Hi
I booked a 5N/6D trip to Andamans with my family in May 2019 through TripFactory. Given below is a honest review to help you make your decision.
Pros:
Good integrated quote including flight fares, hotels and activities.
Cheaper than MMT and other major player(10 to 15K difference in my case).
Got a great team on the ground(in Andaman islands)
Cons:
Once your booking is done, they don’t respond to phone calls. There is no one you can call. Even customer care doesn’t respond to phone or call back.
Only point of contact is through a Telegram group, where apparently the owner is also included, but nobody provides resolution.
I booked 2 weeks in advance and was following up with their travel advisor Yasmeen to send a detailed itinerary with exact time for pick-up, drop, hotel check-in, check-out, activities etc, so we can plan for the rest of the downtime. The itinerary was provided daily on the ground a day before by different coordinators in each island. When I reached Port Blair on the fifth day noon, I realized there’s nothing planned until my departure flight the next day evening, which is ridiculous when you consider that the original requirement was for a 5N/6 D itinerary. We had to engage local tour operators at our own cost(INR 1900) for sight seeing to make use of the downtime in Port Blair.
They booked tickets in cockroach infested government ferries and in the basement of a private cruise for commute between islands, in spite of my request while booking to book on top / luxury deck and I was willing to pay extra for the view. I am claiming a refund of the private cruise ticket now, but there is no response from them. The Travel Advisor told me only Government ferries ply between Neil and Havelock, which is blatant lie because I saw a Makruzz cruise plying from the same dock and the locals told me my agent had provided incorrect information.
Our visit to Elephanta beach(included in the itinerary) and snorkeling was cancelled due to inclement weather at Havelock island. The local coordinator promised a refund of INR1000 per head, but TripFactory is still claiming that they are not able to confirm with their local coordinator for a month because of bad telecom connectivity in the islands.
They booked tickets on flights without blocking the seats. I had to pay INR900 each way to ensure my family sits together. This is crazy when you consider that I was travelling with small children. This was never discussed with me.
They do a poor job of planning the itinerary. You will be a able to better job yourself if you read reviews from other travelers(places to visit, restaurants, activities etc.). This is what we did and our vacation turned out to be good despite TripFactory’s incompetence. Overall, I think the price difference of 10 to 15K between established players and TripFactory is not worth the hassles you go through. I wanted to support a startup which is why I booked through them. In hindsight, it seems I erred in judgement.
If TripFactory / Vinay(owner) is listening, my Trip number is TFN001ORU9C.