hoyoto

case closed

Sebring

The travel agency will be responsible for making payment to Air Canada, so if they haven't received the money from you, they may cancel the flights. A fraud has been commited and it should be reported to police. The agency, not you, should be the one reporting it, assuming Lydia was acting as their employee.

hoyoto

...........

aaac

I am sorry to hear that you have been cheated like this.

To answer your questions, if Lydia was still an employee of the TA then they are responsible for reporting the fraud not you. On the other hand since you do not seems to have a receipt from the TA, you are not on a perfect ground to pursue the matter in court. But you seems to have the e-tickets but I did not see the ticket fees section on the ticket. If you do have that on your e-ticket then you have a good chance to take the TA to court as the ticket is considered paid for.

Note: Your e-ticket still show the names of the passengers, you would want to blank them out.

hoyoto

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djjaguar64

This sounds like one of those drama series you watch on tv. I have never known anyone who would transfer money to unknown people's accounts. Especially after you hear all the stories about fraud etc. When you buy a ticket you either go to the TA's office or you pay by credit card so as to protect yourself. I would hold yourself liable for your loss and no one not even AC is responsible for your act.

airbus320

Looking at the e-ticket link, I see that the e-ticket was issued on 09 April 2007 on 014 stock.

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/6566/eticketla0.jpg


Unless I am missing something in this situation, tickets are not issued unless payment has been accepted.

The pax seems to have a valid e-ticket....and the travel agency bears some financial responsibility for the action of an agent.

I am however not a lawyer....

djjaguar64

Airbus320 you are absolutely correct, tkts are not issued unless payment is received and that is what makes this story even more suspicious.

ylwae

The OP is apparently posting for a friend. Regardless, no need to pour salt into the wound. If an employee of the agency committed the fraud, the agency may bear some responsibility. But I'm no lawyer, either.

mudd_stuffin

This is such a horrible story. I do not think there is a way to sort this out before the original departure date.

I actually disagree with other posters here as to who has the responsibility to report the fraud. It depends on how the situation gets sorted out (i.e., who got defrauded in the end):

Situation 1: The ticket is not cancelled and the OP's friend gets to fly on April 27. In this case, the agency has been shortchanged by Lydia and the agency has been defrauded. So the agency should go to the police.

Situation 2: The ticket is cancelled by the TA and the OP's friend loses out on $2,200. In this case, the friend has been defrauded by Lydia acting in her capacity as an employee of the agency. So the OP's friend should go to the police to report Lydia and the TA.

The TA must know they are on weak grounds here and must know that they are potentially on the hook for the passengers' tickets. If they were adamant on another payment for the tickets, they would have cancelled the ticket right away. There would have been no need to "meet to discuss". So if I were the OP's friend, I would definitely proceed on the assumption that the ticket is good until cancelled.

YYZFlyboy

Anyone who would blindly send cash to another under these circumstances for an airline ticket probably deserves what they get.

I see that the part of the ticket that indicates how the ticket was actually paid for is conspiciously missing from the image on the post. If I was a betting man (which I'm not) I would wager that the ticket was bought with some poor unsuspecting buggers stolen credit card number.

I can tell you that if AC has not been paid the ticket it will not be honoured on the travel date. This sounds a lot like a credit card fraud where tickets are bought online with fraudulent cards and then resold under the table via some availbale only by phone or email "travel agent" or through "a friend". When AC detects this (and they will) the passenger will be denied travel (wherever they are at the time) and will likely face the police themselves when they either check-in or return home.

Cost of stupidity - priceless!!

hoyoto

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Stranger

First thing to verify: can they really do that?

Second, at the very least you should have proof that you sent to money to Lydia *and* clearly she was an employee of the TA. And the ticket was issued.

I think the TA is trying to bully you into paying again because he does not want to lose. I would play hardballs with them.

1. You paid their employee who clearly represented herself as such, *and* she issued the ticket. So their is a strong indication that a deal was indeed made.

2. However the employee ran away with *the TA's money.* No longer your at this point. His problem.

3. If he continues to threaten to cancel the ticket, let him know that if he does that you'll take him to court for the amount of whatever replacement ticket you may have to buy. Probably much more than the $2200.

4. However when/if you see the guy mellowing, be prepared to be reasonable.

I wonder. Isn't the TA also part of the game? Whole thing smells.

Crampedin13A

I've always wondered about these TA's that offer really good fares to Asia. I think I'd rather take the marginal hit and stick to aircanada.com.

Shareholder

Call the Metro Toronto Police Fraud Squad. That's how we deal with such matters in this country. Also, tomorrow contact the Travel Agencies of Ontario organization which all TAs must register with. The manager is being less than ingenuous about this situation, and he is as guilty as your friend for hiring such an employee. (BTW are TAs not supposed to be bonded?)

It should have been a red flag when she asked for cash, no matter what the rationalization is. This fare is only marginally better than what could have been purchased on the AC website at $1200 per person. So look at all the aggrivation and problems because you tried to save a few dollars!