I traveled to Uttarakhand with my family and friends and had booked a car for 4 adults and 4 kids. Trip Sailer was the travel agent. The pickup was promptly arranged but the car sent to me(Innova) didn’t have a sofa seat in the middle. I had assumed that given the number of passengers, the requirement for a sofa seat would be self-explanatory. I spoke with Mr. Bansal about this problem. He asked me to use the car to reach Mussoorie from Dehradun(our pick-up point) while he sorted the matter out.
On reaching the hotel(Dew Drop Classic), we were asked by Mr. Bansal to take up the matter with Trip Sailer so I whatsapped Miss Neelam from Trip Sailer to arrange for a different car. She let us know that no cars were available and if we wanted she would process a refund of Rs. 17000 while we could fix our own ride. When I enquired I found out that the cheapest I could get a car for my vacation of 8 days was for 35K. Left with no choice, I was forced to travel with kids in my lap throughout the journey. A cumbersome baby seat was provided to fill in the space between the 2 bucket seats but it wasn’t seamless and hence failed to provide any respite(I have photos of the arrangement). The hotel Dew Drop Classic at Mussoorie had the tiniest rooms I have found in my years of travel but the staff was very courteous. All hotels were on an average 10k outside the main city area which meant we had to spend an extra hour in our uncomfortable car every day.
Our next hotel at Rishikesh(Hotel Trihari) had better rooms and location and again the staff was polite but terse. But it was a far cry from a 3-star property as we were promised(so were all the hotels through the trip). Our Jim Corbett hotel was the most satisfactory of the lot but the staff was mostly indifferent. Our Kausani hotel(Hotel Vishaka Palace) was a shady place at best. We saw someone defecating out in the open right outside our room. We mustered up the courage to go for our dinner by 9:30 pm for the sake of kids. Having thus lost our appetite, we had our kids feed on chocolate and chips that night and slept on empty stomach ourselves. But Trip Sailer’s magnum opus was about to be delivered. We were supposed to be staying with Misty Heights at Bhimtal for 2 nights. Turned out that Trip Sailer had us booked for one only(as informed by the owners/caretakers).
I wasted 2 hours trying to make sense of the situation. Mr. Sourabh from Trip Sailer had gone incommunicado after answering one call and promising a return call in 5 min. Miss Neelam informed us that we had to stay at Misty Heights at one night and she would send me properties to choose from for the other night. I let her know my strong objection to her putting me and my family through this gross inconvenience. She was like "sorry bol rahi hu na sir". By 4 in the evening, she WhatsApped me details about 2 hotels adding that those were the only 2 available. I checked on MakeMyTrip app which showed 178 properties(3-star) available for the day. Then she asked us to book our own property promising a refund of Rs. 6000. I countered that they had used up my entire day should process the refund while arranging a complimentary stay but clearly it was lost on them.
My friend and I traveled to Mall road to check out the properties and we ended up booking one by 5:30 pm after which we contacted them to get the refund processed. Trip Sailer took 4 days to process that refund, yes 4 days. and that too with a promise every day that I will receive the funds by evening. And then by saying that it was done only that I didn’t receive it. Then I was asked to check with my bank(really!). And then I was asked to wait, and then wait some more, and then Mr. Sourabh told me "humko dena hai matlab dena hai". and then I waited. So, as per his claim, he did the online transfer on 1st June which reversed due to some reason(again his claim).
I finally received the money by 4th June 8 pm in my account. For a paltry sum of Rs. 6000, Trip Sailer had me wait 5 days. I cannot even share my exchange on WhatsApp with Travel Triangle and the agent, Trip Sailer. In the defense of Travel Triangle, they did not deactivate the WhatsApp group created for my trip until I received my refund and kept following up with Trip Sailer. But I felt that Travel Triangle should have a few ground rules when it comes to reimbursements and redressal of common consumer complaints. If you make every problem go through the arbitration process, you let agents like Trip Sailer get away while tarnishing your image in the bargain.