A woman has accused the only agency in Hong Kong “able to recruit domestic workers from Myanmar” of failing to refund her of HKD2,960, after the company failed to obtain a working visa for her domestic helper before closing down last March.
Emily Seah, 36, claims that Golden Mind Employment Agency, which she paid HKD8,960 to organise a working visa for Hay Mar – her helper from Myanmar since May 2013 – only credited HKD6,000 into her account since the company shut up shop.
Myanmar has banned its domestic helpers from working in Hong Kong amid abuse concerns.
Seah, a Canadian national, relocated to Hong Kong from Singapore last June, and had intended to take Hay Mar with her. The Myanmar Consulate in Hong Kong clearly stated Seah must use an agency to get her helper to Hong Kong. When Seah asked for an agency referral, she was told to call Golden Mind Employment Agency, located in Tsuen Wan.
Last March, Seah and her husband flew to Hong Kong to meet with a company representative named Angela Lee.
As the couple handed over their passports, the husband’s employment letter, and the HKD8,960 payment, all in good faith, Lee reportedly reassured them that the agency had secured work for 200 helpers from Myanmar in Hong Kong the previous month.
The couple also claim they were issued with a letter legally binding the agency to refund the full sum of their deposit if they could not get Hay Mar to Hong Kong.
To Seah’s dismay, the company suddenly closed two weeks later. Law admitted he was struggling to refund customers in an interview with the SCMP. Seah was quoted in the same article, expressing her frustration at having the refund delayed until October last year. However, months of pestering later, the Canadian says she is still out of pocket.
Seah has apparently filed a report for fraud with the police, but they told her no crime has been committed.
Speaking to Coconuts HK, she said, “This ordeal has caused us so much frustration and stress in terms of getting help in Hong Kong. No-one here seems to want to listen to our story. In our home country, Canada, this sort of thing would never happen.”
Seah finally managed to get the Myanmar Consulate to agree to endorse Hay Mar’s visa application, but she and her husband were told they had to get their helper to Hong Kong on their own. However, in the end, Hay Mar decided not to come to Hong Kong due to personal reasons.
Seah claims Frank Law, the owner of Golden Mind Employment Agency, is refusing to credit the remaining HKD2,960 into her account after hearing from Lee that her helper had made it to Hong Kong after all. Seah says Lee is unable to provide any proof of this, adding that she has filed a complaint through the Small Claims Tribunal, and is waiting the court date.
“It saddens us that Mr Frank Law would knowingly take our money, knowing that his agency at the time was having problems, and get away with it,” Seah said. “Justice has not been served. We want others to hear our story, and maybe, just maybe, it will help them too.”
Apparently, Law won’t consider reimbursing the money until he’s personally visited the Immigration Department to confirm or crush his suspicions that Hay Mar is in Hong Kong. According to Seah, however, he is unable to get confirmation from Immigration as he is no longer the agency owner.
Coconuts HK tried contacting both Angela Lee and Frank Law for comment, but neither party was keen to chat.
