Travel Agency Dupes 40 Malaysians Who Paid Over RM35,000 For A Holiday Trip To Krabi
The victims made bookings and travel plans in July last year and were scheduled to depart from Seremban on 18 January.
By Sadho Ram — 20 Jan 2023, 03:30 PM
On Wednesday, 18 January, a group of 40 Malaysians from Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, and Johor gathered at Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, to board their tour bus which was scheduled to depart at 6pm
The bus, however, never came.
The group had collectively paid a total of RM36,000 for tickets and other expenses to an employee of a local travel company, according to a report in Utusan Malaysia yesterday, 19 January.
One of the group members, 58-year-old Kartini Arshad, stated that at 4pm on the day of the scheduled departure, the employee told them that the bus they were supposed to board was involved in an accident.
Being informed just two hours before the scheduled departure time of the trip was not helpful for the group members, who were already on their way to the boarding point in Seremban from their respective cities.
"We were supposed to board the bus from Seremban to the Thai border at 6pm [...] However, we were told that the bus to be boarded in Krabi on Friday, 20 January, was involved in an accident. We waited until 8pm but no bus came and the employees of the travel company could no longer be contacted," she said.
The group members made bookings and travel plans in July last year. Each of them paid RM900 for a five-day holiday package to Krabi.
Kartini, who managed 25 members in the group, said that they had transferred the money to a woman who was in charge of dealing with the travel company's employees, reported Sinar Harian.
"When the time came, I didn't expect it to be like this. I was also in the wrong because I was the one managing 25 participants consisting of friends and family," the outlet quoted her as saying yesterday.
Meanwhile, Najihah Rosli, a housewife from Melaka, said she did not expect her and her husband's first attempt to go on holiday using the services of a travel company to end in such a bitter taste.
"My husband and I started to doubt when we were told that the bus could not come because it was involved in an accident. I feel upset because we were really looking forward to going to Krabi," she said.
They have since filed a police report
Prior to lodging the police report, when they contacted the travel company's boss, he denied any responsibility, saying that he did not receive any money from the employees who were managing the group's trip.
