Kiwi travellers owed $1.1m as agency fails
More than a thousand people are caught in the liquidation of a travel agency that used deals websites such as GrabOne and Groupon.
The company, Sinorama NZ, booked trips and tours to Japan, China and Europe for New Zealand and some Australian clients.
Liquidator Peri Finnigan of McDonald Vague said that, at this stage, it looked like customers were owed $1.9 million, $1.1m of which was to New Zealand clients.
The trips were booked through to late 2019. Some travellers were due to leave on Monday; others had received their air tickets only.
Finnigan’s firm was appointed on Tuesday and she said her office had been inundated with calls in the past two days as it tried to locate and inform creditors.
Customers had been advised to check with their bank to see if the money could be refunded, or their travel insurer if they had one.
Those who had paid for tours via GrabOne or Groupon could contact those businesses, she said. ‘‘We understand GrabOne holds some recent deposits for customers.’’
Sinorama NZ booked its tours via a Canadian company, Vacances Sinorama, which has been put into administration, and the liquidator is trying to find out if clients outside Canada can make a claim.
Sinorama NZ customer
The New Zealand company’s director, Jie Gao, told liquidators that funds for bookings after October had not been applied, and that she had not become aware of this until September.
But Finnigan said records appeared to show Sinorama NZ last sent money to the Canadian company in July and continued making travel bookings directly.
Finnigan said the Travel Agents Association of New Zealand (TAANZ) suspended Sinorama NZ’s membership a couple of months ago after finding out about the Canadian company’s troubles. She said TAANZ was one way those who had paid Sinorama directly might be able to recover their money.
One customer who was due to fly out on a trip to China this month wrote on a website that he had gone to Sinorama’s Auckland office on Thursday following a lack of communication.
He was told he would get a refund on the payment made to the agency, but other costs such as visa fees and travel insurance would not be refunded.
‘‘I have spoken with my travel insurance company and it appears that, should I not get a refund from Sinorama, they will consider compensating me for that.’’
Another customer, who asked to be known just as Cam, said he and his partner stood to lose $4200 plus $200 in Chinese visas.
He said he was assured by the company on Monday he would get a refund, then he got a letter saying he was a creditor.
Then he found out about the Canadian firm’s troubles. Neither their insurer or bank would offer refunds.
‘‘So it looks like we are out of pocket big time – especially when you take out travel insurance and use a Visa card to offer some kind of cover . . . It is not fair.’’
His bank said he had 60 days after the statement to make a claim.
‘‘But how can you do this when you pay in March for a holiday in November with a company that is global and has great reviews?
‘‘We don’t know what we are going to do now other than TAANZ as a last resort,’’ he said.
‘‘Sadly we can’t go anywhere else as we simply don’t have the money to.’’
‘‘So it looks like we are out of pocket big time – especially when you take out travel insurance and use a Visa card to offer some kind of cover . . . It is not fair.’’