Customers Out Money, Stranded After NJ Travel Agency Shuts Down
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Bloomfield, New Jersey-based Club ABC Tours has apparently gone out of business. The lights were out and doors closed at their building when WCBS 880 checked it out on Wednesday.
This has left customers from throughout the region stranded or out thousands of dollars in booking fees.
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Jack Guarcello of Commack, Long Island among them.
"So far, I'm out $2,500. No notification were out and I'm being told that I'm not the only one, that there are people stranded in Europe," he told WCBS 880's Mike Xirinachs.
He counts himself lucky to at least not be stranded overseas.
Guarcello says he knows of one travel group that arrived in Europe only to learn they had no lodging.
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The New Jersey Better Business Bureau is being flooded with calls from stranded travel customers.
"Club ABC had been accredited with us for 10 years. So, this was a well-established company," NJ BBB President and CEO Melissa Companick told WCBS 880 reporter Levon Putney.
She said it's hard to say what's behind the shutdown, if not money.
"I feel badly that there's really not more that the BBB can do," she saod. "We're getting the information out there."
They're referring them to state Division of Consumer Affairs, which can take action against the travel agency, and could possibly get some or all of customers money back. You can reach them at 973-504-6200.
But Companik says, for future reference, folks should pay for travel by credit card.
"Talk to your credit card issuer to see if there's any way that they can reimburse that charge for you," she said.
Have you been left out in the cold by the shutdown of business? Share your story below.
