by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:40 AM ET, Wed February 24, 2021
Despite a Wisconsin court approving the sale of ShoreTrips to the Hornblower Group for $1.8 million, the travelers who booked excursions with the shuttered company will not receive full refunds.
According to Travel Weekly, court-appointed receiver Seth Dizard revealed the sale would be enough to cover secured creditors and pending administrative claims, but said customers who paid nearly $5 million collectively would receive a "substantial percentage of their unsecured claims."
Dizard claims it is too early to determine what percentage of their money travelers would get back, but the deadline to submit claims has been extended a month to April 1 to give creditors and impacted customers the chance to respond to the court's decision.
Milwaukee County circuit court judge Timothy Witkowiak said that while there were "a number of objections had been filed to the proposed sale," only one travel advisor spoke against the sale as part of the hearing.
"I am disappointed that all the big fish will get their money, and all the consumers will not," Mosaic Travel Design's Jason Webb told Travel Weekly.
Witkowiak and Dizard acknowledged the concerns shared by travel advisors impacted by the sale, with the court-appointed receiver revealing he would conduct a full investigation into the business once the sale is complete.
ShoreTrips filed for protection in November and the court revealed the company had only $100,000 in cash, yet exceeded $6 million in debt, including $4.76 million in customer deposits and payments, $974,324 in accounts payable and $345,000 in long-term debt.
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