AZ Consumer Fraud Lawsuit Filed Against Arch Vacations

PHOENIX - Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced his office filed a Consumer Fraud Lawsuit against Phoenix-based Arch Vacations, Inc. and its President, Darlene Ziebell.  The lawsuit alleges Arch Vacations and Ziebell violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act by using deceptive sales tactics to convince consumers to buy vacation packages. The lawsuit further alleges the company and Ziebell unfairly omitted important facts causing customers to misunderstand what they were purchasing.

An Attorney General’s Office consumer fraud investigation discovered Arch Vacations allegedly used telemarketing to sell “Arch Travel Certificates.” Arch Vacations is not a registered telemarketer with the State of Arizona. The lawsuit alleges in part that the company represented to consumers that purchasing an Arch Travel Certificate would “lock in” the price of a vacation, but, in fact, consumers were often required to pay significantly more in costs and fees to take a desired vacation.  Additionally, the lawsuit alleges the company did not disclose important facts about redeeming Arch Travel Certificates, including that the company may wait until up to one day before a departure date to confirm travel reservations.  The lawsuit alleges that in some cases, consumers who purchased Arch Travel Certificates were not able to take desired vacations because Arch Vacations failed to make travel reservations.

The lawsuit asks the Maricopa County Superior Court to impose injunctive relief and require Arch Vacations and Ziebell to pay consumer restitution, civil penalties, disgorgement of profits, and the costs of the investigation and litigation.

Assistant Attorney General Evan Daniels is handling this matter.

If you believe you have been the victim of consumer fraud, you can file a consumer complaint by contacting the Attorney General’s Office in Phoenix at (602) 542-5763, in Tucson at (520) 628-6504, or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at 1(800) 352-8431.  Bilingual consumer protection staff members are available to assist. Consumers can also file complaints online by visiting the Attorney General’s website.

View a copy of the Consumer Fraud Lawsuit.