Customers are complaining that, a year after a Westbrook organization canceled their trip to the Olympics, they’re still waiting for a full refund of the money they paid for tickets, according to a report Monday by CBS 13 investigative reporter Jon Chrisos.
Since the canceled trip, the Better Business Bureau has revoked the organization’s accreditation and the Maine Attorney General’s Office has stepped in to mediate customer complaints, Chrisos reported.
The National Association of African American Studies, based in Westbrook, planned a group trip to the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, collecting thousands of dollars from customers from all across the U.S. But just a month before the games, customers say the trip was canceled, and they’ve been fighting to get their money back ever since, with limited success.
The association’s Executive Director Lemuel Berry, Jr., did not respond to phone calls or emails from CBS 13, and a visit by Chrisos to the group’s Westbrook office found the door locked.
The customers who spoke to CBS 13 said they paid $6,000 for two tickets for the trip and were promised refunds, but received less than half of their money back in the year since the cancellation.
“We were really, really devastated,” said one customer, Darla Beadle, from Pasadena, California. “[We] paid every single dime to the penny even before the money was due and never went on the trip. Unfortunately, we watched it on TV.”
In a letter to the customers, Berry said that of 108 people who originally sought to go on the trip, 71 backed out because of zika virus fears, forcing the cancellation. But those who were still intending to go told CBS 13 they should have been fully refunded.
“They still had the Olympics,” said one such customer, Brenda Todd from Cleveland, Ohio. “Our position is, ‘You canceled the trip, you should give us our money back.’”
The Maine Attorney General’s Office confirms it’s now working to mediate complaints from customers.
“The purpose of our mediation program is to get the two sides together to come up with a solution that works for everyone,” said Martha Currier, a complaint examiner for the office.
The Attorney General’s Office is asking any customers who are seeking refunds from the association related to the canceled Olympics trip to contact it at 1-800-436-2131 or at consumer.mediation@maine.gov.