Travel Complaints
There are various modes of transportation in India be it through air, sea or land. Indian transportation, due to its immense population, is one of the most widely used in the world.
For traveling within India people generally prefer to rent a car or travel via train or bus as they deem convenient. Ola and Uber are prime examples of this. These startups have skyrocketed and are one of most used traveling apps in the India.
Meanwhile, many people prefer to travel via plane as it saves times. For this they either book the ticket through the website directly or look for agents to do the same.
Apart from big names there are some private travel agencies in Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata etc, which try to lure customers by offering them lucrative discounts. Travel agent frauds are quite prevalent in India. The most common travel agent/agency complaints include refund not provided, hotel denying check-in, fake promises etc.
Travel complaints have a sense of urgency and responsibility attached to them because no one wants to board a late flight or wants to stay in low-quality hotel.
We all want our travels and trips to be smooth right from the beginning. And if something does not go as per our expectations, the mood gets spoiled!
Therefore, it brings a significant responsibility on the shoulders of the travel companies to solve the issues faced by their customers. One should only book their hotels/flights via trustworthy sites to avoid getting duped. However, sometimes even these reputed travel companies commit an error.
In this article, we have covered the common travel complaints that are faced by customers and how you can resolve them.
But first lets check out the famous travel companies in India
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<p class="artpara" style="color:#D0021B !important;font-size:1.5em;margin-top:-30px !important;"><b>Famous Travel Companies in India</b></p>
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<b>1. Make My Trip</b>
Make my Trip is one of the leading online travel companies in India. In 2000 it was founded by Deepak Kalra and had its headquarters in Gurugram, Haryana.
They have more than 14 company-owned travel stores in India and have over 30 franchisee-owned travel stores in India. They also have offices in Dubai, Phuket, Bangkok, New York, Kuala, and Lumpur.
<b>2. Yatra:</b>
Founded by Manish Amin, Sabina Chopra, and Dhruv Shringi in 2006, Yatra.com is the pre-eminent Indian online travel agency. It is based in Gurugram, Haryana. According to the sources in 2012, Yatra became the second-largest online travel service provider company in India.
<b>3. OYO:</b>
Oyo rooms, popularly known as Oyo hotels and rooms and stylized as OYO, is the fastest and largest growing hospitality chain in India. They worked on the franchising and leased system, which fortunately turned out to be the best for the company. Founded by Ritesh Agarwal in 2013, OYO gained much popularity right from the beginning.
<b>4. GOIBIBO:</b>
Subsidiary of Make My Trip Limited, Mauritius Ibibo, is a travel organization in 2006 by Ashish Kashyap. In 2013 Goibibo made it among the top five most trusted e-commerce brands in India.
<b>5. HappyEasyGo:</b>
Happy Easy Go is one of the emerging online travel company founded by Boris Zha in 2017. In 2019 it became the second-largest online travel booking platform in India and had more than 10 million customer bases all over the world. It has its headquarters in Gurugram, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hong Kong, and Singapore. During late 2018 HappyEasyGo established its hotel business.
<b>6. Thomas Cook:</b>
Thomas Cook (India) Ltd has its headquarters in Mumbai and caters to all the travel related requirements from visas to foreign exchange. They established themselves in India in 1881 and expanded its business to all the nearby countries.
<b>7. Clear Trip:</b>
Clear Trip earlier was known as Clear Trip Travel Services Private limited is a universal online travel company established in 2016. It has its headquarters in Dubai and Mumbai. In India, they started with a vision of making travel simple by bridging the gap between the Indian hospitality and travel sector. It was founded as an air and hotel aggregator by Stuart Crighton, Mathew Spacie, and Hrush Bhatt.
<b>8. Travel Guru:</b>
Travel Guru is India’s leading and growing travel website. It offers flights, holiday packages, and hotels at the best prices; they aim to make your trip smooth and convenient.
<b>9. Travel Triangle:</b>
Founded by three IIT graduates Sanchit Garg, Prabhat Gupta, and Sankalp Agarwal. It is India’s first fully stacked Holiday Marketplace that connects verified travel agents and travelers. It was founded in 2011 and competed with companies such as Thrillophilia. It is a platform that is trusted by many.
