FAIRFAX, Va. -- Travel agent arbiter William McGee revoked the ARC
accreditation of Holiday Tours & Travel Inc. of Washington.
McGee said Holiday Tours disregarded his order to return its US
Airways identification plate and failed to deliver on a promise to
make a fresh start with new owners.
The case dated to October 1998, when McGee ordered the agency to
return the plate of US Airways, which terminated its
appointment.
In January 1999, ARC filed a complaint asking McGee to terminate
the agency's accreditation because the plate had not been
returned.
The owner admitted negligence, and ARC agreed to hold the matter
in abeyance while she pursued a sale of the business. By this time,
the agency was ordered to return its Delta plate.
In May 1999, ARC told the arbiter that the US Airways and Delta
plates had been returned, but no ownership change had been
received.
McGee set a June 1 deadline for submitting an ownership change,
but the agency did not comply.
The arbiter in July decided to revoke the firm's accreditation,
ruling that the "seemingly deliberate breach" of his 1998 order
casts doubt on the owner's future compliance.
The agency petitioned for reconsideration, which stayed McGee's
decision.
Holiday Tours finally filed an ownership change in September,
but ARC returned it for errors and incomplete items. Since then,
the agency has not met deadlines to correct the errors, McGee
said.
The arbiter reaffirmed his decision to terminate the firm's
accreditation, saying "it is obvious that the agent ... will
continue to fail to pursue the matter properly."
Separately, McGee let ARC withdraw a complaint against Meridian
Travel Inc. (doing business as Carlson Wagonlit Travel) of Easley,
S.C.
Initially, ARC wanted McGee to terminate the agency's
accreditation on the grounds that it failed to increase its surety.
Instead, the agency filed a voluntary deletion, rendering the
complaint moot.