Texas targets “unethical” Royal Palms Travel club

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By Christopher Elliott

They promised Hans Slatosch the world. Literally.

In a sales presentation he attended a year ago, Dallas-based Royal Palms Travel offered him deep discounts on cruises and other travel products. All he had to do was pony up a $5,593 membership. He did.

But something about the transaction made Slatosch uncomfortable. The sales staff had pressured him to make a decision before he left, and they wouldn’t let him keep the material they’d distributed, he says.

Once we got home I researched Royal Palm Travel on the Internet and found very unfavorable information about it. The company was described as a fraud, a scam and accused of unethical business practices.

Now we feel uncomfortable doing business with the company, and are afraid we are victims of deceit.

Slatosch tried to fix his mistake.

The following day, I spoke to Arnulfo, the membership representative, and asked him to cancel our application. He informed me that since we signed the contract, it is binding. I did send a registered letter to Royal Palm Travel within three days to request the cancellation of our membership, but to no avail.

My advocacy team and I have handled countless claims like this one, so when Slatosch came to me for help, I knew Royal Palms Travel would not give me the time of day. Only the long arm of the law — either by authorities or in court — could help him find justice. So that’s what I recommended.

Travel Leaders Group is transforming travel through its progressive approach toward each unique travel experience. Travel Leaders Group assists millions of travelers through its leisure, business and network travel operations under a variety of diversified divisions and brands, including All Aboard Travel, Andrew Harper Travel, Colletts Travel, Corporate Travel Services, CruCon Cruise Outlet, Cruise Specialists, Nexion, Protravel International, SinglesCruise.com, Travel Leaders Corporate, Travel Leaders Network and Tzell Travel Group, and its merger with ALTOUR. With more than 7,000 agency locations and 52,000 travel advisors, Travel Leaders Group ranks as one of the industry’s largest retail travel agency companies.

Slatosch filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General. Yesterday, he got some good news: Texas had cracked down on Royal Palms Travel.

According to court documents filed by the state, Royal Palms Travel Inc. and All Inclusive Excursions falsely promised steep discounts as part of travel club memberships they offered through a “shell” company, Sealand Travel Club. The memberships actually had little or no value.

In response to the state’s enforcement action, a Dallas County District Court today issued a temporary restraining order against the defendants that prevents them from continuing to violate the law.

That’s good news for Slatosch and any future victims of this travel club. (Related: I paid $6,995 for a travel club membership – did i just get scammed?)

I find it amazing that people still fall for this nonsense. A travel club that offers “discounts” in exchange for a huge membership fee? Take-it-or-leave-it sales tactics? Come on. I thought the scam artists perpetrating these predatory businesses had all moved on to Internet gambling or bogus job placement services. (Here’s our ultimate guide to joining and leaving a travel club.)

Needless to say, if you ever find yourself in a presentation in which someone offers you discounts for belonging to a travel club, run, don’t walk. I’m sure Slatosch wishes he had.

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Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers consumers to solve their problems and helps those who can't. He's the author of numerous books on consumer advocacy and writes three nationally syndicated columns. He also publishes the Elliott Report, a news site for consumers, and Elliott Confidential, a critically acclaimed newsletter about customer service. If you have a consumer problem you can't solve, contact him directly through his advocacy website. You can also follow him on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or sign up for his daily newsletter. He is based in Panamá City.

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