<b>10. Travelocity India:</b>
It is rated as one of the best online travel portals in the world and perfectly caters to the local needs of the people by launching specialized programs. In India, they cater to both business and leisure requirements.
<p class="artpara" style="color:#D0021B !important;font-size:1.5em;margin-top:-30px !important;"><b>Types of Travel Complaints</b></p>
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<b>1. Tickets canceled, but money is not refunded:</b>
One of the significant problems that are being faced by customers of major travel companies is that they cancel the tickets, but money is not credited to their bank account. This is the most common issue faced by almost all the consumers in cities like Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru.
During COVID-19 times, many have reported on the internet that they have booked tickets, and they got canceled due to the pandemic. However, the companies did not refund the amount. Either they are saying that they have refunded the amount, or instead, they are offering a credit voucher.
<b>2. No refund for flights canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic:</b>
Due to the global pandemic, suddenly, flights were canceled. It was reported by customers of many major travel companies that they did not get their refund; however, the airlines did return the full booking amount. Many customers were upset because the travel companies did not inform them about the refund from the airlines.
<b>3. Partial refund for the flights canceled due to COVID-19:</b>
Many customers reported that they did not receive the full amount of flights they booked pre-corona. However, airlines have refunded the entire amount, but travel companies did not credit the whole amount; instead, they deducted a certain amount without giving any valid reason.
<b>4. No refund against booked packages:</b>
Many planned trips in June assuming that pandemic will end, but in the wake of current times, still, the tourism industry is on hold.
As people booked packages for traveling and now are requesting for a refund, but many companies are simply denying it.
However, many customers are disturbed with it because, in these uncertain times, they are struggling so much to get their refund.
<b>5. Unable to connect with customer care service:</b>
Many customers from significant travel companies face this very issue when they contact the customer care, they are not entertained, or their complaints are not correctly handled.
Many faced this particular issue while they were contacting the customer care, and their complaints were not appropriately welcomed or they were not able to connect with them.
<b>6. Fraudulent booking agents:</b>
Many travel companies have their booking agents, but some fraudsters just dive in and cheat people.
Many customers from significant companies, including Make My Trip and Yatra complained that they had been cheated by fraudsters in the name of these companies, and they have demanded a refund from the company.
<b>7. Rescheduling of flights due to COVID-19:</b>
Due to Corona pandemic, many people had to reschedule their flights, but travel companies are not helping them or are not considering their request.
<b>8. Over billing by travel companies:</b>
The most common types of complaints regarding Ola and Uber include over billing issues and not returning the left item in the cab. But you can try contacting the customer care number of Ola which is 098842437 and customer care of Uber which is 1300091272.
<p class="artpara" style="color:#D0021B !important;font-size:1.5em;margin-top:-30px !important;"><b>How to resolve travel complaints?</b></p>
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<b>1. File support ticket/send an email:</b>
You can always contact travel companies through their official website by going to their contact us section and by sending them an email. Customer service emails of some leading travel companies are:
Yatra- support@yatra.com
Make My Trip- care@makemytrip.com
Happy Easy Go- cs@happyeasygo.com
Clear Trip- customersupport@cleartrip.com
Goibibo- travel@goibibo.com
Travel guru- service@travelguru.com
<b>2. Call Customer support:</b>
One of the perfect ways to directly come in contact with the travel company is by contacting it through phone call for customer support. All these well-known travel companies have a 24*7 working customer care number which helps in resolving complaints as they value customer feedback. The customer care number of some of the leading travel agencies and hospitality companies in India are :
Cox and Kings Customer Care Number - 1800 209 0400
Thomas Cook Customer Care Number - 1800 209 9100
Club Mahindra Holidays Customer Care Number - 044 6695 3435
Expedia Customer Care Number – 800-319-4834
Yatra Customer Care Number - 0124 3040500
Goibibo Customer Care Number - 1800 208 1060
Makemytrip Customer Care Number - 1800 102 8747
Travelguru Customer Care Number - +91 92111 77444
Oyo Customer Care Number - 093139 31393
RedBus Customer Care Number - 1860 121 2102
<b>3. Report to the airlines/hotel directly:</b>
As we have seen above, many customers have reported that the airlines and hotels have issued a refund, but the travel companies have not refunded the money in the bank accounts. It is always better to contact the airlines or hotels directly if the companies don’t issue a refund by time. You can contact the airlines and hotels by calling them on their customer care number or by sending the email.
