RollingStone100

I just left a post on another thread. To say the least, the customer service with this company is some of the worst I have experienced yet. My travel companion and I have had the same experiences with the lack of returned calls or emails. I am supposed to leave tomorrow night for Peru. I am doing a one week trip with the company but I booked my return flight 2 weeks after the trip ends to do some traveling on my own. I am very glad I was able to do that because at least if this isn't what I had hoped, I'll have some real travel time to enjoy after. Wish me luck!

pimaverick

I just returned from a trip booked through LatinAmerica4Less and the trip was great. There are two companies: LatinAmericaForLess and LatinAmerica4Less. LatinAmericaForLess has reviews on the BBB but LatinAmerica4Less does not. I was told by someone on the trip that sometimes companies have to pay a fee to be listed and if they don’t pay they are not listed. The hotels we stayed at met our satisfaction. Two of them had many amenities but the Galapagos motel only had a swimming pool which suited us because we were only at the hotel for 5 hours a day to sleep, bathe and eat (no time for amenities). Someone else paid an extra $200 to stay at a better hotel but did not get to use the amenities paid for (they were gone all day). The Galapagos discovery trip keeps you so busy that you do not have time for Hotel amenities (so paying for better accommodations is not worth it). We toured the old city of Quito, went to the Equator, visited 2 islands in the Galapagos (snorkeling too) and toured Guayaquil (7days total including travel time). I was not disappointed but was very tired and we got an average of 5 hours sleep (maybe) a night. Be prepared to Go! Go! Go! The price was right and I would recommend it. Our Hotels were Hotel Quito, Red Booby and Grand Hotel Guayaquil (each trip could differ). One guide also told us that in the future restrictions on visiting Galapagos could make the trip much more expensive. Word of warning, when we flew AeroGal they lumped our luggage tickets together as 1 group (39 people)and we had to sort through them and make sure each person had their baggage tag in the Galapagos airport. Also, while in the AeroGal airport we each had to fill out a form declaring we were not bringing anything to the Galapagos that could damage the ecosystem. Be aware that each form had each person’s name and information on it and we had to sort through those and make sure everyone had the correct form with their name and information, a little chaotic when you are not prepared for this to happen. We were able to sort this out pretty quick and we gave all the baggage tags to 1 person to hold until we reached Galapagos, as we had no idea what number belonged to what bag and person. The baggage thing turned out okay (it was an adventure).The whole trip was very fast paced, blink and you could miss something. I loved every minute of it. P.S. My husband and I both got a little cold that hit us the last day but it was a travel day and did not affect the trip. Have Fun!!!

Mauri73

I just returned from the Four Countries in South America, it was great! Very well organized. I think that Latinamerica4less needs to improve the customer service but nothing to say in reference to the tour package, the hotels were fine and the local representatives that they use excellent If I need go again to Latinamerica I will use them again.

GUEST1

Booked and paid for a trip to Panama, leaving this Friday. Just got a call (Tuesday) and was told the company is bankrupt. Not only was my trip not planned, but they said they aren't giving me my money back. They are still advertising and accepting bookings. STAY AWAY.

4less - not forless

mlgb

GUEST1

I Guess you can call your credit card company now.

Out of curiosity I called their 800 number and "all agents are busy, leave a message."

LatAmForLess

Hi All,

I just wanted to stress that Latinamerica4less and Latin America For Less are two entirely unrelated companies.

Before booking any trip online, we advise you to check your agency's rating on the Better Business Bureau, as well as look for genuine travel testimonials and reviews on third party sites.

Happy travels!
Matt Barker
Latin America For Less

gigiweb2

We booked a trip with latinamerica4less.com in April and made all the required payments. At 6 AM this morning, 3 days before the schedule departure, I received a phone call from latinamerica4less.com stating that their company was not in business (bankrupt). The lady gave me all the information necessary to file a dispute with the credit card company to try and get a refund. The last 2 weeks have been hell with this bunch. We never received our e-tickets and the hotel vouchers only arrived yesterday. I'm sure they are worthless too. A call to the airline showed that they had booked the flight the day after the reservation, but canceled it the next day. They booked it again on October 14, but never paid for it so it was automatically canceled. Every call to them in the last 2 weeks resulted in a promise that "tomorrow the tickets will be e-mailed." So, save yourself some stress and follow the advice of Matt Barker from Latin America For Less.

tidyproroma

I would urge you to go elsewhere.

This company needs to be put out of business by people not using them. I have booked a trip to Peru and the Galapagos through this outfit and it has been a nightmare:
1. They promised to send a complete itinerary three weeks before departure. Not done, though I called them three times. They never return phone calls or emails.
2. I depart this Saturday, the 23rd. I finally received vouchers Monday evening after SIX phone calls and three emails. No boarding pass with the vouchers, only an itinerary for my flights, hotel names and numbers.
3. They have another passenger's name on my hotel reservations in Peru, but no one at LA4L is answering phone calls or responding to emails.
4. I have been left "swinging in the wind" by this company, even though they charged my credit card six weeks ago on 9/6/10. There is no customer service in the States. They are incommunicado.

