Dozens of Dominicans They denounced that were scammed for the agency “On vacation in the DR” with the purchase of Trips that were destined for Colombia and Peru.
According to one of the victims, in February of this year her brother-in-law had booked a trip to Peru. They paid 1,200 dollars as a couple. “My husband, my brother-in-law, my sister and I booked the room for a total of 2,400 dollars (equivalent to 143,400 pesos),” said Mrs. SM.
He told Free Newspaper that the trip was scheduled for this Saturday, August 24, however, the day before the Flight, they received several notifications of Instagram on comments from the alleged scam from the company “On vacation in the DR“, located in the Oasis Plaza on Independencia Avenue, in Santo Domingo.
“In the afternoon, around three o’clock, we received several notifications from upset users of the ‘De Vacaciones RD’ website because they weren’t answering and we contacted one of the people who commented, and from there they entered the WhatsApp group where there are more than 600 people,” the woman added.
Despite the warnings and seeing hundreds of messages from other people saying the same thing, SM and his family members headed to the Airport International of the Americas at six in the morning, according to the time scheduled by the organizers.
With her and her companions were eight other people, also clients of the Travel agency. They waited until eight in the evening with the itinerary offered by the Travel company, without receiving any response. “Nobody answered our messages or calls,” she said.
They even went to the airline where they would Travel and there they confirmed what they feared, that There was no reservation in your name.
As the day went on, more people continued to join the aforementioned group, which totaled almost a thousand alleged affected.
The woman reported that they filed a formal complaint with the National Police and are awaiting a response.
“This has been very hard because they are not only scamming us out of our money, but also our dreams of getting to know another country.”who reported that she was scammed by a Travel agency
Colombia: “It was the gift “of my daughter’s 15”
Another case is that of ARP, who was preparing to meet Colombia on the occasion of her daughter’s 15th birthday.
“My daughter turns fifteen today, I had offered her that I would give her that trip to Colombia, since her godfather, who was to take her to Europe, passed away. I started looking for Travel agencies and I found this one through Instagram“, he told Free Newspaper.
The lady fully trusted the agencylike many of the other whistleblowers, He had many followers on social media, he owns an RNC and the images confirmed that his services were authentic.
- “I even saw people from the entertainment industry on their website and that gave me some confidence. I went straight to the office and they sold me everything very wonderfully, I paid for the entire trip for an amount of 1,999 dollars (about 119,440 pesos, believing that he would leave on September 18,” he said.
Even though his trip has not yet expired, he says it has been impossible to locate agency representatives and their offices are closed.
“I made the payment through a card of credit, “So I owe this money to a banking institution. Not only have I lost my money, but my daughter is super sad and disappointed to see her quinceañera dreams fade away,” she concluded.
Like them, other people have turned to the media of communication to raise their voices so that this case does not go unpunished.
Stranded in Colombia
Another of those affected is GRwho is seven months pregnant.
She said that together with her husband she bought a package from Mr. Emmanuel Sánchez, representative of the Travel agency, through an alleged offer for an amount of $1,598.
But he only bought the ticket to go to Medellin“He didn’t pay for our Hotel there or anything, or for our connections to Bogotá, or any tour or anything. He had a debt in the Hotel where we were supposed to stay,” explained the victim.
“I went with the confidence that it was a safe and danger-free trip and that irresponsible person never showed his face, he sent me the tickets One day before we left Colombia and it was always an excuse. AndWe are in the Dominican Republic, but we had to pay for everything ourselves.“.
“On Vacation in the Dominican Republic” statement
Faced with the wave of complaints, “On vacation in the DR” hung a release in their social networks in which he stated that, due to “circumstances beyond his control”, he found himself “in the unfortunate position of not being able to carry out the Trips scheduled for this weekend that we had already sold out, we proposed to the clients to return them in full what they had paid but some refused to accept and started a social media campaign.”
According to him, this caused air, land and Hotel service providers at the destinations Colombia and Peru They will immediately close the credit on which they depended and were “unexpectedly” notified that they will not be able to fulfill their commitments.
“Despite our best efforts to find alternative solutions and ensure compliance with your plans, the current situation prevents us from carrying out the Trips as planned,” the company said. agency.
He said they are “working hard to resolve this situation and to offer possible options, but as of today it is impossible to fulfill refunds or services scheduled for this weekend.”
He said the company “will be in touch with each of them in the coming week to offer the best possible solution.”
“We want to establish that no employee of the company has or had any level of influence over any of the administrative decisions, which are under the sole responsibility of Mr. Emmanuel Sanchez, who is the only one administratively responsible for everything that happened,” he stated.
“We understand the impact this news may have on your plans and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. We value your trust and appreciate your patience and understanding during these difficult times,” the statement concluded.
