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
Trip not provided after taking money (Travel Triangle Agent-dreams Holiday) Open
Actually I booked my honeymoon in November **** but due to Covid in **** I had to postpone it. So I booked it via Travel Triangle but postponed it to June but we could not go in June also because Bali was closed because of travel restrictions. ...
Jun 13, 2022 by Bibhas Mattoo
Fraud By OYO ROOMS (Oyo Hotel Gayatri Palace ) Open
Complainant Name : Rashmi Chaudhari State : UTTAR PRADESH Purchase City : Agra Sector : E- Commerce Category : Online Booking (Hotel / Travel/ Ticket) Grievance Company : Company Name : OYO Rooms Product / Service Type: Hotel Stay Order n...
Jun 13, 2022 by Shubham
Fraud By OYO ROOMS (OYO ROOMS Collection O Hotel Deluxe Inn Prateek Enclave Phase 1 Taj Nagari Taj Nagari Agra) Open
Hi Sir/Ma'am My Name Is Ritesh Shukla And I Am A Resident Of Delhi. My Registered Mobile Number With OYO Hotels Is ***** ***** And Booking Id : H*QF**** I Made A Booking For OYO Hotel Named "Collection * ***** Hotel Deluxe Inn" In Agra, Uttar P...
Jun 12, 2022 by Shubham
Business Gave Bogus Bill (The Canopy Guesthouse Auroville) Open
I stayed at a Guesthouse in Auroville area Pondicherry. They gave me a bogus bill. First they claimed they don't have a GST number. They gave me multiple bogus bills. ...
Jun 10, 2022 by Samrat R Singh
Uber service (Uber Cab Service) Open
Respected sir I have been writing you this notification with regards to complain on Uber service and drivers behavior We want to bring it to your attention that we had boarded and an uber But the driver had receives to come to the pickup poin...
Jun 09, 2022 by Ahmed ali
Booked flight ticket via travolook got cancelled and they still didn t provide refund (Travolook) Open
I booked a Flight ticket from Travolook and after booking they called me up after **-** minutes saying that it got cancelled and later on said my money will be refunded after *-** days but they did not. I looked up in the internet thinking I wa...
Jun 08, 2022 by Ruovisa usou
Refund money (Club Mahindra holidays and resorts India limited ) Open
Dear Sir/Mam For the following reasons, I would like to discontinue my Club Mahindra membership: Membership ID : ****** *. I purchased the membership so that I could visit most resorts whenever I wanted and throughout my children's vacations....
Jun 07, 2022 by RAKESH Singhmar
Mobile stolen by rapido captain (Rapido Captain) Open
My rapido captain asked for extra money over phone. I agreed. He came and said he would cancel the ride and take me. I declined the ride. He pushed me off and took away my phone. I need help immediately. ...
Jun 05, 2022 by Diganta Mukherjee
Travolook No Booking Amount taken NO REFUND (Travolook) Open
Booked air ticket and paid amount online to travolook and once the money is transfered to travolook then they cancelled my ticket by stating due to fare expiration but airline never received any booking , now no refund has been done yet websi...
Jun 05, 2022 by suyash kumar singh
Cheating on Prices on Package (Sotc Travel Limited) Open
Kindly be noted that Myself Avishek Talukdar, My wife Soma Srimani Talukdar and my Daughter Archi Talukdar were booked for Paris Swiss Delight on **th of May . For your Reference I have Attached all Travel Documents from DC */* VIP Road Jora ma...
Jun 04, 2022 by Avishek Talukdar
Hotel Denied Checkin (Goibibo) Open
I've booked a hotel named OYO ***** Exotic Stay *BHK via goibibo and paid Rs.*** for it. I reched hotel at **.P.M but hotel denied checkin by saying that they didn't receive any booking from goibibo. I've contacted goibibo several times and sta...
Jun 03, 2022 by Chandra Prakash
Refund issued (Goibibo) Open
I had to cancel a hotel booking due to some change in dates. As per instructions I had canceled it before date and I was supposed to get full refund worth of ₹*****/- I haven’t got my refund yet and haven’t got any response from them....
Jun 03, 2022 by SARJU SEKH
Refund (Goibbio Group) Open
I cancelled a hotel booking on *th may and my refund was expected by **th-**th may, The company is claiming that it has refunded my amount to my account.(They are lying) I tried to contact their customer care ample number of time, but no respon...
