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 cancellation not refunded (St Laurn Hotel Korgaon Park Pune) Open
Had booked ** rooms for **th April **** by paying a **% advance of **,*** on *th of February ****. Later had cancelled the bookings on *th April due to COVID (As per their own cancellation Policy, it is a ***% refund if canceled before ** days ...
Oct 19, 2021 by Shashank Aithal
Flight cancellation (Travolook) Open
I tried to book flight ticket via Travolook. Money was debited from my account but the booking was cancelled. I received a call within half an hour saying the booking was cancelled. I even got a mail regarding the same. But when i looked up abo...
Oct 19, 2021 by Azam Muhammed
Charged for incomplete trip (UBER) Open
Driver has cancelled the rental trip after ** mins without even completing the trip, I was charged INR **** and left in a remote Highway in Bangalore. Receipt number **Oct_******...
Oct 19, 2021 by Gaurav Khatri
Flight refund not processed (Travolook) Open
Been * mnths and refund money not yet recieved...
Oct 19, 2021 by Abhinav Bhatnagar
Booking number of adults different than search criteria (Agoda app) Open
When I searched hotels for one room and * adults it showed me list of hotels in that area. I booked one hotel and when I reached hotel to check in in late night.. I came to know booking is done only for one adult. The hotel reception was rude a...
Oct 17, 2021 by Susmita
Hotel Booked Via AGODA but hotel denied the booking (Agoda) Open
Booked hotel through Agoda app. But hotel authority doesn`t have any information related to booking. Booking ID: ********* Hotel Name: OYO ***** Vmb Residency, Puducherry, India Customer Name: M W R Baig Contact Number: +************ Email...
Oct 15, 2021 by M W R Baig
Money Not Refunded (Travolook) Open
I had booked a flight ticket from the website on ** July ****. The booking was cancelled by them due to some technical issue. It has been almost * months now and my money has not been refunded by them....
Oct 15, 2021 by Navneesh Vashist
Cab service not provided (Cab Bazar) Open
I was supposed to travel from Ghaziabad to Himachal Pradesh on **.**.** at * am. At * am the driver did not pick up, his phone was switched off. The service provider did not answer. Cab Bazar also did not pick up. At * am they picked up and sai...
Oct 15, 2021 by Isheeta Sharma
Cheating by an agent taking money without providing any documents (Best Career Advisors Consultancy) Open
Dear sir, As Per the discussion had with you regarding the cheating done by an travel consultant of your area. Further to stop their illegal activity which may make many candidates into trouble. (They may loose their money ). Forged docu...
Oct 14, 2021 by BEENA ANTONY
No refund for the non operational flights (Make my trip) Open
I have booked the flight ticket through make my trip on **st /Sep & travel on **th/ Sep (Chennai to dubai via Colombo ), I got the call from srilankan airline - Chennai Mr Rahim on **nd/Sep and he has informed that the Air bubble agreemen...
Oct 13, 2021 by K SURESH
Refund not issued (Happyeasygo India Private Limited ) Open
*. I had booked a free cancellation product on **th August **** for travel on **th and **th September *. Cancelled the ticket on **-**-**** (online). *. Have been informed that the refund would appear in my card account in a maximum of ** day...
Oct 13, 2021 by Ayush Kumar
Airport Cab is not rescheduled or refunded even when all flights are are cancelled (Makemytrip) Open
Hi I booked outstation cab from Delhi airport to Moradabad (**th oct **) Due to airport maintenance in Pune, flights for ** days are cancelled. I asked make my trip to either reschedule in November or refund my money , as how can I take that ca...
Oct 12, 2021 by sachin singh
Ticket cancelled Refund not received (Travolook) Open
I have booked four airline tickets on **th September **** from cochin to mumbai . After few hours I received a mail that my booking has been canceled but haven't received any refund. When I called the customercare they asked me to wait for ** w...
Oct 11, 2021 by Jothy Parameswaran
Rangers Club has Failed to provide Services (Rangers Club Private Limited ) Open
We have purchased a membership of Rangers Club (Rangers Club Vacation Ownership ID: ****** ) of rupees ***** on */*/**** . At the time of purchase of the membership the sales persons Mr. Sumit Rajput and Mr. Ashwini Tyagi has offered me a sign...
