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CHERRY
HILL – The Office of the Attorney General,
through its Division of Consumer Affairs,
has filed suit in state Superior Court against
travel club companies operating under several
different names and their principal, charging
that they failed to provide any services to
consumers and misrepresented their relationship
with hotel, airline and car rental companies
through the unauthorized use of their corporate
logos.
Defendants Dreamworks Vacation Club (also
known as Dreamworks Vacations and Dreamworks),
Five Points Travel Company and Bentley Travel
are accused of depicting specific resorts,
regions and packages in mailings and sales
presentations that, in actuality, were not
available to consumers. Defendant Daryl T.
Turner is the owner and operator of these
companies. The investigation that led to the
State’s action began with the Burlington
County Consumer Affairs Local Assistance (CALA)
office, and was referred to the Division of
Consumer Affairs for joint investigation.
Burlington County CALA Director Renee L. Borstad
joined with Consumer Affairs Director David
Szuchman to announce the lawsuit at a press
conference today at the Division’s South
Jersey office in Cherry Hill.
“We
believe the defendants had no intention of
providing the advertised travel services.
They lured consumers in with promises of deep
discounts, free gifts and misrepresentations
about their affiliation with respected corporations,
all for the purposes of defrauding consumers
and enriching themselves,” Szuchman
said.
“Dreamworks
and its other vacation clubs offered a ‘dream’
vacation that was too good to be true. Consumers
must realize that high-pressure sales tactics,
coupled with
prepaid vacation packages, plus freebee airline
ticket offers are always a dangerous combination,”
said Borstad.
“We
appreciate Attorney General Milgram and Director
Szuchman working with us and our consumers
to bring Dreamworks Vacation Club and its
principals before the court, where they can
be held accountable. Hopefully consumers will
learn to walk away from any offer that sounds
too good to be true, as it probably is,”
Borstad added.
In addition to not providing the contracted-for
travel packages, the defendants also did not
provide the free gifts that consumers were
led to believe they would receive, including
seven-day cruises, round-trip airline tickets
for two, hotel stays, free dinners, car rentals
and/or free gas coupons. When consumers contacted
the “800” telephone number listed
on the mailings to claim their gifts, they
were informed that they had to attend a 90-minute
sales presentation for vacation packages.
Even if they attended the presentations, consumers
were not provided with the gifts.
Consumers paid $1,200 to $8,000 upfront to
purchase a vacation package, but were not
provided with the airline, hotel or other
travel arrangements at the price and quality
represented by defendants prior to purchase.
Dreamworks and Five Points Travel Company
have business and mailing addresses in Parsippany,
Morris County; Sewell, Gloucester County;
and Westampton, Burlington County. Bentley
Travel is not incorporated to do business
in New Jersey. Turner’s address of record
is in Cherry Hill, Camden County.
The state’s eight-count Complaint, filed
in New Jersey Superior Court in Morris County,
alleges that the defendants violated the Consumer
Fraud Act and Advertising Regulations by:
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Utilizing the terms “Bailout”,
“Division of Revenue” and “Department
of Funding” on mailings sent to consumers
to falsely imply that the mailing originated
from a state or federal government agency
or department;
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In mail solicitations and other advertising
materials, utilizing without authorization,
the trademarks of airlines, hotels, car
rental companies and restaurants;
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Forwarding mailings to consumers which indicated
that consumers were entitled to complimentary
gifts, when receipt of such gifts were conditioned
upon attendance at a sales presentation
for vacation packages;
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During sales presentations, inducing consumers
to purchase vacation packages by showing
them brochures with resort areas and packages
that were not available;
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Advising consumers prior to purchase that
they have the right to cancel the contract
if they were not satisfied with the vacation
package, and then refusing to permit the
consumers to cancel the contract;
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Charging consumers’ credit cards for
fees and services that were not authorized
by the consumers;
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Submitting bills to collection agencies
after consumers have cancelled the contract
and formally disputed the charges;
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Representing to consumers that they were
members of the Better Business Bureau (“BBB”)
in good standing, when such was not the
case;
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Failing to disclose to consumers prior to
their purchase of a vacation package that
they would be required to pay additional
fees prior to utilizing the service;
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Requiring consumers to sign incomplete or
blank sales contracts for vacation packages
and then failing to provide consumers with
full and accurate copies of such contracts;
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Failing to include in the contract a statement
advising consumers of their right to cancel
prior to the midnight of the third business
day after execution of the contract.
To
date, the Division has received complaints
from 198 consumers against the defendants
either directly or from the Burlington County
CALA Office.
The
state’s lawsuit seeks injunctive and
other relief, maximum civil penalties, consumer
restitution and reimbursement of the state’s
legal fees and investigative costs.
“There
were no unexpected issues here that affected
the defendants’ ability to arrange flights,
rental cars and accommodations – we
allege that the defendants never intended
to provide anything in return for the hard-earned
money that consumers paid for these promised
travel packages,” Director Szuchman
said. “Consumers in fact could find
lower prices through free internet web sites.”
Consumers
can file complaints with the Division on its
Web site at www.nj.gov/oag/ca/ocp/ocpform.htm
or by calling 1-800-242-5846
(toll-free within N.J.) or 973-504-6200.
Deputy
Attorney General Gina M. Betts of the Consumer
Fraud Prosecution Section is representing
the state in this action.
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