Restaurant In Tokyo Calls Out M'sian Travel Agent For Ghosting Him & Wasting His Food
He had 25 servings of nasi lemak prepared.
By May Vin Ang — 09 May 2024, 05:22 PM — Updated 8 months ago
A restaurant owner in Tokyo, Japan has called out a Malaysian travel agency for cancelling a reservation without prior notice
The owner of Malay Asian Cuisine in Shibuya, Sou Tanaka, took to Facebook to share his disappointment after the tour group did not show up for the reservation of 25 sets of nasi lemak that his kitchen had prepared.
However, it was the travel agent's lack of response that angered the restaurateur.
"This may be a common story, but I'm posting this because the travel agent's response was so bad!" said Tanaka.
Tanaka said he had received a phone call from a Malaysian tour guide on Saturday, 4 May, who wanted to make a lunch reservation for that day
As the owner of a restaurant that serves halal Malaysian food, Tanaka said he often takes Malaysian group bookings and answered the call.
He said he sent his set menu suggestions and came to an agreement with the travel agent on the food and budget, with his kitchen preparing the meals according to the time and number of seats they had reserved.
However, when the reservation time of 1.30pm came, Tanaka said the travel agent did not arrive with his group
The restaurant owner added that all of his calls and messages to the travel agent to confirm if they were coming went unanswered.
"I tried calling the Malaysian number, which is expensive to call, but there was no answer. And there was not a single reply to my messages!
"I've had cancellations before, but they would always contact me and apologise, which I would accept. But this is the first time I've encountered such an irresponsible reaction!" he ranted.
He also expressed sadness that he had to turn away other customers during the time, as well as waste 25 servings of nasi lemak. He hopes that other eateries would not suffer the same damages as his restaurant.
The travel agency, Kampungstay Holiday, has responded to the claims, saying there was a misunderstanding between their agent and the restaurant
In a statement on Instagram, the agency said they had not made a reservation with the restaurant as claimed.
"We would like to confirm that no food order was made by our agency on the date mentioned in the statement. We have investigated this issue thoroughly, and found that there was a misunderstanding.
"We would like to inform here that our agency has never made irresponsible food orders or made any commitments that were not followed. We take this opportunity to state that we have a thorough process when ordering food or any other service," they added.
The travel agency said they also hope to solve the matter amicably with the restaurant.
Speaking to SAYS, Kampungstay Holiday reiterated that it was a misunderstanding between both parties
"We contacted three restaurants that day to choose lunch for our group, one of them was Malay Asian Cuisine. We need to clarify that we did not make any confirmation order with them, same as the other restaurants that we called. We advised them that once confirmed, we will call back," they said.
They added that they missed Tanaka's calls as their schedule was tight before they had to catch a flight back to Malaysia that day.
"We are in discussion with their restaurant manager to remove the posting as it was only a misunderstanding," they said.
As of writing, Tanaka's post remains published on his Facebook account.
SAYS has reached out to Tanaka for further information, but has yet to receive a reply.
