Tour Travel Complaints - Travel Agent Complaints

Travel Complaints

There are various modes of transportation in India be it through air, sea or land. Indian transportation, due to its immense population, is one of the most widely used in the world.

For traveling within India people generally prefer to rent a car or travel via train or bus as they deem convenient. Ola and Uber are prime examples of this. These startups have skyrocketed and are one of most used traveling apps in the India.

Meanwhile, many people prefer to travel via plane as it saves times. For this they either book the ticket through the website directly or look for agents to do the same.

Apart from big names there are some private travel agencies in Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata etc, which try to lure customers by offering them lucrative discounts. Travel agent frauds are quite prevalent in India. The most common travel agent/agency complaints include refund not provided, hotel denying check-in, fake promises etc.

Travel complaints have a sense of urgency and responsibility attached to them because no one wants to board a late flight or wants to stay in low-quality hotel.

We all want our travels and trips to be smooth right from the beginning. And if something does not go as per our expectations, the mood gets spoiled!

Therefore, it brings a significant responsibility on the shoulders of the travel companies to solve the issues faced by their customers. One should only book their hotels/flights via trustworthy sites to avoid getting duped. However, sometimes even these reputed travel companies commit an error.

In this article, we have covered the common travel complaints that are faced by customers and how you can resolve them.

But first lets check out the famous travel companies in India

Famous Travel Companies in India

1. Make My Trip
Make my Trip is one of the leading online travel companies in India. In 2000 it was founded by Deepak Kalra and had its headquarters in Gurugram, Haryana.

They have more than 14 company-owned travel stores in India and have over 30 franchisee-owned travel stores in India. They also have offices in Dubai, Phuket, Bangkok, New York, Kuala, and Lumpur.

2. Yatra:
Founded by Manish Amin, Sabina Chopra, and Dhruv Shringi in 2006, Yatra.com is the pre-eminent Indian online travel agency. It is based in Gurugram, Haryana. According to the sources in 2012, Yatra became the second-largest online travel service provider company in India.

3. OYO:
Oyo rooms, popularly known as Oyo hotels and rooms and stylized as OYO, is the fastest and largest growing hospitality chain in India. They worked on the franchising and leased system, which fortunately turned out to be the best for the company. Founded by Ritesh Agarwal in 2013, OYO gained much popularity right from the beginning.

4. GOIBIBO:
Subsidiary of Make My Trip Limited, Mauritius Ibibo, is a travel organization in 2006 by Ashish Kashyap. In 2013 Goibibo made it among the top five most trusted e-commerce brands in India.

5. HappyEasyGo:
Happy Easy Go is one of the emerging online travel company founded by Boris Zha in 2017. In 2019 it became the second-largest online travel booking platform in India and had more than 10 million customer bases all over the world. It has its headquarters in Gurugram, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hong Kong, and Singapore. During late 2018 HappyEasyGo established its hotel business.

6. Thomas Cook:
Thomas Cook (India) Ltd has its headquarters in Mumbai and caters to all the travel related requirements from visas to foreign exchange. They established themselves in India in 1881 and expanded its business to all the nearby countries.

7. Clear Trip:
Clear Trip earlier was known as Clear Trip Travel Services Private limited is a universal online travel company established in 2016. It has its headquarters in Dubai and Mumbai. In India, they started with a vision of making travel simple by bridging the gap between the Indian hospitality and travel sector. It was founded as an air and hotel aggregator by Stuart Crighton, Mathew Spacie, and Hrush Bhatt.

8. Travel Guru:
Travel Guru is India’s leading and growing travel website. It offers flights, holiday packages, and hotels at the best prices; they aim to make your trip smooth and convenient.

9. Travel Triangle:
Founded by three IIT graduates Sanchit Garg, Prabhat Gupta, and Sankalp Agarwal. It is India’s first fully stacked Holiday Marketplace that connects verified travel agents and travelers. It was founded in 2011 and competed with companies such as Thrillophilia. It is a platform that is trusted by many.

10. Travelocity India:
It is rated as one of the best online travel portals in the world and perfectly caters to the local needs of the people by launching specialized programs. In India, they cater to both business and leisure requirements.

Types of Travel Complaints

1. Tickets canceled, but money is not refunded:
One of the significant problems that are being faced by customers of major travel companies is that they cancel the tickets, but money is not credited to their bank account. This is the most common issue faced by almost all the consumers in cities like Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru.

During COVID-19 times, many have reported on the internet that they have booked tickets, and they got canceled due to the pandemic. However, the companies did not refund the amount. Either they are saying that they have refunded the amount, or instead, they are offering a credit voucher.

