Group says travel agent failure left them stranded in Jamaica

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ATLANTA — A local group on a trip to Jamaica says the travel agent they hired, never paid for their hotel rooms. For months, hairstylists and clients of Flavaz hair salon say they've been sending the agent money for the trip. In total, group members say they paid about $1,100 each for the trip. There were about 22 people on the trip. 
 
"We paid her every month on time, $140 a month, we get to Montego Bay, Jamaica, and none of the rooms are paid for," said Doug Thompkins, who owns the shop on Moreland Avenue.
 
"We are stuck in Montego Bay, Jamaica looking like refugees, we are like what are we going to do now," Thompkins said. The group says they ended up paying out of pocket, again, to stay at the resort.
 
The group gathered at the salon on Sunday to figure out what to do next. They each had receipts from when they paid the travel agent throughout the year, and the bill, when they had to pay again out of pocket to stay at the hotel in Montego Bay.
 
"There were people that had rent to pay, mortgages to pay, car, house notes for them to come out of pocket again when when they thought they were taken care of, really broke a lot of people down," said Jeanette Thompkins, who also went on the trip.
 
Channel 2 Action News tried to reach the travel agent through Facebook, and  phone, but have not hear back yet.
 
The travel agent sent a message to the group that read in part: "It is with deep and sincere apology that I take full accountability for the disorganization that took place during the booking of your trip. I would be remiss if I did not maintain a level of transparency with you regarding the details. While in the process of securing your reservations in August, there was a high level of fraudulent activity occurring in my business account. Allowing my pride to get the best of me, I was reluctant to reach out to each of you and deliver alternative option of moving forward with booking."
 
The text goes on to say she will work to reimburse "any out of pocket expenses that were paid in lieu of the lodging mishap." So far, group members say they have not received any reimbursements.