Hobbled by Hobbit -- the story continues

More than 4,000 Sun Country Airlines customers have been affected by the closing of Hobbit Travel's doors last month -- and as far as I can tell, that's just the beginning.

The 4,000+/- figure was provided to my colleague, Suzanne Ziegler last week, when she contacted Sun Country in regard to Hobbit's recent closure. That is to say: More than 4,000 customers who paid Hobbit Travel for their tickets on Sun Country flights never actually had their flights booked by Hobbit.

If you consider a typical airline ticket costs between $200-$300, that could total more than $1 million. The big question on my and others' minds: At what point does this constitute fraud?

The Hobbit horror stories first began appearing within hours of the company closing its doors last month.

Our original story here:

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/travel/80032372.html

Since then, the can of worms has just gotten messier. Last week, I wrote in this space about some tips to possibly protect oneself from losing your vacation in the event that your travel agency or providers should close their doors.

--- Use a reputable travel booking agency. (Which, in this case, customers did: Hobbit had a somewhat solid reputation).

--- Follow up with the actual vendors to confirm your purchases through your travel agency. For example: Contact Carnival to confirm your cruise. Contact Sun Country to confirm your flight.

--- Purchase reputable travel insurance and read the fine print.

--- Purchase your travel using a reputable credit card, that offers consumer protection for this very kind of scam.

The last two points brought the biggest response to what I wrote.

Of course, no sooner did I write that post than I received an e-mail from a FlexPerks Visa customer saying they'd been getting the runaround. So I contacted Charest to follow up.

True to her word, Charest contacted the customer directly, straightened out the issue and the customer was credited for the loss.

Likewise the case with a HiWay Federal Credit Union customer who contacted me. He was first told to file a "Cardholder Dispute Form" but told not to hold his breath: He'd purchased his trip more than 60 days prior, and was told it thus fell outside the window of an eligible claim.

When I spoke to Ben Wogsland of the Minnesota Attorney General's office, he referred me to his office's "Credit Handbook," which you can download here:

http://www.ag.state.mn.us/Brochures/pubCreditHandbook.pdf

While Wogsland couldn't discuss complaints filed against Hobbit (state privacy laws), and would not dispense legal advice regarding a case like this, one can easily infer from the Fair Credit Billing Act that these flights were, obviously, not delivered as promised. And if one were to parse words, a customer would not be aware of said fraud until he or she attempted to collect the goods.

Suffice to say, if you're a consumer who's getting the runaround from your credit card company on this very matter, Wogsland urges you to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office. Again, their link:

http://www.ag.state.mn.us/Consumer/Complaint.asp

And if you're hoping to see criminal charges filed against Hobbit Travel for all of this? That's not an AG matter, Wogsland said -- that's up to your local state attorneys. Considering there has not been a bankruptcy claim that we're aware of, it's all the more complex. Watch for my colleague Suzanne Ziegler's follow-up story on that in the coming weeks.

As to purchasing reputable travel insurance, I received more than a few complaints regarding the TravelEx travel insurance sold by Hobbit Travel to its customers as well.

Many customers like him had purchased the insurance only to learn TravelEx's fine print.

Specifically from the Travel Select Travel Plan of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, page 15, section h:

"Bankruptcy and/or Default of your Travel Supplier [[ such as the airline or cruise line ]] which occurs more than 14 days following your effective date. Coverage is not provided for the bankruptcy or default of the agency from whom you purchased the land/sea arrangements."

Wow -- it's almost as if an underwriter saw this one coming.

When I called TravelEx in Omaha, spokeswoman Jill Roberts she was unaware of any plans by TravelEx to specifically address the Hobbit claims -- despite the fact that it affected such a large number of customers.

http://www.travelex-insurance.com/insurance/travelbasic.aspx

Furthermore, she said the company also does offer an additional rider to cover any other reasons for trip cancellation not seen there; that rider costs an additional 50 percent of your original policy cost.

(So if your initial policy was $100, the rider would cost you an additional $50).