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 booking not provided after making the payment no refund done (TRIPTOURS) Open
I booked an online tour package with TRIPTOURS, Noida, for a Darshan of Tirupati temple on ** Sept **** from Bangalore. Package was negotiated for Rs. *****/. This included pickup from Chennai Hotel on ** Sept **** & drop back at the same Hotel...
Sep 30, 2023 by Romesh Kachroo
POOR OLA CAB AC NOT WORKING (OLA MUMBAI) Open
TICKET No: ********* &********* - ** SEP **** CAB AC NOT WORKING I made a complaint about the Cab’s AC not working. I recd an interactive messaging, firstly apologising and then stating “ISSUE RESOLVED” when NOTHING WAS DONE TO DO SO. ...
Sep 29, 2023 by RAJA RAO
Formal Complaint Regarding OLA s Poor Service and Driver Misconduct (Ola) Open
formal consumer complaint against OLA, a popular ride-hailing service, regarding the consistently poor service and driver misconduct that I have experienced as a customer. Despite numerous attempts to address these issues directly with OLA, I h...
Sep 20, 2023 by Afzal Nawaz
False commitment and forced to make transaction (Club Resorto Vacations Private Limited) Open
One day I got call from Shanaya Rajput and said “you have won two gift cards, one is for *N/*D holiday and one is movie ticket for couple which is valid for * year and * months respectively. The scam start from this call. I was excited and ag...
Sep 15, 2023 by Manoj Matlane
Fab Hotels Cheated (Fab Hotels) Open
Fab Hotels- Cheated. I made a Resort booking on *th Sep **** my booking was successful and an invoice was also generated for * adults and * children. Due to some inquiry, I contacted the hotel, they said there was no booking in my name and ...
Sep 14, 2023 by Surendar Arivalagan
Unreasonable delay in bus arrival and departure (Tsrtc ) Open
I have booked two tickets from Hyderabad to Kodad for my parents on **-Sep-**** in TSRTC Garuda AC bus. The bus is supposed to arrive at *PM and reach the destination by *PM. But the bus arrived after *PM and reached destination after **PM and ...
Sep 14, 2023 by Madhavrao baddhula
Uber Payment Issues (UBER) Open
From a trip to Colaba to Belapur it costed **** on *st October ****. Tried paying through integrated UPI option, but the payment failed Paid the driver from the next trip (belapur to panvel) **** rupees but the app still shows the payment is...
Sep 13, 2023 by Yashi Raghuvanshi
GOIBIBO PREPAID BOOKING CHECKIN DENIED (Goibbibo ) Open
I have done online hotel booking through goibibo with ref HTLDNA*W*VKF**M* for hotel booking from **rd Dec,** to *rd Jan** for travling with family, but hotel has denied booking and goibibo has not provided alternate arrangement, since this was...
Sep 12, 2023 by Manoj Brijpuria
Failed to provide refund (Ease my trip com) Open
We booked our ticket from Ease my trip online portal & without any notice airline cancelled the ticket. We have been chasing for * months to collect our refund & we have received INR *** in remarks of cancellation fees. But in this case we are ...
Sep 07, 2023 by jatin
Travolook not refunding for morethan an Year (Travolook) Open
On February ** ****, i booked * tickets on Travolook.in for Rs.**, ***. immediatley they called me and informed that the the price is changed and i need to pay another Rs.***** to get confirmed, i asked them to cancel it and refund my money. fr...
Sep 06, 2023 by SriKrishna M
MMT local cab Service Issue (Makemytrip india Pvt Ltd) Open
I had booked a local cab via MakeMyTrip (MMT) for *th Sep ****, *:** AM. As per the booking, I was informed that driver will be allotted ** mins before the service. I had placed this booking a day in advance as I needed this for my ** year old ...
Sep 05, 2023 by Srinivasan M
Fraud under the name of Cancellation Charges (Goibibo) Open
I Have Booked A Flight On The Smartbuy Website Through Goibibo Partner But Due To Unforeseen Circumstances I Had To Cancel My Flight And As Per Refund Amount Mentioned On Airline Website Goibibo Says That Airline Has Charged More For Cancellati...
Sep 02, 2023 by Yash kothari
Denying refund (Makemytrip) Open
Stayed in Hotel Manama Mumbai. This property comes under MMTvaluestays propprety. Room had cockroaches, linens were torn, Fridge was absent, windows broken, wardrobes are pale yellow, Pillow cover are pale yellow....
