By Veena Bharwani

AFTER a $2,350 dispute over a plane ticket with a travel agency, the Small Claims Tribunal ruled in her favour last year.

But Canadian Lisa Ng, 26, claims that she has not been paid in full by the travel agency.

She claims that the cheque from Mandarin World Holidays for the final instalment of $590 bounced.

However, when asked, the travel agency said it has already settled the matter with Ms Ng.

A representative from the travel agency, Ms May Tan, said she was unaware that one of the cheques was not honoured.

Ms Ng bought her return ticket to Toronto from the travel agency based in Lucky Plaza in Orchard Road in March last year.

She was due to leave on 6 Apr.

'I paid up in full right away as they told me it was a promotional fare. The travel agency has been around for a long time and this is Singapore after all.

'So I thought there was nothing to worry about,' said Ms Ng, who has been working as a teacher in an enrichment centre since September 2007 .

But just 12 days before travelling, she said the agency informed her that she had to change her dates as there were schedule delays with the domestic flights in the US.

'They said I would have to either fly on the 2 Apr or 7Apr and offered me no compensation for the sudden changes,' Ms Ng claimed.

She added: 'I asked what happens if I choose not to change it? The agent said I had no choice but to do so.'

Ms Ng decided to turn down the offer and cancel the ticket.

She said: 'I thought there was something strange and I thought I'd be better off if I just cancelled my ticket.

'It was hard to get leave and I wasn't offered a good enough explanation from the agency.'

She then claimed she had problems getting her money back.

'I kept making calls to them and I even showed up at the office and still I couldn't get my money back,' she said.

Ms Ng decided to file a claim at the Small Claims Tribunal in August last year. The tribunal awarded her $2,350 - the sum of the ticket. Mandarin Holidays was ordered to pay up the amount in four instalments of $590.

While the travel agent paid the first three instalments, the last cheque, which Ms Ng received last December, allegedly bounced.

No refund on promotions

She claimed that she has yet to receive the final instalment.

'I've made countless trips to the agency and even took my bank statement to show them that the last cheque bounced. But they kept sending me away. It's been a frustrating experience.'

In response, Ms Tan claimed Ms Ng decided to cancel the ticket on her own accord.

Ms Tan denied that Ms Ng was forced to change her travel dates at the last minute due to scheduling problems. Added Ms Tan: 'We have explained that we are unable to make any changes (to her ticket) as this was under the promotion fare and no changes and refund are allowed.'

Still, Ms Tan claimed, the agency tried to obtain a refund from the airline but because it was a promotional fare, it could not.

She added in her e-mail response to The New Paper: 'Lisa Ng then went to Small Claims Tribunal and... the full refund has already been paid to her.'

Ms Ng can still pursue the matter further to get her money back.

Lawyer Hema Latha Silwaraju from Vision Law said that since the Tribunal has passed the judgement, Ms Ng can now choose to enforce it, but she would have to take it to the Subordinate Courts.

Said Ms Silwaraju: 'In the Small Claims Tribunal, you cannot get a lawyer. Now, she can choose to get a lawyer for her case.

'She will incur some expenses which she can recover if she succeeds in enforcing the judgement.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.