$154 ride to airport in Tokyo via Klook becomes $740

You are at the end of your trip and looking forward to flying home.

You are waiting for your airport transfer from the hotel, but it is getting late and you have a plane to catch.

What do you do?

That was the situation faced by Stomper Christiana in Japan on Jan 2.

"I booked an airport transfer via Klook for a ride from Shinjuku City in Tokyo to Narita International Airport," recounted the Stomper. "The vehicle booked was a Toyota Alphard or similar van that can fit minimally four adults with four pieces of luggage.

"On the day that the operator was supposed to provide the airport transfer services, they were a no-show and could not be contacted. We called the operator multiple times and no one picked up the calls and we tried at least two numbers that were provided in the booking. After waiting for 30 minutes, we could not wait further. Otherwise, we would miss our flight back to Singapore.

"There was not enough time for us to take any other transport but local taxis. As my party has four adults and four luggage, we needed to take two taxis to the airport. The taxi fare amounted to approximately S$370 for each taxi. With two taxis, it was a whopping S$740!

"The airport transfer that I had booked with Klook cost only S$154.40 and we had to pay S$740!"

The Stomper shared photos of two taxi receipts in Japanese. The fare stated in each is 33,390 yen.

She said that after returning to Singapore, she contacted Klook for a refund and compensation.

"It is utterly ridiculous for the airport transfer service to no-show and not compensate us for the inconvenience as well as hefty transport cost to the airport. Klook diligently cancelled my booking and refunded me the booking fee and totally ignored my request for compensation nor reviewed my case.

"Their policy does not protect the consumers at all! How am I to trust Klook again for purchases such as airport transfers or anything if operators can just disappear and cause such inconvenience?"

The Stomper wants to warn consumers about this potential issue with Klook.

In response to a Stomp query, a Klook spokesman said: "We have contacted the customer and the issue has been resolved."