eCruiseStore.com Just Went Bankrupt

[TMLAalum]

Can you believe I found a thread on this agency that I had not seen before? It's under "Ask a cruise Question"? Also, I have been following the thread on TA under the Miami FL forum and learned from my newly discovered thread on CC that there may be an ecruise thread on the Cruises forum of TA (altho in the past, when I clicked on that, I was always forwarded to CruiseCritic).

 

It would be great if all ecruisestore threads were joined somehow.

 

Yes, it appears that RT is working for an Outlet that specializes in Cruise Vacations.

 

I submitted my dispute documentation to my credit card company last week- haven't heard a thing back.

[CanCruzer]

Yes, it appears that RT is working for an Outlet that specializes in Cruise Vacations.

 

I submitted my dispute documentation to my credit card company last week- haven't heard a thing back.

Yes, I got a quote from RT from an Outlet that specializes in Cruise Vacations from the compete website. Not sure if the compete organization is shady or not, particularly since they allow other shady operators to provide quotes. I was checking it out to see what prices I might find. I booked with my usual TA (brick and mortar with a strong web presence) that was about $300 more, but well worth it IMO after reading everyone's woes.

 

Good luck with your credit card company!

[jewopaho]

It's amazing how many veteran cruisers have been bagged by the RT's of the world, especially since it's so easy to prevent.

 

Once again (and,sadly, not for the last time, I'm sure), the moment after you book your cruise, go to the line's website to make certain that your reservation is there. Then check with your credit card company to confirm that the charge to your account is from the cruise line, not the agency ... how simple is that!

 

We regularly use two online TA's, and have not experienced a minute's trouble. Both encourage their customers to take the steps noted above, and clearly state on the receipt that the charge will be from the cruise line. They detest the presence of the RT's as much, or more, than we do, since it's a reflection on their industry.

 

If it sounds too good to be true ....

[gtalum]

Another reason to book direct with the cruise line.

 

No' date=' it's just another reason to get and confirm a booking number right away and to make sure the charge is handled directly through the cruise line, as it will be with any reputable agency.

 

I'd never, ever give my money to an online travel agency.......

 

You're free to overspend all you want. :D ;)

 

I've booked all 7 of our cruises via online agencies, and saved literally hundreds of dollars on every one because of it.

[bobyng]

It's amazing how many veteran cruisers have been bagged by the RT's of the world, especially since it's so easy to prevent.

 

Once again (and,sadly, not for the last time, I'm sure), the moment after you book your cruise, go to the line's website to make certain that your reservation is there. Then check with your credit card company to confirm that the charge to your account is from the cruise line, not the agency ... how simple is that!

 

We regularly use two online TA's, and have not experienced a minute's trouble. Both encourage their customers to take the steps noted above, and clearly state on the receipt that the charge will be from the cruise line. They detest the presence of the RT's as much, or more, than we do, since it's a reflection on their industry.

 

If it sounds too good to be true ....

 

You are so right. We also habitually book with online travel agencies, and we ALWAYS go to the cruise line website to verify our booking [and if it doesn't appear by the second business day we call the cruisline]. We also always go online to our creditcard company and check-out the charge made to our account [both amount and to whom it was paid]. We do this both for the initial deposit, and after the final payment.

 

And if we find several quotes that are fairly close, we'll go with a company we've used before.

[artmc1]

The sad thing is, probably never, since while in a practical sense it is fraud, it seems like from a legal sense it can't be attributed as such.

 

And even more sad, that you have information that can't be shared with the rest of us. I can already picture in my mind, months from now reading the same thread about people losing money, same person, different travel agency.

 

Sigh. :mad:

 

What's even sadder is that I have been in contact with the State of Florida Consumer Services and they tell me their is not much if anything they can do.

The agency did not have to post a bound due to a membership held in some travel agency group which exempted them from bounding.

[LHT28]

new information on Trip Advisor in Miami forum

seems the scammers run several companies

[Relaxationspecialist]

I bought 4 tix for a June 2010 China cruise from E-cruise aka Galaxy. By paying in full last July, I was able to get 2-for-1 fares. I paid $10,000 using a Visa card. Just found out Thursday that E-cruise kept all but $1,000 of my payment. They sent the $1,000 to the cruiseline and the rest of my money went down with them when they went bankrupt. The only way our family can go on this cruise is by sending the cruiseline another $9000. I am just stunned. I am told that it is too late to do anything with Visa since more than 60 days have elapsed and they would not consider it fraud anyway, and that my best hope is to take the officers of Galaxy (maybe the infamous Mr. Tanner?) to small claims court. I have no idea whether this is true or how to do it. Ugh. Sick to my stomach. Does anyone have a recommendation?

