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Re: ACIS Warning
Posted by Denise on 9/03/08

Perhaps the complaint was not understood. I paid insurance to cover
the cost of my issues that may come up. However, when we went to
collect on the insurance, we were told that our expenses were not
covered.

First, the company could not even tell us how to get a new passport.
I had to use my contacts and the internet to figure out how to get
her a new passport. Second, leaders insurance is covered via ACIS
and they still wanted me to cover the cost of the hotel and flight
for the leader...when I pointed out that she had insurance, then
they said "Oh yes you are right, we will refund the cost of her trip
to you"

Second, a complaint to the company was handled in a rude manner.
The customer service representative hung up on me because I asked if
I could talk to a supervisor to find out why I was paying for the
teacher when she had insurance. Also, when I called back to say
that hanging up on someone who was not being rude and was not
faulting her, just looking for a solution, she lied about it...even
though I have phone logs showing that I had to place a second
call...there was a claim that I did not call originally.

Then I was told that if I was not satisfied with the company that
the president wanted to hear any comments. So, I sent a letter and
also left a message for him. His secretary called and as stated in
the earlier post, shielded him by not having him contact me.

The ironic part is that while I was at the passport office, a
teacher from another state was in line with me. He said that this
same situation happened to him with ACIS while in France and that
they were not helpful at all. He said that I would never be able to
collect on the insurance for the trip because it is set up to
benefit them and for them to make money. So while they may be
"helpful" if something happens...depending on what you think
customer service is all about, they will not let you collect on your
insurance.

I never said that the situation was the fault of ACIS...what I
pointed out was that if you have an issue, they do not pay out with
the insurance company.

On 8/25/08, Maria D wrote:
> I've traveled with numerous companies and ACIS is a lot better
> than most. They are a little more expensive, but the service is
> great. ACIS is honest and up front about their charges and they
> really do look out for you. One year I tried switching over to
> NETC and paid more money, but had the worst trip of my life.
>
> MAria
>
> On 8/24/08, genef wrote:
>> I am wondering just what you think would have been fair.
>> Your child loses her passport and will miss the return flight.
>> The chaperones have two choices. Leave the kid alone in a
>> strange city to handle things by herself, or have an adult
>> stay behind and miss a flight to help the child. Option 1 is
>> obviously incorrect, so who will bear the extra costs of
>> option 2? It is always easy to say someone else should pay,
>> but how is this situation the fault of ACIS?
>>
>> We actually had this situation come up last year on our trip
>> the night before our return. Through fast action and hard
>> work we replaced the passport in time for the flight, but a
>> call had been made home to let the parents know that
>> additional expenses might be incurred and the responsibility
>> of the parents. We had also discussed this possibility and
>> responsibility in our pre-trip planning meetings. There is
>> no way I would personally incur $1500 of extra costs for your
>> child and not expect reimbursement.
>>
>> On 8/23/08, Denise wrote:
>>> ACIS seems to be a preferred company and seems to do a
>>> decent job. What you must watch out for is if something
>>> happens during the trip. I am a teacher that sent my
>>> daughter to Spain with them this past year. She lost her
>>> passport and the costs associated with replacing it were
>>> all born by my husband and me. The insurance we purchased
>>> didn't kick in till we complained to "high heaven" and
>>> then we only got back a small amount of money. There
>>> appears to be two insurance brochures and it is amazing
>>> how we only received one of them. But when you go to make
>>> a complaint, they refer to this second brochure and it
>>> does not have the same wording as the other brochure.
>>> Therefore they do not have to pay you any extra money. I
>>> tried to complain directly to the company's president but
>>> his secretary shielded him from my complaint. I could
>>> never recommend this company to anyone ever. It cost me
>>> over $1500 to deal with the lost passport and they
>>> refunded me $150.00. They even tried to stick me with the
>>> cost of the plane ticket for a chaperone who stayed with
>>> my daughter when she couldn't get on the plane! They
>>> eventually refunded that when they realized it wasn't
>>> legal.


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Posts on this thread, including this one


• ACIS Warning, 8/23/08, by Denise.
• Re: ACIS Warning, 8/24/08, by genef.
• Re: ACIS Warning, 8/25/08, by Maria D.
• Re: ACIS Warning, 9/03/08, by Denise.
• Re: ACIS Warning, 9/20/08, by joe.