2. No refund for flights canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic:
Due to the global pandemic, suddenly, flights were canceled. It was reported by customers of many major travel companies that they did not get their refund; however, the airlines did return the full booking amount. Many customers were upset because the travel companies did not inform them about the refund from the airlines.

3. Partial refund for the flights canceled due to COVID-19:
Many customers reported that they did not receive the full amount of flights they booked pre-corona. However, airlines have refunded the entire amount, but travel companies did not credit the whole amount; instead, they deducted a certain amount without giving any valid reason.

4. No refund against booked packages:
Many planned trips in June assuming that pandemic will end, but in the wake of current times, still, the tourism industry is on hold.

As people booked packages for traveling and now are requesting for a refund, but many companies are simply denying it.
However, many customers are disturbed with it because, in these uncertain times, they are struggling so much to get their refund.

5. Unable to connect with customer care service:
Many customers from significant travel companies face this very issue when they contact the customer care, they are not entertained, or their complaints are not correctly handled.

Many faced this particular issue while they were contacting the customer care, and their complaints were not appropriately welcomed or they were not able to connect with them.

6. Fraudulent booking agents:
Many travel companies have their booking agents, but some fraudsters just dive in and cheat people.
Many customers from significant companies, including Make My Trip and Yatra complained that they had been cheated by fraudsters in the name of these companies, and they have demanded a refund from the company.

7. Rescheduling of flights due to COVID-19:
Due to Corona pandemic, many people had to reschedule their flights, but travel companies are not helping them or are not considering their request.

8. Over billing by travel companies:
The most common types of complaints regarding Ola and Uber include over billing issues and not returning the left item in the cab. But you can try contacting the customer care number of Ola which is 098842437 and customer care of Uber which is 1300091272.

How to resolve travel complaints?

1. File support ticket/send an email:
You can always contact travel companies through their official website by going to their contact us section and by sending them an email. Customer service emails of some leading travel companies are:
Yatra- support@yatra.com
Make My Trip- care@makemytrip.com
Happy Easy Go- cs@happyeasygo.com
Clear Trip- customersupport@cleartrip.com
Goibibo- travel@goibibo.com
Travel guru- service@travelguru.com

2. Call Customer support:
One of the perfect ways to directly come in contact with the travel company is by contacting it through phone call for customer support. All these well-known travel companies have a 24*7 working customer care number which helps in resolving complaints as they value customer feedback. The customer care number of some of the leading travel agencies and hospitality companies in India are :

Cox and Kings Customer Care Number - 1800 209 0400
Thomas Cook Customer Care Number - 1800 209 9100
Club Mahindra Holidays Customer Care Number - 044 6695 3435
Expedia Customer Care Number – 800-319-4834
Yatra Customer Care Number - 0124 3040500
Goibibo Customer Care Number - 1800 208 1060
Makemytrip Customer Care Number - 1800 102 8747
Travelguru Customer Care Number - +91 92111 77444
Oyo Customer Care Number - 093139 31393
RedBus Customer Care Number - 1860 121 2102

3. Report to the airlines/hotel directly:
As we have seen above, many customers have reported that the airlines and hotels have issued a refund, but the travel companies have not refunded the money in the bank accounts. It is always better to contact the airlines or hotels directly if the companies don’t issue a refund by time. You can contact the airlines and hotels by calling them on their customer care number or by sending the email.

4. Send Legal Notice:
Consumers can send legal notices to travel company in case it is unable to resolve his complaint. It is one of the efficient ways to handle the issue legally. Check below to know how to send a legal notice to travel company?

Step 1: Firstly, get a legal notice drafted by a lawyer.
Step 2: Check it properly and make sure it is signed by lawyer.
Step 3: Keep a copy of it for future purposes.
Step 4: Send the legal notice to travel company by registered post.
Step 5: Keep the slip or delivery report for evidence.

5. File consumer forum case:
Consumer forum deals with consumer complaints and you should approach consumer forum if you feel that your rights as a consumer have been violated.

If travel company is not responding to your complaints even after sending legal notice by a lawyer then you should file a case against it in a consumer court.

Here is how you can file a case in the consumer court?

Step 1: Intimate the aggrieved party via legal notice.
Step 2: Draft the consumer complaint
Step 3: Attach all the relevant documents and proofs to support your complaint.
Step 4: Select the appropriate court for filing the complaint.
Step 5: Pay the prescribed court fee that is required to be paid along with the complaint.
Step 6: Submit the case along with the affidavit & fees in the court.

