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
Service not providing (India Fillings) Open
I have opted for PLC service from IndiaFilling and they told me to register the company in ** days. It's been more than ** days now I am continuously trying to reach out to them but they are not responding and doing nothing. Due to their slow ...
Jul 12, 2023 by Vikas
OLA drivers over charging fraudulently (Ola cabs mumbai) Open
Ola Booking ID – ********** I had booked OLA from CSMIA (Mumbai International Airport T*) OLA Pickup Zone on June ** ****. After the driver arrived, I gave him the OTP to start the ride. After the ride started I told the driver that in my...
Jul 11, 2023 by Nirav Shah
Complaint against auto driver for misbehaving and extra charging (Ola Auto Bangalore) Open
Ref CRN: ********** Today, **th July ****, at *:** am, Me and My friend booked an OLA auto from ***, **th Main Road, JC Nagar, Kurubarahalli, Mahalakshmipuram, Bengaluru, to Happy Reliable Surgeries Pvt. Ltd., *th Cross, *st N Block, Rajajin...
Jul 11, 2023 by Riya
Not refunded 471 money when seat not booked (Yolo Bus) Open
Dehradun to Delhi Yolo bus ticket was not booked and they have not returned *** rs since the amount deducted the ticket should be booked but not booked no refund provided. ...
Jul 10, 2023 by Ratna shrivastava
Refund of Club Mahindra membership (ClubMahindra) Open
I got call from club mahindra to get my * days free voucher of holidays from Mohali, I visted the location to collect the voucher. They have my voucher and said you will not be able to book using this vourcher as it have condition of selected p...
Jul 08, 2023 by Jaspreet Singh
Money not Refunded (Make my trip) Open
Dear Concerned, I had booked a Holiday Package through Make My Trip for Phuket and Krabi booking reference No. NL************* which includes * adults and * children for *D and *N. I had already paid *.** Lacs inclusive of all much in advan...
Jul 06, 2023 by Yogesh Kumar
Commission 25 to 38 from drivers (Uber driver) Open
Uber taking **% to **% commission from drivers ...
Jul 06, 2023 by Gowlikar srinath
Club Meridien Package not Delivered (Club meridien Courtyard Delhi) Open
I received a call from Club Meridien’s employee Lovey Sharma in July ****. They invited me to the Four Points by Sheraton, Vashi, Navi Mumbai for an evening discussing a potential free travel voucher which they were issuing just to selected M...
Jul 04, 2023 by Rohan Singh
Misbehaviour by uber auto driver and charging of extra fare (Uber Auto) Open
uber driver named nrusingha Charan OD**BX**** abused me verbally and asked for extra charge **rs on * july ****. I cannot lodge complain in uber because ride was not started. ...
Jul 01, 2023 by satya narayan pattnaik
Hotel booking not confirmed but amount is deducted from bank (Make My Trip) Open
I book one hotel booking from make my trip and amount is also deducted from my bank account but as per hotel manger the booking is not done and my money is wasted. ...
Jul 01, 2023 by harshita dubey
Booking canceled but money not refunded (Doves Vacations) Open
I would like to register a cheating complaint against “DOVES VACATION” travel company for not refunding my registration amount (***** INR) which was cancelled due to trust issue. I had registered for the services on **th Feb and then sent t...
Jun 30, 2023 by Jijin vp
Membership sold no answer to calls or emails (Vivanta Vacation Club membership) Open
Dear vivanta team, I am Abdul Khader Hussain, I have membership of vivanta club at Bangalore. No update from vivanta & calls are not received from your side. Emails are bouncing best, Request for cancel the my membership. Thanks & Regards, Ab...
Jun 28, 2023 by Abdul Khader Hussain
Charged Govt Toll multiple times incorrectly (Ola) Open
A few days ago, I booked an Ola ride from Bangalore city to the airport. During the journey, we encountered a toll booth where a fee of Rs. *** was applicable. To my surprise, I noticed that I was charged the toll amount three times, totaling R...
Jun 26, 2023 by navdeep Singh
Refund Not Received (GSRTC Gujarat state Road Transport Corporation ) Open
Hi there, I did a booking of GSRTC bus on **th june from Somnath to Ahmedabad , which was of Journey Date on **th June, but the bus got cancelled, when I got to the bus station at Somnath. Kindly, guide me through the refund process and p...
