Howard County officials have ordered a Kings Contrivance company to stop telemarketing free vacations because the trips could cost consumers at least $230, authorities said yesterday.

The "cease and desist" order was issued Oct. 17 against Global Services Network, in the 9700 block of Patuxent Woods Drive.

The travel company would call customers offering them a free vacation if they went to the company's offices, said Stephen Hannan, administrator for Howard Office of Consumer Affairs.

Once customers arrived, they would sit through a presentation and then were given a reservation request form that required them to send a $100 deposit plus $130 in taxes, which is against Maryland law, according to Hannan.

"In this state if you say it's free, then it has to be free," he said.

James Clayton, president of Global Services Network, based in Kansas City, Mo., said yesterday that a vendor who was working with the company on a trial basis mistakenly made the free vacation offer.

The vendor has not been retained, and the company paid the fees for about 30 people who were offered a free vacation, Clayton said.

The company will not be fined, said Hannan, who added that he was unaware of any Howard County customers who paid for the vacation. But the Office of Consumer Affairs asked anyone who attended a Global Services Network presentation to call 410-313-6420.