A.G. Schneiderman Announces Settlement With Owner Of Rochester Travel Agency For Deceiving Clients

Constance Catanise, Owner of Escapes, Inc, To Pay $60K In Restitution; Is Banned From Business For Failing To Book Pre-Paid Travel For Clients

Schneiderman: Business Owners Who Fail To Provide Paid Services And Cause Undue Stress To Customers Will Be Held Accountable

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman recently announced an agreement with Escapes, Inc. and its owner, Constance Catanise to pay $60,000 in restitution to consumers who had been harmed by their deceptive business practices. In addition, Catanise is barred from operating as a travel consultant or travel promoter. Consumers paid Catanise for overseas plane tickets, hotels and tours only to discover that Catanise had not made some of the bookings. In one case, consumers learned the night before they were to return home from Italy that Catanise had not booked the return flights, leaving most of them stranded at the airport.

“Travelers who choose to employ the services of a booking agent do so for increased security, convenience and peace of mind,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “Because Catanise failed to perform the basic functions of her job, her customers forced into scary, stressful and very expensive situations. This settlement sends the message that business owners who do not provide the services for which they’ve been paid will be held accountable.”

The Attorney General’s investigation found that Escapes, Inc and Catanise engaged in deceptive and fraudulent business practices that included accepting full payment for tours but then failing to book and pay for all of the items in the itinerary. In one case, an alumni group from McQuaid Jesuit High School paid Catanise for a tour or World War I and II battlefields in France. When they arrived at the Toronto Airport, however, they learned that Catanise had not booked the flights that she said she had booked. After spending the night in Toronto, most of the group returned home rather than rely on Catanise and risk being stranded in France.

In another case, a family booked a trip to Italy to see the village where their mother was born and to see relatives still living there. Catanise failed to book several items on the itinerary for which the family had paid her. But most seriously, when the family arrived at the airport in Italy to return home, they learned that Catanise had failed to book and pay for business class plane tickets for the whole group. As a result, some group members were required to stay the night and book and pay for their own flights on the next day.

In a third case, Catanise failed to book round trip tickets for a group traveling to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The group decided to travel without confirmed return tickets, which Catanise eventually booked. But one couple had to pay an additional $1,450.

In addition to the payment of $60,000 in restitution, Catanise is permanently barred from operating as a travel consultant or travel promoter.

This case was handled by Assistant Attorney General James M. Morrissey in the Buffalo Regional Office. The Buffalo Regional Office is led by Assistant Attorney General In Charge Michael Russo. The Division of Regional Offices is led by Executive Deputy Attorney General for Regional Affairs Marty Mack.