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
Famous Travel Companies in India
1. Make My Trip
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.
2. Yatra:
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.
3. OYO:
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.
4. GOIBIBO:
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.
5. HappyEasyGo:
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.
6. Thomas Cook:
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.
7. Clear Trip:
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.
8. Travel Guru:
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.
9. Travel Triangle:
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.
10. Travelocity India:
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.
Types of Travel Complaints
1. Tickets canceled, but money is not refunded:
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.
2. No refund for flights canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic:
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.
3. Partial refund for the flights canceled due to COVID-19:
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.
4. No refund against booked packages:
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.
5. Unable to connect with customer care service:
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.
6. Fraudulent booking agents:
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.
7. Rescheduling of flights due to COVID-19:
Due to Corona pandemic, many people had to reschedule their flights, but travel companies are not helping them or are not considering their request.
8. Over billing by travel companies:
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.
How to resolve travel complaints?
1. File support ticket/send an email:
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
2. Call Customer support:
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
3. Report to the airlines/hotel directly:
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.
4. Send Legal Notice:
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.
5. File consumer forum case:
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 how you can file a case in the consumer court?
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 file a complaint against travel company. 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
ROOM BOOKING ISSUE WITH GOIBIBO (Goibbibo ) Open
Summary of Room Booking Issue with Goibibo: The customer, Nabeel, booked a room at FabExpress JP Villa in Varanasi (Booking ID GH**************) through Goibibo but faced serious issues. Upon arrival, the room was found to be in poor conditi...
Oct 10, 2024 by HAMID NABEEL
Premium Lounge Services charges not refunded (Vfs Global India) Open
[G-********]--[G-********]--[External] Unable to reschedule appointment second time even before ** hours • Visa Appointment (dated **th June ****) booked for four family members in group (with no premium lounge services purchased). • Resc...
Oct 08, 2024 by Rashmi Singh
Bus operator suddenly cancel the booked bus and reschedule for higher money (National travels Redbus) Open
I had booked a bus ticket(travel date **-**-**) in redbus on **-*-** from chennai to krishnagiri. But the bus operator suddenly cancelled my ticket on *-**-** just * days before travel. Red bus refunded paid amount but when i tried to rebook th...
Oct 08, 2024 by M Sabarinath
Go Life Vacations Fraud (Go Life Vacations) Open
On *th October, my wife and I were at Rainforest restaurant when we were approached by one of Go Life Vacations representatives, who offered us scratch cards. Both of us participated, and were informed that we had won a lottery. We were then ta...
Oct 07, 2024 by Manish jain
Refund for Cancelled Services not given even after one year (Thrillophila) Open
All money in advance for Singapore Family trip Services cancelled two days before on the pretext that tickets are not available. However, we could easily buy tickets at the counters. Worst still is that *** days have passed and my refund ha...
Oct 07, 2024 by sanchit puri
Not verifying profile (ZoomCar) Open
Made booking, amount paid but now not able to verify profile, no customer care number is working then why are they saying it's **/* service. I want full refund....
Oct 05, 2024 by Yash Saini
Refund not creceived till now (Go Air Airlines) Open
* booked * tickets on **/**/**** but flight was cancelled.But till now I not received my refund,please help me from this situation....
Oct 05, 2024 by vibindas
Agoda booking scam (Agoda) Open
I booked a hotel room called Hotel Stay Shine | Mysore | India from October *, **** - October **, ****. But I got an email that the booking got cancelled but they did not refund the amount. I contacted their customer care and they replied that ...
Oct 05, 2024 by Subha G
Holiday package fees increased overnight (Fly India Trip) Open
I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding the Dubai-Abu Dhabi package I booked through your company. On **th September ****, I booked a package for two people (excluding flights) at a quoted price of Rs **,***/-. I was asked to pay *...
Oct 01, 2024 by Viral L Bhuptani
Company is not responding for booking (Tajindiaresorts) Open
I took membership from tajindiaresorts , now company website and number both is not working , i got agreement letter also from them ...
Sep 28, 2024 by vaishali
Goibibo Ticket Refund (Goibibo) Open
I bought a ticket from UK to Canada on a flexi pass with an option to reschedule the ticket. I wanted to reschedule the ticket * days before my travel but Goibibo didn't honor my request even though I paid more for the flexi pass. I was in call...
Sep 26, 2024 by Parthasarathi Raghavan
Refund Medical reason HCGWJZ PNR (Goibibo) Open
Dear Goibibo Team, I am writing to request a refund for my cancelled flights Booking ID: GOFLDSTLXVTNVJWA**** and Booking ID: GOFLDSTSQR*O*BNS**** due to unforeseen medical reasons. Despite my previous requests, I have yet to receive the ful...
