bigboy61

I am sure there are lots of good TAs out there--just not mine.

Yes, I agree now. I think there are legitimate people out there that can help you out. Case in point, I had someone get me an awesome deal from T-Mobile via Reddit. However, there are indeed many scammers. This was my first mistake. Yes, this was my second mistake. Her explanation made sense though. Yes, she sent us copies of information including her CLIA card, her driver's license, and tax forms. She is with Main Street travel agency. It's a MLM, but a legitimate travel agency nonetheless. However, at the same time, she claims to be independent. Her CLIA has Main Street on it. Our original reservation was with Main Street. I work in software development and I agree. This is a joke. Good point. However, she is claiming she is filing for E&O because the cruise can't be fully refunded since we're within 60 days. Her CLIA card, website, tax returns, and Venmo (watching transactions). I also continue to follow her on Reddit and it seems she has a legitimate business. I am obviously a simpleton though so I could be 100% wrong. My Uncle has done this, and I have family working with authorities.

Thanks. I am sure there are LOTS of good TAs. Sadly, there are also a few not good ones (at best) as well.

Thanks! We still may do something with her. I think we will still try to do a cruise eventually again. Probably not this year though.

Yep. I wanted a TA because of the group size and because I have never cruised before. It is indeed a hard lesson.

Thanks. I never signed a contract though so I guess that's a good thing for us.

You are correct. After further research, that is what I found but too late now. To her credit, she also offered the option of paying direct to Princess by calling her with our credit card number or something like that.

Hello there! This is my first post, so if this is in the wrong place, please move it. Get ready for a long story. Back last year, I started to plan a cruise for my grandmother's 80th birthday. My grandma's wish was for all her children to get together on an Alaska cruise before she passed. I have never cruised before, so I am already in over my head. I ask about this on the large Reddit group asking people about this. I have a couple TAs reach out to me over there, and I decide to go with one. She is licensed with CLIA and under a well reviewed host. So we start planning. We get everything squared away and ask the family to start paying. The travel agent wants payments via Venmo or PayPal. My relatives become suspicious and so they vet her and have me vet the reservation more. They are satisfied once this is complete and we proceed. Everything moves along fine up until last week. The TA keeps refusing to provide booking numbers claiming that the Princess app is new and they have asked her not to let all of us into the app at once. Well, my Uncle, understandable, starts to get suspicious and fed up with the runaround. He calls Princess, and the only reservation for our group was canceled back in February! None of us are in any reservations. The TA claims the reservation is still safe. My Uncle has had it and filed a claim with Venmo and with her previous host agency. She then cancelled our rooms (which didn't appear to exist) since my uncle submitted the claim. She is saying she is going to refund us via her E&O insurance, but I have no idea whether to believe her or not. So here we are out 30k, my reputation with my family is ruined, and my grandma's 80th birthday cruise is ruined! All because this TA was, at best, playing some booking shenanigans. I don't quite understand the angle of the TA. She seems to have a legitimate business, so not sure what was happening. I think the original cruise may have been canceled so she could book the cruise outside of the host so she could take all the commission. That's just a guess. I have no idea why we weren't rebooked. What is her angle here? Anyone know? Anyone experienced something like this before?