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
Travel agency not refunding the money (Sharing Travels Pvt Ltd) Open
I had made a booking for * for Singapore with Sharing Travels Pvt ltd but unfortunatly couldnt travel due to lockdown. Now Sharing Travels is denying to pay my money back, with the current scenario i dont see travl happening in the coming mont...
Oct 08, 2020 by Priti Prava Chakraborty
Refund not paid against cancelled flight (Goibibo) Open
Goibibo has not transferred refund initiated by Indigo against cancelled flight (PNR # BI**TM). Since *th Sep **** , Goibibo is showing the same status " Refund has been initiated and will take *-* days to reflect in your account" I want my m...
Oct 08, 2020 by Abu Asim Ansari
Oyo is a fraud Worst customer service (Oyorooms) Open
I had booked a room with AC in a hotel via Oyo rooms. ID: DIPY**** They asked to pay via Google I paid. Having proper ID still they booked at * km far and it's * am. When I reached the hotel manager denied to give room as it's not AC. Because, ...
Oct 08, 2020 by Pranjal Garg
Wrong Charge for ticket (Make my trip) Open
Ticket NO: ***************** This is against my registered profile in the name of the undersigned with you. I am a frequent traveller and have been regularly availing the services of your portal for all my travel needs for the past many year...
Oct 08, 2020 by NITESH SUNNY GUPTA
Refund denied for flight cancelled by airline (Happyeasygo) Open
I Booked An AirIndia Flight, Which Was Canceled By The Airlines. I Contacted The Airlines And They Referred Me To The Rules That I'd Be Provided With A Full Refund. Http://Www.Airindia.In/Images/Pdf/Business-Rules-For-WEB.Pdf However, HappyEas...
Oct 07, 2020 by Chakshu Goyal
Refund full amount not received (Akbar Travels Of India Private Limited) Open
Dear Sir / Madam, I Made International Booking From Akbar Travels For The Month Apr ****. Due To COVID ** Situation All Flights Have Been Cancelled. And Now Akbar Travels Didn't Give Full Refund For My Booking. I Need To Get A Full Refund...
Oct 07, 2020 by Yadhukrishnan
Refund kept in their wallet (Make My Trip) Open
I had booked flights for family from Goa to Ahmedabad for travel date **th May ****,through makemytrip account. As holidays were postponed and Indigo airline kept money with them to be reused within next year, I was okay with that. I had paid a...
Oct 07, 2020 by Manish Ashokkumar Madnani
Shell credits not issued (Goibibo) Open
I have booked my tickets from BLR to DEL for round trip between ** to ** April ****. But due to covid-** lockdown the flight got cancelled. Now as per policy I should get transferable shell credits in my account. But I have not received any. I ...
Oct 07, 2020 by Ayush Gupta
Flight refund (Travel Triangle ) Open
Had booked a flight from ( mannihat vacations & travel triangle) and had paid rs*****, for * may **** But neither i received the refund from them neither a voucher so that i can book the flight later...
Oct 07, 2020 by agam sharma
Hotel booking not refunded (Goibibo) Open
I had booked a hotel from goibibo ( HTLCEQLP*F) for Mandarani, check in date was **th March, check out data was *st April. But due to corona outbreak I called them up and they asked me a new date. So I rescheduled it to Aug *th(HTLCEQLP*F). But...
Oct 06, 2020 by Arkapratim Laha
Refund not received from travolook which got cancelled from company s payment gateway platform on o (travolook in) Open
I booked a flight from Nagpur to Udaipur on *st October **** from travolook.in, but ticket got cancelled automatically and money got deducted from my account. customer care called me instantly about cancellation of transaction and send me the c...
Oct 06, 2020 by shubham
Money deducted no ticket generated refund not processed yet (Travolook) Open
I booked a flight ticket on *st Oct through travolook. The payment got processed through cashfree payment gateway but did not recive any msg or mail regarding ticket confirmation. Later after ** mins got a call from a lady saying that payment g...
Oct 06, 2020 by Akshay Takey
Refund not given (Cleartrip) Open
Indigo has given the refund to cleartrip on July and August and i have not yet got the refund into my account even till date (Oct *th). Cleartrip has closed all customer support options and is giving a standard computer reply that there is no b...
Oct 06, 2020 by Joel Jose
Services not delivered (WWICS Immigration Consultants) Open
I visited wwics mohali in **** in regards to student visa but due to gap i could not apply thereafter i got a call fromm Yuvraj sobti employee of wwics mohali that I should apply undr skilled cateogry.I had scored *.* bands in general ielts and...