Jun 24, 2023 by Avinash Tomar
Excess charged for trip (Kesari tours and travels) Open
I had a recent tour with Kesari (**th to **st May) for * persons. The tour cost for this was already paid in full, however a week before the tour, I received a call from some Ms Deepa/Dipti mentioning that we have pay Rs. **,*** additonally ...
Jun 22, 2023 by Clive Pereira
Online ticket fraud (fortune tours and travels kannur) Open
I have booked flight tickets from Fortune tours and travels Kannur. Neethu anil Kumar is the one who provided fake flight tickets on **/**/****. I have paid ***** for this and she cheated me. Hence, I booked another ticket, and the cost was ***...
Jun 20, 2023 by Joshy marappillil johny
Car non functional and damaged Cancelled the booking Now zoomcar charging me for damage of (ZoomCar) Open
I booked a car from zoomcar. I was traveling with family. Ireached the pickup point. But the car was somewhere else. I had to walk for atleast * kmt to pickup the car. I took photos from outside and submitted. When I went inside I found ...
Jun 19, 2023 by Shreeparna Sarkar
Refund not initiated (Cleartrip) Open
My flight ticket was cancelled and the full refund have been processed by the airlines AIR ARABIA. But cleartrip isn’t reverting my money back. Its been * weeks since the refund was initiated from the airlines, still the cleartrip team state...
Jun 17, 2023 by MUHAMMED FARSEEN
Make My Trip No Refund of amount (Make my trip) Open
Dear Sir/Ma'am, I am filling this complaint against https://www.makemytrip.com/ for not refunding my whole amount of cancelled package from their end. Our Package booked for Andaman in - Rs *,**,*** -INR. (screenshot attached). which incl...
Jun 16, 2023 by Shakti pandey
Refund of excess amount paid to Rapido (Rapido) Open
I took a Rapido Car ride on **th June, **** and the fare was Rs ***/-. I mistakenly paid Rs. ****/- instead of the fare and reached out to Rapido support team as well as the driver to refund the excess of Rs. ****/-. They have ignored my claim ...
Jun 15, 2023 by Asem Naocha Singh
Payment made but ticket not issued (Yatra.com) Closed
Payment made but ticket not issued ...
Dec 19, 2022 by Anowar Hussain
Hotel room not provided after confirm booking and advance payment (Easemytrip) Closed
This Is With Reference To My Booking EMT ********* But When I Reached Hotel ,Hotel Refused Room. I Called Easemytrip Customer Care And They Just Refund The Money. But What About All The Trouble Faced By Me And My Family. Our Travel Plans Failed...
Dec 18, 2022 by sunil kumar
Hotel room not provided after confirm booking and advance payment (Easemytrip) Closed
This is with reference to my booking EMT ********* but when I reached hotel ,hotel refused room. I called easemytrip customer care and they just refund the money. But what about all the trouble faced by me and my family. Our travel plans failed...
Dec 18, 2022 by Sunil kumar
Ticket not confirmed but money has debited from account (Yatra) Closed
I booked tickets for * passengers from Yatra app . I payed ₹ ***** via phone pay. I lost my money . I didn’t get any ticket confirmation.Please help me...
Dec 15, 2022 by Saja AP
Yatra Refund not received (Yatra) Closed
I had booked a guest house in Auroville, Pondicherry and paid ₹****. It had ***% refund after cancelation policy. I canceled the booking ** days ago and still haven't received my money. Booking ID ************* Any help would be appreciate...
Dec 13, 2022 by Nidhi Suryavanshi
Amount deducted wrongly not refunding (Ola Cab ) Closed
On **th October ****, I made a ride on OLA Cabs, which costed ****/- After the ride OLA deducted Rs **** & **** for the same Ride(CRN **********). I raised many tickets asking for refund of Rs ****/-, but I didn't get any response, everytime th...
Dec 12, 2022 by Rajesh Choudhury
I didn t get my refund from make my trip (Make My Trip) Closed
I booked a ticket on mmt on ** August ****, According to mmt, i should get the refund on ** August **** but i didn't get the refund yet. Today is ** December ****. I tried to make a complain on mmt but it can not possible. Now,I want my refund ...
