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
Holiday booking vide booking ID (Makemy Trip) Open
Booked holiday package to Andaman based on the offer "Free cancellation" in their website, vide ID NL************* on ** December **** for the dates ** Jan **** to ** Jan ****. Relationship Manager contact/whatsapp number ********** whose name...
Jan 16, 2022 by Thiyagamurthi Poorasamy
Refund not Received from Travolook for Cancelled Flight Ticket (Travolook Www Travolook In) Open
I had, on *th January ****, purchased a flight ticket from travolook after being directed to their site from a Google Ad. Subsequently, I was informed via mail that the ticket was in processing, and that I must wait for ** minutes. After that t...
Jan 14, 2022 by Jayanta Kumar Dash
Refund not given for cancelled ticket (Travolook) Open
I booked a ticket with Travolook with Ref id REF********* on *th Jan **** The money was deducted from my card and the website showed that booking was under process & I would be update in ** mins. After ** mins I get a mail that " Your booking...
Jan 13, 2022 by Vipul Agarwal
Amount not Refunded (Deyor Camps) Open
Even after the resort cancelled the booking and also we did cancellation of the booking , token amount for booking is not refunded. The terms and conditions explained by the travel agent stated the total booking amount will be refunded if hotel...
Jan 13, 2022 by Arnab Roy
Refund not initiated by travolook (Travolook) Open
FRAUD, FRAUD,FRAUD Booked a ticket on *nd jan Got automatically cancelled in just a minute Called the customer support, informed money will be refunded in * to * days, Now it's been ** days, didn't received the money back Calling custo...
Jan 12, 2022 by Shubham Anand
Krishna Singh (TRAVO LOOK TRAVEL AGENCY) Open
I booked flight ticket on *rd Jan **** on TRAVOLOOK.IN soon after booking tickets got cancelled and they said refund will be initiated within * – ** working days but still waiting for refund…call the customer care every time they say next...
Jan 12, 2022 by Krishna Singh
Flight Refund issue (Flipkart travel) Open
I have booked a combo ticket (onward is Spicejet and return is Air India) from Flipkart Travel. Onward flight was cancelled by Spicejet and airline has confirmed that it has been fully refunded. After this was cancelled, I had to manually cance...
Jan 12, 2022 by Anirudh Talakanti
Cancelled ticket not refunded (Cleartrip ae) Open
I cancelled the ticket and clear trip not refunding the amount. their replay is not acceptable. all details are attached for your reference....
Jan 10, 2022 by Fahid Machinchery
Refund Pending (MakeMyTrip India Pvt Ltd ) Open
My spouse flight was directly cancelled by the Indigo airlines. On ** Mar ****, she had asked to transfer the refunded amount from MMT wallet to her bank account. For the same, she swiftly provided the bank details online. Until end of year ...
Jan 10, 2022 by Eklavya Saxena
Booking com Refund Scam (Booking.com) Open
We Had Booked The Swati Hotel, Aarambol, Goa On **th Of December **** At Around *:** Pm For The Dates **th Dec ****- *st Jan **** . After Booking, We Spoke To The Hotel Owner And Because Of Unsurety Of Good Wifi Signal And Rude Behavior, We C...
Jan 09, 2022 by Vitesh Dhawan
Not getting refund from travolook (Travolook) Open
I booked flight ticket from travolook on **th Dec and it got cancelled from their side and when i called them they mentioned that i will get my refund within *-* working days. Its close to a month now and still if i call for update they again ...
Jan 07, 2022 by Nitish Priyadarshi
Refund not received (Travolook) Open
Booked a flight from Travolook on **th dec and they charged the amount but did not book the flight. After multiple calls and mails, no sign to refund initiation is provided....
Jan 07, 2022 by Rahul Swami
COVID 19 FLIGHT TICKET CHARGES NOT REFUND (Goibibo airlines) Open
I HAVE BOOKED FLIGHTS GOIBIBO.COM ON.**.**.**** TRAVEL DATE.**.**.**** CHENNAI TO KOTA KINABALU KUALA LUMPUR & RETURNED **.**.**** KOTA KINABALU KUALA LUMPUR TO CHENNAI BUT DUE TO COVID ALL FLIGHT ARE CANCELLED BUT TILL TICKET COST ARE NOT...
