No Seoul trip and no refund
Published on: Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The saying 'if it is too good to be true, it probably is' could not have been more spot on for six individuals who thought they could finally go on vacation in South Korea on a shoestring budget only to realise that the trip was never going to happen.Not only that, the company, MS Jom Travel Malaysia Sdn Bhd even withheld the money which they had fully paid for the dashed dream, saying that the company is waiting for 'dana' (funds).Norledzah Sarum and Raden Eryanie Raden Othman said they found the company's Facebook page some time ago and were intrigued by the cheap prices the company offered for destinations which usually run to thousands of ringgit.
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The packages which include up to 5D/4N hotel stay, food and tickets to tourist attractions start from RM750 to RM1,750 only to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Seoul in South Korea and Tokyo in Japan."I bought the package as well as three others for my friends and we were slotted to go in May. I paid the full price of RM10,016 and the flights from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur for RM1,233.84. "However, two weeks before we were supposed to leave, a representative of the company contacted me saying that the trip had been rescheduled to August. They also gave me an option to ask for a refund," she said.
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Norledzah, who appeared before Consumer Claims Tribunal President Yong Pei Yi on Tuesday, said she decided to ask for a full refund but to her dismay, the company dragged its feet when it came to returning the full amount and only issued a post-dated cheque some time later.If the post-dated cheque did not deepen her suspicion, the call she received on Monday night made her scepticism grow stronger with the person on the other line telling her not to cash in the cheque yet because there is insufficient balance in the account.
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"I felt duped by the company. I am also disappointed because I was really looking forward to the holiday in Seoul," she said.Raden Eryanie, who is also MS Jom Travel Malaysia Sdn Bhd's customer, said in her case she paid the full RM4,928 for herself, her husband and their child for the Seoul trip which was supposed to take place from Apr 1 to 5.Unfortunately, just like what happened to Norledzah, her trip was also cancelled via a message on WhatsApp, just a few days before she and her family were supposed to go."Not only we missed out on our dream vacation, we also wasted money making all the preparations. To this day, they kept making promises to refund my money but nothing came of it," she said.The duo claimed they were not the only ones who found themselves in the quagmire as more and more people are coming forward with their own story.They even set up a WhatsApp group called 'Mangsa JomTravel' to share information and update each other about their refund status. The 62 group members come from all over the country although mostly are from the peninsula and their demands range between RM300 and RM49,587.Both the complainants were awarded their full claims totalling RM 16,177.84, with MS Jom Travel Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which was unrepresented, ordered to pay within 14 days.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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