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
Seat not Available but booking done (No seat available in Bus) Open
TKT No: ********, Name: SHASHIDHAR, DOJ: **-**-****, SRV NO: *****, SEAT NO:* But no physical seat available in bus, kindly look into this. ...
Mar 11, 2024 by Shashidhar P
PAYMENT NOT REFUNDED (Veertrip) Open
YOUR ID NO-********,******** FLIGHT TICKET BOOK PAYMENT SUCCESSFUL PNR NUMBER FAILURE BATNA LAGA TO NA CONTACT HO PA RAHA HAI NA COUSTOMER CARE SE BAATE HO PAYE RAHA HAI PLEASE COMPLAIN DARGE KIGYE ...
Mar 06, 2024 by MANISH KUMAR SINGH
REFUND NOT MADE (Red Bus) Open
I BOOK TICKET FROM RED BUS FOR SATNA TO REWA BY BUS MY TICKET Number: TT*Z******** but bus not stop at stop and I not able to travel and they don't want to refund my amount. please support. Passenger Details ANIKET SINGH **Yrs, MALE Tiw...
Mar 01, 2024 by ANIKET SINGH
Fake Deals (Make my trip) Open
I booked the hotel from MAKEMYTRIP. The deal includes, Hotel stay, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner for * people. They charged me **** Rs. Which I paid When I checked in the hotel. hotel people refused to give breakfast lunch dinner. So I have ...
Mar 01, 2024 by Ravin Chetal
Scammed by fake company Club Resorto (Club Resorto Vacations Private Limited) Open
Club Resorto contacted me saying they got my details from the car dealership from where I had recently purchased a car. They said I was eligible for free movie vouchers and a holiday package provided I was willing to listen to a presentation at...
Feb 29, 2024 by Megha S Thampi
Refund for Infant Travel Charges (Make My Trip Gurugram Haryana India) Open
I am writing to bring to your attention a persisting issue regarding the refund of an additional charge for infant travel that I paid during my recent booking with MakeMyTrip. I booked a travel itinerary with MakeMyTrip under the reference n...
Feb 27, 2024 by Himanshu Malhotra
Flight Reschedule and Cancellation Refund (Kuwait Airways and Easemytrip) Open
Hi Ma’am/Sir, I have booked my flight ticket from Bangalore to London on **th Jan **** for the travel dates (Bangalore to London **th Apr **** and Edinburgh to Bangalore on **-Apr-****). The tickets are booked through HDFC Smart buy and the ...
Feb 27, 2024 by VINEETH V M
Fraud (Club Naturevillas) Open
Hello, My Name is Dhirendra ku. Senapati. One day i got a call from Club Nature Villas regarding holiday and Resorts Vacation. They called us to attained their event on June **th **** with attractive free Gift Voucher with dinner on Fortune ...
Feb 26, 2024 by Dhiren Senapati
Make my Trip refund issues (Make my trip) Open
I booked Train ticket in make may trip. But it didnt book and got cancelled. from bank side its clear that MMT has charged and even i checked with IRCTC and in that alos they didnt take any money. So now the monwy is with make my trip and tryin...
Feb 22, 2024 by Siddhakumar S
Amount refund (Sharing Travels Pvt Ltd) Open
Sharing travels pvt ltd Worst Experience with this travel agency. They made cancellation of my Singapore trip without proper confirmation with me. Hopefully they earned * Lakh with my trip cancellation and saying will return **K back a...
Feb 21, 2024 by L Vinay Kumar Reddy
Package not delivered by Counrtyard imperial Inn Suites (Countryard Imperial Inn & Suites) Open
Prior to some days to *.**.**** I was lured to purchase a Package of Holidays for ** years from Counrtyard imperial Inn & Suites, against the payment of ****** vide Yes Bank Credit Card No, ****-****-***-****. Agreement of Package Purchase was ...
