Families out nearly $2K after summer band trip canceled by company

ATLANTA — A dream trip to Europe for hundreds of high school band students has turned into a nightmare for their parents after they say a tour company held thousands of their hard-earned dollars hostage.

Amanda Livingstone, a senior at Dawson County High School, was among the metro Atlanta students chosen as part of a music ambassador’s program that was to tour and play music in 7 European countries.

“My daughter and I went on this trip two years ago and it was a wonderful experience,” Renee Livingstone told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik.

This year, she was going to bring her younger son, also in the band, along for the trip.

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“My husband said we’ll figure out the finances and we’ll go,” she said. “We had to pay in full as of November 2019.”

The tour, put on by a Denver-based company called Voyageur’s International, cost more than $6,000 per student and was scheduled for June.

Then, a pandemic struck.

“The president of the company, due to the Coronavirus, has cancelled the whole trip,” said Livingstone.

According to a letter sent to parents on March 17th, parents would be receiving all but $1900 of their money back.

“The cancellation policy, as per contract, will still apply,” the letter said. “VIL has made payments for travel arrangements that it will not be able to recoup…thank you for understanding.”

Livingstone and other parents don’t understand the policy, especially since many airlines and other travel companies are refunding customer money because of these extenuating circumstances.

“I was very upset, of course my kids are very upset about not getting to go,” she said. “There’s about 3,700 people from across the United States in 15 different states that are all in the same boat.”

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Livingstone said many parents held fundraisers to cobble enough money together to send their kids on the trip, and many are now out of work because of the pandemic.

“This money’s just gone,” she said. "These families could truly use this money in this hardship of times.”

Paula Laderoute’s son, Bryce, attends Milton High School and was also planning to go on the trip.

“It’s just disheartening to lose that much money for nothing and be lied to,” she told Petchenik. “We’re looking to get all of our money back just to reschedule.”

Petchenik called the company’s office number and nobody answered. A voicemail message directed parents to submit grievances by mail only and the voicemail box was full and could not accept messages. Petchenik also e-mailed an address for the owner. He received the following response from a law firm Tuesday afternoon:

We represent Voyageurs International, Ltd., (“Voyageurs”). I am providing this letter to you in response to your email of today’s date advising you are doing a story on the summer tour cancellations. Thank you for seeking Voyageurs response.

Let me provide some background on Voyageurs. Student music tours is all Voyageurs does. Voyageurs has been in business for 50 years providing music tours to Europe for U.S. high school students, it is not a travel agency. Voyageurs maintained an A+ rating with the BBB until this unfortunate event. The outbreak of COVID-19 caused Voyageurs to cancel the 2020 summer European tour season, which Voyageurs continues to believe was the best decision under the circumstances. This is an unprecedented and most unfortunate situation. Voyageurs understands that for many students this was a once in a lifetime opportunity tragically and unexpectedly interrupted by the outbreak of a global pandemic. Voyageurs has and will abide by its contract in good faith.

Voyageurs continuously monitored government warnings about traveling abroad. A quarantine on arriving in Europe (estimated at 14 days) would completely defeat the tour. Voyageurs sent out cancellation letters on or about March 16, 2020.

Participants on Voyageurs tours travel by airplane, through airports, on trains and on buses. Participants stay in hotels. Voyageurs could not comply with the social distancing recommendations.

However, when faced with these challenges, the President of Voyageurs, in his discretion as permitted by its contract, decided to cancel the upcoming summer tours. Voyageurs feels terrible for the students and parents, but Voyageurs’ concern for the wellbeing and safety of all Participants is its priority.

You may wonder why I took the time to share with you the information Voyageurs had at the time it cancelled the summer tours. Some Participants are advising Voyageurs that it had no legitimate reason to cancel the summer tours and that they welcomed still sending their student abroad. Voyageurs felt differently about the safety of all concerned, particularly given all that is unknown about the virus, the inability to predict or control vendors, public accommodations and governments in foreign countries and the potential for a resurgence, potentially catastrophic consequences for the travelers.