If you feel uncomfortable doing all this yourself, then you should use Voxya to file a complaint against travel company. We will send Legal Notice and prepare Case for filing in consumer court. We, at Voxya, are generally receiving more than 100 travel consumer complaints every month.

Most Common Issue Reported for Travel Complaints

Money deducted, Ticket not booked

No Refund

Booking canceled

Customer care not responding

Bad hotel booked

Misbehavior by staff

Fraudulent Booking agents

Fake Club membership sold

Train canceled without knowledge

Booking dates changed

Room was not clean

Cab did not arrive on time

Cab driver canceled the trip

No refund (Makemytrip) ^Open

We are residents of Germany and have to catch Vande Bharat flight to Frankfurt. I have booked ticket for **th May **** AirAsia flight **:** from Indore to Delhi for my wife and infant daughter. On **th May AirAsia called and messaged to confirm...

Jun 23, 2020 by Akshay Mittal

Refund not received from GOIBIBO (Goibibo) ^Open

I have cancelled my flight PNR(HWKT*C) on **th of March **** but I have not received the refund yet. As I have spoken to the airlines they say they have refunded the amount to the agent(GOIBIBO) but I have not received any amount from GOIBIBO ...

Jun 22, 2020 by Sanket suresh karsiya

Refund not received of cancelled flight (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) ^Open

I had booked a flight from Delhi to Dehradun for **th April which was cancelled due to the lockdown period going on. I had paid using the my cash wallet of MakeMyTrip. As per government directive, the full refund was to be issued to everyone. R...

Jun 22, 2020 by Shrey Krishna

Non refund of booking amount (Jingo Holidays Delhi) ^Open

I had booked a tour package with Jingo holidays,Delhi in Feb-** and paid online an advance amount of Rs.*****/- for which i received confirmation mail from travel agent with booking confirmation No. JHPL**** . But Tour which was in may-** was...

Jun 22, 2020 by NITIN BANDOPANT BACHAL

Refund not procssed (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) ^Open

I booked a flight from Osaka to Bengaluru round trip for the date **.**.**** and return journey on **.**.****. But flight from Osaka to Bengaluru on **.**.**** "XJ***" got cancelled but Airlines. So my whole journey got disturbed. So I wa...

Jun 22, 2020 by Godine Raja Sekhar

Company shut down (Priority International Holidays Club Private Limited) ^Open

We have taken holiday package from mentioned company. Initially they provided services. Since last five years company is shut down and directors run aways. Complaints are filed in multiple police station but no action....

Jun 21, 2020 by Sonal Jain

Fraud and cheating by visasandpermits s owner Stacy Fletcher (Visasandpermits) ^Open

Visasandpermits.com is run by Stacy Fletcher who is UK citizen. V&P was providing immigration services to get PR for different countries. I was refereed this consultancy by one of my friend whose Australia PR was successfully done by it. I sign...

Jun 21, 2020 by Prerna Garg

Oyolife telling to vacate property in lockdown (Oyolife) ^Open

Oyolife has given ** days notice to tenants of PUN*** property.They have also stated that they will give the deposit back after ** days of leaving the property.But what oyo is doing currently uts hard to believe them.Many people didnt get the ...

Jun 21, 2020 by Sayamdip Roy

Order was not placed n my money amount was deductes (Myntra) ^Open

I ordered * shoes one Saree one jeans and * tops on Myntra but my order wasn't placed n money was debited.. It happened twice within * hours for two different orders n I have lost my **** rs...

Jun 21, 2020 by Samruddhi sadanshiv

Charging high cost than the prevailing market rates (Everest AC Sheet 10 feet Purchased from Super Trading company Padinjarethara Wayanad) ^Open

I have Purchased ** (One) Everest AC Sheet from Super Trading Company, Padinjarethara, Wayanad on ** June ****. They gave me an estimate instead of a Bill showing Rs ***/ as the cost which is too high in comparison with the prevailing market ra...

Jun 20, 2020 by Thomas mathew

Refund not received (Cleatrip) ^Open

Trip ID ************ Go Air has full refunded my money but cleartrip has neither responded nor refunded my money. I have sent email to them many times and their customer care number is not working....

Jun 20, 2020 by Pankaj Kumar Rohila

Social distancing senitization and thermal screening not available in Bus (RedBus India and Balmukund travels) ^Open

I booked ticket from RedBus on **th of June **** for **/**/** for Ahmedabad to Junagadh. I checked all buses and done booking in Balmukund travels for my Father, Mother and Wife (She is pregnant) after checking that this bus are following socia...