Jun 02, 2022 by Divyansh Sahu
Flight Refund (Travalook) Open
I booked a flight from Bangalore to Delhi. It got cancelled immediately and didn't receive any amount (Refund). After many calls also, no money received. ...
Jun 01, 2022 by Kartik chandna
Charging amount even if we paid cash for rides (Ola Cab Ola Money) Open
I Have Paid Cash For Two Rides. They Did Not Consider Cash Payment And Put Payment Pending In Ola Postpaid Account Which I Did Not Choose. They Have Been Sending Reminders Through Calls/Messages That I Am Due And Harassing Me. I Contacted OLA C...
Jun 01, 2022 by Satya
OLA Charging Twice and No support received from Customer care (Ola Cabs) Open
I have taken a ride with Ola cabs on MAy **,****. When i Reached my destination the driver asked me to pay Rs.*** to him through Gpay. LAter I got the bill for the same ride from OLA postpaid for Rs ***. I am breaking my head explaining the iss...
May 30, 2022 by Srishti
Served non vegetarian food when I placed an order for vegetarian food (Am Hotel Kollection) Open
I Had checked into the hotel on **rd of May. I am a staunch vegetarian and I placed an order for some vegetarian food in the hotel dine in . Instead of vegetarian dumpling they had served me some meat dumplings. Unknowingly I even ate them and ...
May 29, 2022 by Sadodita G
Refund not given (Makemytrip) Open
I booked a flight through their app and gave ***** but it has been almost three years they have not refunded my money. I have made n number call and sent n number of mails. I really don't know what to do. ...
May 29, 2022 by Shikha Gupta
Refund not received (Make My Trip) Open
I have booked ticket for myself and my wife for travel to Paris on *th April **** from Delhi and back to Delhi from Rome on **th April ****. Because of Pandemic the flights were cancelled. Initially and at no. of times i received a confirmat...
May 26, 2022 by Avinash Gupta
Refund not received (Travelgenio) Open
*.I booked ticket from Delhi to Paris through travelgenio.The booking id is ********. *. My flight from Delhi to Paris got cancelled in **** bcz of corona.The airline has refunded the amount but the same has not been credited by travelgenio ...
May 25, 2022 by Neeraj dutta
Yatra com Refund not received and Therer is no response from Yatra com (Yatra.com) Closed
My bus Departure time is Today At **:**PM from Ahmedabad to Junagadh. My bus was cancelled by the operator and .I have requested for refund through email. However, I haven't received any response yet and also Refund Amount.Still There is no re...
Apr 21, 2021 by Milan Gondaliya
Refund relates (Ease my trip) Closed
Hi, I had booked a flight for my father and grandmother for the *th of May from IXE-BOM it was a refundable ticket that I booked clearly it was mentioned as refundable cancellation fee will be Rs.***.Due to the ongoing covid situation and ca...
Apr 17, 2021 by Krish Sharad Shetty
Amount not refunded (Travolook) Closed
Flight booking made on ** Dec****. The booking got cancelled from agency side quoting change of flight charges. Assured refund within ** says. amount Not refunded till date....
Apr 09, 2021 by Rai
My ticket cancelled and fare not refunded (Travolook) Closed
I booked flight ticket by travolook, my money was cut but ticket not booked, I got a call from travolook that we will refund your money, but I did not get it . Reference no. Is REF*********...
Apr 08, 2021 by Ankur Manav
Money not refunded (Ixigo irctc) Closed
I have been tried to book. My ticket on ixigo irctc by the process I have paid money to ixigo but the money doesn't sent to irctc and tickets have not booked.Even the money is not refunded to me...
Apr 08, 2021 by Rajkumar
Refund not received (Happyeasego) Closed
I had an Airasia flight on **th of May ,**** from Pune to Kolkata which got cancelled due to covid. PNR -D*U*JJ. Booking agent- Happyeasygo Order ID ****************** I raised a refund request on **th September but has not got the refund y...
Apr 08, 2021 by Aditya
Cancellation done automatically (Yatra Air india) Closed
My e ticket number is ************* PNR HR*MV, but I couldn't do web check in later on I came to know that the ticket has been cancelled by yatra.com but I didn't receive any refund and I did not want to cancel the ticket. ...
