Attorney General's News Release

April 5, 2001

Nixon obtains TRO to stop Springfield travel businesses from deceptively selling Branson vacation packages

Springfield, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon today obtained a temporary restraining order to stop two Springfield travel businesses from using misrepresentations to sell vacation packages to Branson. Nixon said more than 150 consumers, many of them from out of state, had filed complaints with his office against Bobby Jean Rantz and two of his businesses, Branson Star II and Star Reservations, after experiencing problems on vacations they had purchased.

Nixon said the defendants violated the law by:

• Selling vacation packages to consumers and then failing to provide them with the packages;
• Falsely tell consumers they would be given refunds, and misrepresenting to the consumers what they had to do in order to obtain the refunds;
• Billing consumers for services the consumers did not purchase; and
• Misrepresenting that they were licensed and bonded with the Missouri Attorney General's Office.

"Unfortunately there are those few businesses that want to exploit Branson's international reputation by not giving consumers what they pay for," Nixon said. "We'll continue to take aggressive action against them."

The court order, signed by Greene County Circuit Judge J. Miles Sweeney, prohibits the businesses from violating any section of Missouri's Unlawful Merchandising Practices Act as those laws relate to the advertising, offering for sale or sale of merchandise.

Nixon also is asking the court to issue preliminary and permanent injunctions against the defendants. A hearing date on the injunction request is scheduled for April 27.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818