We chose to book our vacation with you and we decided on European Dream Summer Package on the 14th August, 2012 from Mumbai. Booking ID IN1207B07884.
We were asked to send the documents required for the visa which we did in time, including the bank statement with a bank balance as mentioned by your representative. However, in a few days you get back to me asking to show more balance in my account and which I did and sent a copy the same day. I was promised that there would be no problem with the Visa and would receive it on the 10th August.
August 10th evening I was told that the visa will be confirmed only on 13th August, a few hours before my flight.I requested for a change in the departure date to 21st August, 2012 as I was not prepared for any last minute changes or rush. I trusted you, and booked my flights to Mumbai as well, I took the risk of the amount I paid for the tour + the charges to Mumbai (I was confirmed the flight timings from Mumbai to Milan only 3 days prior to departure, I went ahead and booked the flights in spite of the prices being high as it was nearing departure).
We went through a mental harassment, not being sure of the visa status even if we had to board a flight in a few hours, I wasn’t sure if I need to pack for my trip or wait until Visa confirmation. It is the responsibility of makemytrip to get our visa’s beforehand so there is no last minute tension/delay.
Our visa was confirmed at 4 30 pm, and we did our last minute packing and rushed to the airport. However, due to the rains and traffic we missed the flight to Mumbai. We looked for alternatives to board another flight to Doha or Milan and realized that our passports were stuck with makemytrip. We then thought of taking a flight to Mumbai to collect the passports next morning and then to Milan.
When we spoke to Mr.Mohd Uzef Shaikhand (Head of Operations, Ahmedabad) that we were ready to bare the extra cost of Rs 70, 000 to get to Milan the same day in Emirates he said that we will have to book a return ticket as well. This kept us wondering as to WHY our return tickets were cancelled when we have already paid for it..your representative assured us that you would arrange to fly the same flight next day..with that we returned home. I got absolutely no updates till 2.10 pm on the 14th August and then I was asked to pay Rs 1, 60, 000 to board a flight from Mumbai to Milan at 10 35 pm or pay Rs 1, 00, 000 and miss two half days of the tour.
After all this, we still wished to continue our vacation with you at a future date. We requested Mr.Mohd Uzef Shaikhand that we are still interested in travelling with makemytrip and were ready to bare a nominal amendment fee for this tour which could be deducted from our booking charges which is Rs 1, 22, 000. But to my surprise here’s what we were told,
Dear Arpita,
As informed you in attached email, trust me this is not possible. Please see your departure is already over & payment has been released to our vendor. We are under 100% cancellation and it won’t be possible to refund or adjust any amount.
A 100% penalty for cancellation is ridiculous…But hello, I’m not cancelling I’m just amending the tour to a future date….We informed you that we could not board the flight to Mumbai as soon as we got to know.
This is day light robbery..!!!
After requesting a lot, we were left with a last option to fight this legally, Mr.Mohd Uzef Shaikhand said he would also file a case to rob the rest of the amount we had to pay.
Is this how a customer is treated???
What kind of rules are you guys talking about???
Our honeymoon is ruined !!
Hoping that other customers are not robbed like we were!!
Here is the resolution makemytrip tried to convince us with a few days later ; Looters !!
As I had mentioned in my blog, we were ready to bare a nominal amendment fee. I received a call from the head office;Makemytrip. We were asked to bare a penalty of Rs 1, 08, 000 i.e a penalty of Rs 54, 000 per head.The break up that was given to us includes,
1. Rs 39, 000+ for the flight per head
2. 100$ ( i.e. Rs 5400 ) visa charges
3. 10k for other penalty charges.
Please find below the screenshot of charges for a round trip from Mumbai to Milan and Paris to Mumbai through Qatar Airway for normal person to board.
So if the airline charges are same if booked directly or through an organizer who has almost daily tours and a tie up with airline companies, why should we book through a tour organizer like makemytrip?
Also, makemytrip claims that whooping sum of Rs 39, 000 airline charge per head is non-refundable ???
Rs 10, 000 per head as amendment fee from a company which organizes tours round the year with the same vendor??? And the reason I get is the amount has been released to the vendor?
We are not ready to buy a reason like that.
I hope makemytrip someday understands what a nominal fee means. I was looking to travel again with the same package but NOT taking that into consideration, this company tries to convince us to take a refund of Rs 6, 500 per head. My hope is that, other customers are not CHEATED and LOOTED by such tour organizers.
Esp. if its your honeymoon, you dont want to run around or go through this kind of mental harassment or disturbance.
And for us, we are going to continue our fight until we get justice !!