BOSTON — A 65-year-old California woman is the lead plaintiff in a class action suit against Boston-based cruise company Vantage Deluxe World Travel, court documents show.
The suit, filed June 4, accuses Vantage of owing thousands of customers tens of millions of dollars in unpaid refunds while “continuing to sell trips, cancel trips and let these unpaid refunds pile up.”
The plaintiff’s attorney, Ron Dunbar, Jr., said most of the victims, in this case, appear to be senior citizens.
“I don’t think I’ve spoken to anyone under 65,” Dunbar, Jr. said. “Everyone had the same story. They booked the trip a few years ago, paid cash for a discount, and was notified it was canceled. I don’t think anyone got more than 24 hours’ notice.”
Dunbar’s suit also accuses Vantage of encouraging its customers to pay with cash and offering discounts on trips if paid in advance with cash. Dunbar believes Vantage’s debt dates back to 2017 and 2018, court documents show. He said Vantage has not responded to the court filing.
“Vantage is not informing its customers of the truth,” the suit alleges.
In an internal email last week obtained by Consumer Rescue, Vantage V.P. of Worldwide Operations & Marketing Deirdre Dirkman told employees the company is postponing trips through Aug. 28 because of the company’s “impending transaction.” According to the email, Dirkman said Vantage decided to dock two of its vessels—Ocean Explorer and Ocean Odyssey—in France, “until we have a better idea of the timeline for restarting operations.”
The Mass. Attorney General’s Office says it received at least 793 complaints against Vantage Deluxe World Travel since Jan. 1, 2020, including 156 complaints filed in 2023.
Consumer Rescue founder Michelle Couch-Friedman said she’s been in contact with hundreds of customers who are not getting refunds or finding their trips cancelled at the last minute. Couch-Friedman’s organization helps mediate complaints between customers and companies. She has documented the problems with Vantage on her website.
“People are contacting me, they’re desperate,” Couch-Friedman said. “I started receiving phone calls and emails from Vantage employees and many of these employees sound as distraught as the Vantage customers.”
Vantage has not responded to repeated requests for comment. The company, which markets its trips as “deluxe travel,” has offices on Canal St. and has been around since 1983, according to its website. The AG’s Office has been in contact with the company regarding its “recently reported problems” but an AG spokesperson said they could not provide any additional information.
Despite the moratorium on trips through Aug. 28, at least one Vantage customer has received an advertisement for a 2024 Vantage Icelandic cruise. There’s nothing on the company’s website indicating there’s a problem or that trips are postponed.
“The brochures are still coming through and the company is acting like this is business as usual,” Couch-Friedman said.
The AG’s Office said most of the consumer complaints against Vantage come from outside Massachusetts. At least 70 of the complaints are from Bay State residents. An AG spokesperson encourages consumers to file complaints with the Mass. AG’s Office.
Vantage Class Action as Filed Complaint by Boston 25 Desk on Scribd
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