<b>4. Send Legal Notice:</b>
Consumers can send legal notices to travel company in case it is unable to resolve his complaint. It is one of the efficient ways to handle the issue legally. Check below to know how to send a legal notice to travel company?
Step 1: Firstly, get a legal notice drafted by a lawyer.
Step 2: Check it properly and make sure it is signed by lawyer.
Step 3: Keep a copy of it for future purposes.
Step 4: Send the legal notice to travel company by registered post.
Step 5: Keep the slip or delivery report for evidence.
<b>5. File consumer forum case:</b>
Consumer forum deals with consumer complaints and you should approach consumer forum if you feel that your rights as a consumer have been violated.
If travel company is not responding to your complaints even after sending legal notice by a lawyer then you should file a case against it in a consumer court.
Here is <b>how you can file a case in the consumer court?</b>
Step 1: Intimate the aggrieved party via legal notice.
Step 2: Draft the consumer complaint
Step 3: Attach all the relevant documents and proofs to support your complaint.
Step 4: Select the appropriate court for filing the complaint.
Step 5: Pay the prescribed court fee that is required to be paid along with the complaint.
Step 6: Submit the case along with the affidavit & fees in the court.
If you feel uncomfortable doing all this yourself, then you should use Voxya to <a href="https://voxya.com/file-consumer-complaint?ref=onlComp">file a complaint against travel company</a>. We will send Legal Notice and prepare Case for filing in consumer court. We, at Voxya, are generally receiving more than 100 travel consumer complaints every month.
Most Common Issue Reported for Travel Complaints
Complaints
Misused my account (Ola Cabs & Ola Money) Open
My Ola account was misused on **th April **** early morning and book * package ride to consume approximately Rs ****. On the **th morning, it came to my knowledge. I contacted old customer care and lodged a complaint. From customer care, I got...
May 02, 2019 by Shiju KT
Holiday itinerary booked and actual ticket received had variance (Makemytrip (india) Pvt. Ltd.) Open
This is with respect to my booking no NL*************. I had booked a holiday package from MakeMyTrip which included flights with Baggage allowance. The booking card clearly showed this. But when I received the actual ticket, for one leg of the...
May 01, 2019 by Neville Savio Kujur
My flight tickets are cancelled without informing (Make My Trip) Open
I missed the flight on **th April ** (BAH -TRV) Gulf air. That day I bought a new ticket for my travel to trv on **st April **. After **nd April I applied my cancellation request for my ticket **th April. Some times later I got an email MMT say...
May 01, 2019 by SYAM KUMAR
Got cheated by the company (Oyo) Open
I have done * room booking with Oyo (Oyo ***** hotel Anupama) on ** April and prepaid them tariff of room for * night stays for the check-in date of **/**/**** and check-out date **/**/****. Without any prior information on the check-in date, t...
May 01, 2019 by Somesh Saran
Service not delivered (Sunpt Travels) Open
They didn't book our return ticket and * day before the trip end asked us for advance cash for ticket book. That time we don't have any option we give him money for flight bookings. He gives us a cheque for the same amount and receipt of the ca...
May 01, 2019 by Vikas agrawal
Due to cancellation, I got to spend extra (Makemytrip (india) Pvt. Ltd.) Open
I booked flights to Malaysia from Trichy on **th April. My travel date was on **th April. The amount was ***** INR. Money was deducted from my account but I didn't get any confirmation. Instead, I got a mail of cancellation and refund. They sai...
May 01, 2019 by Sunitha M
Regarding holiday package (Nirmiti Resorts & Clubs) Open
I have been fooled by Nirmiti Resorts and club. I had been to Goa for vacation in December ****. The man took us to hotel telling that we have got our lucky draw and price will be given immediately. After going there, a lady came and asked us m...
