About 130 students are still waiting to be reimbursed from a travel agency that left them stranded at the Mexican border during spring break.
Spanish and biology junior Daisy De La Torre was one of the mostly ASU and UA students who were marooned.
"It took us 28 hours total to get home," she said.
De La Torre went on a trip to Mazatlan, Mexico, with five friends through the Studentcity.com travel agency. They left for the trip March 12 and were supposed to return March 18.
The travel package arranged for them to ride a bus to the Mexican border, walk across the border and board another bus to Mazatlan. They planned to do the same on the way home.
But on March 18, the bus arrived five hours late to take the students to the border from Mazatlan, De La Torre said.
Bryan Lewis, Studentcity.com national sales manager, said the situation occurred because adverse driving conditions delayed the first bus.
After the students made it to the border and crossed, there was no bus to take them home.
Lewis said the buses waiting for students at the border picked up those who were there. The students who were delayed in Mazatlan arrived several hours later, after the buses left.
De La Torre said many people called Studentcity.com when the buses were not at the U.S. border but only reached recorded messages. When someone finally did speak with a company representative, they were instructed to find their own way home and told they would be reimbursed for that transportation.
When Lewis was alerted of the problem, he said he immediately contacted the All Aboard America bus company, but a representative told him they had waited long enough for the students, and it was now the travel agency's problem.
Scott Duncan, All Aboard America manager, said the buses had to leave because drivers can only be out so many hours, and the company could have had other commitments.
He did not know if the bus scheduled to pick up the students had any commitments at that time.
"It's like if a flight gets delayed, they have to bring in a new crew," he said. "Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of doing that."
Lewis said he then told students to take a cab to the Greyhound bus station and purchase a ticket home.
De La Torre called a shuttle company and ordered a shuttle for herself and her friends, but when the bus arrived, physical fights erupted over who would get on the bus. There were eight spots in the shuttle and about 130 students wanting to board it.
"Two girls came to blows about it," said biology sophomore Katie MacCormick, another student on the trip. "Someone held them back."
MacCormick was not surprised by the situation, she added.
"We were already not happy with the [travel agency]," she said. "They had terrible customer service. I was livid, but I should have expected it."
De La Torre then called the shuttle company and asked that it send every shuttle available for the students. They paid $275 for each shuttle.
Lewis said students who were affected by this would be reimbursed for their travel expenses and credited $100 toward a future Studentcity.com trip.
The travel agency is still waiting for receipts to begin the reimbursement process.
De La Torre said she will submit the receipt for reimbursement but will never travel with Studentcity.com again.
"The staff was not helpful at all," she said.
She also plans to write a letter to the Better Business Bureau.
"We have been doing this for three years and never had any problems," Lewis said. "Unfortunately the black eye falls upon Student City."
Reach the reporter at katherine.ruark@asu.edu.