Oct 06, 2020 by Shubhneet
Refund Not Initiated (Travolook in) Open
I have booked a ticked on travolook.in on **-**-**** from Hyderabad to Bangalore. The payment was debited from my account but i have not received any flight confirmation. After a half n hour i got a call from travolook customer team that my tic...
Oct 05, 2020 by Amit Goyal
Replacement of External Hard Disk Drive having S N (WD My passport) Open
I had mailed it about Hard Disk Drive replacement on **.**.**** but till today there is no reply from Company side. The External Hard Disk is under warranty period. Unable to contact to the customer care number. ...
Oct 05, 2020 by Dharmendra Kumar Behera
BUS BOOKING (UNIVERSAL TRAVELS REDBUS) Open
I booked * rd oct **** for * tickets from chennai to tirukadaiyur... But the ticket was booked *th oct ****. I have all screenshots for booking *rd oct.. Redbus is not responding for the issue and the travels also not responding.. Kindly refund...
Oct 05, 2020 by Vijayanandham T
Outdated refund of automatically cancelled train (IRCTC) Open
I book a ticket for the train and the train automatically cancelled then it was declared by railway department that refund will be given when the lockdown opens after * months till * months but since it was window ticket we waited for the offic...
Oct 05, 2020 by Shital Ruprao Damle
Refund not received by makemytrip (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Open
I booked round trip flights via makemytrip. Due to pandemic i rescheduled the flights through airlines as makemytrip could not be reached for rescheduling via phone. The flights however got cancelled by the airlines and they have refunded the a...
Oct 05, 2020 by Manisha Bhteria
Ticket fraud (Travolook) Open
I have booked a flight from jammu to delhi , they send me a mail that booking process has been started, but after a hour i got a message that the flight has been cancelled from the airline, and refund had been initiated but no refund is credi...
Oct 04, 2020 by rohit singh
Refund not initiated in account (Make My Trip) Closed
I paid ****Rs . through Debit card For bus ticket Delhi to basti for *th may but bus has been cancelled due to lockdown extention and Make my trip Refunded the balance in mmt wallet which can be used for hotel and ticket booking at mmt but I do...
May 07, 2020 by Vijay kumar
RedbusBus got CANCELLED REFUND NOT given back (Redbus) Closed
On **th January ****, I cancelled my two ticket which i booked on Rebus from Coimbatore to Tiruvannamalai. But , i still did not receive by refund amount (rs:****).I called them so many times.Kindly please help me to get the refund amount from ...
May 07, 2020 by Ramya
Flight cancelled by Airlines due to Pandemic Agent paid only 2 amount (Easemytrip.com) Closed
I booked air tickets through Easemytrip.com for my Bangalore-Katmandu-Bangalore with travel dates to & from on *th&*th April **** respectively. The Booking reference was EMT******** dt:*th Jan ****. Me & My wife are senior citizens and was comp...
May 05, 2020 by Balachandran Rajagopal
Making fool of customers (Easemytrip.com) Closed
I Booked A Ticket For **th April **** With Air India From EaseMyTrip Although The Flight Got Cancelled And I Done The Process As Told By The Company For Refunds. They say they will initiate the refund in * to * days still no update yet. Only ma...
May 04, 2020 by Belal Azmat
Refund not got processed on cancellation of flight ticket booked by Yatra com (Yatra.com) Closed
I have booked a flight ticket through Yatra.com on **st Feb **** and as soon the Covid** scenario became deadly and the lockdown started happening across globe, I got my ticket cancelled on **st Mar ****. I got an email from Yatra that my refu...
May 02, 2020 by Feroz Khan
Refund not processed (Easemytrip.com) Closed
Cancelled ticket with airline for full refund. easemytrip said they cancelled but i did not get refund yet. They sais they cancelled but have not received the refund at all. Now they are not reverting back to my mails too. Same reply like we ...
Apr 29, 2020 by Sankar
Refund not initiated (Yatra.com) Closed
Yatra is not initiating my refund of Rs ***** for my ticket pnr no PTKANE from ahmedabad to guwahati. Air vistara has already initiated cancelled my ticket and initiated my refund but yatra making a false story saying that my ticket is in cre...
Apr 27, 2020 by Parag Choudhury
Amount not refunded (IRCTC) Closed
.PNR ********** ticket cancelled, Amt *** will be refunded in your a/c with in *-* days. Please check your account/instrument from which this tkt was booked....