Jun 20, 2020 by Paresh Tank

Flight Tickets Refund (Goibibo) ^Open

I booked a flight ticket with AirIndia via Goibibo for my journey from Bhopal to Pune on **th April, but my flight was cancelled was due to Covid-** situation. I raised the refund request and its been more than * months i have not received the ...

Jun 19, 2020 by Vishal Bhatt

Amount not refunded (Make my trip) ^Open

On June **, I was booking a flight ticket which was not completed and an amount of Rs. ***** debited from my account. I contacted my bank who said that money refunded to merchant i..e MMT and it is MMT responsibility to send that money in ...

Jun 19, 2020 by RANJEET SINGH

Refund of train ticket (IXIGO TRAIN BOOKING APP) ^Open

I have filed TDR for my Tain journey . IRCTC approved amount and sefunded the amount to IXIGO. I am writing them on emails so many times but they are not replying or resolving my issue ....

Jun 19, 2020 by Varun rathi

Refund not initiated yet (Cleartrip) ^Open

I made a booking via Cleartrip with Indigo airlines. Indigo cancelled my booking due to the ongoing COVID ** and refunded my money the same day to Cleartrip. But Cleartrip has mailed me that the money will be refunded in ** days. What kind of p...

Jun 19, 2020 by Vipul Verma

Secury deposit nrefund (Oyo Life) ^Open

I had to leave the property of oyo life BLR**** ,as I received a mail from oyo support that the property is getting closed within a week. They have an alternate property options but rooms were not available in that. So I had to exit the propert...

Jun 18, 2020 by Pankaj Kumar Singh

Refund not get (Travelyaari.com) ^Open

Hello sir I booked my ticket from travelyaari jaisalmer to vadodara on date **/**/**. But due to buses strike in rajasthan for taxmaafi.my bus was cancelled by thar bus operator.i try many times to call customer care of travelyaari more than *...

Jun 18, 2020 by Shivam rushkumar suthar

Air Ticket Money not refunded (Akbartravels com) ^Open

Dear Sir, I had booked * tickets Doha-Bengaluru and Mumbai-Doha with Akbartravels.com (india portal), Travel dates was schedule for ** March****. These tickets were booked using my credit card. Unfortunately, due to COVID** there was Lockdown...

Jun 17, 2020 by Jijoy Abraham Thoppil

Security deposit refund not received (Oyolife) ^Open

Hi, I have checked out of my Oyolife *** property in February. According to their policy, I should have got my refund within **-** days. But even after more than * months and ** mails, I have not received my security refund. I have also call...

Jun 17, 2020 by Sparsh

Regarding abusive driver (Uber Cabs) ^Closed

Driver used the abusive language to the women though it was not our fault he was saying to charge ** rs extra as the road work was in progress and he was busy talking the shits with us with loud voice and verbal aggression and he said us to get...

Aug 24, 2019 by Sanskruti

Ola cab driver cancelled the trip (Ola Cab ) ^Closed

Subject: Re: Sorry, We could not schedule a ride for you The cab was booked for my dad (a senior citizen) to be dropped off at Banaswadi Rly station. Hope the importance of the ride at a peak time in this city is well understood at your end a...

Aug 24, 2019 by Vm jayadeesh kumar

Amount deducted more than estimated bill and none of the tickets were booked money deducted (UPSRTC) ^Closed

I was booking tickets from UPSRTC on *th of August, I opted for * tickets, and while doing payment to them it was showing a bill of *** but after typing the OTP for transaction I was redirected to home page and my tickets were not booked, inste...

Aug 24, 2019 by Mukeetuzzama

Hotel booking issue (Oyo) ^Closed

Respected Sir/Madam, I had booked a room dated on **nd August & OYO Executive confirm me Hotel Debdutta at Coochbehar. My Booking IDTXQK****. But after reached on Property, they denied. Because they haven't no room & already inform to o...

Aug 24, 2019 by Munshi Firoz Rahaman

IRCTC ticket amount not refunded after 2 months (IRCTC) ^Closed

I had booked a ticket which i cancelled on **th june. When the amount was not refunded after * week i raised a complaint. Till date they haven't done anything on that. All they tell me that i should contact my bank. Why should I as a custome...

Aug 24, 2019 by Mrinal Harsh

Hotel reservation was denied (Goibibo.com) ^Closed

I booked a room online through Goibibo.com at Collection O ***** Friends Colony East, New Delhi on Aug. *, ****. Check-in date was */**/** and check out date was **/**/**. Full payment of Rs **** was made online for the same. On *th I reached t...

