St. Clair County universities sue travel business for $105,000 after canceled band journey

Months soon after large faculty band excursions ended up canceled because of to the pandemic, parents from a amount of Alabama college systems are nonetheless ready to get their money again from a Florida journey company.

Thursday,  St. Clair County Board of Training and Springville Band Boosters submitted a criticism towards Musical Places, Inc. and Joseph Cooper in St. Clair County Circuit Court docket.

The lawsuit alleges Musical Destinations owes the plaintiffs $105,865. The cash was to include transportation, motels and tickets to Orlando Topic Parks for a large school band trip.

Monday ABC3340 Information will air a exclusive report on our investigation.  

Plaintiff Legal professional John Rea suggests company owner Joseph Cooper initially promised refunds but has given that quit returning cellular phone calls.

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Rea says their investigation shows significant vendors and Disney refunded payments again to Cooper, so it is unclear why he is not returning the money to the schools. The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, fraud and unjust enrichment.

“It truly is like a slap in the face,” states St. Clair University Superintendent Mike Howard.  He clarifies they had been initially advised by the proprietor anything would come by great. Then all interaction stopped. Howard states people are battling and need their income back. He estimates mom and dad are out $500 – $1,000 each dependent on fundraising. “I are not able to think it can be arrive to this parents have earned better,” remarked Howard.   

ABC 33/40 News has also discovered other colleges such as Dora Higher University are searching for refunds from Musical Places.

Shelby County Universities launched this assertion to ABC3340 Information Friday:

“The Shelby County School District is now working with our board attorneys to discover a resolution to a circumstance involving Musical Places and refunds that have been asked for by mothers and fathers for trips that had been canceled previous spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Simply because this is an ongoing lawful subject, the district is not at liberty to deliver specific particulars in regards to this circumstance.”

ABC3340 News has referred to as and emailed Musical Locations for a response. We will update our story as quickly as we hear back.  

The organization has an F ranking from the Greater Enterprise Bureau because of to allegations surrounding pandemic refunds.

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