I just hope the tour companies in SA do a better job than these people.

Please go elsewhere. Do not book through this company unless you want your vacation to be one more source of stress. Not what I had in mind.

Regards to all.

shelleyk

I suggest you check with the airline ASAP to make sure you have an actual reservation in their system. The air vouchers may not be worth the paper they are written on. And I would probably check with the hotels as well. Hope this trip works out for you.

mlgb

Tidyproroma, you should read the few replies above yours. They ARE out of business.

Check your airline tix ASAP!

If they are good you might contact Gray Line and see if anything is booked under your name. I think LA4Less uses them as the local provider.

danjng

All,

I just wanted to post and let everyone know that I am experiencing THE SAME EXACT set of events as gigiweb2.

I booked and paid for the trip.
Got fraud alerts for unauthorized charges in COLUMBIA (gee, how did that happen?)
Investigated reservations and found out they were made and canceled the next day.
Started getting cold feet and began to email and call - no responses to either channels of communication.

The only thing is that I haven't received any phone call saying that they're bankrupt. Does anyone have any proof of that so I can show it to my credit card company? I would REALLY appreciate it...

All this work and saving for a honeymoon just to start married life $5k in the hole with no honeymoon? ANY help is appreciated.

Thanks, all.

STAY AWAY FROM LATINAMERICA4LESS!

mlgb

You may need to get the documentation from the airlines and hotels, etc., that were listed in your itinerary...assuming you HAD an itinerary. Eg when you found your reservations were made and canceled, who told you that? Document your phone calls, time date person you spoke to. YOu may not get anything from LA4Less but your documentation of paying and having nothing booked should be all you need.

Do file an immediate claim with your credit card company to get things started.

rscott_ca

Same thing happened to me. Paid for the Costa Rica trip back in Mar & Apr. Supposed to depart Oct 30. No vouchers, e-tickets .. anything by Oct 15. Called and spoke with agent "Helena" whom I had been in contact with at several points over the last few months. She said travel packet would be sent on Monday (Oct 18). Rec'd nothing, called Tues., Oct 19 and called several time since -- goes directly to voice mail: "All agents are currently busy". I don't expect anything from them. We've been SCAMMED! Would like to share info with other SCAMMEEs to try to recover funds. Anything regarding bankruptcy, etc. to help with claim with credit card co. Will pursue contact w/ BBB & Cal. State Attorney Genr.

danjng

Thanks for the helpful information so far, all!

I had contacted my credit card company in hopes that they would be able to handle everything, but they said that they can't do anything because my trip is in November and I have no proof (besides web postings) that the company is out of business...

Of course, I can't get official proof because the reps have stopped responding to emails and phone calls and the website is down as well.

I gave the credit card company all I had so far including proof and a POC for my reservation cancellation.

Any other thoughts or ideas? GUEST1, was there any hardcopies of anything saying LA4L was going bankrupt? Or just a phone call?

Thanks again for all your help here! I feel better that I'm not the only one going through this...

mlgb

Their website listed that they were a member of ASTA. Maybe you could go to ASTA for help. Perhaps they could at least provide some type of document verifying that LA4Less is kaput.

BTW you can still see what used to be on LA4L by using the Cached feature/

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=us

qwovadis

Just a heads up for everone

LA4L the bogus company just went

out of business effective TODAY..

Cancelling all trips notifying customers

to contact their credit card companies.

If you wired money to them odds are you are SOL

unless you had insurance.

The GOOD company www.latinamericaforless.com

is open and doing their usual EXCELLENT business.

Hope this Helps,

John_Ayson

Received a call from LatinAmerica4Less on Friday, October 22, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. (Pacific) informing me that they have ceased operations and could not provide the travel we booked and paid for: ($6400+)for Rio, Buenos Airs, Aguazu Falls, Lima and Machu Pichu. Was scheduled to depart 10/29 but never received travel documents. The trip was booked and paid on August 3, 2010...on my AMEX card. AMEX is investigating and will notify me of results within 6-8 weeks (maybe sooner) if I will get my $$$$ back! Also notified the Calif. Attorney General's Office, Seller of Travel. Attempted to file a claim with the Calif. Travel Consumer Restitution Corp. but LatinAmerica4Less is not a participant, thus I can't file a claim for reimbursement. The owners of this corporation, TopDestinations, Inc. need to be arrested and charged with fraud and embezzlement!

gigiweb2

On September 23rd, our scheduled departure date, the letter confirming the phone call that latinamerica4less was going out of business arrived. It stated their regrets that after 9 years in business, due to unexpected financial difficulties, they were going out of business. They listed all the resources for trying to get our money back. If you paid cash, you are supposed to call them or e-mail them. I dare you to try and get through!

gigiweb2

The name of the topdistination president is Alejandro Vazquez. Maybe the Florida AG would like to talk to him....

mlgb

Travel Zoo posted this info, maybe it will help with the credit card companies

http://www.travelzoo.com/hotels/LatinAmerica4Less.html