Membership Med needs one other $3,000 for a trip I’ve already paid for

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: I booked a mom daughter journey to Membership Med Cancun. Earlier than making the reservation, I labored with a journey agent specializing in Membership Med for 2 days. She helped me with pre-planning however did not take a look at the airport I wished or the room sort I discussed.

I booked and paid for the journey straight on-line via the Membership Med web site. I’ve the reserving affirmation e mail stating that it has been paid in full with no excellent quantity or steadiness. I booked the flights myself.

I instantly contacted the journey agent and thanked her for her time. She requested me for my reserving quantity and stated she would get my file. I believed she would get referral credit score and I used to be advantageous with that.

In some way, Membership Med modified my reservation with a brand new reserving quantity and over $3,000 in deposit due. The journey agent contacted me with the invoice and stated it was due that day. However she wasn’t my journey agent. I did not give her my bank card particulars or my contact particulars. I did not signal something together with your company.

I had paid $4,152 on to Membership Med. My bank card assertion reveals the fee I made. The bill from the journey company reveals a special quantity. Now I can not attain anybody at Membership Med.

I do not know the way that occurred. The journey agent tells me that if I do not pay the steadiness, Membership Med will not let me examine in. Additionally, I can not cancel with out dropping the cash I paid. I am supposed to go away for Mexico in a number of days. Are you able to please assist me repair this?

– Laura Keir, Glen Allen, Virginia

REPLY: I see what occurred to you. You felt responsible about asking a journey agent for assist after which reserving it your self, so that you thought you have been giving the journey agent a fee in your trip. However then issues took an sudden flip.

I will get to that in a second. However first let’s discuss journey brokers or journey consultants as they name themselves now. Brokers make most of their cash by taking commissions from a journey supplier like Membership Med. (Membership Med reportedly pays brokers as much as 15% off bookings.)

So if you requested an agent for assist and he or she began wanting up trip choices, she wasn’t simply doing it as a result of she was useful. She wished to ebook the holiday and get her fee. You knew this and if you booked the Membership Med keep your self you gave her your affirmation quantity and allowed her to take over the reserving.

That is the place this drama ought to have ended. However it seems to be like Membership Med one way or the other reassessed your trip after which offered your agent with the brand new invoice. I spoke to your journey agent they usually had no concept why Membership Med wished one other $3,000 from you.