Thrillophilia Adventure Tours Private Limited - Misleading Trip and Hotel Bookings Last Minutes Changes

Our trip for North East was confirmed and booked on Nov ** via Thrillophilia for date of travel on Dec-**. Agent "Nakul- **********" confirmed all reservations(specific hotel + cabs) were done. I had specifically asked for hotels based on our conversations over Whatsapp as I wanted comfortable stay for my family since we have younger kids for which I was ready to pay extra and opted for premium package. I was also specific on the view, had requested for valley facing rooms. Inspite this the hotel bookings were changed last minute and I believe none of the booking was made prior and everything was made last minute.

Day * - Dec ** : The only hotel that was promised and given was Lemon Tree, Gangtok but it lacked the mountain view. I immediately called my agent and he kept promising that he will arrange but that never happened and we adjusted for that stay.

Day * - Day ** : There was no communication or message on the next day plan and I called my agent to recheck as I came to know about the bad weather condition in Gangtok. I was expecting a prompt call for Thrillophilia to inform us about such events and not customer calling them to check on the plan. Our itinerary was changed due to bad weather which is I feel is fair but a prior information would have save us time and challenges we faced enroute as we had kids and had to plan food and necessary items. The service is pathetic and not prompt. If the customer has to call and inform that weather is bad, alternative plan is in place or not then I believe there is no point going via an agent. I could have myself booked and hired local cabs.

Day * - Day ** : Since we didnot get the desired room in Gangtok I had requested my agent to be proactive in making sure I had mountain view room in my other stays and he promised for the same which was false as usual. To our horror when we called in the hotel(Kaya Gantavya, Pelling) to inform of our late arrival we got to know that our booking does not exist. I called to check and my agent said that he upgraded to a different hotel(Chumbi, Pelling). I was informed of this late in the evening. It was an expensive hotel and we had to spend a bomb on food as it was a remote place and there was no option but to consume hotel buffet dinner which was priced enormously. We never asked for upgrade. Our request was simple to stick to the plan on what was promised in the mail and no changes. This also did not had the requested mountain view even after saying it was an upgrade.

Day * - Dec ** : Me and my son fell sick and were rushed to doctor for medical attention. We took rest in hotel for the day to recover.

Day * - Dec ** : Started for Darjeeling and again to make sure I called the Hotel(Sterling, Darjeeling) to inform of arrival. It was a shock to us when we came to know hotel didn't had any booking on my name again. This is happening the second time in a row. When I called my agent to check, I again got the same response, hotel is changed and I need to speak to a local agent to understand the situation. I called Deeksha - ********** and came to know that our booking got bounced and that we have to stay in * different hotel for the next * nights. I don't understand how bookings can bounce when it was made a month in advance. We even explained our health condition and showed our resistance to not accept this kind of situation when we have kids with us. It was a discomfort and stress to the family. Still they did not listen and kept telling the same story. We didn't had any other choice but to stay in * different place. The place where we stayed on Dec **- was a very cramped room which I believe was not a premium hotel(Cedar In) and our money was misused, duping us to stay in a lower standard hotel than what we had agreed upon(Sterling).

Day * - Jan * : We had to check and move to another hotel which was far from Cedar In. It took us * hours to reach to this new place which left no time in hand to do any further sight seeing on this day and we had to ask our driver to return back and not take us any further as we had to have our lunch and then it would be sun down already. Basically we couldn't do any sight seeing due to this transfer of hotel situation. Again the money wasted.

All in all this trip was a very unpleasant, unsatisfactory, mental torture for me and my family. We went through tough times with our health as well. Concerned about the money we spent on this wasteful trip. Had a bitter experience with the overall execution, service and customer satisfaction.
I would not recommend Thrillophilia ever to anyone. I am an avid traveler and have visited more than ** countries and ** states in India. All I planned on my own and never faced such situation before. This was the first time that I thought I should go via some platform and chose Thrillophila just to make sure everything is taken care since we had younger children with us.

I am lodging this complaint to compensate for the discomfort that they have put us through. I would need my full money back and to take strict compliance action against such painful experience from their platform. Our only simple request through our journey was to stick to what was promised by Thrillophilia and not to keep changing when we payed a bomb for this trip.
I have also raised a grievance in their platform and they have agreed for the mismanagement at their end and offered to just compensate **** out of ****** that I paid for. This is not acceptable for what they have put us through.

Wasn't it the incompetence at their end to tend to customer needs when they already knew they were taking up those countless bookings. Their agents spoke so convincingly of how they were just focused on our booking and later brushed their hands off when the trip actually started and customer support was needed. Taking money is a different thing and providing the promised service is another on which they fooled us. Should they not be prepared to handle such situations and may be increase their staff strength to better deal with it. Instead their platform decided to trouble the customer and cause so much distress and dissatisfaction. Of course they were busy minting money from gullible customers at the stake of their money, comfort and experience. Which was bitter all throughout.

Preeti Anandan