The perfect trip to Panama City for the low price of $209 might not be as perfect as the advertisement predicts.

For two NIU students, Eva Ernest and Kathy Verveniotis, their dream vacation turned into a nightmare.

The problems started when the company, Campus Marketing Inc., changed the departure time from 8:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. one day before the departure date. This time change posed problems for Verveniotis and Ernest because of their class schedules.

“When we found out the time change we called a CMI rep and they assured us it would be no problem to take a different bus,” Verveniotis said.

When the time came to get on the bus, however, the driver would not let them on.

“Not only was the bus for a different company going to Panama City, the driver was not notified that we would be on the bus,” Ernest said.

Said Verveniotis, “I was crying hysterically when after arguing for an hour he would still not let us on.”

The CMI representative was notified about the mix-up and spoke to the driver who agreed to let them on but only on separate buses.

For Ernest the ordeal was over and she arrived in Panama City in 19 hours. For Verveniotis, however, her bus ride was another story.

“There was an oil leak in the bus and we had to go four hours out of our way and then we had to wait in the bus for seven hours and no one was allowed to get off the bus,” she said.

After getting to Panama City, both women found that the pool, included in the price, was not working and a CMI representative was not there to complain to.

“We basically had to find out ourselves the fun things to do because the company did not have that information available for us,” Verveniotis said.

When the vacation ended, the bus driver again would not let them board the bus.

“The bus driver was not given a list and since we were on a different bus the first time he did not recognize our faces. We had to call the rep again to clear up another mix-up,” said Verveniotis.

“After arriving home we called CMI to ask for a refund for the transportation portion of the trip, and they told us to write them,” she said.

CMI Regional Manager Jan Berry said, “We combined our tour with another company, Intercampus Marketing, and they were in charge of the bus arrangements. Therefore, the students will have to talk to IM if they have complaints with the bus arrangements.”

“Many students feel they cannot afford to plan a trip with a travel agency. So they take advantage of a company and give up the reliability that a travel agency must have,” said Donald Henderson, director of student’s legal assistance.

“Students should remember the old saying, ‘You get what you pay for’ when planning a vacation,” said Henderson.