The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© Copyright 2008/9 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.Would-be Japanese space tourist wants $21 million back
ALEXANDRIA, Va©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
22 Comments
Login to comment
bcbrownboy
Uh-oh, we'd better be careful when we sign up for a spacewalk. I was thinking about it, but luckily now this timely caveat emptor came along.
OssanAmerica
Sorry but I can't really feel sorry for a guy whose got so much money coming out of that he can afford to spend it on being a tourist in space. That kind of money could be put to much better less selfceneted purposes. Besides the whole business sounds lke a retarded scam to start with.
some14some
concerned partys do not want to comment, but since i read this article and have spent a minute, my comment to J-space tourist is to re-read Contract Terms.
kjunluc2
****This guy is spaced-out to begin with. He lives in a vacuum.
Statistician
If he had that much to spend he could have bought an economy class ticket on a JAL flight.
mcheeky
It would be a mistake to let companies take so much money without providing the service they were paid to provide. To heck with the fine print, especially as companies are getting better and better at ripping us off by means of intentionally hiding unfair clauses in there among other things. Basically, they are not making the contracts in good faith in the first place, and that counts for more than fine print, make no mistake. Naturally, all expenses should be deducted, but the company has no right profiting for what it never did.
They should have dropped him the minute the kidney stones were found, and kept him dropped until he was cleared.
Don't just think of this as him and them. Think of what the precedent could mean for you and all of us.
romulus3
what a jerk
zaichik
Silly boy should have bought space-travel insurance :-) (Can't wait till my company starts providing assistance services for those policies! "No, sir, the kidney stone was a pre-existing condition, so we can't cover the non-refundable deposit")
Youdontknow
I'm with the tourist on this one. If Space Adventures knew he had a chronic kidney stone problem, why then did they keep taking his money if they knew they weren't going to put him into space?
Azrael
If he wasn't given what he paid for, why isn't he given a refund? This sounds like highway robbery to me - and the amount is certainly not a trifle.
Hammers
I think he deserves this because if he REALLY wanted into space he should have said he would dress as Astro Boy.
bobcatfish
gee - i wonder if all the people ripped of by livedoor want their money back. live by the sword, die by the sword.
romulus3
this in a non alcohol flight sir
mcheeky
They effectively ripped themselves off by panicking the minute the investigation started. All their rights went out the window when they sold the stock, and keep in mind they got money back, and everybody knows stock prices fall, no mystery.
This guy has not received any money back. Its totally different.
RakishGadfly
In space, no one can hear you serve a subpoena.
YuriOtani
Any agreement with Russians is a waste of time, paper and money!
unscrejects
YurioOtani: Russians? Since when are the Russians refusing to refund?
romulus3
nice sarcasm. ask the Thai government.
eze666
how do the lawyers who work for this company live with themselves? a brick in the face would..... well, do nothing constructive, but i do feel many lawyers deserve a taste of what it's like to be done over with no recourse
techall
Very easily, they enforce the contract.
Richard_the_First
if you are stupid enough to squander 21 million on flying into space for a jolly, then you deserve to lose your money.
usaexpat
Enomoto should definitely get his money back. A health condition that bars him from going up is a pretty sleazy way to steal the guy's money. I could see a deposit not being refunded or something but the whole amount? Guess that's a major case of buyer beware. I won't comment on the idiocy of space toursim as that would take far too long. I just look at this in terms of fair business practices.