Jan 07, 2022 by MALLIBABU
Unresponsive Fraud and Cheating (Coral Reef Resort Private Limited) Open
Booked rooms (by paying advance) in the resort for trip in April **** but could not avail the services owing to COVID and associated lock downs. Although the General Manager then confirmed that we could extend our trip, the resort now has denie...
Jan 07, 2022 by Shreyas Kemparaj
Excess fare charged and collected cash (Ola) Open
I took an ola outstation ride from Kukatpally (Hyderabad) to Yerragondapalem (Andhra Pradesh) on November **, **** for my uncle. *) At the time of booking an Ola outstation cab - The estimated fare showing as Rs. *,***/- approximately (Anybo...
Jan 06, 2022 by Siva Kumar Yakkala
Red Season Holidays Doing Fraud (Red Season Holidays) Open
On the ** octomber i have visited red season holidays in Jahangirpura, surat. They told me we are giving offer to go for holidays. I have told i have to ask to my father. They told me we can not give you time, If you need time then pay Rs.**** ...
Jan 05, 2022 by Arshad
Cancellation Amount not refunded (Agoda) Open
I booked a hotel shivam Bnb in Goa for **th Jan **** to **th Jan ****. My Booking ID *********. But the property owner said I need to pay **% of reservation amount in advance to confirm the reservation and I paid it and they also confirmed the...
Jan 05, 2022 by Sailendra prabu
Ola Sold a car which is pledged in bank (Ola Auto Bangalore) Open
I bought preowned swift vxi automatic transmission car from OLQ preowned cars back in October **, ****. Paid them full amount of *,**,*** Rupees online and requested for RC transfer and still no response from Ola side.. I tried to reach mult...
Jan 05, 2022 by SHREYAS SHETTY
Guest severely burnt in sensitive area with boiling water due to negligence of hotel (Lemon tree premier Rishikesh) Open
**th December morning , my private parts (anal gland , rectum ) burnt severely as boiling water was coming out of the jet spray. I waited and suffered long but no medical emergency has been arranged by hotel at very moment , then my friend lo...
Jan 04, 2022 by Abhishek Mitra
Refund not received (Make My Trip) Open
Legal notice was sent by adv prashant jaiswal on **th June ****, giving ** days time so far no update. Pls check and revert....
Jan 04, 2022 by TRUPTI RAJESH KUNDER
Refund not initiated for cancellation of train booking on November (Ease my trip) Closed
I booked my ticket on **th November but due to some changes in my schedule cancelled my booking for train on **th November. I talked to easemytrip.com customer care but they took it for-granted its now almost **th day still in haven’t credite...
Nov 23, 2020 by Mohsin bhat
Refund not processed (Yatra) Closed
I have booked a flight in the month of feb, flight reference number YT********. I was informed that within ** days the refund will reflect in my account. But it’s already been * months and there is still no clue about that...
Nov 20, 2020 by Rahul Piplani
Amount not refunded (Yatra com) Closed
I have booked a bus from wai phata to ahmedabad on **st oct of neeta tour and travels.The bus got cancelled by local authority but till now the amount has been not refunded...
Nov 18, 2020 by Rahul
Refund delay by yatra com (Yatra Com) Closed
Dear Premchand Damodar Singh, Thank you for booking with Yatra.com. We would like to confirm that the refund of INR ****.** due to you, for reference number ************ was processed on **-Oct-**** from Yatra.com to your account. We would l...
Nov 16, 2020 by Premchand Singh
Flight cancelled due to lockdown Refund not credited (Cleartrip) Closed
Flight Cancelled Due To Lock Down But I Have Not Received Any Refund Amount.The Company Says That The Refund Has Been Credited To Our Account But I Have Not Received It Yet.I Complained A Number Of Times Over * Months. The Company Says It Was C...
Nov 14, 2020 by Jobish george
Money not refunded by yatra com (Yatra.com) Closed
Booked a ticket with yatra.com reference number *********** for April, the flight was canceled by airlines due to covid. Indigo refunded the money to yatra.com in June but they did not inform me for months and kept showing it as a credit shel...
