MELAKA: A group of 21 individuals claimed that they had been duped over RM135,000 by an Umrah travel agent.
The group’s representative, Mastura A Ghani, 59, said she paid about RM31,000 to buy five Umrah travel packages scheduled from Feb 13 to 23.
“Each of us purchased an Umrah package priced at RM6,550 after the company offered the package in August last year.
“I performed the Umrah pilgrimage with the same company in August last year but I never expected that they would come up with so many excuses this time,” she told reporters at the Ayer Keroh State Legislative Assembly Development and Coordination Committee Office here today.
Also present was Ayer Keroh state assemblyman, who is also Melaka State Legislative Assembly deputy speaker Kerk Chee Yee.
“Because of the reasonable price (for the second Umrah package), we agreed to purchase the package and make payments in instalments, with the final payment on Dec 15 last year.
“The company also held two Umrah courses on Dec 17 and Jan 14 and issued the offer letter on Dec 9. However, on Feb 11, two days before leaving for the Holy Land, the company’s management informed us that the flight was postponed to Feb 20 because it was fully booked,” she said, adding that the company then requested to postpone the flight for the second time because they failed to make bookings.
“I could not accept the excuses given by the management and requested a refund. A police report was lodged on March 6 and a report to the Consumer Claims Tribunal was made on March 8,” she added.
Meanwhile, Kerk said he hoped that firm action would be imposed against those responsible to serve as a lesson to others while advising the public to be cautious when purchasing travel packages or umrah packages to avoid being scammed. -Bernama
