The Milton man said he had been impressed by what AVG Travels tours promised and he and his partner decided in October to book an 11-day tour to China, which was due to start this week.
They paid about $4000 for the trips and waited, and waited, and waited for confirmation.
They had an early itinerary, but they were anxious as the departure date loomed. Details were scant and the information was not forthcoming.
But on May 15, an email from AVG Travels arrived saying regrettably the tour had been cancelled and their money would be refunded in the next 50 to 60 business days.
However, yesterday afternoon the man learned the company had gone into liquidation.
‘‘We’ve been ripped off. It’s just the stress of, you know, what was a trip of a lifetime, and it is just gone,’’ he said.
‘‘They’re not up front with their clients. They don’t answer your calls. Once they’ve got your money, it’s very hard. There’s a lot of people like us that are out of pocket, a lot of money. You talk to other travel agents in Dunedin. Normally refunds are available seven to 20 days, max.’’
He said hundreds of travellers from Australia and New Zealand were involved, and they would all be owed money.
He said some New Zealanders left Christchurch yesterday to head to China on an AVG Travel trip, hours before the company went into liquidation. Those people may land in China and have nowhere to go, he said.
AVG Travel had an office in Auckland but it did not answer calls yesterday.
‘‘When you phone their 0800 number, it goes through to Melbourne, to their offices. They do have a physical presence there, but in the Auckland offices, it’s only a virtual office.
‘‘I’ve had emails in response, but they tell you nothing.’’
A woman called Daisy Lee had responded to his emails about a refund, he said.
‘‘I got sent a smiley emoji with love hearts yesterday. Well, to me that was an insult.’’
To him the company was running a Ponzi scheme:
taking the money early and then leaving it late to book the flights and accommodation at a cheap rate.
But with the cost of air travel sky-rocketing they got caught out, he said.
‘‘We got caught up in it — the flash website, the nice pics. It all looked so great.’’
Two social media sites have been set up by customers upset by their treatment by AVG Travels.
Melbourne business services company McGrath Nicol yesterday confirmed to the Otago Daily Times it had been appointed liquidator of AVG Travels.
It said the liquidators had assumed control of AVG Travels’ affairs and was undertaking a review of the business to determine the best course of action to preserve value for stakeholders.
Ongoing operations had been suspended and all customers who had booked with the company would be contacted.
