scammed by travel agent??

firewaterx

so i thought i had found this amazing travel agent who was an itaian travel specialist. She cgarged a 300 dollar fee but i thought that since she specialized in italy she would get me some amazing deals/

She sends me a quote which is 1500.00 dollars over budget. nothing was itemized no quotes for hotels, excursions, no breakdown of cost. Her pricing did not add up and was actually more than what i fonund online. I requested more specific information of where our money was gping and she refused to do that stating that is how all travel agents work and she couldnt tell us the wholesalers price.

I said ok what about the excursions, how much is the driver, she would not disclose that either. I do not feel comfortbale just paying a lump sum with no itemization of where the money is going. What the hell?!

This can't be normal .. can it?

JoanE2012

We used a travel agent, told her what we wanted and she put the package together.  There was no breakdown of price for the various hotels, main flights and interisland flights.  That said, we also didn't pay her an upfront fee.  I would never pay anyone an upfront fee.  Does she work for a travel agent or is she independent?  Did you pay with credit card (and perhaps have a chance at getting it back?)

Also, this is probably more relevant on the Honeymoon board.

firewaterx

oops!! i thought i had posted it there!

B2Z728

My understanding of when you go through a travel agent is that you do not pay them, but the companies that they work with pay them to promote and book through their business. If you still want to go through a travel agent, I'd contact another one in your area to see what the standard procedure is.