MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Colorado-based travel company has agreed to refund more than $650,000 to several hundred Minnesota music students after COVID-19 scuttled their trip to Europe last spring.
Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Friday that Voyageurs International agreed to a settlement calling for the company to pay $664,835 in refunds to 344 students, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Ellison’s office said the company charged between $6,345 and $9,010 for its 2020 “Ambassadors of Music” tour for high school students and their parents. COVID-19 forced the company to cancel the trip but Ellison said the company refused to issue full refunds and kept $1,900 in cancellation fees from each student. Ellison’s office launched an investigation after receiving dozens of complaints.
In addition to the refunds, the settlement calls for Voyageurs International to accurately communicate its refund and cancellation policies to future Minnesota consumers.
Voyageurs International attorneys were unavailable for comment.
Voyageurs has been organizing yearly travel tours to Europe for high-school music students and their parents since 1970, according to its website.
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