Aug 17, 2019 by Jyotirmoy das

Refund not received (Goibibo) ^Closed

I had done a hotel booking for my family in Chennai date ** to ** July ****. * room, booking ID HTL*XV*RLG and HTLU*VCX*A. The total amount of **** Rs paid to Goibibo. When reached the hotel there was a problem in the hotel. I talk to Goibibo t...

Aug 04, 2019 by Neelkamal chandgothia

Booking cancelled by OYO but money not refunded (OYO Rooms) ^Closed

I had booked an OYO room on **-**-**** booking ID (KQIE****), KBR Residency, on **-**-**** I got a call from the hotel that there is a water problem so cancel your booking. After that, I immediately called Oyo and told all my problem on that da...

Aug 03, 2019 by Abhishek chowdhury

Issue in refund (Makemytrip (india) Pvt. Ltd.) ^Closed

On June **, ****, I booked a flight with Makemytrip for departure date Oct **, ****, Dublin to Mumbai and return on Nov **, ****. The booking did not reflect under the details of my upcoming trip. I contacted MMT via chat and they told me to wa...

Jul 28, 2019 by Anthony Raivellur

Cheated by travel agent (Indiaghoomo) ^Closed

I have a really big story or I should call it a misery. India Ghoomo is the company & Mr Prashant was the agent, I think they found us on tripshelf. But all the discussions happened over phone & e-mails. I have the e-mail which I can share. To...

Jul 21, 2019 by Jagadish Basavaraju

Refund money isn't get (Goibibo) ^Closed

I booked a train ticket in two times. First time *** Rs the second time *** Rs debited but failed the booking. Refund amount didn't get....

Jul 20, 2019 by Jeslin k john

Not getting response (Rachana geological) ^Closed

I have booked a bus for my trip to Hubballi on **.**.****, vide ID DUR***VLSR by paying ****.**. I have not received any details in my mail. It is more than ** days. I require all the details. Also, they assured **% deduction which they have no...

Jul 18, 2019 by K. Prabhakara

Fraudulent activity did (Goibibio) ^Closed

I booked a hotel from Goibibo but very worst and many bugs. So I contacted them multiple times and after they said we will forward to the management team but still not refunded my money. I sent them with proof. Very bad. That room finds whiskey...

Jul 17, 2019 by Lourdu Vinoth

Ola driver security threat and theft issue (Ola Cabs) ^Closed

I had a terrible experience with ola in Delhi yesterday. I booked ola from Indirapuram to a green park. He adamantly charged *** Rs more incorrectly just for a small distance. Then when we gave him cash and left. After ** minutes when we were a...

Jul 15, 2019 by Aparna shree

Regarding denying of hotel booking (Goibibo.com) ^Closed

My Goibibo booking id is htlq*wsj*d. My date of booking is July **, ****, for July **, ****, to July **, ****. I didn't get to check-in due to some tariff problem. I have been calling Goibibo from ** o'clock and now it's *:** p.m and I haven't ...

Jul 13, 2019 by KIRANDEEP SINGH GHUMAN

Providing no refund on refundable international flight ticket (Goibibo) ^Closed

I had purchased refundable international flight ticket worth ₹***** from Ahmedabad to Atlanta. On **th June ****, I requested the charges for cancellation and Goibibo provided me that in a mail. All charges including penalty were around ****....

Jul 11, 2019 by Hastik zaverbhai vaghasiya

The travel bus not drop me in proper boarding point (Orange Tours and Travels) ^Closed

I had booked a ticket on the red bus and travel from Tirunelveli to Pondicherry in the orange bus and they did not drop me in proper boarding point. When the bus reaches Chengalpattu they told me you should drop in Villupuram and then go to Pon...

Jul 06, 2019 by Sudha

Money got refund (Redbus) ^Closed

I had booked a ticket using Redbus from Delhi to Haridwar on *th of June **** and it was confirmed. However, on the same day, I got a call from bus operator that they had cancelled my booking due to some bus breakdown and when I asked for other...

Jul 05, 2019 by Ravi Kumar

Uber has charged me twice for same ride and now not giving a refund (UBER) ^Closed

While booking a cab, I had registered to pay via UPI added on Uber. Later while booking on the same date I found that my UPI request had expired. Hence, I made payment through my linked Credit Card. But when tried booking the cab again on the s...

Jul 03, 2019 by Vishal Kamtane

Cancelled the 8 day booking without consent (Zoom Car) ^Closed

I was supposed to be picked up from Kochi airport by Zoomcar at * am for an *-day booking for my Kerela vacations however that did not happen. I had made the booking and was supposed to travel through Kerela and return the car in Thiruananthpur...

Jun 29, 2019 by Manoj Yadav