Legal Question in Consumer Law in New York

in the summer of 2009 while on the web, i read that by applying to bank of america for a royal caribbean credit card, i'd be able to apply points thru purchases toward amenities on a royal caribbean cruise. wanting to surprise my daughter with a graduation gift, i applied for the card and promptly booked a cruise for us. i'm a single parent of two and i thought this would be an economical way of booking the cruise. i booked the cruise with royal caribbean cruiseline who stated that they would assist us if there were any interruptions to our flights since we purchased an air/sea package...low and behold, on the first leg of our trip, our fight was cancelled (delta) and we were offered no alternative...even after we contacted royal caribbean cruiseline via my daughter's cell phone from the airport several times royal caribbean refused to offer us any assistance whatsoever...my daughter investigated other airlines/flights via her laptop at the airport and there were several airlines offering flights to meet our ship in orlando, florida from albany, new york that we could have taken but royal caribbean still refused to assist us...we wound up going back home..no cruise, no vacation....bank of america refuses to dispute the charges by royal caribbean to my bank of america (royal caribbean) credit card account...i'm being charged $4000 for a cruise air/sea package that was never delivered by royal caribbean and i have the explicit advertisement by royal caribbean wherein they state they would assist us should our flights be interrupted or delayed...i'm paying the minimum each month on this credit card account so as to not ruin my credit standing, but i get more frustrated each time i do.....can i take bank of america to small claims court?


Asked on 2/14/10, 3:29 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Markowitz Michael A. Markowitz, PC

That is a shame. However, to specifically answer your question, "can i take bank of america to small claims court?", the answer is generally no. In many of these contracts there is either an arbitration clause or a clause stating that jurisdiction is in Florida.

I would contact the NYS Attorney General and file a complaint. It seems that there was false advertising on the part of the cruise line, violating NY General Business Law.

Mike.

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Answered on 2/21/10, 10:55 am


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