‘There won’t be future victims’: Frustrated former customers relieved as B.C. city revokes travel agency’s licence

Serious allegations against a Richmond travel agency have led the city to revoke its business licence.

The municipal business licence of a travel agency is being revoked following months of complaints from customers and amid an ongoing criminal investigation by the local RCMP’s economic crimes unit.

During a Richmond city council meeting Tuesday where multiple people who allege they paid the agency for travel services they never received were present, council voted unanimously to revoke the municipal business licence for Vegas Vacations—which has operated a storefront in a local mall for more than 15 years.

The decision comes after Consumer Protection B.C. cancelled the provincial business licence in January over a failure to submit financial statements and multiple customer complaints.

• Read more: B.C. travel agency has licence cancelled, as frustrated customers fight for refunds

The city had previously allowed Vegas Vacations to continue operating in Richmond for the sole purpose of refunding existing clients. However, after little progress, council voted to strip the company of its licence.

Arthur Leung was at the meeting Tuesday. Earlier this year, he was among multiple people CTV News spoke to who described similar experiences with the business—including unexplained credit card charges and promised refunds that never materialized.

“They’ve since stopped talking to us,” Leung said Tuesday.

A report submitted to council in support of yanking the business licence included a letter purportedly written on behalf of dozens frustrated former customers who allege they are owed refunds ranging from $4,000 to $83,000.

“It’s dispiriting that Vegas Vacations has continued to operate and perpetrate what appears to be a systematic, deliberate scam,” the letter reads.

CTV News reached out to Vegas Vacations for comment about the council meeting but was unable to reach anyone. No one from the business attended Tuesday’s meeting, and a written request by one of its representatives to adjourn the matter was voted down.

The Better Business Bureau says it is aware of complaints about the company and has issued it an ‘F’ rating.

“It’s pretty bad,” said Neesha Hothi, with the BBB. “What that says is that you’re not co-operative and you’re not communicative,”

Andrew Beesley, a lawyer at Munro Crawford, says affected customers should pursue available remedies—including initiating credit card chargebacks. Beesley adds that other options are available.

“They might just be looking at recourse through the civil law system, which would mean, a lawsuit or a claim,” he said.

• Read more: RCMP’s economic crime unit investigating B.C. travel agency

Consumer Protection B.C. administers a travel assurance fund where those impacted who have been unable to get refunds or chargebacks can apply to be compensated up to $5,000 per traveller, but claims must be filed within six months of the loss.

Leung says he applied in early March and is still waiting for a response.

Despite the financial impact and stress of the ordeal, Leung says there is some relief in the city’s decision.

“I think in the long run, it doesn’t make too much difference for us current victims,” he said.

“It’s great that there won’t be future victims.”

The Richmond RCMP, in an email to CTV News, said the criminal investigation into the business is ongoing.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Lisa Steacy