Following the viral incident in which a restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo claimed that a Malaysian travel agent ‘ghosted’ them after ordering 25 sets of Nasi Lemak and ended up having to dispose of the food, the travel agency which the agent represented has since issued a statement to provide their side of the story.
Taking to its official Instagram page, the travel agency, Kampungstay Holiday Sdn Bhd (Kampungstay Holiday) refuted the claims made by the restaurant, Malay Asian Cuisine about the alleged irresponsible action by one of its Tour Leaders, Ahmad Syukri bin Mat Hashim, clarifying that the whole matter was just a misunderstanding.
Kampungstay Holiday stressed it was all a misunderstanding
In the statement, Kampungstay Holiday stressed that no food order was ever made by the agency on the date mentioned by Sou Tanaka,
Furthermore, the travel agency said that it had investigated the issue thoroughly and found that it was all just a misunderstanding.
Kampungstay Holiday asserted,
“Our agency has never made irresponsible food orders or made any commitments that were not followed. We take this opportunity to state that we have a thorough process when ordering food or any other services.
“We take those statements seriously and we want to emphasise that they are not a good way to promote negativity about our agency.”
Moreover, the travel agency apologised for any confusion or inconvenience caused and hoped that the matter could be resolved amicably.
Kampungstay Holiday added that mistakes and miscommunications can happen in every business and that it is always ready to discuss and resolve any issue openly and responsibly.
The travel agent only ‘surveyed’ the restaurant and never made any order
While the statement didn’t elaborate on its claim that there was no food order made, Kosmo! reported on comments made by Kampungstay Holiday on Instagram which provided the travel agency’s chronology of the incident.
In the comments, Kampungstay Holiday claimed that Ahmad Syukri only called the restaurant to ‘survey’ about their menu to ensure that it fits with the travel group he was leading, which consists of 90% senior citizens, with the oldest being 72 years old.
The travel agency added that they called and surveyed 3 separate restaurants in Shibuya, eventually settling for a restaurant nearer to their location at that time as the group couldn’t walk far due to their old age.
Kampungstay Holiday stressed that they only called Malay Asian Cuisine to get info on whether the restaurant could fit 25 people and never placed an order.
Instead, Ahmad Syukri only told them that if the group decided to go there for lunch, they’d reconfirm with the restaurant again.
As for why the travel agent didn’t pick up the calls from Sou Tanaka, Kampungstay Holiday said that the tour leader wasn’t holding his phone at the time as he was busy taking care of the elderly travel group.
Furthermore, in an Instagram Story, Kampungstay Holiday showed a WhatsApp screenshot revealing that the travel agent had actually called the restaurant back several times.
View this post on Instagram
So, what do you guys think of the whole situation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
