Nearly 300 Taiwanese tourists on Sunday came close to being stranded on Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island after they were asked to pay an additional US$720 each to continue the tour.
The trip was organized by Taiwan’s Mega International Travel Service (美加國際旅行社), which recruited 800 Taiwanese for the tour to Vietnam’s largest island during the Lunar New Year holiday. For the local tour, Mega entrusted the task to Vietnam WInnER International Travel Co and three other local travel agencies.
On the second day, WInnER asked the 292 Taiwanese tourists under its care to pay US$720 each to continue with the rest of the tour, saying Mega had not paid the full tour fee.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The incident came to light when one of the travelers, surnamed Lin (林), wrote about the group’s plight on Facebook.
Lin also posted on social media a notice written in Chinese that he received from WInnER explaining why they were being charged extra.
Mega had only paid one-10th of the tour fees before the group left Taiwan, the Phu Quoc Island-based travel firm told the Taiwanese tourists, adding that it only entertained them at the beginning of the tour because of “humanitarian” reasons.
Moreover, Mega had not paid the fees it owed last month nor the money it owed airlines, WInnEr said.
The travelers would not be able to secure flights back to Taiwan until they pay for the rest of the tour, it said.
They could file a complaint with Taiwan’s Travel Quality Assurance Association (TQAA) and receive compensation for the additional tour fees, it said.
Mega general manager David Lin (林大鈞) earlier yesterday disputed WInnEr’s account, saying that among its local tour partners, it was the only one that charged extra fees.
He added that the company had asked its other local tour partners to take over the remaining travel arrangements.
However, later last night, Lin changed his tune, saying he had reached an agreement with WInnER that he would pay the tour fees by Feb. 26 and the two companies would help the Taiwanese travelers finish the tour of Phu Quoc Island.
Mega will take full responsibility and compensate those affected by the incident, he said.
TQAA secretary-general Wu Mei-hue (吳美惠) said that some of the tourists paid the fee as WInnER requested.
For those who did not pay additional fees, Mega has booked rooms at different hotels and hired other local travel agents to guide them, she said.
Members of the tour group are scheduled to return to Taiwan today and tomorrow.
TQAA public relations director Ringo Lee (李奇嶽) said that faced with this type of situation, travelers should keep all receipts of credit card payments, as well as those from the travel agencies that received the payments.
With these receipts, tourists can ask the TQAA to arbitrate its dispute with Mega, Lee said.
“The TQAA can also help tourists claim compensation from the travel agents’ performance bond insurance, but it all depends on the attitude of the travel agent,” Lee said.
The Tourism Administration said it has worked with the TQAA to ensure that Mega and WInnER address the dispute so the tourists can return home safely.
“We will also gather evidence and conduct investigations into this matter to determine whether Mega had contravened the Regulations Governing Travel Agencies (旅行業管理規則),” the agency said in a statement.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
COUNTERING THE PLA: While the US should reinforce its relations with partners and allies, Taiwan must invest in strengthening its defenses as well, Phillip Davidson said If influence in the Indo-Pacific region is one of the US’ core interests, then Taiwan serves as a cornerstone of US economic and security influence in the region, former US Indo-Pacific Command commander admiral Phillip Davidson said on Thursday. “China’s ... strategy is to supplant the US leadership role in the international order ... and they’ve long said ... that they intend to do that by 2050,” Davidson told the National Review Institute’s Ideas Summit in Washington. Davidson said he had previously told US Senate hearings on China’s military activities and possible threats in the Indo-Pacific region that a Chinese invasion of
RSS