My wife and I have been dues-paying members of AAA for 44 YEARS! We pay hundreds each year for our membership and have used their travel agency numerous times. Over the years our travel has increased as has the cost, we have given them more and more business. My estimate is that we have spent between $ 40-50,000 in travel via AAATravel and have paid at least $ 10,000 in annual dues.
We have always liked and trusted our AAA Travel Agents, and we have been very loyal. Now we have been screwed by AAA. At the outset, the blame does NOT lay personally on the agent involved in this booking, but rather on the management of AAA. Here are the facts:
This past fall we booked a cruise around the Cape of South America with Celebrity. They were great and I have posted several glowing reviews on TripAdvisor and other sites. However, one thing went horribly wrong. Our agent booked us with an agency called BedsOnline for a car from our hotel in Santiago, Chile to the cruise terminal, 100 miles away. We prepaid the $ 180 for the ride. We were picked up by a driver who we assumed was with BedsOnline. Wrong, as you will see. The driver stopped somewhere in the slums of Santiago and said he needed to be paid. We showed him our confirmation and he said the agency had not been paid. Our ship was leaving in a couple of hours and we were trapped. All our luggae was in the cab.
We offered cash and the driver refused, saying we could ONLY use a charge card. He told me to wait in the cab and took my wife down the street and into an old building. I wanted to come also but all our luggage was in the cab and he left the keys in the cab, so how could I leave?? When they came back my wife said he wanted our PIN, which she refused to provide. He said the credit card didn't work (a lie, as it worked everywhere else) and then took cash. We kept the credit card so we were not negligent on our part. He then dropped us off at the cruise terminal.
Nothing more happened until we returned home to California and got our CITI Costco VISA bill. It included a charge of over One Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ( $ 1,200) paid to someone named "Antonio Rios" located in Santiago! We NEVER booked any transfer for this amount with AAA Travel or via BedsOnline! I contacted AAA Travel and told them about the situation. They said it sounded terrible and would check it out. Meanwhile I of course contacted CITIbank about this fraudulent theft of our hard-earned money. They asked us for information and we provided them with a large amount of documentary evidence which was totally sufficient. They asked for "more" information. There was no more! I explained that to CITI (I have email proof of all of these communications) and they said they would credit the charge, which they did, and that would have been the end of it, except the charge CAME BACK on the following month's bill! I sent another email showing that evidence and they said "we need more information" as if I never provided it in the first place! I again gave it to them. This pattern is now in its third month with no effort by CITI to rectify this issue once and for all.
AAA Travel tried to avoid any responsibility by saying only CITI was responsible and that we should contact CITI. We reminded them we had already copied AAA on our correspondence with CITI. We explained that AAA shared responsibility as it relied upon BedsOnline as its "trusted" subcontractor. The complaint went up the line to someone I assume was the head of the local branch, who said she would contact BedsONline, as they refused to answer us directly.
The AAA "investigation" dragged on for nearly two months. Finally they told us that the driver was NOT even an employee of BedsOnline, but an employee of a sub-subcontrator called "ChileXclusive". I tried to contact them directly but they were unreachable. I told AAA Travel.
After dead silence for another week, I emailed AAA Travel again. Finally they responded, coldly refusing, telling me BedsOnline refused to cooperate and reused to even identify the name of the subcontrator's driver, even though they admitted knowledge of his identity!! So AAA said they would do nothing more and that none of this was its responsibility. They claimed AAA "committed no misrepresentations". This was in my view a dishonest attempt to avoid any liability, as I never alleged that AAA defrauded me, but rather that it was responsible in part for this disaster due to its negligent selection of the subcontractor.
While this was pending, and with the foolish belief that AAA Travel would do something to alleviate this loss, I booked another trip at a cost of about $ 7000. The trip is coming up, so we are not cancelling it. However, should CITIbank not permanently credit this theft, we will sue them, and probably join all responsible parties in that action, including BedsOnline and AAA Travel. Even if we do not file suit, we will never use them again. What a horrible thing to do to loyal clients. read more
