FAIRFAX, Va. -- Travel agent arbiter William McGee refused to lift
liability from a California agency for seven boxes of blank ticket
coupons that were stolen in a night-time burglary in October 1998.
The decision leaves the agency, Julie Zamil (doing business as
TravelMart) of Woodland Hills, vulnerable to pay for debit memos
sent by airlines that honored tickets issued on any of the 7,000
stolen automated ticket and boarding pass (ATB) coupons.
The boxes were taken by burglars who drove a car through the
front window of the agency, then scooped up the boxes of tickets. A
supply of stock in the office safe was not taken. The agency was
held liable because the amount of stolen tickets exceeded the
allowable on-premise supply under ARC security rules.
TravelMart had one working printer, and therefore was allowed to
keep one box of coupons in the printer plus one spare box locked up
in the office, according to the rules.
The agency argued that it actually had five printers, and the
owner testified that she interpreted the rules to mean that she
could keep 10 boxes of tickets on the premises, two per
printer.
But McGee elicited the fact that two of the printers were
disconnected and stored atop cabinets, one was an "ancient"
teletype printer and one was used for invoices and couldn't print
ATB stock.
McGee was quick to point out that the rules allow one box "in
use" in a printer, plus a spare box that "must be locked up at all
times."
"Security problems are not new to this agency," McGee said. He
noted that the agency entered into an enforcement settlement with
ARC in 1988 over "essentially identical provisions."
"Such an event, including a fine...should have placed a
reasonably diligent agent on alert for future problems of this ilk.
Instead there is testimony that virtually the entire inventory of
tickets was kept on the premises, and thus all were stolen save for
a supply removed from the [functioning] printer and placed in the
safe that very night," he said.
McGee also dismissed an argument by TravelMart that the violence
of the burglary made it tantamount to an armed robbery. ARC does
not hold agents liable for stock stolen at gunpoint.
The case started last April when the agency appealed ARC's
decision that it could not be relieved of liability. The arbiter's
decision was issued last July and reaffirmed upon reconsideration
last December.