ailed suppliers have ghosts. It
happened with Eastern Airlines. The carrier teetered, tottered and
fell, but its ghost -- in the form of a trustee -- came back to
haunt travel agents.
Long after the "Wings of Man" were clipped, the carrier's
trustee was looking to get money back from agents.
Enter Renaissance Cruises. For most of its history, the cruise
line did everything it could to stick it to travel agents. Only
after it became moribund did the company "see the light" and start
preaching the gospel of agency distribution. It was too little, too
late.
Renaissance sailed into history two weeks after 9/11. Now,
nearly two years later, its ghost, in the guise of the line's
estate, is looking for agents to give back commissions on cruises
that were paid for but never operated.
Not many agents are likely to write a check made out to the
ghost. In fact, ASTA is pulling together a class-action lawsuit on
behalf of its members to stop the nonsense. The cost of
representing all agents is prohibitive, ASTA says, but nonmembers
can get into the plaintiff class by joining the Society. It's also
possible that a judge could extend the class to all agents.
Meanwhile, the Society's legal department is advising members
who have been served with a summons or named in a complaint by the
ghost to seek private legal counsel immediately unless otherwise
notified by ASTA. If immediate legal assistance is needed, the
Society has arranged with Guy Bailey, an attorney with Bailey &
Dawes in Miami, to assist, for a fee of $250, in preparing
responses to demands from Renaissance's estate.
It's ironic that agencies find themselves embroiled in a battle
to rid themselves of inappropriate calls for repayment of
Renaissance commissions. The bookings on file at Renaissance as it
neared the end of its run came from agencies that were forgiving of
the line's anti-agent history. These agencies were willing to
suspend disbelief and accept the protestations of Renaissance's
management that the line was ill-advised in trying to cut agents
out of the distribution process.
Agencies accepted Renaissance's mea culpa. ASTA went to lengths
to forgive the line, as well, preparing to welcome it back as a
full-fledged member.
The failure of Renaissance, coming on the heels of the national
tragedy of 9/11, wasn't a surprise -- although it might have been
avoided if the line had forged ties with agents much earlier.
Now, the very agencies that tried to save Renaissance are being
asked to give up the small amounts they retained in acting to keep
the company afloat.
We trust that a judge will see the light and send the ghost of
Renaissance back to its eternal rest.