Sentosa sky lantern festival attendees who lodged complaint with CASE to receive full refund

Source: Yahoo News

SINGAPORE -- All 68 attendees of the Singapore Sky Lantern Festival who lodged a report with the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) are slated to receive full refunds, local media outlet CNA reported on Wednesday (27 March).

CASE said it has reached an agreement with the festival's organiser, Asian Couture and Boutique, to refund all consumers who filed their complaint to the association. The refunds are to be issued by 11.59pm on 31 March.

"This comes after CASE's active representation and engagement with Asian Couture and Boutique on behalf of affected customers," said the association.

According to CNA, CASE president Melvin Yong said the association will continue to protect consumers' interests and work closely with businesses to achieve the best possible outcome.

Asian Couture and Boutique founder Shiermie Bautista previously said that no full refunds would be made for the event, since other programme segments, like the music festival, went ahead, and many participants had attended the event.

Tickets were priced at $50 per person, excluding booking fees.

The event, which took place at Sentosa's Palawan Green on 21 February, did not meet the advertised expectations.

Attendees were promised a picturesque lantern light-up with burning candles, however, on the event day, the organiser informed attendees that due to "unforeseen circumstances", burning candles were replaced with LED ones.

Also, the lanterns were tied to barricades, instead of being suspended in the air.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said last month that the organiser had failed to adhere to stipulated fire safety guidelines.

CNA reported that the police, who confirmed on 7 March that they were investigating the event, said on Wednesday that the investigation is still ongoing.