Sep 24, 2024 by Anubhav Parashar
Flight ticket scam (Goibibo) Open
We booked a flight from BLR to BBI on **/**/**** for travel on **/**/****. While we selected the regular fare, the ticket was mistakenly booked under the 'Doctors Fare,' likely due to a bug on the Goibibo website. Now, they are asking me to can...
Sep 24, 2024 by Gayatree panda
Cleartrip not issuing refund for cancelled Go Air flight (Cleartrip) Open
Its been almost * years now that Go air cancelled the flight which was booked via cleartrip, even though i received email saying refund has been processed, i have not got the refund....
Sep 24, 2024 by Santosh Gupta
Not returnig the money (Tour World Travels) Open
Mr. Javid Mir Kifayat, who is associated with this Tour World Travels agency. On *th March **** I attempted to book accommodations with him for a future trip to Kashmir which is for * adults. He assured me that the rooms were locked and reques...
Sep 23, 2024 by Vansh Agarwal
Refund issue almost 2 years (Fala Holidays And Packages) Open
Hello, Good morning, It’s almost * to * years complete to asking refund amount they agree to refund amount. Now they not picking my call and not replying my messages. Their office also move Yelahanka to somewhere but address also...
Sep 20, 2024 by Shruthi shetty
Formal Complaint Against Fala Holidays and Packages Request for Refund (Fala Holidays And Packages) Open
Subject: Formal Complaint Against Fala Holidays and Packages – Request for Refund Date: Wednesday, September **, **** Time: *:** PM Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to formally lodge a complaint against Fala Holidays and Packages and ...
Sep 18, 2024 by Naga Pavan Kumar Kalepu
Service not provided (Himalayan Bungy) Open
I booked ***m freestyle bungy jump from Himalayan Bungy on **th Sept and paid Rs. **** advance. I paid remaining *k at the reception on jump day, **th Sept. The company took all details - name, number, email and address. After jump, they are in...
Sep 17, 2024 by Nehareeka Rayat
Ticket Cancelled without prior Intimation or Confirmation (Make My Trip Indigo Airlines) Open
Hello Sir/Madam, I have booked an Indigo Flight via Make My Trip for **th Sep ****, this booking was done in Mid July (**th July ****) via Make My Trip. Now without any information to me, I got a message from Make My Trip saying your flight...
Sep 17, 2024 by Arpit Singh Chouhan
Confirmed Booking Not Provided (Ease my trip) Open
This complaint is in reference to my EaseMyTrip booking Grievance Number: ******* on consumerhelpline.gov.in where after cancelling my * bookings made for Rs ***** in Hotel Carlton Downtown Booking Ids (EMT*********, EMT*********) and on *rd at...
Sep 14, 2024 by Saad Moulvi
I try to cancel my trip but the app get closed automatically (Goibibo) Closed
I booked my trip by ** am instead of ** pm I tried to cancel my ticket but the app closed without refund ...
Sep 10, 2024 by Dinesh Kumar
Airline refunded amount not credited fully (Ease My Trip Private Limited) Closed
Booking ID - EMT********* PNR - *TAAH* & SK*J*Y Issue with Refund -> Regarding the amount cleared out by StarAir to EaseMyTrip we had a conference call between StarAir (Prathamesh), EaseMyTrip (Deep) & Me (Anshul Nema). And also I have shared a...
Sep 06, 2024 by Anshul Nema
TICKET CANCELLED WITHOUT CONCENT (Make My Trip) Closed
Passenger Junaid Khan cancelled his flight directly from Indigo by using split Pnr given to him from Indigo , And then he raised a refund for his name on MMT app for this booking by selecting only his name . (Booking id : NF*A*NO***********...
Sep 06, 2024 by Syed Mohd Askari
Bus Cancelled (Make my trip) Closed
We were booked on a bus from Delhi to Lucknow on August **th. The bus was cancelled and money refunded but without any information to us. No email, no whatsapp, no message. Due to this we had to book another bus in urgency costing *X the actual...
Aug 27, 2024 by Shreya Bhattacharya
Money deducted but no ticket (Easemytrip) Closed
Hi, I tried to book ticket from Delhi to patna - Vistara UK-*** on *nd August ****(**/**/****) at *:** am Money has been deducted but ticket booking is stuck from past * day with no booking details I reached out to easemytrip team but they are ...
Aug 03, 2024 by Suman kumar
Horrible Expirence (Ease my trip) Closed
I made the booking Trident jaipur from ease my trip on **.**.**** my booking ID is-EMT********* i got the mail and message from the ease the trip that my booking were confirmed after that I have done all the further arrangements ,suddently...
