Seniors Cry Foul On Bay Terrace Travel Agency

Four Bayside senior citizens complained this week to The Queens Courier that a Bay Terrace travel agency has robbed them of a trip of their lifetime.
The seniors claimed that the company, Starlight Tours, Inc., a fixture inside the Bay Terrace Shopping Center, owes them a combined $17,000, which to date has yet to be repaid.
Steve and Judith Cohn had waited years to take a one-month trip to the South Pacific. Last January, the couple said they gave a check to Ana Alamonte, owner of Starlight, for $498 (to cover deposit and insurance) for an April vacation. Nearly a month later, the Cohns paid the balance of their trip, over $13,500.
Three days later, the tour operator, Globus and Cosmos, cancelled the trip due to lack of interest. After re-booking their trip for late-June, the couple said they were assured by Starlight that Globus had received payment in full for the trip.
The Cohns dream vacation spiraled into a nightmare on April 1, when Steve suffered a herniated disc and landed in a hospital bed. Unable to go on the tour, the Cohns cancelled their trip. Protected by the insurance they had paid, the Cohns fully expected to have their money refunded.
What they say they would soon discover was that Starlight had mailed to Globus only the initial payment of $498. "This sum is the total amount of payment that we have received for this booking," wrote Pamela Puterbaugh, quality control for Globus, in a letter to the Cohns last August 1. Globus said they had never received the balance, and thus, could not refund it.
The Cohns said after repeated phone calls to Alamonte went unreturned, they went back to Starlights Bay Terrace office to confront her. Time and again, with little success, the Cohns say they discovered that their travel agent "had all but disappeared." Finally, last August, after months of desperate pleas to have their money returned, the Cohns were issued a check by Starlight for $13,874. Relieved that their nightmare was finally over, the Cohns attempted to cash their check. But, they say, the check was returned because the account had insufficient funds.
Gloria Farells story mirrors the rocky road travelled by the Cohns. Last March, Farell and her friend Carmella Altieri booked a trip with Starlight to tour Portugal with Globus. The ladies gave Alamonte $239 each as a deposit, and in June, paid the balance, $1,596 apiece. The week before they were to depart, Alamonte notified Farell and Altieri that the trip was cancelled, again due to lack of interest. The women booked a second trip, for August 13 , which was also cancelled. Determined to get to Europe, they re-booked their trip with another tour company, Trafalgar.
Claiming the initial payment had yet to be returned by Globus, Alamonte asked for an additional $1,500 from Farell and Altieri. Under the premise that their initial payment would be refunded within the month, Farell paid for the second trip on her Visa card.
Once they returned from their trip, the two friends discovered what Steve and Judith Cohn already knew: Ana Alamonte was nowhere to be found. "I
had no reason to doubt her," Farell said. "She told us you will have your money returned."
Believing they may have fallen victim to a scam, Farell called Globus Tours in Littleton, Colorado, for answers. What she discovered only confirmed her worst fears.
"Alamonte had only sent the deposit, and had never sent the balance," said Farell in a letter to New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. She also said Ana was supposed to inform her "whether we would accept an alternative date for the cancelled tours and never did. Therefore we have lost our deposit since the invoice lapsed. Now we have lost the entire $3,600."
Repeated phone calls by The Queens Courier to Starlight Tours, Inc. went unreturned by press time.
Upon further investigation, Farell discovered that Starlight Tours was not a member of the American Society of Travel Agents. ASTA is the travel trade association that sets standards for its members.
Farell and Altieri claim they can neither find nor contact Alamonte; only a secretary, who professes to know nothing of the matter. In addition to contacting Spitzer, the women have filed complaints with the Office of the Attorney General in Colorado, the Queens District Attorneys Office, and the New York Department of Consumer Affairs. A civil case in small claims court on the matter will be heard on November 1.
However, despite the pending litigation, Farell realizes that time is running out. "Its just not right," said Farell. "We dont know whether there could be others they have done this to. We are afraid we will never get our money. We want to stop this."
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