Dec 10, 2022 by Shubhangi Shrimali
Money debited but flight not booked (Yatra) Closed
I was booking my flight tickets on yatra.com. After the procedure was done and payment was made the site refreshed and it was showing nothing but the amount got deducted from my account....
Dec 09, 2022 by Sachin Saseendran
Flight refund (Yatra) Closed
I had booked a flight from Delhi to Bangalore on Jan *th ****. I had to cancel as it was delayed for * hrs. I have claimed for refund from Yatra. it has been more than * days. still nothing...
Dec 08, 2022 by Ashwin Kumar
Fraudulent travel booking made by Travel Haux Universel Travels (Universel Travels ) Closed
Mr. Kapil Gupta from Universel Travels and Mr. Sumit Mukherjee from Travel Haux runs a fake travel company. I got in touch with Kapil Gupta via Travel Triangle. He took the entire booking amount in * installments, said that booking is done but ...
Dec 08, 2022 by Nidhi Agarwal
I want refund from yatra com (Yatra.com) Closed
I booked my ticket guest as I don't have time to create an account on yatra. and I mention my email and phone number to yatra for confirmation. I dint any confirmation but they send request for payment on googlepay or gpay as I mention my phone...
Dec 07, 2022 by Nazeef affaf
Refund payment not received (ZestMoney) Closed
I had booked ticket from MakeMyTrip using Zestmoney , after few days I cancelled my ticket and MakeMyTrip refunded the amount to my Zestmoney account. It's been more than ** days Zestmoney is not refunding my money....
Dec 07, 2022 by Tushar Tatiya
ESCALATION Booking ID (Deyor Camps) Closed
This is to let you know that I booked one of the trekking packages, The Chadar Trek of Deyor company dating back to December **st, ****. Unfortunately, the trek got canceled due to the third wave of Covid-**. It was at that point that I ask...
Dec 07, 2022 by Aditya Sharma
Cancelation of flight Miss guidance (Easemytrip) Closed
I have booked Flight from Vietnam to Hyderabad, but it was cancelled and this Ease mytrip didn't inform me about that, however i informed to Easy Mytrip that i got a mail like flight is cancelled, but they checked and confirmed that flight is n...
Dec 06, 2022 by Sagar Kotyada
Flight cancel refund (Yatra Com) Closed
I have booked hyderabad to delhi after payment it showing hyderabad to mumbai i am trying get cancel but they refund only *** i have paid **** total i tried immediate after seen the booking details ...
Dec 05, 2022 by Sridhar varma
Refund is not processed (Yatra.com) Closed
Through the Yatra.com mobile app, a ticket has been reserved from Chennai to Kodaikanal on November **, ****. The service provider is Vetri Travels. The service provider cancelled the reservation before the scheduled departure time of two hours...
Dec 03, 2022 by Alwin Raja
Refund not credited (Goibibo) Closed
Refund not credited for bus ticket booked on November **. After an hour I received an email that the booking failed and the refund will be processed within November ** but still now , I didn't get any such refund....
Nov 29, 2022 by Subalaxman.M.B
Flight Cancelled Convenience fee debited Refund Pending A total loss of time and money (Easemytrip.com) Closed
Gofirst Airlines cancelled my flight and generated a refund a few days before the trip, which is disappointing. But the more disappointing part is now the money is stuck with EaseMyTrip, which they are just delaying processing. This cancellatio...
Nov 23, 2022 by Manish Sharma
Refund not being processed after approval for more than a month (Yatra.com) Closed
Refund against booking ref no: ************* was approved for more than a month. But the refund was never processed. Every time I reach out to customer care I am told it will take another **-** hours....
Nov 22, 2022 by Sayan Pal
Refund from Yatra com (Yatra) Closed
We have booked our flight on **-**-**** which costed us ₹***** due to medical reasons we haven't board our flight and cancelled within a day before. We have contacted to Air Asia for refund and they have initiated the refund to yatra.com and...
Nov 21, 2022 by Atul jangid
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Mamta D
Complaint filed against: Byju's