I am not sure if you have seen a Participant Application/Contract (“Contract”). I will attach one to this letter for your review. The Contract is 2 pages, legal sized. It is written in plain English and is not difficult to read or understand. Each Participant signed the Contract. Most Voyageurs tours cost approximately $6400. The Contract clearly states the amount of a cancellation fee based on a cancellation by a certain date. Pursuant to the Contract, a cancellation in March 2020 resulted in a cancellation fee of $1900. If Voyageurs had waited until April to cancel, the cancellation fee would have increased. If Voyageurs had waited until May 1, 2020 to cancel, the Participant would have received no refund. Voyageurs determined with the information it had in mid-March that it was necessary to cancel at the earliest time and not subject Participants to further costs. This was in an effort to mitigate expenses to the Participants. In deciding not to wait, Voyageurs ensured the largest possible refund to Participants based upon the information then available. In hindsight, that decision certainly seems reasonable and correct.

On p.2 under the RESPONSIBILITY section, the Contract allocates the risk of an event like cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Contract states "In the event that the U.S. State Department issues a travel advisory against travel to Europe for any reason which applies to your tour scheduled travel dates and specific itinerary cities and such advisory warning causes Voyageurs to cancel a tour(s), cancellation shall be made in accordance with and monies will be refunded subject to the cancellation schedule set forth in this contract. In accordance with such advisory warning, Voyageurs would only cancel your tour within ten (10) days prior to your tour scheduled travel dates. The president of Voyageurs has in his sole discretion the right to cancel any Voyageurs tour in case of war or terrorism or for any other reason and refunds shall be made in accordance with cancellation schedule set forth in this application/contract." It did not matter whether the government issued a travel advisory or if the president of Voyageurs decided in his discretion to cancel the summer tours, the cancellation fee schedule applies. As you can see, the CANCELLATION SCHEDULE is set out in capital letters and bolded on the bottom of page 1 of the Contract. Again, by cancelling in March and not waiting until April or May, each Participant received a larger refund.

The last paragraph of the Contract states, “The undersigned student and parent/guardian hereby declare that they have read the contents of the foregoing application/contract and are fully cognizant of the conditions of operations in said brochure and application/contract.” Further down it states, “I understand and agree that the above cancellation fees are necessary due to non-refundable deposits made on my behalf to airlines, hotels, other vendors, administrative costs and general costs of business.”

Voyageurs has been issuing refunds in the approximate amount of $4500 per Participant.

Voyageurs pays the expenses related to tours of this type well in advance of the trip. Group travel differs greatly from individual travel. Each vendor requires a signed contract to secure group reservations. Each contract has different terms and conditions and most of those contracts have cancellation fees. Most tour travel companies have cancellation fees to cover the costs they incur. It is very common in the industry. Please bear in mind that Voyageurs does not receive refunds and credits like individual travelers but is subject to the contract terms of the vendors to each tour. Voyageurs does not carry insurance for cancellations; however, some Participants choose to purchase their own travel insurance.

Voyageurs’ cancellation policy takes into account the investments made for tours far in advance of their departure. In addition to tour costs, Voyageurs has continual costs of doing business, paying employees, rent, marketing, overhead, currency conversion fees, taxes, etc. All of these factors go into setting the cancellation fees set forth in the Contract. Moreover, the cancellation fees were not created for the COVID-19 virus. They have been in the Contract for years. This is not a windfall to Voyageurs.

Contrary to the allegations by some of the complainants, a quick internet search brings up numerous situations where travel was not fully refunded due to cancellation fees. I would also note that most of the Participants did not object to the cancellation fee amount. We assume they understood it was a contractual provision that they agreed to.

Thank you for seeking the response of Voyageurs.

Sincerely,

John R Flanders John R. Flanders Attorney

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