I am always a fan of budding startups. I noted TT almost 4 years back when it was just a small startup started by bunch of young grads. I was so happy to see that these guys are bringing a great solution for an industry in India which has immense potential but lack of a coherent and organised structure. Unfortunately, I am ashamed to say that Travel Triangle is way below the expectation. So why do I think that way?
A brand is known not only for "good" experiences you provide but how you turn a bad one to a great one. I have been waiting for this review since last 1 year as I took that trip last year Dec. I am an extremely busy professional and hence couldn’t get chance to write a detailed review. This is Christmas again and all my painful memories with Travel Triangle and their partners Vacation N Holidays are live again. Hence, I decided to scribble few notes to express my resentment.
In any industry, if you have a decent product - you will satisfy 50% of the customers even if you do nothing. Your great customer support can make marginal 20% happy. There always be some 5% who are nail bitters, regardless of what you do they are extremely difficult to please. So where do I lie - remaining 25%. These are those lots who faced a bad experience with you but then your prompt response and customer friendly behaviour makes them either a happier lot and satisfied even if we faced a bad experience or an extremely annoyed lot that would make your customer ratings go down the hill. It is always important to see how you reach to those 25% and that is how you should be judged!
You left me annoyed and I can assure you that I would never ever take your services again, infact I would highly encourage all my friends and family members to stay away from your hate triangle affair - i.e. customer, You, and your partners.
Coming back to the issue -
I am not going to put a crafty review - what I can do is simply to copy paste my correspondence with them. It is then the viewer to judge:
The issue Dec 2015 Kerala trip:
Guys mixed up our dates.
Provided wrong bookings. then their lady cried that she will lose her job or aishwaryasingh23 from her pocket if we complain to TT for refund as it was her fault
We still went ahead with the trip
Wrong Houseboat provided. very shoddy types. They did charge us premium. We were so infuriated that we had to cut short
Email sent to the TT and their partner after the travel completion
@Vacation Holidays
All I can say is that your company is bunch of lies. I should never have continued with it after aishwaryasingh23ing the initial booking amount. However, your staff told me that she will lose out her salary if we cancel. Hence, we agreed to continue with you even after having a very negative conversation with Rajesh.
I will send a point by point rebuttal later on, but some quick remarks on your so called "good" feedback.
Your staff never called me back. What a coincidence that her cell phone battery is dead immediately after my complaint. I kept trying for 45 mins and it wasn’t switchedon. After 1 hr, the phone is turned on again! I have call records to prove that I didn’t get any call from your staff while I was struggling at the HB.
Regarding Picadily, this was a key point where I agreed to go with your offer. Your quote at TravelT still says Picadily. If you say that it wasn’t mentioned in the voucher then the voucher doesn’t tell anything about the HB company.i.e. just Deluxe A/C. Certainly the company name wasn’t Deluxe!
What kind of ethics your company has when your guys ask me to lie about the age of kids! They asked me to falsely declare the age of child under 5 yrs! That exposes you of all your so called "goodwill"
Regarding the food not per taste - do you think this is an issue for which we will cut short the houseboat trip! It was highly unprofessional staff behaviour which made us do so. They failed to show any hospitality to us. For food, we were served rice, sambhar and 3 fish fries. 3 fish fries for a family of 4 adults and 2 kids! They blatantly told us that this is what you get served and itisn’t their fault. On top of it, they were serving themselves with fish fries! I mean how ridiculous that sounds. Why should I spend a single minute on a houseboat where we are not treated like guests! Needless to say that the Houseboat itself was in below par condition. I have pictures to prove it.
We booked it via Travel Triangle with an expectation that the service providers would be of certain standards. Unfortunately, it saddens me that TT has failed to conduct due diligence in selecting their vendors.
Three simple things if you follow will make you a good company:
1) treat you customers with respect. Now, when the MD of a travel company openly challenges the customer to lodge a consumer court claim - that shows how customer friendly you are!
2) don’t tell lies - I need not say more on this.
3) Provide a good support - with excuses like battery switched off and not responding; certainly you are doing a favor to youself.
Regardless of all the negative experience, I definitely liked the Shanthitheeram resort. Sadly, the Cred824it goes to resort staffs and not to vacation Holidays people. I would also like to mention Nicy from Vacation Holidays. Despite of some negative instances, I think she is a hard working and a courteous person.
I would expect TravelTriangle to deduct the Houseboat cost while aishwaryasingh23ing Vacation Holidays. They should be penalized for their lies. Infact I would suggest you blacklist them from future businesses. I will anyway make sure that everything goes online on how good these Vacation Holidays people are!
If Travel Triangle doesn’t heed to my request then I will have to formally lodge a legal case against both of you. I am sure a young startup like you who spent enough on media campaign, would certainly aishwaryasingh23 attention to this!
Lots of email in between
And the final email:
Dear Travel Triangle/Aiswharya
I am least interested in communicating anything with VacationNHolidays. In my views, these guys are bunch of cheats who always communicate "hypothetically" everything a prior. The latest blatant lie is the fact that I was onboard the HB till 4pm and left after evening snacks! That shows what kind of lies they sell all the time. Infact they feel pride in saying that I was there at the HB till 4PM when I have paid for a days stay! Amazed how these rogues are able to run a travel company!
Your customer support will be having my call records. A sms was sent to 8907413021 at 2:57 PM telling them already that I am out of HB. A call to Travel Triangle cust support was made at 3:55PM from Shantitheeram Resort(which is 18kms away from Finish938844ing point) and you can check the records. This very well proves my point that the VnH guys are nothing but fraud! I also have a picture taken just after getting out of HB which will have a camera timestamp of 2:47PM. I would be pleased to present it as evidence in consumer court.
I am happy that this strengthens my case - as they are constantly feeding us with lies.
Regarding my further stay, you cust support is fully aware that we had left for BLR but made a U turn as it was already 4:30 pm. We stayed in a private villa and resumed back to the resort next day. This "Genius" Rajesh should read the email that I have asked for refund of HB STAY only and not the stay at Shantitheeram
A startup company likes yours, focuses a lot in getting customers. Your failure to take any prompt action will result in customer support failure. I won’t shy away in raising this case as a failed example in the startup eco-systems. I would also send a copy of all these communications to your investors and in social media. Besides, it will go in consumer court. This is not about a petty refund - it is much more than that!
Hence, I expect you to take strict action against VnH. Else you will leave me with no option but to raise this issue at multiple forums.
In future, I would like to have a direct correspondence only with you guys and hence please excuse VnH guys from any email chain. They just infuriate me everytime!
Awaiting a resolution from your side ASAP
Thanks!