FAIRFAX, Va. -- Travel agent arbiter William McGee dismissed a case
brought by a California agency that failed to report sales worth
$219,990 and tried to keep its Airlines Reporting Corp.
accreditation. The agency was Razias and Sultan Ahmad (doing
business as Leader Travels) of Anaheim.
In March, ARC demanded the agency's ticket stock and plates
after discovering the unreported sales, and the agency filed an
appeal with the arbiter. Leader Travels told McGee that it gave up
all its stock, but ARC's records showed 6,200 documents unaccounted
for. Under the ARC contract, an agency must account for all its
stock before it can file an appeal of this nature.
McGee said Leader Travels presented no final accounting of its
stock, and therefore, "no right of appeal exists." Leader Travels
petitioned for reconsideration, claiming it voided and destroyed
the stock. But McGee said, "There is no proof in the record." While
the case was pending, ARC terminated the agency's
accreditation.
In another case, McGee ruled that ARC properly terminated the
accreditation of Century Travel, an agency in New York. Century
Travel admitted placing cash sales on its own credit card because
of cash-flow problems, but it said no fraud was intended and ARC
had insufficient reason to terminate its contract.