Business ProfileforDarlatours LTD

In November 2019, Darla Tours came to the attention of BBB. At that time, BBB had received complaints from consumers who had paid for a trip to Ireland which was subsequently canceled. BBB wrote to Darla Tours and asked when customers could expect to receive refunds for the canceled trips. BBB did not receive a reply. 

Darla Tours has failed to provide the travel services paid for, failed to respond to consumers, and failed to issue refunds.

BBB carefully reviewed the Fair Credit Billing Act which reads as follows: "The FCBA settlement procedures apply only to disputes about billing errors. For ex. charges for goods and services you didn't accept or that were not delivered as agreed". 

The Federal Trade Commission advises that consumers who used their credit cards to pay for a nonexistent trip are eligible for the protection of the Fair Credit Billing Act and can request a chargeback from their credit card company. BBB is advising consumers to initiate chargebacks for the charges from Darla Tours. 

On March 10, 2020 the Ohio Attorney General’s Office filed a civil lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court alleging defendants Darla Tours LTD and Darla K Moore individually committed unfair or deceptive acts and practices in violation of Ohio consumer protection laws. 

According to the lawsuit, defendants solicited consumers, including via the website www.darlatours.net and via Facebook, for the purchase of group vacation tour packages, and sold domestic and international vacation packages to Ohio consumers and accepted payments from consumers for vacation packages. Consumers typically paid Defendants over $4,000 for their vacations, usually via a payment plan. 

Defendants allegedly told some consumers that their trips had to be canceled or postponed and then failed to provide refunds to those consumers whose trips had been canceled; and failed to deliver the vacation packages that consumers had paid for. Some consumers paid in full for their trips but then requested to cancel and asked for refunds more than six months before their planned trips, as permitted by defendants’ contracts, and defendants allegedly failed to honor consumers’ cancellation requests and failed to provide refunds to consumers in accordance with their contracts, and when defendants received inquiries from consumers who had not received their requested refunds, defendants allegedly would assure the consumers that the refunds would be received shortly, and despite these assurances, defendants allegedly never provided the refunds.

On Oct. 7, 2020, a final judgment entry by the court ordered defendants to pay $92,726 in consumer damages involving 10 consumers and to pay a $25,000 civil penalty and enjoined the defendants from engaging in business in any consumer transactions in Ohio until such time as they have satisfied all monetary obligations ordered by the court. The court also restated the findings of fact and conclusions of law and orders that were included in the court's default judgment order of June 16, 2020, finding that the defendants committed unfair and deceptive acts and practices.

For more details you may wish to contact:

- The Ohio Attorney General's Office Help Center

Toll-free: 800-282-0515 or Local: 614-466-4986, 30 E. Broad St., 14th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215, http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/

- The Franklin County Clerk of Courts office,

373 South High Street, Columbus, OH 43215, phone 614-525-3600, http://www.franklincountyohio.gov/clerk/cio.cfm or online http://fcdcfcjs.co.franklin.oh.us/CaseInformationOnline/