Apr 27, 2020 by Bikash Kumar Panda
Credit Shell of full amount not given (Make My Trip) Closed
I have booked an international flight ticket through MMT on british airways and due to corona virus i had cancelled my travelling where it was clearing mentioned on MMT and British Aurways website that they are providing full credit with * year...
Apr 25, 2020 by Amit Jain
Advance payment of Rs 500 is not returned (Elvis guest house varanasi and phone number of the hotel is ) Closed
I booked * double bedrooms from *.*.**** to **.*.**. Advance amount of Rs ***/- had been given through neft of state bank of india goabagan branch kolkata on **.*.**** of total Rs ****/-. But due to covid ** all the trains cancelled and I could...
Apr 23, 2020 by Arunava chowdhury
Neither refunding full flight ticket booking amount nor allowing free travel date medification due t (Yatra Online Pvt Ltd ) Closed
My round trip flight from Amman to New Delhi has been cancelled by Etihad Airways (booked through Yatra.com) due to the ongoing COVID** travel restrictions and neither I am being refunded the full booking amount nor I am allowed to change my da...
Apr 22, 2020 by Mohd. Arsh Akram
Make My Trip Blocked My Money In their My Wallet (MakeMyTrip India Pvt Ltd ) Closed
This is regarding cancellation of Booking IDs= NH************* & NH*************, When I was trying canceling by myself I was not getting the option to get the refund in my original payment mode so I had contacted Make My Trip Support and had a...
Apr 21, 2020 by Prathamesh Thorat
Hotel Booking Refund (Easemytrip.com) Closed
Please refer attached hotel booking confirmation No. ************* for a total amount of Rs ****/-. Arising out of Covid-** nationwide lockdown the said booking was cancelled and refund confirmed by EaseMyTrip vide email dated **.**.**** (copy ...
Apr 20, 2020 by Saugata Bhattacharjee
Refund not made (GOIBIBO COM IBIBO GROUP PRIVATE LIMITED floor Tower A B C Epitome Building No 5 DLF Cyber City Phase III GurgaonIndia) Closed
PNR: FDVBYL The ticket was cancelled by airline and the refund should have been issued to me. But they are not responding and when they do once in a blue moon , they tell me to check with airline. Whereas airline has provided me a email show...
Apr 20, 2020 by Tanya Narang
Yatra Cancelled Package without refund (Yatra.com) Closed
I booked a honeymoon package with Yatra for **th May **** They cancelled my booking for May which i understand but against my booking they are providing me with the voucher of Malaysian Airlines that too after **% deduction. Its a complete l...
Apr 18, 2020 by Pawan
Fraud Cheating by HappyEasyGo (Happy Easy Go) Closed
I made * bookings from MAA to RDP (cost- *,*** INR) and TRV to MAA (cost-**** INR). On that day after some time, I cancelled the *st booking and called HappyEasyGo regarding the cancellation and how they will be processing the amount so that I ...
Apr 18, 2020 by Abhishruti Mandal
Refund not provided by easemytrip (Easemytrip.com) Closed
Airlines named trujet They have themselves cancelled entire flight due to operations reasons. My PNR number is SQA**k. I have booked * tickets from EaseMyTrip. I need my full refund as soon as possible. I need my refund status. But there is no ...
Apr 17, 2020 by Viral gujarati
Refunds of flight ticket (Ease my trip) Closed
I had booked a flight ticket from Delhi to Port Blair, PNR No. X**Z*C via Ease My Trip website. My journey was scheduled on ** March ****. But due to corona virus outbreak I cancelled my ticket with airlines and they initiate a ticket of cancel...
Apr 16, 2020 by Adarsh Mishra
Goibibo not giving me refund (Goibibo) Closed
My Indigo flight from Aizawl to Lucknow via Guwahati was cancelled due to coronavirus. My PNR number is OQU*PR. Indigo has already credited Rs.**** to goibibo account. But goibibo being a bunch of fraudsters,is not giving me my hard earned mone...
Apr 16, 2020 by Ritvij Pant
Refund amount for cancellation of flight tickets not returned back to customer from easemytrip onlin (Easemytrip.com) Closed
I have booked a flight by Indigo airlines from Patna to Hyderabad and return ticket from Hyderabad to Patna via easemytrip.com. Due to cancellation of flight, Airline offered to cancel tickets with full refund option. I chose to cancel both tic...
Apr 14, 2020 by Binod Kumar
"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