Apr 07, 2021 by Soumyabrata Jana
Pending refund on my flight booking (Travolook) Closed
Regarding Travolook booking reference number :REF********* Dear Sir/Madam, This is to inform you that my return flight has been cancelled by Indigo ( from Bhubaneswar to Jaipur) in the month of january **** & I have not received my booking am...
Apr 06, 2021 by Durga Madhab Mishra
Refund amount (Travolook) Closed
I booked my flight ticket on * Dec ****, and they cancelled my ticket and told me the amount will be refunded in **working day but still i am waiting for my refund and now they did not responded properly....
Apr 05, 2021 by Vivek Singh
MMT not refunded (Make My Trip) Closed
I booked my ticket to dubai through MMT and My Flydubai flight was cancelled on *th feb **** and the Flydubai has refunded my amount to MMT on the same day itself(*feb**). However, there is no mode i can contact MMT and through customer care nu...
Apr 02, 2021 by Dilip Naidu
Payment deducted but no booking confirmation (Agoda) Closed
I booked a resort (The royalle assagao Resort Goa) through the site agoda.com on ** st March **** . I selected book now pay later option . The amount was deducted from the account and not recieved any confirmation mail for it....
Apr 01, 2021 by Vishnu Prasad K V
Refund not received (Travolook) Closed
I have booked a flight ticket on ** th March ****. Reference number REF********* Within few minutes I got call that airline has raised the price . And my ticket is cancelled . And they will refund my amount . After several follow ups they are...
Apr 01, 2021 by Neha mishra
Full Refund Not given even if Air INIDA provided Full Refund (Ease my trip) Closed
Below are my flight details that I was about to travel in last July. Those got cancelled by Air India and they said they have given FULL REFUND. Stil ease my trip is not giving me back my full money. EMT Tickets : EMT******** EMT******** E...
Mar 31, 2021 by Sanket Shah
Partial refund (Ease my trip) Closed
Note: I have all the conversation details with me (both via telephonic and email) Issue: Few days back, I wanted to reschedule my airindia ticket (E-ticket Number: *************) which I had booked via Ease My Trip during lockdown time (Book...
Mar 31, 2021 by Geetanjali
Paid extra amount (OLA CAB BANGALORE) Closed
In my ola app the fair details showed Rs *** but in drivers app it showed Rs *** so I had to pay *** to him.I don't know who fault it was ola or it's fine drivers...
Mar 31, 2021 by Vinoth
Covid test mandatory not mentioned in the ticket so refund should be given (Happyeasygo) Closed
I have booked a flight from Bangalore to Kolkata. The ticket sent by Happyeasygo had a checklist mentioned but without covid test mandatory mentioned. Due to this we were not allowed to onboard the flight. Had requested refund for same but was ...
Mar 31, 2021 by Rashi Kejriwal
No refund even after 3 month of flight cancelled (Yatra Com) Closed
Hello, I would like to complain about Yatra.com as they have not initiated my refund for cancelled flight for Jan ****. On top of it yatra do not provide timely and appropriate response instead it provides fake and misleading statement of i...
Mar 29, 2021 by Prerna Bharti
Fraud travbond (Travbond) Closed
They have charged the amount and not replying regarding the booking.....
Mar 26, 2021 by Rupa pancholi
Refund not credited after cancellation of flight tickets from travolook in (travolook in) Closed
I had booked * flight tickets for me and my family on **-**-**** to and fro between Bangalore International Airport and Biju Patnaik Airport from travolook.in. I had to travel to my engagement which was on **-**-**** so I had Booked tickets for...
Mar 25, 2021 by Bonitha Behura
I paid extra cash to ola driver (Ola) Closed
I booked ola cab for ₹*** and selected payment Mode as Cash, As I didn't have change with me gave ₹*** to driver and Driver said that he would bring change and we waited for more than ** mins but he didn't arrive, I tried calling him, But h...
Mar 25, 2021 by Akshay Enugala
"I was unable to get in touch with anyone in Byjus nor with my counselor regarding my problem for 3 months. But Voxya team helped me solve my issue very soon. Thank you!"
Mamta D
Complaint filed against: Byju's