Says Anshul Kumar, who was reportedly overcharged for flight tickets by makemytrip. He plans to launch online campaign against cheating travel portals
Says Anshul Kumar, who was reportedly overcharged for flight tickets by makemytrip. He plans to launch online campaign against cheating travel portals
Cheap and best at an easy click. Isn't that what travel portals offer?
ADVERTISEMENT
Even Anshul Kumar, a Delhi-based professional, thought so till he was reportedly duped of about Rs 45,000 by the leading travel portal, Makemytrip.com. Worse, Kumar alleges, the company didn't refund the entire amount after he cancelled two flight tickets to the US.
Meanwhile, Kumar plans to run an online campaign against fraud by travel portals and file a case in the consumer court as well.
Online trick
Thirty-two-year-old Kumar, a regular flier, alleges he visited www.makemytrip.com in August to book a ticket to the US, where he was to fly in September for work. But the company 'overcharged' him.
"I booked a return ticket from Delhi to Milwaukee (for August 23) and from Chicago to Delhi (for September 7) by Continental Airlines. The makemytrip website showed tickets were available for Rs 87,800. But I wanted to use my international debit card and that creates payment trouble when used online. So I called up the portal's customer care centre to book the tickets on phone. Parabjit Singh, the executive who took my call, said the fare had gone up and the tickets were for Rs 1,32,700 at the time of booking. He also said prices would shoot up further because of seasonal rush. When I insisted the price on the website was far lower, he said online prices were put up only to attract customers.u00a0 He promised it would be updated soon. I booked and paid the entire amount," said Kumar.
However, Kumar alleges, two days later, he found the price of the tickets of the return trip still hovered around Rs 88,000. Sensing foul play, Kumar called the customer care centre again. He was in for a shock!
"The makemytrip agent quoted a price of Rs 88,000 for the same flight, same class and on the same day. To prove the portal cheats, I booked the ticket again for Rs 87,800. I realised the portal had overcharged me by Rs 45,000 in the first ticket," said Kumar.
Kumar alleges he made several calls to the portal's customer care and even mailed his grievances to the company. Kumar also called up the airline office and confirmed the ticket fare was actually Rs 83,660. "I contacted Continental Airlines and got a receipt of the ticket which makemytrip had booked for me for Rs 1,32,600. The receipt said the price was Rs 86,689. It was proved the portal had cheated me," said Kumar.
 |
 |
|
Proof: The victim's tickets emailed to him by makemytrip.com |
Refund woes
But, this was not the end of Kumar's troubles. Angered by the portal's fraud, he requested for a cancellation.
"The tickets were cancelled and I flew to the US. However, when I returned after a month, I realised the company had not refunded the entire amount due. I had made the payment through two debit cards and after two months I have been refunded only Rs 1,16,400 against the promised amount of Rs 1,24,100,u00a0 a balance of Rs 7,700. I have called the portal several times but they keep promising to check with their accounts department," said the harassed customer.
MiD DAY has copies of the tickets booked by Kumar and the payment acknowledgement sent to him by Makemytrip.
'Not our fault'
Makemytrip refutes the allegations. In a statement (emailed to MiD DAY), makemytrip.com said, "Our sales agent charged the live fare at the time of booking the ticket. Airfares fluctuate so it is possible the fare charged had changed later. We are a third-party service provider and fares are dynamically controlled by computer systems of airlines."
The portal claims the entire amount has been refunded to Kumar as well.
The Other Side
When contacted, makemytrip said in an email: "We maintain the customer was not over-charged. Sometimes due to a connectivity problem between a third-party server and the centralised air-ticket reservations server system, updated fares are not reflected on OTA (third party) website. In such a situation of system-generated error, we still honour our commitment to the traveller even if lower (wrong) fare is charged on our website. Our sales agent charged the live fare at that point of time. Airfares fluctuate so it is possible the fare charged changed later. We are a third-party service-provider and fares are dynamically controlled by airlines systems.
"The entire amount has been refunded to the customer and the same has been communicated to the customer.
u00a0
Since payment was made with two different credit cards, the refund process was slightly complicated. There were some problems at the payment gateway due to which only a partial amount was refunded initially. We identified this problem and have processed the balance amount as well."
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels 
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
