CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is asking a circuit judge to permanently shut down a charter bus company after it failed to refund nearly $18,000 for two canceled field trips.
Cav's Coach Company LLC also has a history of alleged consumer protection law violations, according to the AG's office, which filed its lawsuit June 27 in Mingo Circuit Court against Cav’s Coach and owner Christopher Todd Cavender. The suit claims the company defaulted on an agreement to fully refund the canceled field trips, both scheduled to celebrate eighth-grade graduations.
"The filing of this lawsuit was necessitated by Cav’s Coach’s long history of defaulting on its obligations to consumers," Morrisey said in a statement. "Unless the court enters an order permanently prohibiting Cav’s Coach from engaging in the business of offering charter bus and related travel services, the public will continue to be irreparably harmed."
The field trips, involving students at Kermit Area School and Crum Middle School in southwestern West Virginia, were canceled for different reasons, but in both instances the lawsuit alleges Cav’s Coach refunded less than one-fifth of the agreed upon refund amount.
The lawsuit lists at least six examples of Cav’s Coach having allegedly failed to fulfill its contractual obligations since it began doing business in 2005. Consumers allegedly have been stranded along the highway after bus breakdowns or had their trips canceled on the eve of departure. In some instances, the first notice of cancellation was when buses did not show up on the scheduled departure date, according to the lawsuit.
The alleged conduct continued after both the AG's office and Marshall University sued and obtained separate judgments against the company.
In addition to Cav’s Coach and its owner, the lawsuit lists affiliate AllAboard Tours and Charters LLC as a defendant. All are based in Cross Lanes.
The lawsuit alleges fraud, deception, misrepresentation and the violation of a previous injunction as causes of action, along with the defendants’ failure to comply with its refund policy and provide transportation as contracted. The AG's office seeks $17,882 to refund the Kermit and Crum field trips, a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for every violation of the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act and a court order prohibiting the defendants from engaging in the business of arranging or selling charter bus services, booking travel or any related travel service.
Norman Googel is handling the case for the AG's office, and it has been assigned to Circuit Judge Miki Thompson.
Mingo Circuit Court case number 17-C-113
