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Hobbit Travel customers are left in the lurch
December 24, 2009

When they got married in 1994, Wade and Jennifer Beck couldn't afford a honeymoon so they decided to wait until their 10-year anniversary. They had two kids and a still-tight budget, so that trip went by the wayside, too. They decided to hold out for No. 15.

But their long-awaited cruise in March and the $1,900 they scraped together for it are in limbo after Hobbit Travel closed its doors after 30-plus years, apparently a victim of the struggling economy and declining air travel. Hobbit's closing has left dozens of customers wondering if they are still booked on their trips or scrambling to get a refund. The company is referring calls to its website, which provides customers the numbers of the airlines and cruise lines to call to sort out the mess on their own.

"My wife and I just looked at each other and our hearts sank," Wade Beck, 36, of Maple Grove, said when they got word about Hobbit on the 10 o'clock news Tuesday night. He immediately called Norwegian Cruise Line, which had no record of his reservation or that he had paid for it. He was still trying Wednesday to get through to Sun Country Airlines to see if Hobbit paid for the flight.

About two dozen Hobbit customers contacted the Star Tribune on Wednesday with similar stories, most with cruises lined up for early 2010. Some were OK because Hobbit had paid the airline or cruise line. But many learned the money they paid was never passed along, so they have to work through their credit-card companies for a refund. The experience is made even more frustrating because no one knows when they'll get reimbursed.

At Hobbit's downtown Minneapolis office Wednesday, a lighted Christmas tree sat next to a dark and empty reception desk. Employees were packing up belongings but declined to comment. Hobbit President George Wozniak was not there and did not return phone calls seeking comment. As of Wednesday evening, neither Hobbit nor Wozniak had filed a bankruptcy petition.

Source :- http://www.startribune.com