Operator of At-Home Travel Training Company Pays Penalties

SANTA ANA — The operator of a Laguna Hills company that offered to train consumers as at-home travel agents has agreed to pay $5,000 in civil penalties and stop allegedly unlawful business practices and misleading advertising, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

L. Spencer Robinson, operator of Travel Ventures, Inc., a Nevada corporation doing business in California as Travel Services, admitted no wrongdoing in settling the consumer protection lawsuit. Robinson also has agreed to register his company with the California attorney general’s office as required under state laws. Travel Services at the time of the inquiry had failed to register as required by law.

Travel Services is one of a growing number of companies offering to train consumers as independent, at-home travel agents who could make commissions and enjoy discounted travel benefits just like the professionals. It is a successor to Travel Partners Management, a bankrupt firm whose owner, J. Lawrence Robinson, last week agreed to pay $44,000 in restitution and penalties in settling a similar consumer protection lawsuit. J. Lawrence Robinson, who is L. Spencer Robinson’s father, also admitted no wrongdoing.

Prosecutors accused the Robinsons of misleading customers into believing they received the lowest prices, that they could get refunds a year after joining and that they would be eligible for industry discounts and perks available only to professional travel agents. Would-be travel agents paid as much as $3,000 each to join the program.