Tour buyers pay first, go nowhere

Dozens complain that Leisure Activities and Tours will not refund their money for canceled tours. The company says it's "backlogged.''

By ANITA KUMAR

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 19, 2000

Dorothy and Chester Lazowski didn't want to spend Thanksgiving alone.

The retirees, recent transplants from New Jersey, were trying to get accustomed to living hundreds of miles away from their children and grandchildren. The holiday only made them miss their family more.

They were searching for something to do Thanksgiving weekend when they ran across a newspaper ad for Carolina Country Hoedown, a four-day, three-night fun-filled trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., dubbed country and western's new home.

For $239 each, a tour company, Leisure Activities and Tours, would provide them with five meals, three shows, a city tour and a shopping excursion. But just two days before the scheduled Nov. 24 departure, the company phoned the Lazowskis to tell them the trip was canceled because there was not enough interest.

With their holiday ruined, the Lazowskis just wanted their $500 back. But after making a half-dozen calls to get a refund, the couple were told they were on a list to be paid. So the Lazowskis waited.

It's been four months, and they are still waiting.

"Thanksgiving was a disaster," said Mrs. Lazowski, who lives in Holiday. "If (the trip) was canceled, why didn't we get our money back? ... We don't know what to think."

Dozens of similar complaints have come into local and state consumer protection agencies about Leisure Activities and Tours, a Bradenton-based company that has customers throughout the Tampa Bay area.

It is always the same complaint: Customers paid upfront for tours -- to casinos in Biloxi, Miss., Mexican cruises and Devil Rays games -- but their trips were canceled just days before they were expected to leave. Leisure Activities either didn't issue refunds or did so only after months of being pressured by consumer groups, customers say.

Lloyd Crossman, who owns the company, said he owes some refunds and plans to pay everyone back.

Berne and Hilda Replogle's refund eventually materialized -- but it took three months.

"I don't think they ever planned to go on the trip," said Berne Replogle, a Pinellas Park resident who paid for a trip to Myrtle Beach with his wife. "I felt this company stole my money. Something needs to be done to stop them."

Complaints mount up

The Pinellas County consumer office has fielded complaints about Leisure Activities. So has the state consumer office in Tallahassee. And the Sarasota Better Business Bureau lists them as having an unsatisfactory record.

Crossman opened Leisure Activities in 1997 after selling a St. Petersburg-based tour company, Educational Tours and Travel. He advertises in the Travel section of the St. Petersburg Times, the Bradenton Herald and smaller publications, such as the community newspaper in Holiday.

Crossman said he has had a tough year and that he owes some refunds but said he has never had significant problems before.

"We're backlogged with refunds," he said. "We had a very bad year. We're just trying to stay alive."

But consumer records show Crossman has had problems longer than one year.

State records list 14 complaints since 1998 for Leisure Activities. Pinellas records list 14 complaints since 1995 -- six with Leisure Activities and eight with Educational Tours. The Times consumer column, Action, also has received more than three dozen others.

One came from St. Petersburg residents Devona and William Woodman. The couple spent $338 on tickets for a four-day trip to Biloxi, Miss., in January. They paid with a money order because they were told the company would not accept credit cards.

Two days before they were set to leave, they found out the trip had been canceled.

The Woodmans, both 67, are retired and live on Social Security. They say they allow themselves only one trip each year. But they may not take a trip this year because they lost money on one they never took.

Crossman, 59, spoke to a Times reporter briefly in February before refusing to comment further or give names of satisfied customers. "I see no purpose," he said. "I don't want to add fuel to the flame." Crossman, who taught at Gibbs High School in the 1980s, had his teaching certificate revoked for three years for not reporting his criminal record when applying for his certificate. The Pinellas County School District fired Crossman, said Ron Stone, schools spokesman. State records show convictions for disorderly intoxication, writing a worthless check, driving under the influence of alcohol and disorderly conduct.

Group shelled out $1,600

Theresa Bishop, 68, an avid traveler, said her experience with Crossman has persuaded her to never do business with Leisure Activities again -- and she is having doubts about other tour companies as well.

Mrs. Bishop of St. Petersburg frequently takes tours. She even took one with Leisure Activities and had no problems.

But when she and three friends paid $1,600 for a trip to Branson, Mo., in December 1999, it didn't go so well. The seven-night trip that included shows and casinos was canceled. "That's $1,600 we're out," Mrs. Bishop said. Although Leisure Activities makes customers pay for the entire tour upfront, other Tampa Bay area tour companies don't require that. They seek a deposit.

Consumer protection experts say customers should know what they are buying, how much they are being charged and what happens if a tour is canceled.

The state requires travel agencies to be registered with the state, and the ones that take money upfront, to post a bond that would be used to pay back customers if a company goes out of business or is unable to pay refunds.

Terry McElroy, spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said residents should feel free to call the agency at 1-800-HELP-FLA (800-435-7352) to determine whether a company is registered, bonded and free of complaints.

Otherwise, consumers may learn about a company the way some Leisure Activities customers did.

-- Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.

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