May 01, 2019 by Abdul sadique
Honeymoon package amount not refunded (Snow Travel Club) Open
I had book the honeymoon package of ***** for * night and * days for Shimla and Manali from Snow travel club. I had made the *st payment for ***** from paytm for booking after that they had demand for the remaining payment of ***** because hote...
May 01, 2019 by Sayyed shafi ahmed
Flight E-ticket confirmation not sent (Happy Easy Go) Open
I made a flight ticket booking through an app called happy easy go on **th April ****. However, I did not receive any e-ticket confirmation message though they said it'll be sent after * hour. When I inquired about it I received a message from ...
May 01, 2019 by Lydia
Incorrect information provided (Makemytrip.com) Open
I booked a room at Days Hotel by Wyndham Singapore At Zhongshan Park In Singapore via www.makemytrip.com. In their website, they mentioned that the hotel serves Veg Indian food and have a swimming pool. However, after check-in, I came to know t...
May 01, 2019 by Ritesh Choudhary
Bad customer support and cheating (Oyo) Open
Booking ID: EUAC****. This hotel not good and has some issue. So I explain all this to Oyo after **+ email and social media. First of all Oyo customer care is very worst they don't respond in email and social media. Finally, they informed me th...
Apr 30, 2019 by Lourdu Vinoth
Hotel not honouring my booking (Hotel Imperia Rajapeth Amravati Maharashtra ) Open
Booked Hotel Imperia for accommodating my guest on *th to *th May ** online through Agoda website on **th April **. For which I got a confirmatory mail after paying the full amount in advance. On approaching hotel on **th April ** the property ...
Apr 30, 2019 by Snehal Prakash Chavhan
Fake membership promised (Nirmiti Resorts & Clubs) Open
Nirmiti makes fool of the people by giving them fake membership promise. It happened with me in Goa in November ****. As they committed to refund the amount. From the past * months, they are giving false dates. I have not received even a single...
Apr 29, 2019 by Ankit Suman
Refund not received (Travelgenio) Open
Due to changing of flight timings by the airlines, I had a word with airlines and Travelgenio customer service. I had cancelled my flight, want to know when will I get my refund as per customer service staff told me I would get ***% amount back...
Apr 29, 2019 by Arti hooda
Fed up with harassment (Sotc) Open
This is the first time we have booked our tour for * people to Europe with SOTC and in the very first deal, we have felt that SOTC is the worst travel agency ever. We have booked our tour by paying Rs. * lakhs on **.**.**** vide booking file nu...
Apr 28, 2019 by Jhelum
Mentally physically and financially harassed (Oyo) Open
I have booked a room today with Oyo *****. I have paid the amount at the time of booking. They send me confirmation message on my email id. When I go to Oyo they said rooms are overbooked. We have only * rooms and from Oyo side, they booked ** ...
Apr 28, 2019 by Nishu Maheshwari
Refund not issued (Make My Trip Pvt Ltd) Open
I have booked my flight ticket on **th March **** from makemytrip. The journey date was **th April. I got notification from spice jet on *th April that the flight is cancelled. I was eligible for a full refund. I cancelled the ticket and applie...
Apr 28, 2019 by ROHIT KUMAR
Robbery in train (Indian Railway ) Open
Robbery did at Rourkela station in Mumbai mail train on **-**-****. The robber snatched the gold chain and mobile. Please do the needful....
Apr 28, 2019 by SHASHI KALA AGARWAL
Cab driver refusing trip and cancelling on their terms (Ola Cabs) Open
It's a horrible experience nowadays with Ola cabs where after ** to ** mins of waiting you find a cab only to watch the high handedness of the drivers. If luck favours then the driver will agree to go to your destination. But more than often th...
Apr 28, 2019 by S. Chakraborti
Refund not received (Goibibo) Open
I am facing refund issues for tickets I booked from Goibibo website in the month of January ****. I had initiated cancellation directly at the airlines portal and I was told to contact you so that the money is returned back to the source I thou...
Apr 28, 2019 by Akash Agrawal
"Thank you so much to Voxya.com. Legal Notice really worked and Byjus had to refund my amount and cancel the loan. Thanks once again Voxya. "
Ramachal V
Complaint filed against: Byjus