Jul 31, 2024 by Kirti Joshi
Ticket not booked money debited (Easemytrip) Closed
I tried to book a return ticket from Delhi to Toronto (costing *.**L) through the Easemytrip website. The money got debited from my account, and I received a message saying that payment is successful but booking status is pending. Later on I go...
Jul 17, 2024 by Abhishek Mahajan
Non refund of cancellation charges by easemytrip (Easemytrip) Closed
Non refund of cancellation charges by easemytrip and saying that payment is pending from Razorpay end since October 2023....
Jul 10, 2024 by Surender Phalswal
Full refund not received (Ease my trip) Closed
Flight cancelled by airlines, but still ease my trip is paying me Rs ***/- less...
Jul 09, 2024 by DR BISWAMBHAR AGARWAL
REGARDING MISBEHAVING AND PHYSICAL ASSAULTING FROM LAXMI HOLIDAYS CONDUCTOR (Laxmi Holidays) Closed
I have made a reservation for my bus tickets from Manali to Delhi ISBT Through Make my Trip Via LAXMI HOLIDAYS. My family, consisting of six people including my wife, mother, grandmother, and siblings, accompanied me. Upon reaching the picku...
Jun 24, 2024 by MOHIT SHIVAM GAUR
Payment done money deducted but booking not confirmed in app (Oyo) Closed
I have booked an Oyo room today and made online UPI payment . The transaction was successful, money was deducted from my account but in the Oyo app it still shows payment pending....
May 31, 2024 by Aishwarya Akella
20 kg Baggage Allowance was not provided (Easemytrip) Closed
Hi, I had made a booking through EaseMyTrip for a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Cochin on May **th ****. While booking it showed the luggage was **kg included in the total price but after making the booking it showed * kg luggage included. I h...
May 25, 2024 by Avira kurian
Money debited but no ticket generated (Easemytrip) Closed
I was booking AC* train tickets as per the normal process through EaseMyTrip app. After the payment, they redirect to IRCTC portal for entering the password. But on entering the details, the app froze and that’s it. No ticket , no pnr but...
May 15, 2024 by Aditya
Bus ticket refund amount (Yatra.com) Closed
I have booked a bus from Hyderabad to Bengaluru through Yatra.com on *th may **** and it has been cancelled by bus driver so I have raised a complaints against the refund but there is no response from their side so please help me...
May 09, 2024 by Pinky L
Mis selling of Holiday package (Park holidays international pvt ltd) Closed
My wife was mis sold holiday package by park hotel international pvt ltd.She was called to visit hotel H Anand Gujarat on **.**.**** to collect discount coupons based on shopping at D Mart Anand Gujarat.She was lured and gives false promises by...
May 02, 2024 by Nirdosh Kumar
Trekking package cancelled but money not refunded (Trekveda ) Closed
Details : The booking was under my friends name Aditi pal(**********) we booked a Trekking package from the company which costed **** per person..**** in total for the date of **/**/**** (it was a kedarkantha trek)we booked out train and accom...
May 02, 2024 by Vivek
Bus operator rescheduled service and did not get a refund (Redbus) Closed
I was informed by this useless bus operator Orange travels to be at boarding point at *:** pm. I received a message after an hour saying the some technical problem had arisen and bus would delayed. I was made to wait at an unfamiliar place for ...
Apr 24, 2024 by Shyam Sundar D
Forex order not booked but money deducted from account (Make my trip) Closed
On Friday, **th April.. I was booking a Forex order of USD **** on MMT website. After completing the payment I realized there was no order created but amount of Rs ******.** got deducted from the account. I reached out to MMT support and they a...
Apr 22, 2024 by Naveen Tandon
Amount deducted but Air ticket not booked and payment not refund (Veertrip travel agency for Armed Forces) Closed
I have booked a air ticket from Hyderabad to Dimapur and order number ******** on ** Apr **** for journey date is ** May ****. The amount of Rs **,***/- deducted from my account wiith UTR number ************ but no PNR number and E Ticket allo...
Apr 20, 2024 by Pole Daulat
Refund not issued (easemy trip) Closed
My payment details include a Basic Fare of ₹****.**, Taxes amounting to ₹****.**, K* charges of ₹***.**, Reschedule Charges at ₹*.**, Cancellation Insurance Charges totaling ₹***.**, and a Discount of ₹() ***.**, resulting in a To...
Apr 13, 2024 by Tadem Sai Pavan
"The sales manager of the KFC agreed to add an additional product worth Rs.450 on my next KFC order from their outlet and he did that without any issues. Thanks to Voxya for helping in getting this sorted!"
Kimi Shrivastava
Complaint filed against: KFC