The trail of debt and customers left stranded continues to spiral in the wake of a travel firm collapsing this week.
Alameda Travels Ltd. shut up shop Monday morning at its office in Admiralty Centre on McKim Way, just south-west of the Cambie and Garden City roads intersection.
More than a dozen customers are known to have been left thousands of dollars out of pocket by the firms sudden closure.
And its now being claimed by one customer that Alamedas owner, Deanna Leung, forged initials to alter a cheque made out to the travel company to pay for flights to Shanghai.
"Last weekend I went to check my bank statement and I noticed a cheque that I made out to Alameda for $2,396 had been changed to be payable to Deanna Leung," said Tingting Yao.
"She had forged my initials on the change, I couldnt believe it."
However, it didnt become apparent there was a problem with the two flights shed booked until Sunday evening, when a former Alameda employee called her to say the firm had folded and she should check her flight reservations.
"I called Alameda but, of course, there was no answer," said an angry Yao.
"I then called the airline, China Eastern, and they said my reservations had been cancelled because Alameda owed them money.
"I dont know if Ill ever see my money again."
No one answered the door at Alamedas office and its phone number clicks directly into voicemail.
Yao is one of at least nine people who have contacted
Consumer Protection BC about the sudden closure.
The consumer watchdog, which is responsible for enforcing consumer law and issues travel firm licenses, said it received a call from Alameda Monday morning to say it was "ceasing operations immediately."
Consumer Protection BCs vice president of corporate relations, Manjit Bains, said she doesnt yet know why the firm folded and how many customers are affected.
Alameda held a license for many years with the organization and a compliance inspector is working on the case right now to find out the extent of the firms troubles and exactly how many customers are affected.
If you have booked travel services through Alameda, you will need to fill out a travel assurance claim form as soon as possible.
If you feel you need to claim through the BC Travel Assurance Fund, log onto www.consumerprotectionbc.ca. All claims to the fund must be filed within six months from the date the travel services were not provided. The fund is a last resort and provides possible compensation for consumers who did not receive the contracted travel services they bought through the licensed agent.
