Bankrupt Tour Bus Company Allegedly Strands Toms River Students

TOMS RIVER, NJ — An Ocean County tour bus company that filed for bankruptcy in September is accused of accepting payment for a trip and leaving a group of Toms River Regional high school students stranded on Monday morning.

Trolley Tours of Forked River accepted a check for $3,100 from the adviser of the district's Politics and Legal Education classes in February, said Michael Kenny, a spokesman for the school district. At 6 a.m. Monday when the students gathered for the two-day trip to Washington, however, the bus was nowhere to be seen.

The company's answering machine delivered the news: Trolley Tours, doing business as Trolley Inc., had filed for bankruptcy and was no longer in business.

Daniel E. Straffi, the attorney representing Trolley Inc. and its owner, Ronald Faillace, in the bankruptcy proceedings, responded by email on Wednesday.

"Trolley, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on 9/27/18," Straffi wrote. " They were actively operating up and through February 20, 2019. Unfortunately, due to an insurance coverage lapse, the company was involuntary converted for a Chapter 7 liquidation on February 21, 2019."

"Our office fielded a number of calls from concerned customers as a result of the liquidation and it was our understanding that all customers were given notice by the client of the cease in operations or otherwise directed to the Chapter 7 Trustee for further inquiry," Straffi wrote.

"The program adviser personally took the check for $3,100 to the Trolley Tour bus office. It was accepted with no mention of potential issue," Kenny said. "No other acknowledgment was ever given."

Kenny did not have the date on when the Toms River check was delivered to Trolley Tours, but said the trip was approved at the Feb. 26, 2019 Board of Education meeting.

The trip to Washington for students in the PLE classes at Toms River East, North and South, included an appointment on Capitol Hill to meet with local legislators and access to the U.S. Supreme Court — both of which must be arranged well in advance.

Kenny said administrators were able to secure a bus through the Central Regional School District and the students were able to go on their trip. But they are out $3,100 that was paid in good faith.

Barbara Sargent, transportation coordinator for Central Regional, said the district was able to come up with a school bus and driver to take the students — the district-owned charter bus was tied up.

"We do that for all kinds of groups," Sargent said. Because finding bus drivers has been difficult for school districts across the state, Toms River was in a bind, she said.

"We were glad to help out. Our ultimate goal is to get the kids where they need to be," Sargent said. She said there is a fee Central charges, based on mileage and time, but did not have a figure on how much the trip would cost.

Trolley Tours of Forked River, under the business name Trolley Inc. and owned by Faillace of Surf City, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in late September 2018, according to court documents. But the document filings show the company had been in financial trouble for some time and the bankruptcy protection was a last-ditch effort to restructure its debt.

The company owed its creditors more than $500,000, according to the September filing. Under Chapter 11, a company seeks the chance to restructure its debts so it can continue to operate while paying them off. Its largest debt was to Commercial Credit Group, which held the loans on several of Trolley Tours' buses. According to the filings, Faillace had been in default on the loan and was repaying it under a settlement agreement, but fell behind again.

Trolley Inc. also was failing to pay its insurer, Lancer Insurance, for coverage of the buses, according to court filings.

In January 2019, a new repayment agreement was reached and Trolley Inc. was supposed to resume repaying the loan. But on Feb. 8, Commercial Credit Group filed a default claim because two payments, on Jan. 15 and Feb. 1, had been missed. Three of the Trolley Inc. buses were repossessed shortly thereafter, and in the days that followed, the bankruptcy was converted to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, where a company's assets are sold off to pay its debts.

The order finalizing the Chapter 7 conversion was finalized on Feb. 21, when Lancer Insurance sought an emergency order for payment of the policies on the buses.

As late as January, the company was actively advertising its trips on its Facebook page. And a reviewer named Kevin posted a negative review dated Feb. 24 on Yelp about a bus booked for a cheerleading competition: "What a disgrace. They subcontracted a bus to our cheer team and sent us a bus 3 hours late. It was broken down, beat up, past inspection, dirty, banged up, filthy and dirty. The driver must have owned the bus, he came to us in NJ from the Bronx. If we would've put our kids on that bus their lives would've been in danger. What a shame and disgrace these people are. The coach called and asked for a new bus or some help and was told 'the driver was PAID NO REFUND.' How awful to do that to kids."

In early March, a group from Cedar Glen Lakes in Manchester had a tour scheduled with the company but was left without transportation and was met with the bankruptcy announcement on the answering machine. A group from Southern Regional High School had a similar experience with Trolley Tours a couple of weeks ago, a source told Patch. Messages seeking more details on those trips were not immediately returned.

Patch contacted the trustee for the Department of Justice who is overseeing the bankruptcy for with questions about Trolley Inc. A Justice Department spokesperson said officials could not answer questions regarding an active bankruptcy case.

Patch wants to hear from you: If your organization booked a trip through Trolley Tours and was left without transportation, please email me at karen.wall@patch.com.

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