A travel agency can make the process of booking your spring vacation quick and painless, but choosing the wrong agency can turn your dream vacation into a nightmare. Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is advising consumers to do their research before booking their next vacation.

In 2012, BBB received more than 7,000 complaints nationally against travel agencies and bureaus. Most complaints allege consumers felt misled by travel offers that failed to deliver on promises, or worse, paid money for travel arrangements that were never made.

Follow these tips from your BBB to ensure your trip will be memorable for all the right reasons:

• Use a travel company you trust. Ask family and friends to recommend a company they’ve used and go to bbb.org to see the company’s BBB Business Review. You can also utilize BBB Member Pages to find a BBB Accredited Business to work with.
• Get all vacation details in writing. Get all the details of your vacation in writing, including travel itineraries and booking confirmations. Get a copy of the company’s cancellation and refund policies, and ask questions.
• Verify reservations. Get the contact information for the airline, car rental company and hotel you’ll be using. Call to confirm all arrangements.
• Consider travel insurance. Travel insurance is designed to cover such things as trip cancellations or medical emergencies. Before purchasing any type of travelers insurance check your homeowner’s or medical insurance policies to see what is already covered.
• Pay with a credit card. Paying with a credit card gives you additional protections should something go wrong with the travel reservation.
  
• Be on the alert for travel scams. Unsolicited mail, email and faxes offering deeply discounted travel packages could leave you out a vacation and money if you’re not careful.

Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is joining with over 60 federal, state, and local government agencies, and national organizations to promote consumer education during the 15th annual National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), March 3-9.

“We’re very excited to be a part of National Consumer Protection Week,” said Kim States, BBB President. “This week is all about teaching consumers the tools to make smarter purchasing decisions, and that’s exactly what we plan to do.”

Each weekday during NCPW, BBB will issue a consumer protection tip via its Facebook page- www.facebook.com/soazbbb- on a variety of consumer related issues, such as credit and debit cards, buying a car, giving wisely to charity and other important marketplace issues. Consumers are more than welcome to offer their input or pose any questions they might have about each tip on BBB’s Facebook page.

One of BBB’s many partners in NCPW, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), recently issued its Consumer Sentinel Network Report for 2012. The FTC uses data from 27 federal and state law enforcement agencies, and a host of private entities- including BBB- to create the report. Some of the 2012 report’s findings included:

• Arizona ranks eighth in the U.S. in fraud complaints, and eighth in identity theft complaints.
• The Sierra Vista-Douglas metro area ranks 12^th in the country for consumer fraud complaints.
• Arizona consumers filed 33,434 fraud complaints and 7,032 identity theft complaints last year with BBB, the FTC, and other law enforcement agencies.
• The top three national complaint categories in 2012 were: identity theft, debt collection, and complaints about banks and lenders.
• Nationally, consumers reported losing more than $1.4 billion to fraud in 2012.

To read the entire 2012 Consumer Sentinel Network Report visit www.ftc.gov. For more information about National Consumer Protection Week visit www.ncpw.gov.

According to year-end statistics, Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona provided more than 690,000 instances of service to local consumers in 2012, up 30 percent from 2011.

The increase in service was driven in part by a 64 percent increase in consumer requests for industry specific lists of BBB Accredited Businesses, and a 27 percent increase in consumer requests for specific BBB Business Reviews. Consumers usually request the business “rosters” and Business Reviews when deciding on a company to do business with.

Despite the overall increase in instances of service, complaints filed with BBB were down one percent compared with 2011. Southern Arizona businesses successfully resolved 69 percent of complaints through BBB’s voluntary process, with Accredited Businesses leading the way, resolving 97 percent of their complaints, while non-Accredited Businesses resolved 57 percent of the complaints filed against them.

Based on BBB’s experience in 2012, here are the top five scams or pitfalls that Southern Arizona consumers should be on the lookout for going into 2013:

Deceptive Mail: BBB offices took hundreds of calls in 2012 from recipients of deceptive letters in the mail. Many of these letters had the appearance of a bill or invoice, but were simply solicitations for services or products. There were also reports of letters that told recipients they’d won free airline tickets, but of course, they didn’t. Fraudulent sweepstakes letters also continued to be a prevalent scam.

Auto Repair Services: In 2012 Southern Arizona consumers filed more complaints against auto repair services than any other industry, and only 64 percent of those complaints were resolved. BBB currently gives 36 Southern Arizona auto repair services letter grades of a ‘D’ or an ‘F’ for either not answering or not resolving complaints filed against them. While there are many more auto repair services that resolve their complaints, and maintain ‘A’ grades, BBB strongly recommends that consumers consult www.tucson.bbb.org to find a reliable auto repair service next time your car is on the fritz.

Smartphone Malware: Whether its mobile apps loaded with malware, counterfeit QR codes that take smartphone users to websites that load viruses onto their phones, or Near Field Communication-a technology which allows two devices to exchange data when in the proximity of each other-scammers who use the new technology to remotely steal information from your phone, 2013 promises to see its fill of mobile phone related scams. Consumers should be cautious before downloading any new app or scanning a QR code without ensuring it comes from a legitimate source. If your smartphone has NFC technology make sure you leave it switched off except when you need to use it. This will prevent thieves from breaking into your phone without you knowing it.

Debt/Mortgage Relief: For many Southern Arizona consumers 2012 was yet another tough year financially, and many people are still looking for ways to get out of debt or keep their homes. Unfortunately, scammers take advantage of desperate situations. Bogus mortgage and debt relief programs will continue to pop up in 2013. People will receive offers and solicitations that they think are the answer to prayers, but they will just escalate the problem. Check out mortgage and debt relief programs before doing business with them. And, be extremely wary of checks that show up by surprise in your mailbox.

Internet Shopping: As more consumers turned to the Internet in 2012 to make purchases, complaints about Internet shopping increased as well. Complaints were about non-delivery of items paid for, late delivery and customer service issues. One Southern Arizona-based online company called Blade Empire-which sells knives and swords-tallied 19 unanswered complaints from consumers around the country who say they never received the products they ordered.

For more information on scams and other marketplace issues, consumers can contact BBB by calling (520)888-5353 or by visiting www.tucson.bbb.org.