Raleigh, NC-based INNOVA Sport Tours, which specialized in packaged trips for NASCAR and other sports events, recently closed down due to financial and merchant account problems and apparently left several brokers in a bind.
According to emails obtained by TicketNews, several brokers are claiming the company, headed up by President Chad Stockert, allegedly “stiffed a lot” of fans and fellow brokers out of tickets, thousands of dollars and/or hospitality packages for recent sporting events, including races at Talladega Super Speedway.
“For the ISC [International Speedway Corp.] tracks, do not send any tickets or hospitality passes to this group unless you have money up front and the check has cleared,” read a recent warning email from one ISC executive.
INNOVA Sport Tours refunded some money to out-of-luck fans, but how much they returned is unknown.
Attempts to reach Stockert were unsuccessful. The company’s telephones have been disconnected, and visitors to the INNOVA Sport Tours Web site are greeted with a Linux test page that reads in part: “If you are a member of the general public: The fact that you are seeing this page indicates that the website you just visited is either experiencing problems, or is undergoing routine maintenance.”
In a recent email to customers, Stockert wrote:
To whom it may concern,
Due to a position out of INNOVA Sport Tours (IST) control I have had to discontinue and close INNOVA Sport Tours, LLC immediately. I have tried to make it as long as we possibly could however due to chargebacks and our merchant account withholding monies INNOVA Sport Tours will be closed and disorganized effective immediately. All websites and phone numbers pertaining to INNOVA Sport Tours will be closed and cut off and IST will not operate any longer in the state of NC [North Carolina] or any other state in the United States. Again, I apologize for this recent action in INNOVA Sport Tours however the company cannot and will not survive with the current conditions and it was not getting any better or a resolution was not coming fast enough for INNOVA Sport Tours to survive.
Sincerely,
INNOVA Sport Tours
