Tour Travel Complaints - Travel Agent Complaints

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

Money deducted, Ticket not booked

No Refund

Booking canceled

Customer care not responding

Bad hotel booked

Misbehavior by staff

Fraudulent Booking agents

Fake Club membership sold

Train canceled without knowledge

Booking dates changed

Room was not clean

Cab did not arrive on time

Cab driver canceled the trip

Hotel denied after booking (Oyo) ^Open

I booked a hotel in McLeodGanj using OYO apps and after reaching the city I called hotel reception and they mentioned that their contract with the OYO has expired. When I called OYO customer care they didn't provide any solution for more than *...

Apr 24, 2019 by Sanjay Kumar

Incomplete transaction refund not given (Tsrtc ) ^Open

I tried booking a bus ticket with TSRTC which was failed. But the money was detected from my account. As per the mail attached the money should have credited to account within *-** days. I have called the HDFC and TSTRC but with no avail and wi...

Apr 24, 2019 by Naveen Kumar Arroju

Did not support on my booking (Oyo) ^Open

I had a complaint about room service and hygiene. They mailed me that they will get it done and if this doesn't happen they will change my room. They did not clean my room so again I called support asked them to change the property they told me...

Apr 23, 2019 by Manisha

Fraud committed by the company (Countryard Imperial Inn & Suites) ^Open

This is a fraud company. Don’t give them your hard earned money. Once they take money from you after that they don’t ask you for anything. I did not get my package. I had paid *,**,***/- on **/**/****. I don’t want to continue with them. ...

Apr 23, 2019 by Mintu Mehra

International flight ticket not rescheduled (Goibibo) ^Open

I am working in Saudi Arabia booked an international flight ticket through Goibibo.com on *nd March ****. It was from Yanbu, Saudi Arabia to Delhi, India via Jeddah and Mumbai on *th May **** through Saudi airlines and Jet Airways. I came to kn...

Apr 23, 2019 by Vivek Kumar

Confirmed airline ticket cancelled by the portal (Make My Trip) ^Open

Conversation via mail are as follows: I’m writing to you after following up with your call centre team for the last * days. It's very weird that my confirmed and paid tickets have been cancelled without my consent and without any intimation ...

Apr 23, 2019 by SUNIL PARAKH

Payment get failed (Clear Trip) ^Open

I booked the flight ticket from Indore to Hyderabad on **-**-**** for the same day flight on Air Asia at **:** Hrs for **:** flight. The payment has been deducted from my credit card and displayed as payment failed in my clear trip account. I c...

Apr 22, 2019 by Satyanarayana Raju D V V

Fraud tour agency (Splendid Tour ) ^Open

Complaint ID: ******* Website:- www. splendidtour.co. in I Dr Ketan Deotare From Nagpur We made a booking for Ooty Mysore trip for **th April to *st May’** and paid almost ***** Rs including flight, hotel, cab. They said you will receive f...

Apr 22, 2019 by KETAN MARTANDRAO DEOTARE

Ticket not delivered in time (Indian Railway ( Irctc) ) ^Open

I had booked the Air Ticket through the air.irctc.co.in website of Indian Railway on **.**.****. Journey date was on **.**.**** at **:** am. I paid the amount of Rs. ****. The amount is debited from my account, at the same time the ticket was n...

Apr 22, 2019 by PATIL SANDIP CHINDHU

Amount not refunded and deficiency of service (Zoi Holidays ) ^Open

I did not want to write this but I have to as I have no other options. I received an invitation call and message from Zoi holidays, office no ***, city centre *nd floor, Gurgaon road that I and my wife are invited for free vouchers and ** minut...

Apr 22, 2019 by Abhinav Rattan Thapa

Charging cancellation fee (Ola Cabs) ^Open

I already paid the fees but not refunding my fees. Please do the needful....

Apr 22, 2019 by Govind goyal

Denied from checking in booked hotel (Oyo) ^Open

I had booked two rooms in Mathura's hotel named Ganga palace through Oyo. But when I went to check in the hotel, the manager denied saying that the tariff is less and I will have to pay more to check in. When I contacted Oyo customer care they...

Apr 21, 2019 by Vishnu Sharma

Wrong booking done due to server error (Make My Trip) ^Open

I was trying to book ticket from Delhi to Hyderabad then I visited MakeMyTrip site saying there are many flights from Delhi to Hyderabad. Then I approached for flight at *.** pm in the night for **st April ****. I was ready to book a ticket and...

Apr 21, 2019 by Swapna

Proper bus not provided (Ksrtc) ^Open

I had booked for a club class bus from Mysore to Bangalore and the booking details have been attached asunder. But despite booking it a week before they made us travel in a normal bus and upon asking authorities they told us to adjust the avail...

Apr 21, 2019 by Ashish.S.R

Hotel booking cancelled (Makemytrip (india) Pvt. Ltd.) ^Open

I have reserved hotel in Langkawi for * days. Check-in Date: **/**/** Check out Date: **/**/** Booking no: NH*************. The payment was completed and received an invoice from MakeMyTrip. Also received a booking confirmation email from ...

Apr 21, 2019 by Ferin parakot

No room allotment (Oyo) ^Open

I had booked on Oyo. When I had reached I was waiting outside for * hour nobody was lifting the phone. And booking is still confirmed I dont know what to do. My booking id: PWGZ****....

Apr 20, 2019 by Ethender

Package not same as promised (Make My Trip Pvt Ltd) ^Open

They have changed the flights without our consent. Original flights promised were Air India Non-stop from New Delhi to Vienna. We were to fly back on **th May from Vienna at **:** at night as per Vienna standard time which has been rescheduled ...

Apr 20, 2019 by Pranita Mathur

Accepted request but refused to ride (Ola Cabs) ^Open

This is to file a complaint against ola driver Dhilip Raj M (TN**W ****). He accepted the request for a ride and then when we reached pickup point he begged us for extra charge then the actual charge we accept to give extra charge then also he ...

Apr 20, 2019 by Khadija mohammed

Cashback not received despite several calls (Goibibo) ^Open

We were promised a cashback if we bought a coupon in the ongoing travel cash fest. My mother and I both purchased a coupon each on *rd April and availed it the same day on a *+* Buffet. We have been calling and emailing them about the promise...

Apr 20, 2019 by Samridhi Chopra

Driver left us stranded (Uber Cabs) ^Open

On the *th of April **** at approximately ** pm, I had booked an UBER taxi from McDonald's at Saki Naka to Ghodbundar, Thane. I was given the details of the driver, whose name was Mr Rajendra and Wagon R taxi bearing number **** was shared on t...

Apr 20, 2019 by Jude Saldanha