A company involved in a dispute with a Vietnamese travel agency over outstanding payments might be subjected to a business suspension of up to three months due to negligence, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) told reporters yesterday.
Members of a Taiwanese tour group left stranded in Vietnam due to a dispute between Taiwan’s Mega International Travel Service (美加國際旅行社), which operates the “We Love Tour” brand, and Vietnam Winner International Travel Co have demanded answers following their return to Taiwan on Tuesday and Wednesday.
One of the travelers from the 292-strong tour group who arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Wednesday, a man surnamed Lin (林), said he hoped Mega would provide a clear explanation for the trip’s numerous shortcomings.
Photo: CNA
Lin said that several promised itineraries on Phu Quoc Island were not fulfilled, adding that he felt “deceived,” as some of the transportation and accommodation costs, which were supposed to be covered by the travel agency, were shifted onto the travelers.
An anonymous male traveler said that he had paid for a five-day trip arranged by Mega, but found himself “abandoned” for three hours on the third day without accommodation.
On the fourth day, he said he had to bear some of the meal expenses, as no food was provided.
Also expressing his dissatisfaction with Mega, a man surnamed Su (蘇) said that he felt the travel agency had been insincere in its handling of the fiasco.
Su said that numerous promises made by the agency turned out to be empty, adding that there was an instance when he had to cover taxi expenses, contrary to the agreed-upon terms of the tour.
Taiwan Fire and Marine Insurance, a Taipei-based company, warned that some of the travelers would not be able to sue for compensation.
In the terms of many travel inconvenience and modification insurance plans, losses incurred as the result of a travel agency’s failure to pay debts are counted as a special exclusion and would not be compensated, as the plans only cover emergencies, it said.
News of Taiwan tour groups being abandoned in Phu Quoc first surfaced on Monday when travelers from the groups took to Facebook to complain about their treatment.
About 800 travelers from several Taiwanese tour agencies departed from Taiwan on Friday and Saturday last week for five-day tours to Phu Quoc managed by Vietnamese tour companies.
Of the travelers who departed on the two dates, 292 were scheduled to be managed by Winner.
However, on the evening of Sunday last week, Winner general manager Kevin Tang (唐凱) gathered the travelers to demand an additional US$720 per person for the tour to continue.
Speaking to Central News Agency on Monday, Tang said that he had demanded payment from Mega general manager David Lin (林大鈞) by Jan. 31 to fund the tours.
After no money was provided by Saturday last week, Tang said he and his shareholders called Lin in front of all 292 members of the tour group to demand proper payment on Sunday last week.
The Tourism Administration on Wednesday said that an investigation would be launched to determine whether there was any wrongdoing on the part of the Taiwanese company.
Mega has promised to compensate affected passengers, while David Lin on Wednesday in a statement promised to be fully responsible for the affected passengers’ losses.
David Lin said Mega plans to file a lawsuit against Winner, adding that the incident has significantly impacted the rights and interests of the tourists, and severely damaged Mega’s reputation.
David Lin said that the incident stemmed from the local operator reneging on the agreement, saying that the payment was supposed to be settled on Feb. 26.
Winner yesterday said that it hoped Mega would fulfill its contractual obligations by making the full payment as agreed.
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