Jul. 24, 2003 - An Anchorage-based tour company's financial mess is causing headaches for visitors and has vendors and employees clamoring for payment.

The company, Ask Alaska Travel & Tours, laid off its employees this week after having trouble paying its bills, according to several business owners who say they are owed money.

Jennifer Christensen, president, said she was advised not to talk to the media.

"It's unfortunate for the whole industry. And it's really unfortunate for the customers," said Eric Downey, vice president of sales and marketing for Denali Lodges, a company that did business with Ask Alaska.

Downey and several other business owners said they have had difficulty receiving payment from Ask Alaska, which books tours for visitors, accepts payment and then passes on money to the hotels, air taxis, day-cruise operators and others businesses that cater to the tourists. Ask Alaska's Web site describes the company as the "largest independent custom itinerary planner in the state."

In recent weeks, several Denali Lodges guests have shown up with Ask Alaska vouchers only to be told that they must pay up front because the tour company's credit was no good.

"We're letting them know that their reservation was not guaranteed and that if they want to continue on with us they'll have to make reservations and payment with us directly," Downey said.

Managers of hotels in Seward, air taxis in Talkeetna, and tour boat companies based in Anchorage had similar comments.

Sandra White, manager of Talkeetna Air Taxi, said some customers have been understanding but many have gotten angry when told they must pay twice and then seek a refund from Ask Alaska.

"Some people say, 'I'm from Israel. You deal with them!'" White said.

"It's left us in a bind. We're out a bit of money," said Danny Seavey, who runs his family's mushing tour business, IdidaRide, in Seward. Ask Alaska provided transportation for clients between Anchorage and Seward.

Tom Lucido, an Anchorage bed and breakfast owner, was helping answer phones for Christensen on Tuesday. Her E Street office downtown was barren except for Lucido, Christensen's husband and another person.

Lucido said he's owed about $20,000 but he's not worried. He's worked with Christensen's company for three years and Lucido said he's always gotten paid.

"I've never had a problem with her," Lucido said.

But the Better Business Bureau has given Ask Alaska an unsatisfactory rank because of the volume of complaints it has received and the company's lack of response, said Carol Lakhdar, a consumer representative. And the Alaska Travel Industry Association staff is poised to recommend that the board remove Ask Alaska from the travel group's membership roster, executive director Ron Peck said.

"There have been problems with payments or with customers showing up and there being no record of a reservation being made," Peck said.

Vincent Shinohara said he was one of about a dozen employees laid off. Two paychecks he received this summer bounced, he said. But when he told Christensen's husband, James Bowers, what happened, Bowers went to the bank and paid him in cash.

"He's been paying it out of his pocket," Shinohara said.

He said he's still owed another paycheck and tried unsuccessfully to collect it on Wednesday.

Christensen sent out a letter recently to her vendors. It outlined the problems she's had and some of the accounting changes she planned to make to turn things around, Lucido said.

Among the problems she cited were a change in credit-card processors and an employee who was stealing from the company, according to Lucido.

Several vendors and at least one employee said they heard the same things about the former worker. But Seavey and others said they think Christensen's business problems were much larger.

The owner of Hotel Edgewater in Seward was considering buying Ask Alaska but backed out after examining the financial books, said Ariel Sieverts, assistant general manager.

"The company is just too far gone," Sieverts said.

When rumors got out that the Edgewater might buy Ask Alaska, it set off a flurry of phone calls from Alaska tourism businesses to the Seward hotel, she said.

"People were calling and wanting to collect," Sieverts said.

Managers at Hotel Edgewater, Denali Lodges, Talkeetna Air Taxi and other firms said they will continue to accept guests that come from Ask Alaska but only if the tourists or the company pays in cash.

"We're requiring pre-payment on reservations," said Tammy Wanner, assistant general manager at Day's Inn-Anchorage.

"A lot of tour companies come and go," Wanner said. "We've been bitten before."

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(c) 2003, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.