Travel Company Allegedly Scams Family Out Of Nearly $8,000
NORTHBRIDGE (CBS) - A dream of family vacations turned into a nightmare for a Northbridge family. A company promised them great rates on hotels, plane tickets and more, but all they got was a painful financial lesson.
"They're professionals, they talk to you about how many kids you have, what's your family life, and they're professionals," says Mary Slaney of Northbridge.
That's how, over the years, investigators say a company currently calling itself Travel Deals, has allegedly conned hundreds of families out of millions.
It happened to the Slaneys this winter.
WBZ-TV's Jim Armstrong reports
"You get this in the mail," says Slaney, holding up a card. "They tell you you have to sit through a 90 minute reception."
The family did something like that before, and it was great, so they tried again. Only with Travel Deals, it was the hard sell with a promise of being part of a vacation club that would entitle them to tons of savings.
They just made it appealing to you," she says. "I'm not embarrassed, I'm more angry."
Angry at the company, because it only took a few days to realize they'd been had - to the tune of nearly $8,000.
But angry, too, at the Massachusetts Attorney General's office, who the family says, didn't take their claim seriously.
Luckily, other officials in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New Jersey, where the company is based, have been after Travel Deals for a while. The owner, Daryl Turner, was arrested last week.
The company however is still in business.
Mary Slaney's advice to anyone who gets one of these cards in the mail?
"Throw it away."
