Dozens of shoppers allege Omaha journey agent left them with canceled reservations after taking hundreds upfront

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Anger, frustration and heartbreak are usually not the feelings you must really feel about an upcoming trip.

But dozens of shoppers allege an Omaha journey agent left them with canceled reservations after they paid hundreds of {dollars} upfront.

A marriage in danger

Traci Lutt’s daughter has a hoop and 100 friends invited to a vacation spot seaside wedding ceremony, however Lutt will not be shedding tears of pleasure.

“I just feel bad our guests trusted us, and she might not get her wedding now, because if they don’t get their money back, how could we possibly ask our family and friends to do this again?” Lutt mentioned.

Traci says household and friends booked by way of Captivating Travels by Connie, operated by Connie Seastedt. Jeff Lutt alleges the journey agent misused his bank card quantity for six separate journeys involving folks he didn’t know.

Other shoppers communicate out

Stacy Russ says her household’s airline tickets fell off on June 29 and their resort was by no means booked.

“So we are out $42,000. And my kids now aren’t going to Mexico for Christmas,” Russ mentioned.

Kayleigh Snider says her group of 11 folks was instructed they might lower your expenses by paying by way of Venmo.

“She told us she could save us a thousand dollars each on this trip if we did Venmo. So every single one of us in the group did that,” Snider mentioned.

Derek Hendricksen and his spouse, Courtney, obtained 5 checks from Captivating Travels by Connie totaling $13,000. All of them bounced.

“We even tried to reach out to her to see if she’d do some kind of payment plan, which she agreed to and she failed with that, and now she’s cut off all communications with us,” Hendricksen mentioned.

Heidi Gatling wired $13,000 to Seastedt, most of it inheritance cash meant for a celebration of life journey for her late grandmother.

“And it’s been heart-wrenching. We planned to go for her one-year, to be in December in Jamaica, and now that will not be happening,” Gatling mentioned.

Another agent tries to assist

Dimi Wittman of Countryside Travel is working to assist affected shoppers recuperate their journeys.

“We’re working with vendors to try and get her taken off as the agent on record, so if the reservation is valid and they’re still wanting to go, then she can’t mess with it,” Wittman mentioned.

Taking it to authorities

Clients who paid hundreds of {dollars} to Captivating Travels by Connie for journeys they found had been canceled are sharing details about methods to file complaints.

“That’s the contact for the FBI,” a shopper mentioned.

Background

Several shoppers mentioned Seastedt acquired them good offers on journey through the years, and her enterprise grew by phrase of mouth. They say issues with their bookings developed this 12 months.

Seastedt responded to an e mail inquiry by asking to have her legal professional contacted. When contacted, the journey agent’s lawyer mentioned there was no remark right now.