[pscruzinboyz]

I bought 4 tix for a June 2010 China cruise from E-cruise aka Galaxy. By paying in full last July, I was able to get 2-for-1 fares. I paid $10,000 using a Visa card. Just found out Thursday that E-cruise kept all but $1,000 of my payment. They sent the $1,000 to the cruiseline and the rest of my money went down with them when they went bankrupt. The only way our family can go on this cruise is by sending the cruiseline another $9000. I am just stunned. I am told that it is too late to do anything with Visa since more than 60 days have elapsed and they would not consider it fraud anyway, and that my best hope is to take the officers of Galaxy (maybe the infamous Mr. Tanner?) to small claims court. I have no idea whether this is true or how to do it. Ugh. Sick to my stomach. Does anyone have a recommendation?

 

So sorry to hear about this, I just wish you would have seen this thread months ago.......I thought my travel agent was tied in because someone had mentioned them on a post but we were OK. If you read this whole thread......People will tell you if you ever pay all of the money, to contact the cruise line to check to see if they received the monies from the TA.

Lesson learned......Yes a Very expensive lesson learned.......I am trully sorry and good luck!

 

Mike

[Gardyloo2]

Chances are that the cruise line doesn't have your money and RT made off with it. Our credit card company said there is no time limit on fraud. When did you get the bankruptcy notice from the TA? Your credit card company should help you out. Ours is working on it.

You will have to repay for the cruise, but with good documentation your credit card company should help you out and you may eventually get your money back.

If not, contact your state attorney general's office and whatever state's AG Galaxy is registered with. You won't be the first to call about him.

[phabric]

I bought 4 tix for a June 2010 China cruise from E-cruise aka Galaxy. By paying in full last July, I was able to get 2-for-1 fares. I paid $10,000 using a Visa card. Just found out Thursday that E-cruise kept all but $1,000 of my payment. They sent the $1,000 to the cruiseline and the rest of my money went down with them when they went bankrupt. The only way our family can go on this cruise is by sending the cruiseline another $9000. I am just stunned. I am told that it is too late to do anything with Visa since more than 60 days have elapsed and they would not consider it fraud anyway, and that my best hope is to take the officers of Galaxy (maybe the infamous Mr. Tanner?) to small claims court. I have no idea whether this is true or how to do it. Ugh. Sick to my stomach. Does anyone have a recommendation?

 

I don't know if Visa is different in the US vs Canada. I had paid the full payment in July 2009 for a March 2010 cruise through E-Cruise. I called Visa the day (Oct) E-Cruise notified everyone of their bankruptcy, explained what happened, he could see that the cruise did not happen. I sent Visa the bankruptcy notice. Visa said it would take a 6-8 weeks for them to investage. Visa also said I would get a refund as I had paid for a service and I did not get the service. I received a full refund on my Visa a couple of days later.

[Relaxationspecialist]

I received the following email on 10/26/09 (please look carefully at the last paragraph):

 

Dear Galaxy Travel Customer,

 

It is with deep regret that we must inform you that due to recent financial problems, we have been forced to close the business and file bankruptcy, effective October 25, 2009.

 

Your reservation has been turned over to the cruise line as a direct booking. From now on you will need to contact the cruise line direct regarding any questions about your cruise.

 

To ensure the completion of your refund, you may want to contact your credit card company and place a dispute against the charge made to your account on July 29, 2009. We will endorse the paperwork for an approval of the refund; this should speed up the process and should prevent any charges being applied to your account by your bank. You may have to advise your bank the reason for the dispute is due to services not rendered.

 

At this point I called Viking immediately to verify that our cruise tickets were all in order. They said yes we were fine and our cabins were reserved. Sadly our definitions of "all in order" appear to have been quite different.

 

As for the charge made to our acct on 7/29, mentioned in that email, I did not move ahead with anything for the following reason: I believed that this was a reference for the double-charging I had caught Galaxy doing. That August my checking acct had suddenly dive-bombed and I was unable to withdraw any money from any of my accounts. It turned out that Galaxy had done what others speak of here, i.e. make an additional $4800 withdrawal on my Visa debit without my authorization. I had worked with my bank and read Galaxy the riot act (they claimed it was an "error" and I was dumb enough to believe them) and all of that had been returned to me. So in the email I thought that was what they were talking about.

 

My bank tells me that Visa will not consider this fraud. It may be theft, they said, but not fraud. However, given that the deal I supposedly got involved payment in full before August 1, it seems to me it is fraud. I am going to call Visa directly and talk to them.

 

My son talked to some lawyer colleagues and they suggested taking RT to small claims court in Florida. A JetBlue flight would be a drop in the bucket compared to getting this money back and seeing justice prevail. But I am wondering about how that would actually play out.

I do wish I had been reading the boards when this discussion came up. I find these boards so interesting and helpful but I was trying to limit my computer time!

 

Any other suggestions would be most helpful. Cutelittle, you are saying that I should contact both my and Galaxy's atty general's offices? That is a good idea. I didn't think really that Florida's atty general would care about my case, given I'm here in NY.

 

Ugh ugh ugh. I just keep telling myself that it's only money, not health. It's kind of stunning that Cruise Compete was one of the Wall Street Journal's top ten travel sites and had stellar recommendations from all sorts of mainstream media...

