A man in his fifties is set to sue a major Japanese travel company after he was abandoned at Heathrow airport when his hand luggage was selected for extra random security checks.
The tour guide allegedly got on the plane before him, and then failed to hold the flight, instead wishing him luck getting back to Japan. The man, who speaks little English, was left bewildered and frightened in a foreign country, and is now suing for damages. While the company refuses to acknowledge any responsibility for the incident, the man can at least feel vindicated by the voices 2ch netizens, who are clearly on his side.
From Kahoku Online Network:
Sendai Man Sues Travel Company For Getting Abandoned At UK Airport
On June 4, a case was brought to the Sendai District Court by a man in his fifties from Wakabayashi ward in Sendai who was abandoned while on an escorted tour of Europe at Heathrow airport in the UK, causing him psychological damage. The man is suing the company who organised the tour, Hankyu Travel (Osaka), a major travel company, and calls for a total of 400,000 yen [approx. $4099] in compensation for for pain and suffering.
According the man’s attorney, such cases are rare. The man stressed that “I want the company to deal with this by taking responsibility, and having a concern for the position of their customers, who are not to blame in this situation”.
According to the details of the case, 26 men were participating in the tour. In January of this year, they visited Spain and Portugal, and had been through security at Heathrow airport. Due to terrorism alerts hand luggage screening was strict, and the man and a female tour guide, and a total of three female passengers were randomly chosen to have their hand luggage re-checked.
The tour guide and the three female passengers finished having their hand luggage re-checked first, and moved on to the boarding gate. After the tour guide had told a staff member at the boarding gate that the man would be late, she boarded the flight for Narita as advised by the staff member. The man finished the extra security check and ran for the gate, but did not make in time for departure.
The tour guide says she called the man’s cell phone and told him: “We’re about to take off so you can’t board now. Do your best to get back to Japan”.
The man reserved a hotel through a representative of the travel company in the UK. Since he was unable to speak much English, he requested guides such as street plans and so on, stayed in the hotel for one night, and then returned on a different flight. He says he had to bear the cost of the hotel fees and the guides himself.
The man has had several exchanges with the travel company on the matter of the compensation for damages, but after returning to Japan, the company contacted him telling him that “There is no fault on the part of the company, so there will be no financial compensation”.
The man’s side insists that “He chose an escorted tour because he thought he would be able to travel safely. The tour guide should have stayed in the airport and done everything she could to ensure the man’s safety”. A manager at Hankyu Travel said that “It’s truly a pity that this will go to trial. We will present our viewpoint in court”.
Comments from 2ch.net:
ターキッシュバン(庭)：
Poor guy.
ぬこ(宮城県)：
This is just awful.
If I got fucked about like that I’d want to sue them too.
ジャガーネコ(宮城県)：
“Do your best to get home”
LMFAO. Go ahead and sue them w
アメリカンボブテイル(千葉県)：
Seems reasonable to get sued over this.
アメリカンカール(内モンゴル自治区)：
This guy had money so he could get home safely, but had he been a poor traveler, how would he have got home?
Hankyu Travel need to pay him.
オシキャット(関東・甲信越)：
Do such things happen in a Japanese travel company? Their tours are shit.
エキゾチックショートヘア(宮城県)：
The people who were already on the flight would get back to Japan anyhow, so all I can say is that this guide is incompetent.
オシキャット(庭)：
Usually even if you get left behind, they can deal with it somehow.
They could at least employ a Japanese-speaking guide there in the UK, book a hotel and get him a return flight.
白黒(宮城県)：
Hankyu Travel is sooooooo bad LMFAO www
Nah, actually, it’s not funny.
If this guy hadn’t had a card or any cash, I don’t suppose he could have done his best and made it home…
アメリカンカール(関東・甲信越)：
They’re all kids w
In the case of an act of God, travel companies won’t pay a penny of compensation and they’re not obligated to, either.
ジャガランディ(WiMAX)：
If after leaving him and going home they didn’t even attempt to follow it up, anyone would get mad.
エジプシャン・マウ(埼玉県)：
So flight companies still prioritize extra security checks despite knowing the boarding time of the flight?
The travel company were unkind in the way they handled this, but doesn’t the flight company have a responsibility if you’re delayed because of security checks?
ベンガル(愛媛県)：
I did think for a moment that he’s in his fifties and that when she left him he’d wandered off somewhere, but he’s bound to sue them in this case.
The aftercare was way too bad.
ジャガランディ(やわらか銀行)：
Awful story.
It’s all part of the trip until you’ve arrived back at your own door.
黒(長屋)：
Putting emotionalism aside, the company isn’t actually at fault.
You should be suing someone else, old man.
アメリカンカール(関西・東海)：
Hankyu Travel is a pretty major travel company, so on the day they should have fixed him up with a seat on another flight he could have taken.
オシキャット(関東・甲信越)：[in response to above]
Exactly.
Tour guides shouldn’t be getting on the plane first, saying “Good luck getting home” and then ditching the customer.
Usually, if you’re a tour guide you’d know that there’s at least the possibility of extra security checks on hand luggage.
ウンピョウ(大阪府)：
Doesn’t look like the customer has done anything wrong.
Hankyu Travel should just have settled amicably and given him a few million yen.
It’s their loss if they get seen as an uncaring company who’d just abandon their client there when there was unexpected trouble.
