UTOvacation is horrible. We purchased a 10-day vacation package to China in February 2022, for travel on November 2, 2023. I made 3 payments in early February 2022, totaling $2,334. I provided all requested documentation, and waited for UTOvacation's email requesting final payment. I waited patiently for their email request, and I finally contacted UTOvacation advising that I still had not received a request, after the time I thought they would be sending it. They said, because we did not make a timely final payment, our trip was canceled. Like many other people who purchased from UTO experienced, the option they offered was a credit on another trip. Any new trip (to any of their locations) would cost a lot more. I conducted an ongoing chat with UTO for over a week, requesting a refund, and providing all requested back-up information, and got nowhere. Because of this, I tried to get a credit card refund, but Visa couldn't help because the billing statement for the purchase was in the spring of 2022, and we didn't know there was a problem until the summer of 2023 (which is well beyond the credit card's 60-day within billing complaint time frame). During my lengthy chat with UTO, the company stated they sent a request for final payment to us. I kept EVERY email correspondence with UTO, and did not receive such a request. UTOvacation could not provide proof that they emailed the final payment request email to either me or my husband. In other words, that email didn't exist. They are definitely a crooked company and I hope people will see all the negative reviews and complaints and will not do business with them. They have already cheated too many people. Because of our early purchase, there were, at that time, no complaints against UTO. Now there are hundreds! For obvious reasons, I still want to receive a refund, rather than investing even more money in UTOvacations for another trip that may not materialize.
Claimed loss: $2,334
Desired outcome: Refund of money