colormagic

So I week ago I paid a membership to www.courier.org (International Association of Air Travel Couriers). I think that was a mistake! I have not heard from them yet. They definetly took out the 22.50 from my bank account, but no access to any Courier flight listings, anything! I called the number listed on the website, and nobody answers ( message actually says "the google voice number is not available"). and when I call the number listed on my bank account, some insurance guy carlos rodriguez's office answers and says that they have been receiving plenty of callers from the so called air couriers.
Are they a fraud?!
Anybody know anything about courier flight these days?

Scifience

I found this thread from several years back that seems to indicate that, at least at the time, the site you mention was not a scam.

However, disconnected, free, VoIP phone numbers are always a red flag, and the site appears to be in something of a state of disrepair (broken images, etc.), so I wouldn't be entirely surprised to learn that the domain has been taken over by a scammer or simply abandoned (but still collecting money).

Of course, if you still can't get anywhere, I'd go ahead and file a chargeback request with your credit card issuer indicating that you never received the service you paid for. In any case, good luck!

lin821

(bolding mine)

I doubt the chargeback advice would work.

Reading the OP, it seems a debit card or bank account was used to complete the transaction. Debit card charges don't offer the same protection as credit cards (read this thread in ORP Forum for more details), so OP is at the mercy of the bank. OP may try to contact the bank but chances are the fund can't be recovered.

Two advices for OP:

1. Use credit cards for any purchases. When things go wrong, at least you'll have a better chance to be covered.

2. Before conducting any business with unfamiliar merchants/companies/parties...etc, you should research first before jumping in. I was able to google up this MSNBC coverage (2007): Air courier travel no longer a bargain.

Here are some sampled existing threads on air courier:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/budge...r-flights.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...attendant.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...er-travel.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...3-courier.html

Scifience

Actually, assuming the transaction was processed as a Visa/MasterCard transaction (ie, not PIN-based), you should be able to file a chargeback:

While I've never personally disputed a debit card transaction, I know several people who have done so successfully. The primary difference between debit card and credit card chargebacks, as far as I understand, is that with a debit card, your money is not returned until the investigation has been completed.

CMK10

I've disputed a few charges with my Bank of America Check Card and at least with BofA, they credit you the money up front pending the results of the investigation.