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The 33 biggest corporate implosions of all time. We like that they included The South Sea Company, whose stock price collapsed after reaching an artificially inflated peak in the 1720. It was called the “South Sea Bubble” and its collapse sent many investors, who had purchased the stock on credit, into bankruptcy. [HR World]
We got passed a communique from the Fiserv debit-card processing company to its clients that offers some insights for consumers concerned about getting their money back if they have bought tickets on an airline that has gone bankrupt (as several have recently). Here’s the takeaways:
(Thanks to mac-phisto!)
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Widely expected to declare bankruptcy today, Linen’s N Things instead decided to defer paying the interest that was due today that would have pushed it into Chapter 11. Your gift cards and the pile of 20% off coupons you use to test out new mulchers are safe…for now. [NYT]
Defunct budget airline Skybus plans to issue full refunds to all ticket holders. The airline announced last night that they were done flying less than two weeks after former CEO Bill Diffenderffer quit to pursue a book-writing career. While everyone who hasn’t yet traveled will soon be reunited with their cash, what about passengers who are in the middle of a trip? Let’s ask Air Force Sergeant Gary Patterson.
Skybus has just announced that it will stop flying starting tomorrow, Saturday April 5th. “Skybus struggled to overcome the combination of rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment. These two issues proved to be insurmountable for a new carrier…Our financial condition is such that our Board of Directors felt it had no choice but to cease operations,” said the company in the tombstone posted on its website. The dream of ultra-low-budget air travel was too beautiful to let live…
Here’s yet another way to get your money back if you find the airline you’ve booked tickets with should suddenly cease to operate: trip insurance may be one of the default benefits on your credit card. If you booked with a credit card, call up the company and ask. For instance, Citi PremierPass Elite MasterCard comes with Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance for free. Reader Jhayme says they are refunding ATA Airlines passengers who purchased their ticket in full on the card up to $1500. The number to call to submit a claim is 1-800-950-5118, and there is a claim form that should be submitted American Express has a similar program called Travel Delay Protection, that will reimburse passengers if they cannot be rebooked on a new flight within a certain time period. I believe this costs $9.95 per trip. With two airlines going bankrupt, it may be a good idea for people to look into these programs.” Those credit cards may be evil, but for big ticket items, their buyer protections can come in handy sometimes.
ATA airlines abruptly ceased to exist this morning, leaving travelers to scramble for refunds and alternate booking arrangements. An ATA insider took time out from looking for a new job to give The Consumerist the inside scoop:
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The reason ATA died, and died so abruptly, were rising fuel costs and that they lost a key contract with Federal Express for flying military personnel on ATA aircraft. [Bloomberg]
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To celebrate CompUSA’s demise, this BestBuy store made a music video to the beat of DJ Khaled’s “We Takin’ Over.” A bad music video. [YouTube]
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Levitz Furniture will close all 76 stores. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
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Due to bankruptcy and sale to a liquidation company, tomorrow is the last day to redeem any gift cards at Bombay and Bombay Kids furniture stores. After that you will have to make a claim through bankruptcy court to get anything from the gift cards.
“My wife and I went through a foreclosure and bankruptcy here in Ohio (where we lead the nation in foreclosures). The long story short – we bought a house for $32,000 in 1995, but couldn’t afford to fix it up. Just kids at the time (I was 20, she was 22), we were expecting our son and found a fix’er upper. We took out a subprime second mortgage to do the much needed repairs ourselves. The neighborhood was going to hell and after seven years we wanted to get out, but we had no real equity…”
The main parking garage for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Hampshire only accepts credit cards, reports Credit Slips.
Elizabeth Warren over at the intellectually rigorous Credit Slips blog points out the correlation between tightened bankruptcy laws and credit card offers increasingly inundating the American consumer.
The academics behind the Credit Slips blog chew economic macrodata t to consider whether…
Yet another reason to not sign up with Adelphia…
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