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
Refund not received (Cleartrip) Open
Flight from Nagpur to Kochi on **th April(PNR-DDI*FY, Trip ID ************) was booked through cleartrip agency. The flight was cancelled by airlines due to Covid-**. Airlines has issued the refund on **th July and confirmation recieved through...
Aug 13, 2020 by Christal K P
Ixigo app not refunding the amount (ixigo app) Open
I had booked a flight ticket using Ixigo app from Delhi to Hyderabad to travel on *st August, ****. I had also taken insurance for the same. I cancelled the ticket on **th July as the trip got postponed. The app's cancellation policy states tha...
Aug 13, 2020 by Deepankar Sharma
Deposit amount not refunded (Colive) Open
I booked a room in 'Medford' property in Bangalore after the COLIVE salespersson AJAY gave me a brief of the amenities which will come with the room like * separate beds, breakfast-dinner, a private kitchen, wifi, etc. But then he referred me t...
Aug 12, 2020 by Mohit Reshi
Airline Refund (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Open
I am writing to you all with immense hope for a resolution to my case and I would be really grateful if you could help. I was planned to travel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the **th March **** – and return on **th March on an Umrah Visa. How...
Aug 12, 2020 by Kamalluddin Nisar Kazi
No Refund (Trip factory ) Open
I Booked land tour package in Tripfactory on ** Feb.****, my travel period was **.**.** to **.**.**, They will not provide any visa & package still **.**.**, after that they Cancelled my trip due to COVID-**, Still they were not paid any refun...
Aug 12, 2020 by Sainath G
Refund of amount (UPSRTC) Open
I booked a ticket online through UPSRTC online website on **/**/**** at **.**hrs but later on i cancelled this ticket on the same day at **.**hrs and i got email of e-cancellation ticket. But till now i did not get my money back till now. I hav...
Aug 12, 2020 by Navpreet Singh Bhatti
Goibibo Flight cancelled but refund not processed for past 115 days (Goibibo) Open
I made a booking in Jan **** for a round trip from US to India. The travel date was May ** ****. Due to covid ** the flights were cancelled. Goibibo has not processed my refund for the past *** days. Everytime I follow-up they quote **-** days ...
Aug 12, 2020 by Rakesh Baravathaya Badaje
Refunds not processed as per the Freedom Fare policy (Cleartrip com) Open
I bought four flight tickets (domestic within US) through @Cleartrip in early March, paying an additional premium to avail the “Freedom Fare” policy – it promised a refund in the event of cancellation. I had to cancel the trip in March it...
Aug 11, 2020 by Rajib L. Saha
Flight refund (Make My Trip) Open
My hosier flight was cancelled and refund was sent to make my trip on ** Jul **** after * days of booking but make my trip till now not refunded to me ...
Aug 11, 2020 by Dharmendra Kumar
Refund for my cancelled flight tickets not received (Via.com) Open
I booked * flight tickets through Via.com for **th May ****. I cancelled them on **th Ma y ****. I have been following up with care@via.com for the refund from past few months. No positive response from them. I am still awaiting for my refund...
Aug 11, 2020 by Amitha S Raj
Refund not issued (Cleartrip) Open
I have booked my flights from delhi ahmedabad and round trip but cancelled it for some reason . It's more than a month they haven't issued refund to me ...
Aug 11, 2020 by Mayank Arora
Yatra Wave Not Providing Trip Required Payment Back Reimbursement (Hersheys) Open
i have taken the Package from Yatra Wave with assured Gift but no one responding to my call for the Trip . Customer care number also not working ...
Aug 10, 2020 by Vivek Arora
Refund delay (Goibibo airlines Indigo Airlines) Open
I had booked ticket on ** Jan Booking Id: N*EFG*ITS. Flight was from Ahemdabad to Delhi by PNR-FG*ITS of INDIGO flight amount *, ***. Ticket got cancelled due to covid **. I have been confirmed by goibibo for returning refund on ** July by em...
Aug 10, 2020 by ASHISH JAIN
Refund from goibibo (Goibibo) Open
I have the done the booking from Pune to Prayagraj flight on Goibibo and done the payment .After few min i received mail that booking is unsuccessful and refund is initiated. i want to know why it was unsuccessful and when the money will refund...
