The problem, said John E. Kelly, attorney in charge of the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection office in Philadelphia, is identifying the 10 percent.
"The names of the companies don't mean much," he said, because fraudulent operators can shut down and move elsewhere under a new name before complaints and demands for refunds catch up with them.
Travel sales presentations may be slick, but you can learn to tell the difference between a legitimate travel bargain and a scam if you follow certain steps, travel and consumer experts advise. Above all, they recommend that you do not hand over payment or your credit-card number until you are completely convinced that you are getting a fair deal. For further protection, investigate the company, read written material, and grill the caller for details.
Most travel promotions that do not pan out are sold over the phone, according to Mercedes McDonnell, spokeswoman for the American Society of Travel Agents, a trade association in Alexandria, Va.
Many people who complain say they have been promised a great vacation for about $99 to $150, although the offers occasionally go as high as $249, said Elizabeth Pichard, a complaints analyst with the Florida Division of Consumer Services.
Kelly said such complaints range from "just a bad deal to out-and-out
criminal fraud."
Here are the elements of many of the complaints about vacation packages:
* You pay a fee for a vacation package that is sold over the phone. But when the written material arrives, the deal is not as attractive as it seemed on the phone.
* You pay what you assume is the full fee for a vacation package, but receive one or more bills for additional charges - such as a handling fee -
from the company. Sometimes consumers complain that what they assumed was the price for the entire vacation package was just a deposit.
