thats what happens when you use a travel agent that has not been apporved by the goverment , if they do not have a ICT license , you are on your own , alot of these companies are nothing more than a webmaster , who knows very little about CR , I have heard of these guys , only thru other tourists being hurt also , sorry ¡

you can file a complaint with the CR institute of tourism , check ICT on your search engine and let them have it

I have noticed that there are two companies with this name , one is with a dash after the 1. and the other is without the dash , are you sure which one you used ? it is confusing

Hey dos, what's your fix for the ICT? They really do nothing but promote CR, they can't help you if you get taken to town, really. Let's not give people a false sense of security.

If a tourist has a problem with service in CR , a claim can be filed with the goverment ICT , and ICT will force a hotel or tour operator to return the money to the tourist , ICT is who regulated the rates of all hotels and tour operators , but , if you are one who encourages tourists to bribe the police , you might not understand the value of the institution ¡

I hate to break it to you, but the ICT DOES NOT regulate the rates for tours or hotels in CR (if they did there wouldn't be this horrific price gouging going on). I thought that since you were a travel agent you would know that. They don't even regulate the tourism taxes. Maybe you should have a look at their charter to better aquaint yourself with your own industry.

It's great if you have an ICT number for dos oceanos tours S.A. but let's not kid people about their powers, which are pretty much zero. I mean, there are numerous posts in this forum where people have gone to the ICT and, whoa.... nothing happened. Just like the BBB in the states, they only have the power to give you a bad review, maybe do some dispute resolution, nothing more.

I wouldn't normally use a travel agent, but if I did use one, I wouldn't use one that hosted their web page on tripod for free. Remember, your web page is your store front and a reflection of you and your service.

Bottom line, for travelers coming to Costa Rica, and ICT number isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

raeintigo , I do not own a travel agency , nor do I want to , I grow blackberries , however , I was a tour guide for most of my life here , in any hotel that is approved by the goverment (ICT) , on the back of the doors in the hotel rooms , the rate is listed and approved by ICT , the same with tours ¡

in my life , at least 50 times , I have assisted tourist that got sub standard service to get a refund , thanks only to ICT . and they all got their money back .

Maybe you should do alittle investigation into this , before you commit yourself ,

yes , there are alot of so called companies doing business here , that are not approved by the goverment , when a tourist gets taken by one of these , they are on their own , they cannot use the goverment to protect them , that is why I always recommend a supplier that is approved ¡

does not this make sense to you ?

wait, did you say approved or regulated? Two completely different things. If the ICT is so powerful how can there be a hotel that's not regulated, hahah, this is hilarious. The whole thing is a joke here and everyone knows it. The ICT even gives away promotional materials to unlicensed operators and hotels, because IT DOESN'T MATTER.

I'm glad you got your number for your agency, and it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. I'll keep telling people it's BS and you can keep touting your ICT number.

Finally, my sister in law works at the ICT, and she used to work at the ICT office in Miami, so I would say I'm fairly well versed in what they can and mostly can't do.

rareintego , do you have a hangover again , wow ¡ why don t you go to the public register and see who is running the travel agent that you think I own ?

I am surprised at your lack of respect for the laws of Costa Rica ¡ telling tourist to bribe the police ¡ and criticizing the Goverment , you must be a republican

Actually I never told anyone to bribe anyone, simply said what I do. And I was not aware that the Republican Party existed in Costa Rica. However I did vote mostly with the PLN last year.

IF you 2 ticos get done flaming each other (though DB seems to be the one that started it), you might notice the weird parallel between your little tiff and that of the "owners" of these two sites. http://www.1costaricalink.com and http://www.1-costaricalink.com/ are very similar in more than just name. Even their logos are virtually the same. There is good reason for that. The two sites ARE related just not in a good way.

As near as I can tell, the owners of the site mentioned here (the one WITH the dash) had some sort of association with the webmaster of the second site and, according to them, hijacked the site for his own ends. IF their claims are true, letting their old webmaster register himself as the domain-owner was their big mistake, which I'm sure they now regret. Anyway you can read a little about the dispute from their side at:

1-costaricalink.com/costa_rica_information/c…

Whatever the truth of the matter, they at least acknowledge the existence of the other website and provide a number to call to find out more about their criminal lawsuit against the other (506-203-6624 or fax 506-203-6621).