Aug 10, 2020 by Vikash ojh
Non refund of air fare from travel agent (Easytrip India Private Limited) Open
I have booked an air ticket on **th January **** through Easy Trip Planners, Building no ***, Patparganj Industrial Area, Delhi NCR for journey from Delhi to Hyderabad for journey on **th May **** for * pax vide their booking confirmation no E...
Aug 10, 2020 by S J Kanyalal
Flight tickets cancelled by airlines but didn t get refund (Makemytrip.com) Open
We had booked tickets on **th June from Hyderabad to Dharamshala (connecting flights) through MakeMytrip site. Travel date was *st July,****. [Hyderabad -> Chandigarh (Go Air – PNR: N*IUHM): Chandigarh-> Dharamshala (AirIndia – PNR: Z*JHJ)]...
Aug 10, 2020 by Isha Sood
Ola Cab Provide Bad Serives (Ola Cab Ola Money) Open
Ola Cab Provide Bad Serives. Ola App cheat with me Seond time. Ola App Charge higher than estimated fare. They did not rfund my money. they charge *** rs. extra from me .when i book Ola cab for my family from Jawahar Park, Khanpur delhi to Asho...
Aug 10, 2020 by Parsenjeet Gautam
Cancellation of Refund of Flight ticket (Goibibo) Open
Booking Id: AMDRZ*JOD I have been trying to do a normal cancellation for my above flight booking (This include cancellation charges of Rs **,***).The orginally booked a ticket which has partial cancellation option so according to rule it shoul...
Aug 09, 2020 by ARAVIND R
Refunds not processed on Flight Cancellation (Cleartrip) Open
Hi Team, Due to Covid ****, my flight which was scheduled for May **, **** was cancelled and full refund was offered by Indigo. Staying by their word, Indigo processed the funds for RS ***** from their end on July *th ****, to Cleartrip, my boo...
Aug 09, 2020 by K. Srivalli
Same Hospitality Package at different prices (KARMA RESORTS HOSPITALITY LLP) Open
I've purchased a resort/hotel package for **N/**D from the above company at ***** for three years. But later I realized the same company was selling the same package at ***** to other customers. I've complained about my issue to their senior of...
Aug 07, 2020 by Vipul Kumar Jha
Extra money charged (Hotel yellow pagada) Closed
We booked * rooms for * people for **** and reconfirmed it after reaching the hotel but they charged us double after our stay ended denying the talk about the rs.****/room...
Nov 22, 2019 by Sandeep kumar jain
Money refund issue (Shreenath travel) Closed
booked the ticket for journey from Shirdi to Vadodara on ** Oct ****, but travels agency owner called me and inform me that his bus is broke down, so bus is not able to visit to shirdi and told me also that, your money will be refund with i......
Nov 21, 2019 by Raosaheb sangale
Oyo Refund not done (OYO Rooms) Closed
Hi , I have booked resort through oye and when i reached the property , they denied saying that from past * months they are not accepting any oyo booking .Later had a discussion with customer car executive , they have agreed for cancellation an...
Nov 21, 2019 by Anoop KR
Unexplained charges by oyo life (Oyo) Closed
First before check-in they said no extra charges need to pay except electricity bill which is not more than ***/month/person and now they are charging ***+ per head and some **** maintenance fee and **** as gst , never they said these charges w...
Nov 20, 2019 by Varun
Money of Rs 6768 deducted but ticket not booked onat 6 11 pm (Ease my trip) Closed
While booking air ticket through easemytrip yesterday first transaction of amount Rs, **** has been deducted from my syndicate bank account but ticket not booked at *.** PM on **.**.****, again I was booked the tickect and same amount of Rs, **...
Nov 19, 2019 by AMBIKESH KUMAR MISHRA
Double charge on single ride (Ola Cabs & Ola Money) Closed
Hi, **/**/**** i taken ride from cyber gateway to chandanagar. When i taken ride it shows ***rs and when i am getting down it was reduced to **rs. Before starting the ride driver asked how much it is showing. I said ***rs. After my ride started...
