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 for cancelled flights (Make My Trip) Open
My booking dated **th Dec **** in Jet Airways through Make my Trip was cancelled by the Airlines. Make my Trip has not refunded my money till date. Lately they have stopped communicating on this....
Mar 17, 2020 by Tamal Baran Das
Bus Ticket Booking Cancelled (Goibibo Paulo Travels) Open
I didn't get value of my money which i given for the bus tickets. I have Paid (Net Amount Rs.****/-) I have booked my bus tickets on * Feb **** for March **th, ****, for Goa to Mumbai. Bus Departure time was **:** hrs mins, I have booked * Tick...
Mar 17, 2020 by Prakash Soni
Makemytrip not giving a refund (Makemytrip) Open
My flight was cancelled by the airline Lufthansa. Makemytrip is not giving me the option to claim for refund or even showing the cancelled flight in the website/app. even though the airline is ready to refund, MakeMyTrip is not giving me the op...
Mar 17, 2020 by Smitha Nittur Gopal Krishna
Did not get a refund due to cancellation of Filght on account of COVID19 spread (Make My Trip Pvt Ltd) Open
I had booked a flight from Bombay to Amritsar. Now due to the outbreak of Novel Corona Virus the Govt. of India has advised to all the people across country to self quarantine themselves. In such a situation we had no choice but to cancel our ...
Mar 17, 2020 by Pratikhya Nanda
Pathetic charges service provided (Travel Triangle ) Open
Hi, I have gone Kerala for vaccation via Travel triangle is a Trip planner company, they take *** Rs for giving assurance about the quality and there services. One of the agent of him named Aryan travel planned my trip. During my trip in allep...
Mar 16, 2020 by Shivanshu Misra
Goibibo COVID 19 Flight Refund against proposed cancellation reschedule of flight (Goibbo) Open
I have booked flight from Hyderabad to Thailand and Bangkok to Hyderabad for the month of April in Air Asia. But due to Covid ** threat I have been contacting Goibbo several times for cancellation or reschedule and ll their IVR are busy ****. A...
Mar 16, 2020 by Suprabha Behera
REDBUS MADE ME BOOK A WRONG BUS IN KARNATAKA FOR MY JOURNEY FROM TAMIL NADU (Redbus) Open
I have booked a bus on REDBUS app for my journey from KATPADI ( Tamil Nadu ) to Hyderabad on **/MARCH/****. But on the day of the travel when I called the bus operator I came to know that the bus was actually from Katpady( Karnataka) to HYDERAB...
Mar 16, 2020 by Sahit
Taj india resortsdenial of services after full payment for 5 years (Taj India Resorts) Open
They offered us a membership of * years for hotel bookings in January. At the time of seeling we were told that bookings will be provided within ** days. They promised us free international tickets also. When we emailed them to book for March...
Mar 16, 2020 by Navdeep Kaur Bhinder
Refund not initiated (Goibibo) Open
I had paid money to book two tickets from Howrah to Kanpur via Rajdhani Express on **rd February **** from GoIbibo app.However,they were not able to book the train from IRCTC and hence were supposed to instantly initiate refund.They provided an...
Mar 15, 2020 by Rishav Giri
No services provided (Country Vacations) Open
Hi, We have paid Rs. ****** to country vacations for domestic+international holidays. First manager told that we can pay some amount and rest amount we can pay within *-*years. We paid Rs. ****** that time.. When we asked for international c...
Mar 15, 2020 by Amit Kumar
Refund for cancelled ticket (Makemytrip (india) Pvt. Ltd.) Open
Hi, I have booked the round trip flight ticket to our mother on *th May **** using Chase credit card on MakeMyTrip.com. I closed the credit card account on the month of June. Time line details of the events: Ticket booked ...
Mar 13, 2020 by Alagar Gandhi
Money deducted from paytm account for cash trip (Uber India) Open
I booked ride using uber app from delhi airport to greater noida on *th march. I selected payment mode as cash while booking. App was showing around ****rs before booking the ride. After completion of ride when I tried to see actual amount, app...
Mar 13, 2020 by Anurag Mali
Cleartrip Not Rescheduling Ticket as per Airline Policy (Cleartrip) Open
Cleartrip Not Rescheduling the Tickets as per Updated Airlines Policy on account of outbreak of Corona Virus. I have booked tickets from Hyderabad to Dubai adn Mumbai to Dubai for **th March for two families. I have been trying to reach out to...
Mar 12, 2020 by Pawan Mahawar
Fraud by Travel Company Trekwin Adventures (Trekwin Adventures) Open
The company Trekwin adventures promised a trip to me to Auli from **th December to *nd Jan which they couldn't carry out due to the inability to deliver the promise of itinerary from their end. So they(The senior head Mr Jitendar whom I was in ...
Mar 12, 2020 by Aishwarya Kuzhikkat
Refund for a cancelled Jet Airways flight (Make My Trip Jet Airways) Open
I Had Booked A Flight Ticket (NF**************) From Jet Airways Via Make My Trip; The Ticket Was Booked For *th May’**** From Mumbai –To– Goa (PNR Num PQWKSG) Ticket Attached For Your Reference. Due To Temporary Shutdown Of Jet Airways ...
Mar 12, 2020 by Mitchel Fernandes
Happyeasygo not refunding amount on cancellation of bookings (Happyeasygo India Private Limited ) Open
Happygoeasy is not refunding amount on cancellation of trip booking #******************. First they send mail refund is in progress and will be gredited in ** to ** days and don't mention amount. On requesting for amount they send mail saying i...
Mar 11, 2020 by Swapna
FLight cancelled by airline no refund provided (Goibibo) Open
Airline has cancelled my flight however the refund has not been initiated by Goibibo the airline says to contact the agency through which booking made however Goibibo is not even answering the call just keeping on hold for more than ** mins and...
Mar 11, 2020 by Harsh Parakh
OYO Rooms Not Refunding (OYO Rooms) Open
On Feb **th to Feb **th I made a booking for RS ****/- in OYO Rooms. After seeing the hotel and room in person I cancelled the booking. So their was a cancellation of RS.**** and refund of RS ****/- initiated. After sometime when I asked why t...
Mar 11, 2020 by Sai Kalyan Reddy
We have not been delivered with correct services by ThomasCook (ThomasCook) Open
We have taken superbudget europe travel package and now we are planning to cancel the package because of coronavirus and they do not want to return our tour cost we have paid. ...
Mar 10, 2020 by Dasika Sirisha
Negligent Driver and Conductor (RedBus India) Open
I Booked a ticket from Pune to Khamgaon from Redbud through Amazon channel, My Ticket id is = **XHC***, and PNR is =*********-*******. I got bus at boarding *.** at Boarding point. As a usual there was dinner hault at **.** am after some distan...
Mar 08, 2020 by Deepak S Gurchal
"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