Oct 09, 2021 by Vishal Pratap Singh
Unprofessional Uber Behaviour (UBER) Open
For the last * days have been taking an uber to and fro the vet for my pet.. And the experience has been HARRRRRROWING to put it mildly. Every SINGLE time - the drivers call to ask the destination despite being a rental booking. And ...
Oct 08, 2021 by Alka Khandelwal
Air Ticket No Refund (Travolook Www Travolook In) Open
I booked a ticket with Travolook company for Pune Bangalore Sector on ** Sep **** with booking reference number : REF*********. Immediately after I was told that ticket has been cancelled due to operational reasons. This seems to be their modu...
Oct 07, 2021 by tribhuwan prakash kharkwal
Do not buy any Vacation Ownership membership (Long Vision Hospitality Pvt Ltd) Open
I had taken trial membership of one year of long vision hospitality on **th September, **** of Rs. *****/-. They promised while taking money that you have to give booking request just ** days prior from actual date of travelling. I booked my v...
Oct 07, 2021 by Umesh kothari
Money not refunded even after cancellation of the subscription (Country Vacations (country Club Holidays)) Open
I joined country vacations(CV) membership of country club India limited on **th Aug **** after the CV representatives gave presentations and forced us to take decision the same day sitting in one of the room in their temporary office. I paid ar...
Oct 06, 2021 by Nikhilendra Yarramalla
Refund not initiated for Flight Booking Travolook in (Travolook) Open
I had made a flight booking on **th August'** on Travolook.in from Delhi to Kolkata and back from Kolkata to Delhi: which was cancelled from the back end and we also got a call confirming the same. We were told that we will receive the refund w...
Oct 04, 2021 by Ashish Kumar Shaw
Non refund of payment (Goibibio) Open
Dear Sir/Madam, As I have Booked Flight ticket from Mangalore to Pune through travel app Goibibo. The agency has confirmed ticket via Bangalore as Mangalore to Bangalore through Indigo Airline and Bangalore to Pune through Go Air Airline. Now ...
Oct 03, 2021 by Naveena Shetty
No broadband connection for 3 days (Airtel ) Closed
Hello, Due to the COVID situation, I am working from home and my daughter is preparing for her NEET. Today is the *rd day my family has gone without broadband connection for no fault of ours. The Airtel team out here has been tot...
Aug 27, 2020 by Albert
Refunds from cancelled tickets of Indigo airlines is not credited by travel agentCLEARTRIP (Cleartrip Com) Closed
I booked a ticket through Cleartrip on Indigo airlines for * passengers on ** February ****. The trip is from Hyderabad to Bagdogra round trip.The dates are *April **** & **April**** return. Because Of covid** pandaemic the Indigo airlines h...
Aug 27, 2020 by DR.SWAROOP KUMAR
Bus service is canceled and not refunding the amount No response of email (Yatra bus yatra com) Closed
Hi all, Reference number from auto generated mail 'YA:********' Refund Status This is to inform you that I have book bus service from Delhi to Indore and my two guests need to travel on **th Aug. Bus service is from Raj kalpana Travels pv...
Aug 27, 2020 by Vishal Divakar
REFUND PENDING (Yatra) Closed
I've wrongly booked ticket by swapping first and last name in the ticket on March *th **** for April **th travel. But immediately I called Indigo and Vistara to cancel the ticket, they have agreed to settle ***%refund. But Yatra did not clear t...
Aug 26, 2020 by Mohanaprakkash
Makemytrip not returning full amount (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Closed
I paid Rs **** amount to Makemytrip but they are deducting instant cashback in my refund which is wrong. They already got the full ticket ticket amount from airline but still deducting instant cashback from my refund is not making any sense at ...
Aug 26, 2020 by Prakash
Refund (Happy Easy Go) Closed
I had booked a ticket on ** th May from Patna to kochi scheduled on **th June **** and cancelled it on **th June **** ...It's been more than *.* months since I had cancelled the ticket but no refund has been initiated by them....even though the...
Aug 26, 2020 by Atul anand
NOT REFUNDED YET (Yatra Com) Closed
I BOOKED RETURN FLIGHT NAGPUR TO INDORE OF ** TH AUG.. INDIGO CANCLLED BOTH FLIGHTS BY THEMSELVES. BUT YATRA DID NOT REFUND ME YET...