Nov 18, 2019 by Mounik
Trip started and ended without passenger and got billed for that (UBER) Closed
I had booked the Uber Auto on **th Nov **** at around **:** am from the destination: Lido Mall, Swamy Vivekananda Rd, Halasuru, Bengaluru To: SR Layout Murugeshpalya, Banglore And the expected fare was around between Rs. ***-*** as shown ...
Nov 18, 2019 by Ratish Ravindran
Hotel location is not same (Goibibo) Closed
Hotel i booked and hotel actually located is not same...
Nov 18, 2019 by Hari krishnan
Ola postpaid invalid charges (Ola Cabs) Closed
I notice ola charging me unknown post and amount of **** when I have not done that transaction at all.Even if I see the transaction details I don't see the break down for this transaction.I have been due diligently paying the driver from my wal...
Nov 17, 2019 by Nirja k
Money not refunded (OYO Rooms) Closed
I online booked hotel room Stay@home in Pune on OYO portal and and made payment of Rs *,***/- on **/**/** for the period **/**/** to **/**/**, booking Id NTMZ****. While I reach Hotel for check in , Hotel manager denied by saying there is no ro...
Nov 17, 2019 by Durgesh Singh
Money not refunded (Goibibo) Closed
Hi, I had booked a Jet Airways ticket for travelling date ** Jun **** from Mumbai to Lucknow with PNR No. BCTLRB**. Due to airlines crisis my journey got hampered and I was unable to travel. Its been now going to be * months but I havent rec...
Nov 16, 2019 by Mohammed Abdulsatter Vaid
Refund not provided (RedBus India) Closed
I was booking a ticket from Pune to amravati, Maharashtra. Money was deducted from my account using upi but no ticket issued to me. It's been more than * days but money is still not refunded. And the bank says that they can't do anything in thi...
Nov 14, 2019 by Ayesha s
Refund not provided (IRCTC) Closed
We had booked a full Bogie (Compartment) in Train, that time they had taken ***** deposit amount which they sid they will return after completing the journey. they even took the bank details from us ad they will refund the deposited amount but ...
Nov 14, 2019 by Bhavesh Batawale
Amount Debited but ticket not booked (Cleartrip) Closed
I have done Flight booking from Cleartrip on **th June and payment was done from ICICI credit card. Amount was debited and ticket was not booked. I have instantly confirm with ICICI customer care and they confirm that if ticket was not booked t...
Nov 14, 2019 by Ravi Tanwar
Refund and received (Yatra.com) Closed
I when I was playing for a trip with yatra.com They asked me to pay a certain amount without planning anything, (when I was still looking at itineraries,) just to lock the dewali offers.I asked them if the amount is ***% refundable and if I ca...
Nov 13, 2019 by Awaiz Khan
Paid twice to ola driver (Ola cab delhi NCR) Closed
I paid twice for the ola trip#CRN **********. First I paid from paytm UPI to the driver, but somehow it was not reflecting to his account immediately. We waited for some time and since it was middle of night, he asked me to pay again in cash an...
Nov 13, 2019 by Ravi Shankar Choudhary
Seats not provided (Goibibo company ) Closed
I was traveling from bhopal to Mumbai by flight air India flight number A* ***, or boarding no. ***, seat no. **b,and my ticket and seat booked by goibibo, but goibibo already deducted money onw my account, for seat or travel, goibibo couldn'...
Nov 13, 2019 by Pancham singh
Refund not provided (Yatra.com) Closed
We had paid Rs.*** two times for seat booking in indigo. This was refunded to yatra.com. yet yatra has not refunded to us...
Nov 13, 2019 by Arun Raman
Refund not approved (Legendbusservice) Closed
Http://www.legendbusservice.com/ This bus operator is not approving my refund since * days. Contact person - Lalit Sharma Contact no. - ********** Following is the problem happened and irresponsible behaviour - I Booked A Bus Ticked...
Nov 12, 2019 by Amit Kumar Sharma
No refund received of bus cancellation (PayTM) Closed
I booked a bus ticked from paytm on ** october. Journey was on * november. When I called on **********(number given on sms of booking) in afternoon to enquire of bus location for boarding the operator told me bus is cancelled. As journey wa...
Nov 11, 2019 by Amit Kumar Sharma
"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