Feb 20, 2024 by Satish Kumar
Onward journey cancelled by them and return they are not calling (Happy fares) Open
Flight booking was done via Happy Fares for *) Onward journey BLR-PAT (cancelled by airline) *) Return Journey PAT-PAT (Not cancelling citing policy) For * they have not initiated a refund, and for * they are not agreeing to cancel it , say...
Feb 16, 2024 by Vikram aditya
Cleartrip rejected my medicancel refund despite genuine reason and valid documents being provided (Cleartrip) Open
I had booked a flight ticket to Kolkata from Bangalore for *rd Feb on *nd Jan. On **th Jan my twin sister got injured and advised bed rest. I was looking after her. due to this, I cancelled my fight for Kolkata on *st Feb under the medi-cancel ...
Feb 15, 2024 by Megha Pradeep
False hotel booking (Make My Trip Pvt Ltd) Open
On January **, ****, I made a hotel booking with MakeMyTrip.com under Booking ID NH**************, with a total amount of ₹****. Despite having confirmation of my booking, when I arrived at the hotel on the designated date, I was shockingly d...
Feb 14, 2024 by rohit vishwakarma
I have been cheated by karna group (Karma resorts ) Open
Karma resorts have offered me a membership by giving a false presentation . The points mentioned in presentation do not meet the points necessary for taking the premium rooms & hotels. The presentation was highlighted showing the premium. hote...
Feb 14, 2024 by Suman Kumar bommala
Refund not received (Tripodeal Com) Open
Hey my name is kamlesh i am bookinf flight with tripodeal and got tickets on same day,next day some one is calling me from tripodeal team your flights is cancelled refund will bi processed * to * days but today ** days pass away still no refund...
Feb 13, 2024 by KAMLESH PARYANI
Ticket Refund (SriLankan Airlines) Open
Dear Sir/Mam, It’s very unfortunate to write this email to put a formal complaint against your carrier and the way it was handled in the airport. My entire trip plan has been ruined completely because of an issue from your end and on t...
Feb 13, 2024 by Amit Kaushik
Fala Holidays And Packages Amount Loss Against FALA Holiday and Packages (Fala Holidays And Packages) Open
We got call on **st of December'**** from Fala office (KR Puram Branch) saying that we got a gift voucher. After getting many calls, we visited the office they said you got the Gift voucher and also a very good Holiday Package offers going on...
Feb 11, 2024 by Ajay Babu P
Refund not provided (IRCTC) Open
On January **th at **:** AM, well before the departure of the train from the boarding station, I proactively sent an initial notification regarding the TDR filing from my registered email address. Despite this timely notification, I encountered...
Feb 09, 2024 by Vipul Dawar
Flight ticket and wallet payment not refund by TRAVOLOOK (Travolook (Www.travolook.in)) Open
I booked my flight tickets From TRAVOLOOK (www.travolook.in) from surat to Patna for dated */*/** and return **/*/** unfortunately agin booking showing cancelled and I have to wait for credit that amount next **-** hrs. My booking reference no...
Feb 08, 2024 by Utkarsh Modi
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
Refund not given by ease my trip company (Ease my trip) Closed
I booked a flight from delhi to leh on. for that air ticket the amount ****rs deducted twice from my phonepay upi. and after that i contact ease my trip customer services i sent many mails to them. but they always said that they initiated...
Feb 06, 2023 by Jatinder singh
Refund not issues (Easemytrip) Closed
I had bought air ticket through easemytrip in qatar airways for travel to Chennai to US Washington for travel on **-Mar-****, due to covid the flight got cancelled. Despite following up with them **+ times in email, phones, whatsapp.. i always ...
Feb 06, 2023 by Balaji Sambamurthy
Duplicate Payment to Uber due to the payment failure and was forced to pay cash (Uber Auto) Closed
I Booked an Uber Auto on ** Jan **** at *.** AM from Secundrabad Railway Station and the Payment mode was choosen as Gpay. However, on reaching the desitination there was an error that the payment did not get processed while i tried twice and t...
