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

Ticket not received after booking (Goibibio) ^Open

I have initiated railway tickets booking today and the amount has been deducted but not received a ticket booking confirmation and the company doesn't provide it. The customer care number available is the most frustrating and annoying....

Apr 10, 2019 by Railway tickets booking

Want refund of bus ticket (Redbus) ^Open

On *th April ****, I booked a bus ticket online for a female passenger to travel from Baramunda bus stand (Bhubaneswar) to Sunabeda (HAL township, Koraput) on **th April ****. But due to strike on **th April the bus did not come on that day. So...

Apr 10, 2019 by Rakesh Kumar Pradhan

Incorrect bookings done (Goibibo India Private Limited) ^Open

I made a booking through Goibibo online portal for my international travel from Bali to Pune (DPS-PNQ) on *th April ****. Attached is the screenshot on what was shown to me on the website. The booking was confirmed and I also received an email ...

Apr 10, 2019 by Gita Gosavi

Fraud by the travel company (Ajay travels) ^Open

Please consider my problem. Please take legal action against Ajay travels. He takes the full amount of my journey and he gets down me and other passengers at between Nibahera and Nayagaon at Dhaba. The driver and the bus staff said that you hav...

Apr 10, 2019 by Hemant shrivas

Misbehaviour by the manager (OYO Rooms) ^Open

The Manager of Palar residency misbehaved with me and my father. I have mentioned to him that I am a patient of cardiology and came to Vellore for treatment. I trusted Oyo service but that hotel manager's behaviour changed the perception of min...

Apr 10, 2019 by Anustha Singh

Wrong information provided (Make My Trip) ^Open

I booked the flight ticket from MakeMyTrip portal. The ticket was booked from New Delhi to Auckland and return. At the time of booking on the MakeMyTrip portal, the fare was showing refundable. Once the booking was made. I got the pdf of the t...

Apr 09, 2019 by Hemant Rathi

Online booking failed but not refunding the amount (Ixigo) ^Open

I book flights from Ixigo application. Unfortunately, the flight got cancelled. Also, the amount was debited from my account. I send all the details to Ixigo online but they are still not refunding my amount. Please resolve this problem....

Apr 09, 2019 by Sameer Shah

Charging extra money (Mychoize) ^Open

My booking id is RS/DEL/**-**/*********. My booking was on **-**-**** at * pm till **-**-**** ** pm. I got the car which was not in the condition to travel then the driver took us to the Gurgaon office and we got the car after almost * hours fr...

Apr 09, 2019 by Pranjal Pandey

Invalid charges taken (Trident Hotels) ^Open

This is with regards to explain and bring to your notice that how were we wrongly informed by the hotel people and thereby incorrect charges were billed to the credit card. We got the booking confirmed on *th November (details attached) for **...

Apr 09, 2019 by Diana Narayanan

Denied accommodation in spite of booking (OYO Rooms) ^Open

Please refer the attached booking confirmation received from their end. However, while the guest checked in for stay he was denied the accommodation by their corporate team. Worse was the way their local representative Mr Lokeshwaran responde...

Apr 09, 2019 by MANOJ KUMAR

3 year child not taken back home due to wrongly issued tickets (Make My Trip Pvt Ltd) ^Open

MakeMyTrip issued us wrong tickets for international travel after taking full payment. On returning back, airlines not found child name in their system. On complaining about long they issued stand by invalid boarding pass without seat no. for t...

Apr 08, 2019 by Kilon Pradipbhai Mehta

Tickets not booked as per selected timings (Make My Trip) ^Open

I have booked a ticket Roundtrip in MMT (MakeMyTrip.com) for my manager on *nd April'** from Chennai to Delhi on *th May'** and return *th May'** Delhi to Chennai. I have selected the timings as *:** Am for *th May and *:** Pm for *th May but d...

Apr 04, 2019 by Ajaz Ahmed

Automatic Cancellation of flight ticket (Makemytrip) ^Open

I've booked a round trip from Trivandrum to kolkata. The onward journey is on **th may **** and the return is on **th may ****. I've cancelled only the return ticket on **th April **** and makemytrip website also did the same. When I went for w...

Jun 07, 2018 by Ranjith Nagarajan

Cheating for holiday package (Make My Trip) ^Open

I booked on package on Makemy Trip and paid a partial amount for the booking anr thr remaininb amount which was left to be paid was Rs *****. Yesterday I recieve an email saying that the remaining amount for my booking as per date is Rs *****,...

Jun 07, 2018 by Aman Arora

Booking done but hotel refused about booking (Goibibo) ^Open

I was travelling from chandigarh to Delhi for my office work and decided to stay at a hotel in Delhi, as usual I booked a hotel using Goibibo app, I reached the hotel on *th June ** at **Am, The person at the reception told that there is no boo...

Jun 05, 2018 by Rohit Koul