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If you are eyeing a visit to King Pacific Lodge on the west coast of British Columbia this summer, fellow subscriber Curtis Duffield suggests being careful. Seems this high-end eco/ fishing/other activity resort has filed for bankruptcy. He learned that after filling out an online reservation form earlier this year. Here is what happened next:
“My wife and I have been planning on going to King Pacific Lodge for several years to fish and view wildlife,” he writes. “We decided this was the year, filled out the online reservation form, and sent it in. When we didn’t hear back in March, I started calling and leaving messages. As this is written, if you go to their Web site, it looks like everything is great and they are booking for the 2013 season. I finally caught someone at their Vancouver office today, and she reluctantly told me they had filed for bankruptcy but should be ready to take bookings soon. I did a little Internet research and found their bankruptcy petition. Having survived working for a company that filed bankruptcy earlier in my career, about 30 years ago, I am always suspicious about claims that ‘everything will be fine.’ If you look at the bankruptcy petition closely, you will see that they received $622,000 (CAN) in deposits for the 2013 season and that the court has determined that these are ‘unsecured.’ My experience suggests these are gone. There is a secured $2,000,000-plus claim that has precedence, along with a few more secured claims. Thought you might want to pass this on.”
Duffield says he avoided losing any money himself because he didn’t include his credit card details in his initial online booking. When he couldn’t reach anyone afterward, he decided to hold off on his plans to visit King Pacific Lodge. Did any subscribers get caught in this debacle? Comments of any sort are welcome. Write [email protected].