MN travel agent dodges questions about missing traveler's money
(FOX 9) - First, there was a Carnival cruise debacle, then a trip to Costa Rica, and many future trips that were paid for are now canceled.
FOX 9 attempted to get answers from travel agent Monica Faulkner after spotting her outside her St. Cloud home. When we knocked on the door, a man told us: "She's not here."
FOX 9 began receiving complaints in March after Faulkner took a group on a cruise, only to leave some travelers without rooms, watching from the dock their spring break plans sail away without them.
Melissa Nash, another travel agent from the same agency, initially thought the cruise mishap was an innocent mixup. However, her doubts grew during a subsequent training trip to Costa Rica with 76 other agents for training. They all paid for their accommodations and Faulkner even had shirts made up. But the moment they arrived on that bus, the trouble began.
"We were on the corner for five hours. One of the couple of ladies was on walkers. We had one of them falling out because of her diabetes. Her sugar levels got low, and she about passed out," Nash recounted.
As the group stood waiting, Faulkner attempted to book accommodations as they were standing there. Nash says she could have never predicted what happened next. "When I got there, I went upstairs, and they were like, ‘Well, you can share a bed with another travel agent' – that I didn’t know," she recounted.
"I said, No disrespect to you, but I don't just jump into bed with a random – I don't care if you're a man or woman. No, I'm not going to share a bed with somebody I don't know."
Faulkner didn't show up to do the training on Monday and the homeowners where the agents were staying were asking for money. "And then all of a sudden that's when they said, 'Monica's missing, we can't find her, blah, blah, blah. Let's have a prayer.' And everybody's crying and stuff. And me, I'm like, she's full of sh--," Nash explained.
The agents were eventually evicted from the homes because they said Faulkner never paid. She left the country and returned to Minnesota. She told Nash all future trips are cancelled including a trip to Acapulco that she'd paid for. Aruba travelers had their trek canceled too.
She is promising refunds to people who lost money.
"What if she hurt somebody? Somebody ends up, you know, passing away because of her negligence and stuff," questioned Nash.
A few people say they have been able to get some of their money back from Faulkner. while others are working with banks and credit card companies to try and get a refund. But there appears to be a lot of money lost. FOX 9 spoke with one woman who reported losing $10,000 for ten trips she purchased. She says Faulkner has stopped talking to her.
FOX 9 is told police reports are being filed and some have contacted the attorney general's office. But it's unclear what the next chapter of this story will be.
