Clients who booked a trip to Thailand with Heyneke Tours nearly had their holiday plans ruined after the operator hit "serious cash flow" problems, eTNW understands. The clients rebooked their holiday with another operator, incurring additional expenses.
The clients paid roughly R50 000 to the operator, but while their air tickets were booked and paid, the accommodation was not.
The clients became aware that there were problems with their booking when they attempted to get confirmations and the operator gave them the run around. A family member of one of the clients said they had approached the operator and were informed that the company was “bankrupt”.
At the time of publishing, eTNW was unable to get comment from Heyneke as phones rang unanswered. One of the mobile numbers had a recorded message on Tuesday (December 19): “Good day. We are not available at the moment. We are busy with [a] high volume of bookings. Please phone Heyneke Tours tomorrow after 13h00.”
Update December 22:
After this article was originally published, Heyneke
Tours issued a statement that the operator is currently experiencing a
“temporary, but serious cash flow problem”. The company said that to generate
money, it is pursuing new business and therefore responding to tour requests.
Heyneke Tours appealed to clients to be patient, saying
it would either be in a position to complete bookings, arrange a credit for
future use or reimburse clients “as and when we can”.
For more on this story, look out for the next issue of TNW.
This story has been updated since first publication. Initially the article suggested the operator had gone under, but the Heyneke Tours is still taking bookings.