Aug 26, 2020 by Mukesh Barange
Amount not refunded (Travolook) Closed
We booked the Indigo flight ticket from bangalore to hyderabad on *th july through Travolook and cancelled the same day.refund initiated next day itself by Indigo airlines but amount didn't credited in our account.they are not responding....
Aug 25, 2020 by Kiranmye
Travolook Refund not received booking ref no REF (Travolook) Closed
Booking ref no REF ********* from New Delhi to Srinagar, flight is not booked. They (from Travolook) called me and said that " we can't process and we'll initiate a refund in the same account within **- ** working days....
Aug 25, 2020 by Tarapada Patra
Refund related issues (Goibibo) Closed
I haven't received refund against the booking that I had made through goibibo website PNR:O**JTP which was on *st August **** PNR: Z*WJPS which was on *th August **** Both the tickets were from Chandigarh to Mumbai.I haven't received refun...
Aug 24, 2020 by Kamlesh Laddha
Did not receive the refund since 6 months (Oyo) Closed
First of all OYO did a fraud by booking and taking a money for a non existing hotel. I reached the place at midnight and searched the whole area but no hotel was there with that name. So I called up OYO to check in some other hotel. So there wa...
Aug 24, 2020 by Rajanikanta Sahoo
Mahindra Holidays Fraud Selling (Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited) Closed
Club Mahindra extorted my parents ( Senior Citizens) by selling a product with hidden information and conditions - Locations, Slabs, Annual Charges, International charges and No Season bookings. They got them to sign the check on spot and now r...
Aug 24, 2020 by Soumitra Choubey
Not received refund yet (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Closed
Hello i am a student studying in Kazakhstan . I booked a flight for returning home for ** may but in march airlines announced the flight is canceled . Immediately i filed for refund but till now I didn’t get refund . I need to pay my universi...
Aug 23, 2020 by Toufiq
Two back to back Bus Booking Cancel but no refund yet received (Yatra.com) Closed
One Booking is done on **th Aug'**, after cancellation of bus I have to booked in another bus and again bus operator cancelled booking due which my two booking money is blocked with Yatra.com. I have mail to support yatra.com but no response ye...
Aug 23, 2020 by Jigar Rawal
Make my trip not refunding my money back (Make My Trip Gurugram Haryana India) Closed
My refund is processed by Singapore airlines as per their confirmation email. However to my horror, MMT agent is playing tricks and not passing on refund to my account.I am highly upset with MMT (Spoil My Trip)Despite several emails agent prete...
Aug 22, 2020 by vishwakarma
Advance money got deducted for cab cab booked in yatrabut no bookings showing under my bookings no w (Yatra) Closed
Booked a cab in Yatra...Advance money got deducted but no bookings showing under my bookings..no way to contact support..sent mails also..no reply.. ...
Aug 22, 2020 by Piyush kumar srivastava
Ticket has not booked for trip id but money is deducted Not refunded even after 1 week (Cleartrip) Closed
I tried to book a flight through cleartrip website on **-Aug-****. The money got deducted from my account, but ticket has not been booked. I got a mail from cleartrip that money will be credited to account in ** hours as the tickets have not be...
Aug 22, 2020 by Vijay T
Amount refund or Credit shell not given (Www.goibibo.com) Closed
i have booked flight with go ibibo.com on ** june ****, my flight booked for ** july ****. still i am waiting for my refund amount or credit shell code to use another flight booking....
Aug 22, 2020 by diwakar jaiswal
Yatra Flight ticket refund delayed on purpose (Yatra com) Closed
Booked airticket for * family members on *th march ****. Flight from Turkish airlines booked using Yatra.com but flight did not take place on **th June **** due to airline cancelled it, as per policy I opted for full refund both company agree...
Aug 22, 2020 by Carolus D
Colive Colive deposit amount NOT refunded (Colive) Closed
I have vacated from Colive on July ** and my refund is not yet returned. I have logged multiple tickets which had no responses. Customer service is not picking up calls. I also did not receive any proper invoice regarding the payment that they ...
Aug 21, 2020 by Rohit Joseph
"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