Ontario family forced to pay nearly $24,000 out of pocket after ‘ticket broker’ ghosts them overseas

By Pat Foran

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    TORONTO (CTV Network) — Last summer, an Oakville family planned their dream trip to Dubai and India, but their vacation quickly soured when they were stranded overseas.

“It was a very, very hectic vacation for us,” Baldip Mann told CTV News Toronto. “I’m still upset because the guy we bought the tickets from is still not responding to us.”

When buying airline tickets for their trip, Mann said his son knew someone who claimed he could act as a “ticket broker” to snag them a great deal. “I said, ‘Ok, if he could give us a good deal, I’m going to get them from him.’ We checked the prices and found we could save quite a bit of money,” said Mann.

He bought four tickets – one for himself, his wife and two sons – for $9,240. The tickets were to get them from Toronto to Dubai to India last July, and they were to receive their return tickets in August after their three-week holiday was over.

But when it was time to fly home, the ticket broker cut off all contact with them.

“He was not answering his phone, he is not answering messages, [and] he is not answering email. So my son said we will have to buy our own tickets to get home, on the spot, the day before,” said Mann.

Paying for last-minute tickets set Mann back $14,650 to head back to Toronto, plus the return flight had several layovers, making it a 30-hour travel day for the family instead of the 13 hours they initially planned for.

Despite Mann trying to save money on flights, he said the whole ordeal cost him $23,890.

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) said consumers need to be careful not to deal with fake travel agents who claim they can get you a deal on airline tickets.

“It’s a complex world. Unfortunately, there are people who are trying to scam people and pull the wool over people’s eyes,” said Richard Smart, President and CEO of TICO.

TICO is the province’s travel regulator overseeing travel agencies, tour groups and websites. Booking a trip with a TICO-registered company may get you compensation if there’s a problem.

“Dealing with a TICO registered travel agency, they are going to receive the consumer protections that are rightly owed to them,” said Smart.

Mann claims the same ticket broker he used also allegedly scammed a large group flying to a destination wedding.

“They booked 100 tickets going from the Greater Toronto Area to Vancouver for a destination wedding and they did not get their tickets as well,” said Mann.

TICO said it has charged people for acting illegally as travel agents when they’re not registered. Last month, the compensation fund also handed out $51,879 to 12 travellers who had vacation problems.

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