Mrs Lillian Olin, a Kenyan national, has claimed that Mr. Clay Onyango, a Kenyan Travel Agent based at Odenplan in Stockholm, has defrauded her of 3.000 kr after issuing a defective ticket to her husband causing them to get stranded in Kenya during a holiday trip.
The Agent gave them a ticket and informed them that the ticket was valid for two months. When their holiday was over, they went to KLM to confirm the ticket only to be told that the ticket was valid for only eight days and that it had expired. “I was very disappointed because all my travel plans were messed up”, she said.
They were told that to extend the ticket, they needed to pay an extra 3.000 kr. They didn’t have money so Olin contacted her daughter in Stockholm who sent her cash so that she could sort out the bill because Clay refused to take responsibility. It took the couple a whole week to sort out the problem and travel back to Sweden.
When she returned to Sweden, she contacted Clay for a refund of her 3000 kr but the agent refused to pay. She went to his office but could not trace him. Her phone calls also went unanswered. Not knowing what to do, she wrote a letter to Clay which has never been replied.
She said that she was disappointed because she bought the ticket from Clay as a way of promoting Kenyan businessmen.
When contacted for comment, Clay admitted that it is true that the ticket had a problem but added that a new one was fixed.
“Yes. There was a mistake with the issuing Agent and we fixed a new ticket. The date was wrong”, he said.
Clay said that the amount he owes Olin is 3.000 Kenyan shillings (300 kr) and not 3.000 kr. He said that Olin was claiming for transport from some place somewhere in Kenya and phone bills.
“The compensation should be 3.000 shillings and I told her to write a claim. I have not received any. Tell her to get in touch with the receipts”, he said. He added that it was not true that he had disappeared.
Olin has countered that if the amount was 300 kr, that should be a small amount which a responsible Agent should have been able to pay to avoid negative talk about his Agency after admitting a mistake. She said that she could not have been wasting a lot of time chasing 300 kr and warned Kenyans to be careful.
Okoth Osewe
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