Jan 31, 2023 by Nandita Narayan
Misguide the public (NO BROKER COM) Closed
I was willing to purchase a flat in malad East (near passport office) and asked for any leads they told me you have to pay amount of Rs.****then only we will provide you leads and help you to go through this and help you in purchase of flat I w...
Jan 31, 2023 by Rekha Balani
Booking details not rec d after amount debited (Yatra) Closed
I have booked a cab for Outstation ride in yatra app. Amount got debited from account but the Booking details not rec'd. Also the complaint made not resolved. ...
Jan 29, 2023 by Balasubramanian
Flight not confirmed refund not received (Yatra) Closed
I have booked a ticket from pune to Bengaluru on **/**/****. My money was deducted. After that I have received one email from Yatra that my flight is not confirmed and money will be refunded to source account. It has not received also no boo...
Jan 26, 2023 by Shreya Rastogi
Invoice (Easemytrip.com) Closed
I bought tickets for pune and back to day itself. Susequent to succesful payment a call was received by me from your end asking me to pay Rs ***/- additionaly. I paid the same. When i received my ticket it contained invoice for only the origina...
Jan 25, 2023 by Prem kumar
Refund from yatra (Yatra.com) Closed
I have booked train tickets from yatra and they took money from my bank I made payment money got debited but ticket status is showing as cancelled on yatra app...
Jan 24, 2023 by Shubham gupta
Refund issue False information while booking on yatra com (Yatra.com) Closed
Hi there, Yatra.com guys are showing some amount during booking while choosing cancellation protection and attracting the customers.After we cancel, we know the ground reality.I booked tickets for two people .Technically I should get around ...
Jan 18, 2023 by Razia Begum
False commitment of the package (Rossette Grand Vacations Resorts Private Limite) Closed
Hi, There’s something fishy going on named Rossette grand vacation at Gaur City at Gaur sarovar portico hotel. I can’t be forced to accept their fake sale and false commitment. everyone has turned out to be a lie so far? The whole poin...
Jan 18, 2023 by Shivani Kumari
Ticket Not received (Yatra Com) Closed
Dear Sir, I have booked a flight from Male to Coimbatore – Date **.**.**** The amount is debited from Account HDFC Bank: Rs *****.** debited from a/c ****** on **-**-** to VPA yatra*.rzp@axisbank(UPI Ref No ************). Not you?...
Jan 05, 2023 by Manoj Pathakkara
Refund Issus (Ease my trip) Closed
I booked * tickets from Delhi to Ahmedabad. Since my flight get preponed for more than * hrs so, i requested for cancellation for * person to SpiceJet. SpiceJet initiated a full refund but Easemytrip initiated a refund by taking a cancellation ...
Jan 03, 2023 by Shivam Kumar
JITENDRA CHOUDHARY (Agoda) Closed
Dear Team , We Have Booked A Flight Through Agoda Services Co. Ltd As On **.**.**** Having Booking Id ********* And PNR No. BKPDXI ....Later On We Cancelled It On **.**.**** But Till **.**.**** We Are Not Get Our Refund Amount of Rs. **** . ...
Jan 02, 2023 by JITENDRA CHOUDHARY
Checkin was not allowed in hotel booked using MakeMyTrip (Make my trip) Closed
I have booked two rooms in hotel ( "Avinash Guest House" in Arambol beach goa) using make My Trip for December ** and ** ****. I have paid the whole booking amount of Rs **** earlier itself. After arriving at the property no one was there. So ...
Jan 02, 2023 by Mohammed Shan H
Refund of a stay booking which was not done because of Cleartrip miscommunication (Cleartrip) Closed
It's very annoying that I did a booking from your site for a stay at a lodge on kaziranga national park for one night from **-*st January, ****. Though you did sent your voucher, as we reach the hotel they didn't had the voucher, the voucher...
Jan 01, 2023 by Rituparna Sonowal
"Thank you so much to Voxya.com. Legal Notice really worked and Byjus had to refund my amount and cancel the loan. Thanks once again Voxya. "
Ramachal V
Complaint filed against: Byjus