My Free Travel voucher service shuts down
CHICAGO
By Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, January 11, 2010
— Voucher promoter My Free Travel, which was recommended to some furniture retailers to replace another failed voucher promoter, laid off its staff and ceased operations in December.
The Better Business Bureau of Chicago reported that the company, a division of Hort Financial Services, closed and was subject to hundreds of complaints through the BBB in recent months. My Free Travel offered free travel, gas and dining rebates with purchases of items such as furniture.
A spokeswoman for the Illinois Attorney General's office said it was looking into the voucher program.
Steven Horwitz, executive vice president at My Free Travel, was unavailable for comment.
My Free Travel was a replacement program at some furniture retail stores for BBZ Resource Management of Mesa, Ariz., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late June.
One of those stores, St. Louis-area retailer Rothman Furniture, confirmed that it is exploring legal options against My Free Travel, which claimed to have a 20-year history and said its voucher programs were insured, according to Jay Steinback, vice president of Rothman.
Rothman is working with its customers to resolve disputes, he said.
“We've been in business 82 years and never had anything this horrible with our customers,” Steinback said.
Steve Phillips, who co-owns several Ashley stores mostly in St. Louis, ran the voucher promotion last February through BBZ. After BBZ filed for bankruptcy in June, Phillips said he was sold the My Free Travel program as a replacement by an agent of Michael Pouls, founder of Kidz-Idz and president of Customer Loyalty International, or CLI.
Phillips said My Free Travel had no intention of fulfilling BBZ's promotions.
“It is an impossible business model. I can't believe I fell for it a second time,” he said. “It's a Ponzi scheme with groceries.”
Phillips said he now has one person dedicated to fulfilling the promotions with a choice of three options — a cash settlement, an internally monitored monthly grocery rebate program, or store credit.
“I have yet to hear of a legitimately run (voucher) program,” he added. “I don't know where it is and I don't want to know where it is. I don't know of any company that's made good on these deals.”
Phillips said he has no plans to sue My Free Travel.
Pouls did not return phone calls. But CLI manager Mindy Hershorin, who is also a contact for voucher promoter Star Rebates, said in a statement, “Unfortunately, My Free Travel has failed to honor its commitments to the companies and consumers that were promised rebates.” She added,
“My Free Travel is responsible for fulfilling on the promises My Free Travel made to its customers.”
Hershorin did not return phone calls. In e-mails, CLI did not say whether it was still offering a voucher promotions program.
A St. Louis Post-Dispatch story said that My Free Travel's principal and director of sales, Eugene Vinnykov, told the newspaper earlier that his company had underestimated the complexity of its program and hired extra workers.
Meanwhile, the Victoria Times Columnist reported that Dodd's Furniture, a Victoria, British Columbia-based retailer, lost at least C$100,000 through the program.
Dodd's officials were unavailable for comment. The store is offering either an in-store credit on purchases or a flight and two nights in a hotel in Las Vegas to replace the promotion.
My Free Travel follows BBZ and Tidewater Global Marketing Consultants of Largo, Fla., as a third major voucher promoter to furniture retailers to go out of business.
Most of the complaints against My Free Travel were from consumers who were denied rebates for free gas and groceries because they did not provide of a copy of a state-issued identification. That condition that wasn't disclosed to consumers when they signed up for the promotion, the Better Business Bureau reported.
The BBB said that consumers with complaints should contact the Illinois Attorney General's Fraud Hotline.
My Free Travel's BBB accreditation was revoked by the consumer protection agency on Dec. 30. The agency had given My Free Travel — against which the BBB had processed 721 complaints — an F rating.
My Free Travel has regional offices in New York, Boston, Dallas, Phoenix, Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Omaha, Neb., Sacramento, Calif., and Toronto.
Several furniture retailers were the subject of litigation in 2009 due to consumer complaints about the vouchers.
Retailers entered into agreements with marketing firms that offered promotions such as free gas and grocery vouchers to entice customers to buy furniture. Consumers were supposed to be able to turn in receipts from gas and grocery purchases, and then receive debit cards for the value of the promotion.
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Third voucher firm ceases operations
Jan 4, 2010
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