Ripped-off Sydney cruisers get $18,500 A SYDNEY cruise company has been forced to pay out nearly $40,000 after a court found it had swindled 150 people out of a night out on the harbour last silly season. Eve Harbour Cruises was on Thursday ordered to pay $19,000 in fines and costs and $18,507.51 in compensation to a group of customers who had booked the company for Christmas party or New Year's Eve functions, according to NSW Fair Trading. The revellers had shelled out up to $450 each for tickets but were left stranded when the company's vessel, the MV Eve, failed to show up. "Too many consumers had last year's celebrations ruined by this company's actions and it appears most of them never received a refund for the ticket money they paid," Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said on Thursday after the decision was handed down in Parramatta Local Court. Particularly cruel was the fact that when the company became aware the MV Eve would not be available on the dates the functions were booked, it made no effort to contact the passengers who were left stranded on King Street Wharf. NSW Fair Trading warned consumers in January not to deal with Eve Harbour Cruises Pty Ltd or its director, Allen Yousif, after receiving numerous complaints from unhappy would-be cruisers.