Nov 13, 2020 by Kishan Tiwari
Yatra com Yatra not refunding cancelled ticket amount (Yatra.com) Closed
I have booked a rail ticket and cancelled it on * Oct ****. Yatra reference no: *********************** Fare amount was ****/- INR and after cancellation it was ****/- INR I checked the status of refund than It shows ****/- INR only. I got ...
Nov 11, 2020 by Ganesh Singh
Refund response not received (Goibibo airlines) Closed
I had booked * tickets from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi for my parents early this year. Their travel date was Feb *, **** on a Go-air flight booked from Goibibo.com. There was pandemic lockdown from March ****. The UAE govt extended all tickets validit...
Nov 11, 2020 by Akshata Umesh
Ticket cancelled due to COVID Money not refunded (Cleartrip) Closed
Trip cancelled by airline to COVID as per government of India regulations. Airline has confirmed full refund for the trip but Cleartrip cheats senior citizens by not paying the due refund when airlines has already confirmed the refund. Amount d...
Nov 07, 2020 by Pavan Kumar Bhat
Refund not provide after 4 months also (Yatra Com) Closed
I have booked a round trip flight from yatra and due to covid flight got cancelled and Indigo has refunded the fare amount on **th july'** and It is more than *month and yatra have give me refund yet. The kind of service I am getting from ya...
Nov 05, 2020 by Sanket Kumar Fitkariwala
Refund not initiated (Yatra Com) Closed
IndiGo PNR ZG*B*F Booking id: ************ I had booked this flight ticket and due to covid the flight was cancelled. As I called up indigo for refund, they confirmed that they have already refunded to yatra in June. Yatra confirmed through m...
Nov 03, 2020 by Navin Kumar
Refund not received (Yatra Com) Closed
My airlines had refunded my booking amount many days back but this booking partner not sending my money .And also their support center not attending call....
Nov 03, 2020 by Himanshu Yadav
Not received the refund (Easemytrip.com) Closed
I had booked my flight on august ** ... the airlines cancelled the flight and they initiated the refund from their side. But easemytrip didnt refund still... everytime I call them they are telling the refund is under process and ask me to wait ...
Oct 30, 2020 by Cyril nesan
Amount debited but ticket not booked and refund not received yet (Easemytrip.com) Closed
Booked a ticket on **.**.**** for * persons for travel on **.**.**** from Coimbatore to Ahmedabad . Amt debited and ticket not issued and showings the error " Oops , there was a.internal problem , please try again later " . These happended two ...
Oct 28, 2020 by Manish kumar
Amount deducted twice (Air India) Closed
I tried making a booking on Air India (Vande Bharat) from Chicago to Bengaluru on Sep **,**** using my credit card. Reference Id : ***********. The amount was deducted from my account, but I did not get any booking confirmation and was redirect...
Oct 27, 2020 by Devi Sasikumar
Refund not made by Yatra com (www yatra com) Closed
I had booked two SpiceJet flight tickets from Pune - Cochin scheduled on ** October ****. On ** October I was intimated by SpiceJet that the flight has been cancelled due to change of schedule. When I contacted the airline I was told that a ful...
Oct 26, 2020 by A K Shreelekha
Didnt receive refund (Travolook in) Closed
I booked flight ticket from surat to chennai, money got deducted but website shown booking is in process the i receive call from company that airfare has increased so pay extra **** rs to confirm booking but there was no increase in airfare and...
Oct 26, 2020 by Akash Kukadiya
Refund not received (Yatra Com) Closed
I had a flight booking from Mumbai to Kolkata on **/**/**** but due to covid** pandemic it got cancelled as informed from airline they have initiated my refund and told me to contact my travel agency,but till now I haven't got my refund.....
Oct 23, 2020 by Shibnath das
Flight ticket booking scam (WING IN TRAVEL ADVISORY PRIVATE LIMITED ) Closed
Hello, I booked my flight ticket on www.travolook.in with Reference ID# REF********* on date **/**/**** for route Bhopal to Chandigarh and on the same day, I booked my account on this website. I did the booking and after doing payment I receive...
Oct 22, 2020 by Satinder Singh
Refund not received (Easemytrip.com) Closed
Booking id EMT********. The airlines get air has refunded the amount on * Oct ****. But since the ticket was booked from ease my trip, I needed refund from there. Even after multiple mails and calls and chats, it isn't resolved. They keep sayin...
Oct 20, 2020 by Sandeep mishra
"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