certainly a reputable travel agency should have been able to tell about these unbelievably forseeable event. I feel completely an utterly ripped off and they refuse to be responsible for anything. I will never use them again. I want to caution others never to use this company. 

I am a lot poorer and saddened that my husband and I will not get a vacation just a whole in our pockets from an unscrupulous company engaged in nefarious practices. It would be as if a physican said to a patient you should have told me and pointed to where your heart was. I know you were under anesthesia but it is not my responsibility to know where to operate. 

I'm livid. I don't know how to get my money back. 

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 11/02/2018 01:27 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/trip-masters/nationwide/trip-masters-tripmasters-not-only-ripped-me-off-and-scammed-me-out-of-money-but-then-bla-1466448. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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#1 Consumer Comment

Sorry...

AUTHOR: Robert - (United States)

POSTED: Saturday, November 03, 2018

Aren't they still a travel agency
- In short..No. They are just a company that is facilitating booking of your travel arrangements. Technically
YOU were the one acting as the travel agent.

I just trust them to make appropriate arragnements.
- They did. They made the appropriate arrangements you selected.

You selected your itinerary, you selected the flights, hotels..etc for your trip. Did this site tell you about the weather during that time or did you do independent research? Did this site tell you about the travel documents required or did you do independent research? For your "upgrades" did they suggest them or did you do independent research to see what would be some good options? My guess is that you did quite a bit of research of things that a "Travel Agent" would normally be expected to do.

So unfortunately, you are the one responsible for any issues outside of their control.

Certainly a reputable travel agency should have been able to tell about these unbelievably forseeable event. I feel completely an utterly ripped off and they refuse to be responsible for anything.

I don't know a single travel agency that has the ability to see into the future. If they did, there wouldn't be a single customer who has their trip interrupted by a hurricane, or other issues and there would be no need for Travel Insurance. Based when you say you had to book the trip and the links you posted it appears that the Summit or closures wasn't even announced until about 2 months AFTER you booked. Meaning that regardless of who you booked with no one would have known.

So while disheartening and I am sure extremely disappointing would being notified earlier changed anything significantly? You are right in this case you aren't really responsible, but neither are they. Hopefully you did buy insurance as that is probably your best way to get the money back at this point.

Good Luck and hope it does work out.

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