I was going to copy part of that page to post here but thought better of getting involved with any potential copyright issues with them. However that page does have some good advice worth paraphrasing. When dealing with any website :

1) Make sure there is a physical address, name, fax and phone #.

2) Look for a business license # and if you have doubts ask for a "Cédula Jurídica" (the local CR business license) or a ICT license number (though presumably if they're a tico company would need the former as one basic qualification for getting the latter).

3) Make sure that c.c. charges are made out to the same company and not some unknown tour operator.

I should add that I think that to be even more certain the contact info should appear in small print at the bottom of each page on the site so you're as certain as you can be of who you're dealing with and who is responsible for it. It is interesting to note that while their names, several US and CR phone and fax numbers and a PO BOX address appear at the bottom of every page, I could find no mention of any physical address or any Cedula number anywhere on that site. Presumably they leave it up to you to ask and check them out when you call.

-------------------------------

The other site (the one WITHOUT the dash) does not list any address (PO or otherwise) or phone numbers of any kind or even any e-mail address (you can only contact them through their contact form which only then reveals their "licensed, reservation fulfillment provider, Costa Rican Trails" and the phone numbers 1-888-803-3344, 506-225-6000 or fax 506-225-8842.) It also makes no mention anywhere of their dispute with their former business associates. HOWEVER, unlike the site with the dash, they do list their Cedula Juridica 3-101-394352 at the bottom of EVERY page. They also provide lots of other license numbers and business names for you to check out, several of which you may already be familiar with. I'll take a risk here and copy part of their site info:

"We are happy to announce our continuing relationship with Marbella Travel and Tours, a licensed, (ICT# OT-263) and long standing, travel agency located here in Costa Rica....

1 Costa Rica Link SA is also proud of our continuing alliance with Costa Rican Trails, one of the largest upscale wholesale providers in the country, with many European suppliers, and unequalled experience in the incentive tours area....Since 1989 (ICT Lic. # 226)....

And, Christopher Howard Retirement / Relocation Tours

(License # DL-231-2004)"

Some of you may know the name Chris Howard from his best selling book on retiring in CR (I even have a copy on my own bookshelf).

_______________

Bottom line - Which of these sites, if either, should you deal with and what, as rarein and DB have been so politely discussing, what does the license numbers really mean?

Well obviously, this post raises some serious issues about the site WITH the dash (assuming Caity didn't get the address mixed up). But I'd have some rervations about the other site as well (the one WITHOUT the dash). At the very least the accusations of the 1st site raises questions about the ethics of either or both sites.

I'd go on to add that, personally, I'm very wary of booking through most sites over the web, particularly the very big ones like both of these. The bigger they are and the greater variety and location of tours they offer, the greater the likelihood that you are going to be dealing with a middleman. Sometimes that is not so bad and any commission is absorbed by the end-vendor. OTOH, I'd rather see the hotel owner or local tico that is actually providing the tour service get more of my vacation dollar. And going through a middleman by its nature increases the risk of miscommunication or even lost reservations somewhere between you and the end-vendor not too mention that in some cases you might wind up paying more (in this case MUCH more) than what the end-vendor himself charges. Even when you think you are dealing directly with a particular hotel through their own website, you may really be dealing with a middleman "fullfillment provider" that handles their web reservations for them. The only ways to know who you're really dealing with is to ASK and also to check the name on any c.c. charges.

As for DB's and rarein's issue, I don't know for certain who is right however I'd suspect that rarein's estimation is closer to the truth. ICT's main function is,like rarein said, as a promotor of CR tourism not as a regulator. Of course it doesn't help promote CR tourism when there are problems such as these and I'm sure there is some sort of registration and possibly complaint resolution aspect to what they do, as DB said. How far they can or are willing to go to help you is another question. I suspect there is not a lot they can do to actually get your money back. You're best bet on that score is still with your c.c. compnay. Registering a complaint might have some benefit, but I suspect it would be about as effective as filing a complaint with the Fuerza Publica. They'll take down your name and number and thats about it. Actually I suspect it would be even less effective since ICT has much less enforcement powers than the police. They don't regulate prices, at least not on the high end. I don't think they can even fine a company let alone FORCE them to refund money. About all they can probably do is maybe, IF there are enough complaints about this company, apply pressure by threatening to revoke their license or essentially "de-list" them (as rarein said. like the BBB) assuming they even still have an ICT #. Of course, if they don't it only goes to show how little that impedes them from being able to continue to rip off people.