Aug 31, 2023 by Rushil Agarwal
Misleading information to sell the plan and Money not being refunded (Rosette Grand Vacations) Open
I was invited to Rosette Grand on **th Aug ****. I mentioned that I will come with my Parents if they are ok with it then only, I will come else I won't come. Rosette Grand executives mentioned that I can bring family members and ** min I need ...
Aug 28, 2023 by Gautam Vasisht
Fraud under the name of Cancellation Charges (Goibiobo) Open
I have booked a flight on the Smartbuy website through Goibibo partner but due to unforeseen circumstances I had to cancel my flight and as per refund amount mentioned on airline website Goibibo says that airline has charged more for cancellati...
Aug 26, 2023 by Yash kothari
Scammed of money (Rossette Grand Vacations Resorts Private Limite) Open
I, visited hotel Sarovar Portico Noida, on **st october ****. when I received the call from their representative that me & my wife are selected to get holiday membership and it's not chargeable. We meet there and were assured that we need to de...
Aug 26, 2023 by Deepanshu Kumar
Money for Cancellation Ticket Not Refunded (Make my trip) Open
My refund is not being processed for the cancellation made. From Bengaluru to Varanasi (*th May) Booking ID: NF*V*KQ*QEV*LEXE****...
Aug 25, 2023 by Sudhir Kumar Sharma
Fraud done by Go life vacation (Go life vacations loyal tree ) Open
Hi Team There is one fraud done by company name Go life vacation, we went to Andaman Nicobar, On **th Dec **** where they were doing promotion for Go life vacation, they were describing their holidays plans, to be very frankly speaking we were...
Aug 24, 2023 by Aditya jhinkwan
Complete fraud cheated me (Taj india resort) Open
They Called Me To For A Travel Membership And Cheated Me With Their Terms & Conditions. They Told Me At Any Point I Can Cancel The Membership And I Will Get My Refund Back. This Happened On The **th Of June**** . Within * Hours I Called Them To...
Aug 24, 2023 by Matla harikrishna
Cheating by AR Holidays (A R Holidays) Open
We are a middle income group family of * adults and * children. We work hard and we travel together. Now at age ** we thought age is catching up so we fell for the ploy of these fly by night operators who incite you with persistent phone calls ...
Aug 21, 2023 by anthony lopes
Refund issue (Cleartrip) Closed
I booked my flight on ** may ****, trip id ************. my flight was resheduled by airline, I was given one time free offer of date change, which I used and changed my date. later I decided to change it to another date with panalty charges ...
Apr 11, 2023 by kiran kumar
Refund not received (Yatra) Closed
I have booked a hotel to stay in kodaikanal in JEM VALLEY on *th July - **th July paying ₹**** . Later cancelled the room on *th April but haven’t received the refund amount yet . ...
Apr 10, 2023 by Hariharan G
Paulo Bus Delay and stranded for (Paulo Travels Goa) Closed
We have booked AC sleeper seet ** and ** for date *th April departure *.**.. arrival due on *th April afternoon. However we received a call stating the bus was delayed and new departure time was *.**pm *th evening. Post which at *th April the ...
Apr 07, 2023 by Mariel Delpin
Regarding Flight confirmation at yatra com (Yatra.com) Closed
I have booked three flight tickets for that i payed ***** for bangalore to lucknow ticket but i haven't received any flight ticket...
Apr 01, 2023 by Chitra Kushwaha
Andheri East Service Apartment Hotel property not there which mentioned address in Yatra (Yatra Com) Closed
I booked hotel in Yatra Andheri East Service Apartment Mumbai but hotel not in that address complete day I was stay outside and I raised the complaint in Yatra they sent mail will refund the amount it will get in * working days but amount not r...
Mar 31, 2023 by Mohammed Rashad
Full Refund not received for Cancelled trip on Medical Ground (Ease my trip) Closed
Due to Medical reason I have cancelled my trip from Bangalore to Pune with EMT********* and Pune to Bangalore EMT********* Contacted multiple times and there is no positive response on my Refund...
Mar 28, 2023 by Harsha RL
Advance paid for cancelled Travel plan not refunded (Thomas Cook India Limited) Closed
We had planned a tour of Egypt on *.**. **** and paid advance to Thomas Cook India Limited.This plan had to be cancelled due to Covid related lockdown, all over India and Egypt. The party had ignored our request for refund and did not respond ...
