Stranded

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FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

Stranded

The Points of Light eStore has been closed due to irregularities discovered in the fulfillment of travel packages. As a result, fulfillment of travel originating after July 15, 2008 was suspended. The store was run by an independent contractor.

In discussions with internal sources, I learned that the management of Points of Light Institute, a nonprofit organization, became aware of significant financial and operational irregularities in the way the independent contractor was fulfilling travel purchases made by customers on its eBay Store. Once the Points of Light Institute discovered the problem, they severed their relationship with the contractor and began working with law enforcement, legal and accounting representatives to get to the bottom of it all.

According to an interview between The NonProfit Times and Michelle Nunn, president and CEO of the Points of Light Institute, “Points of Light will fulfill travel through July 15 and work to accept the applications for refunds thereafter… The goal is to refund people within 30 days and begin refunds as soon as possible…”

The Points of Light Institute notified affected customers over the 4th of July weekend and posted a message to their website. They’ve also set up a Customer Care Center number at 800-886-6304. Buyers who already paid for travel which falls after the July 15, 2008 window, can apply for a refund at: http://www.pointsoflight.org/estore/refund.html

More updates to this as things develop but in the meantime, if you are affected, make sure to apply for your refund and visit Points of Light’s FAQ page for more details.

I knew that this could directly impact some of Ink’s readers so I wanted to help provide the latest information on this as best I could. I understand that Points of Light is trying to do right by all the buyers affected and here’s hoping they get this handled as swiftly and effectively as possible.

Cheers,
RBH
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Henrietta / July 9th, 2008 at 2:09 pm

It is always sad when charities get ripped off, unfortunately because they are generally set up by good people they make perfect targets for the ‘not so goods’ among us.

Patricia1 / July 9th, 2008 at 7:21 pm

(henrietta – tried to answer your email but it kept getting kicked back)

Carol / July 10th, 2008 at 5:28 am

Many people have been impacted by this! My daughter was scheduled to leave 7/18 for London. Cancelled on 7/5 and she had paid for this trip last October. The trust and safety discussion boards on ebay are full of extremely sad stories and very angry people.
If points of light refunds money, we will be okay. Many others however, have had weddings cancelled or incurred quite a few additional costs at their former destination that they can’t be refunded for.

Incidently, Points of light told everyone they would be contacted within 24 hours of filing a claim. Has not happened.

AL / July 10th, 2008 at 8:42 am

The customer care line they set up is useless. they only say 2 things: “sorry” and “someone will eventually contact you” No information at all. Someone needs to step up and give all of us who lost money and had travel plans coming up soon the TRUTH!!!!! not a runaround about how we can expect a refund. We need concrete answers!

dimes / July 10th, 2008 at 11:23 am

I’m confused.

Why was a non-profit organization selling travel vouchers?

Does that affect the ability of anyone who has been ripped off to sue them if they do not receive a refund? (Ie, were their payments considered to be charity donations?)

JUST MJ / July 10th, 2008 at 7:19 pm

It is sad when charities get ripped off. Is it not sadder still when charities rip off the public. I know that hundreds of buyers of these trips feel extremely ripped off, cheated and heartbroken. Points of Light is not the victim here, they are the purpetrator. How can they have an EBay store as big as it was and not know what was happening with it. Please! This is bad business, charity or no.

Sharon / July 24th, 2008 at 3:14 pm

Hello, this is Sharon, a representative for Points of Light. I wanted to provide an update on this situation as I know you have a lot of concerns.

First, an update on refunds…
The first wave of refund checks were mailed out on Friday, July 18.

The plan moving forward is to send small batches of checks at regular intervals until the last verified claim is paid. The order in which we are processing refunds is dictated by the availability of verifiable data. We considered a number of alternatives, and determined that this approach is the best way to issue the most refunds as quickly as possible, so we appreciate your patience as we work to refund all buyers. Each time we mail out a batch of checks, we will notify the recipients via email so they know to expect their checks.

We are working as quickly as possible to review the refund requests and go through our verification process. This process requires many checks and balances, and is being overseen by a Top 5 professional accounting firm. It is a highly structured activity, and may be slower than we would all like, but we want to get it right the first time.

Likely your big question will be “what about my refund?” Unfortunately, our Customer Care team cannot provide information about specific refunds. Calling or writing them will not give you any further insight on the status of your claim. We understand and appreciate that this may be frustrating, but we greatly appreciate your patience as we work through this stage of our resolution. Rest assured that your refund is coming.

Also, news on booked travel…
We have provided American Airlines and Fairmont hotels with lists of all customers who had booked flights and reservations when the eStore closure was announced. I have been told that they are working with affected customers who already had reservations who are still interested in traveling. Unfortunately, they will not be able to help customers who had not booked travel when the closure was announced.

If you already had an American Airlines booking, you can call their Meeting Services Department at 800-433-1790 for help with their best-available price on your seats. Only customers who had an AA Record Locator (which we have provided to American) will qualify for this special consideration.

Please note that if you want your flight, you must purchase it from American at least 7 days before your travel date. Soon, they will begin to cancel unpaid seats 7 days prior to travel. Finally, you must contact American before August 15th to purchase your booked flight under this special arrangement.

We are extremely grateful for our partnership with American Airlines and Fairmont, and for their support and assistance.

For more information, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions section on the Points Of Light Web site, at – http://www.pointsoflight.org/estore/faq.html.

Again, please rest assured that if you were an affected buyer with travel scheduled after July 15, your refund is coming. Please understand that we need to follow a detailed process to ensure everything is done correctly.

Thank you.

Angie / July 25th, 2008 at 11:32 am

I called the American Airlines phone # that was provided by Sharon at POL, and American Airlines will NOT give my pricing. They told me that I have to wait for them to call me. This entire process has been heartbreaking, ill managed, and just sad. Shame Shame Shame on POL and their heartless ways. I filed my 6 refunds on 7/5/08 and have not heard a peep or rec’d a refund. If anyone had better luck with American Airlines and getting pricing, please post that or e-mail me. Good luck to everyone affected by this terrible situation.

Patricia1 / July 25th, 2008 at 12:14 pm

“It is sad when charities get ripped off. Is it not sadder still when charities rip off the public. I know that hundreds of buyers of these trips feel extremely ripped off, cheated and heartbroken”

Rip-offs will follow a charity forever. Ask United Way – their scandal in the late 1980’s is still following them around like toilet paper stuck to a shoe!

Carol / August 5th, 2008 at 10:37 am

It is well over the 30 days and most of us have been left with nothing. No communication, no trip, no refund. This is not well done by points of light. They needed to hire the people to be able to refer to specific claims when called.
I could be waiting for months with no hope of any communication because they won’t allow it.

dimes / August 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm

There is a California law that applies to travel companies that requires them to provide refunds 30 days after notifying customers that their travel purchases will not be honored, or be subject to penalties and fines.

It’s referred to in post #1000 on the eBay thread about the Points of Light ripoff:
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000730763&start=1000

and the statute is here:
http://ag.ca.gov/travel/pdf/statutes_2007.pdf

If POL announced on July 4th that it was closing the store and future travel buys would not be serviced, I think this may its last day to make refunds without falling afoul of that law.

Does anyone know if complaints have been filed with the CA Attorney General?

I believe the POL spokesperson refers to an investigation being done by the Washington DC Attorney General, but don’t recall hearing about other state complaints.