They identified themselves as Carribean Cruise Lines. They were trying to collect on the remainder of my account. I replied that I paid them off the first year. Last year they called and said that I still owed around $1000. I thought I had already paid it off, but I paid it anyway. He said that it expired. I told him I was told it doesn't expire. He apologized and said sorry I was given bad information, the Govt requires that there be an expiration date. He said that they would credit what I had paid (i.e. he admitted that I had paid the previous amounts) towards a more expensive vacation. I only owed another $986.00. I accused him of scamming me since my wife had investigated and found all the stuff associated with this name and had called Caribbean Cruise lines and they denied any association with this group. He replied that We ARE Carribean Cruise lines and we own the ship. After more back and forth over 20 min or so, he put me on the line with another guy who eventually ended up just about yelling on the phone. He got to the point of saying he was not going to force me to go on my cruise, that he was trying to help me not lose on my investment. I told him that I had nothing from them proving I owned anything. He said that that was because it had expired. I told him that I had no proof he was who he said he was. I said that if I called Carribean Cruise lines and they acknowledged him as an employee, I would consider it. He said fine, but the deal was off if I hung up. I said I have another phone. I Googled Carribean Cruise lines and it connected me to Carnival Cruise lines. I called the number and explained the situation and asked if they had a Richard Smith (Yeah, right I told the original caller, but I figured what the hell, if Carnival said they had a Richard Smith...) In any event, they didn't. So he offered to give me the "direct" line. 800-869-2337. I immediately googled it and it came up with a plethora of sites dedicated to exposing this scam. I told him and he had a ready answer saying that you can't please everyone and that I would find sites complaining about Walmart. Eventually he said, He has my Discover information and asked if he could put my balance on it. I told him not to charge one additional dime on my account. He said he would have to list the account as delinquent. I told him that it couldn't be delinquent if they had provided me with nothing of value and merely wanted to charge me additional money for something I had not received. He said that once the conversation ended I would lose my investment. I laughed and said that proved that it was a scam, that legitimate businesses don't operate that way. I have an MBA. At this point he starte raising his voice and I eventually said I was merely upset at losing a few thousand dollars, but now he was getting me mad and inspiring me to call the Federal Trade Commission. He came back with other stuff and I finally said don't bother me anymore and hung up.
