Discovery Tours sued by Ohio attorney general

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine on May 11 filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Discovery Tours, the now allegedly defunct tour company accused of taking money for services it never provided to families and schools across the state, including from Mentor and Riverside schools.

As of May 2, DeWine’s office had received over 700 complaints against Discovery Tours after the company canceled several trips when students and families had already paid. Discovery Tours has not issued refunds to the over 500 Mentor students who were set to embark on a trip to Washington, D.C., earlier this month. Students paid $455 for the trip.

Mentor students have since been informed an alternative two-day trip to Cedar Point will take place next week.

Currently, Riverside students who signed up with Discovery Tours are traveling in Chicago, despite the company’s situation. After numerous attempts to contact the tour company, the school board agreed to finance the difference — each student prepaid $520, totaling $110,000 for the trip — left unpaid by the company.

DeWine’s lawsuit also comes days after U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, wrote to the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Attorney General for the Northern District of Ohio, Justin Herdman, requesting an investigation into the company.

The lawsuit accuses the company of violating Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act by failing to deliver promised services and operating in a precarious financial situation.

“We believe Discovery Tours violated consumer protection laws and must be held accountable,” DeWine said. “Families and schools across the state trusted this company, and their trust was betrayed.”

According to a news release, students had been looking forward to the trip for years and many had held fundraisers to be able to travel to Washington or another location.

An investigation by the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section found that Discovery Tours had continued to accept money from schools and parents when it knew (or should have known) consumers would not receive the promised services.

The attorney general’s lawsuit, filed in the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, seeks an injunction to stop any further violations of Ohio consumer protection laws and an order requiring the company to reimburse affected consumers, the release stated.

Affected consumers who have not yet filed a complaint with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office may do so at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov or by calling 800-282-0515.

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