Mar 28, 2023 by M.Ramachandran
Refund not received from Yatra (Yatra.com) Closed
I booked flight through Yatra Online Pvt Ltd and had to cancel the flight due to work. The flight was Indigo flight. I checked with Indigo, they have initiated the refund and is pending with Yatra. Flight Details - PNR : VQIMHZ Passenger...
Mar 27, 2023 by Deepika Sharma
I did not receive my refund amount (Ease my trip) Closed
I didn't receive refund amount yet kind request you please refund my amount in my bank account.Please find below refund details: Booking id: EMT********* Refund Amount - ****/- Refund Date - **-*-**** Transaction reference ID ...
Mar 27, 2023 by Shripad shahane
Promised Services has not been provided to me they had fooled me (Orange Tours and Travels Red Bus) Closed
I had booked a Bus Ticket from Red Bus App, Hyderabad To Mumbai for **th March *PM. At the time of booking, it is shown to me several amenities on the booking app but when i entered the bus there were very few amenities were there. I complained...
Mar 22, 2023 by Vishal T
Didn t receive my refund (Yatra Com) Closed
I booked a ticket by yatra on **th January ****,the amount credited from my bank account, but the ticket was not booked.They said that I would get the refund within * to ** working days. Its being ** days Till now I don't get the refund. ...
Mar 19, 2023 by Manoj Koley
Cheated by travel agency (Jaunt Holidays) Closed
I am writing to file a grievance WRT Jaunt Holidays' service with the recent trip that I had fixed with their team. The Agent Kashish was well informed about our arrival time in the morning at * AM, and due to Jaunt Holiday's poor planning, we...
Mar 14, 2023 by Aishika Nandy
Refund of domestic airline yatra com with reference number (Yatra) Closed
I had booked domestics air tickets to Mumbai to Goa and goa to Mumbai date was **th March and **th March return and due to some urgent medical emergency we had to cancel we had applied for a option of refund but as always fraud Yatra people hav...
Mar 07, 2023 by Madhukar kamat
Cheating by Easemytrip (Easemytrip) Closed
Easemytrip Booking id: EMT********* Hotel name: Hotel Krone, A*** Road No. * Gali Number * This is regarding hotel booking done for **-**-**** to **-**-**** through the website of Easemytrip. When we reached the hotel we were pushed out of...
Mar 04, 2023 by Gopal Mondal
I travelled from delhi to Kolkata and i booked a rapido bike (Rapido) Closed
I have booked rapido and my captain cancelled the order stating that fare is very less and send some else to complete the ride (how this is possible), my fare as per rapido was *** but other person is telling ***. Then I canceled and booked ano...
Mar 02, 2023 by Saurav kumar
Hotel rejected booking (Yatra Com) Closed
Booked non refundable hotel room @RS **** for *th march to * march which. Hotel (Diphlu Lodge, Kaziranga) has denied the booking and refund is also denied...
Feb 28, 2023 by Achintamay Mazumder
Unhygienic hotel room with a Rat crawling on bed (Make my trip) Closed
It was a terrific experience with make my trip hotel booking. Booked a * Star property in goa for a week to have a relaxing get away with my husband and * year old kid. But as soon as we entered the room it was a disaster. The room was so stink...
Feb 21, 2023 by Sapna Bandekar
Cheated the money (Rapido Bike Chennai) Closed
I'm Venkat balaji, I have booked a ride on February **th **** morning *.**am to chrompet. The captain name was Shanmugamraj and Ride Id is RD******************. When he started the ride he behaved very weirdly, then he started raising the voice...
Feb 19, 2023 by venkat balaji N
Not getting refund of flight of holiday package refund for package no nl2200102269558 (Makemytrip) Closed
I have tried numerous times to get the refund for flights of holiday package NL*************. but MakeMyTrip doesn't answer my call, once I select cancelled holiday package on IVR , call gets disconnected. I have tried directly with airlines an...
Feb 18, 2023 by vivek kumar
Refunded amount is not as per airline refund even after deducting their convenience fees plus servic (Ease my trip) Closed
Kindly note that EMT has received my ticket refund of Rs.*,***/- from Indigo Airline after deduction of airline's cancellation charges and penalties of Rs.****/- out of my total payment of Rs.**,***/- paid by me to Indigo through EMT but now Ea...
Feb 12, 2023 by Sanju Sarda
"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