[Richiebaseball]

I'm sorry this has happened to you however your bank sounds like they're not really your bank. You should dispute the charge. Do whatever you need to do to get this started. You have never received the service you paid for, keep reminding "your bank" of that. Call the branch manager, call someone at Visa, keep calling until you find someone that has the ability to think outside their script.

 

Keep fighting and good luck.

[G'ma]

No, it's just another reason to get and confirm a booking number right away and to make sure the charge is handled directly through the cruise line, as it will be with any reputable agency.

 

 

 

You're free to overspend all you want. :D ;)

 

I've booked all 7 of our cruises via online agencies, and saved literally hundreds of dollars on every one because of it.

 

To each, his own.....

 

I prefer having complete control over my own reservation and my own money. I'd never turn a credit card number over to a faceless, nameless online agency again. I got caught up in the CVC bankruptcy. Fortunately, I was OK - but my brother and his wife who were also traveling got shafted good; none of their funds had been sent to the cruise line. He was able to work things out with his credit card company but needed to rebook with the cruise line at a higher fare. It was 30 days prior to sailing and his original reservation had already been cancelled due to no payment.

 

I would have no problem using a local brick and mortar agency who had been in business awhile but not online at all.

[truffles2]

 

 

 

 

My son talked to some lawyer colleagues and they suggested taking RT to small claims court in Florida. A JetBlue flight would be a drop in the bucket compared to getting this money back and seeing justice prevail. But I am wondering about how that would actually play out.

 

 

Just be advised that while you could take the company to small claims court and you would probably get a favorable judgement, that does not mean that you will collect the money you lost. You should investigate that option thoroughly before taking action.

[Relaxationspecialist]

Good point, truffles. Ok but you have all given me a way forward via my bank and the attys general of NY and Florida.

[Cahroozer]

Hi all,

I called yesterday to get an update from Visa on the status of our dispute. I found out that the dispute was on hold. It seems the charge on the card was from Galaxy and the paperwork I provided stated eCruise.

I explained that there were a few companies involved as there appears to be more than one hat being worn in that office - so charges could be from any of four company names.

That got things moving again with Visa and the dispute - just an fyi

hope this is helpful

Patrice

 

Yep. Both ecruisestore and Galaxy travel list an address of:

205 Waymont Court

Lake Mary, FL 32746

 

Also, Galaxy (which lists a Richard Turner as a contact) and "Great Cruise Vacations" at Great-vacations.com both list a telephone number of 800-445-4177

 

They keep reinventing themselves

 

 

 

[Gardyloo2]

Yes, you can contact both AG offices. However, they may not be able to help.

If you try small claims court you will probably win by default because Richard Tanner won't show up. Truffles2 is right, if you win, you may not be able to collect; which would be even more frustrating.

 

Your best bet is VISA. Their "big dollar" fraud unit ought to be able to help you. Don't call your bank. If you haven't already, call the number on the back of your credit card and ask for the fraud or disputes department.

 

Best wishes!!

[Relaxationspecialist]

I want to thank everybody on this thread: you have all made a material difference in my life. After I posted the other day, I went back to my bank and documented what had happened. Today I heard back and they are crediting my account for the full amount and they are going to initiate a dispute. As you may recall, the amount is over $8,000. Before I posted here, I believed the first person who answered the phone at my bank and informed me that there was nothing they could do. Several of you pointed out that your banks and credit card companies were dealing with similar situations and being helpful. It was Richiebaseball who said, "Your bank is not being your bank," and that sentence stuck in my head and got me sitting down and sending them a very detailed letter. We are very grateful to all of you. :D

[cruisinfanatic]

I want to thank everybody on this thread: you have all made a material difference in my life. After I posted the other day, I went back to my bank and documented what had happened. Today I heard back and they are crediting my account for the full amount and they are going to initiate a dispute. As you may recall, the amount is over $8,000. Before I posted here, I believed the first person who answered the phone at my bank and informed me that there was nothing they could do. Several of you pointed out that your banks and credit card companies were dealing with similar situations and being helpful. It was Richiebaseball who said, "Your bank is not being your bank," and that sentence stuck in my head and got me sitting down and sending them a very detailed letter. We are very grateful to all of you. :D

Good for you!

Glad it worked out

[truffles2]

I'm glad too.

[TMLAalum]

All of my group have had their monies refunded by our various credit card companies.

 

We have no damages to claim against eCS, thank heavens, but the principals of the company may have resurfaced working for an outlet for vacation cruises that has been known to respond to folk who use that competition website.

[cruiseregular]

:mad::mad::mad::mad: Ecruise has definately declared bankruptsy. I am one of their creditors. I got my trip, however they charged my credit card 3 times for the trip. Aftyer months of avoided phone calls and working with the CC Company, I got my money refunded from AMEX. But I never got the 2000. in shipboard credits owed me by ECruise. Thir website seems to still be active. BEWARE DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM!!!!!!!:mad::mad: