I’ve burnt my fingers with Yatra and it looks like I’m not the only one(see other reviews). My case began on 06-Apr at 7.30 PM when I was trying to book 4 DEL-MUM tickets online. Tried yatra and found many options for my itenerary so I decided to book with them(1st mistake). Chose Indian Airlines(2nd mistake) and went ahead with the txn. Entered my card details and BAM! Nothing! No page can be displayed. I checked my email and found nothing from them so I assumed transaction hadnt gone through. I booked at kingfisher airlines instead.
Next day I received 8 emails from yatra confirming the booking! I immediately call them and ask for cancellation when I’m informed that the tickets are non-refundable! Imagine my horror.I’ve just been told that they’ve already debited the amount and the CC company can do nothing. I’ve since interacted with many support personnel but they all say the same thing. The tickets are for a week from now and as per IA’s website(https://indian-airlines.nic.in/scripts/faqsgen_Fares.aspx):
Can the tickets
issued on APEX fare be cancelteled?
Yes, but only up to
7, 21 or 28 days prior to departure without levy of any cancellation
charges. However a refund administration fee of Rs. 100/-
would be charged.
So, I’ve got conflicting information from IA and Yatra. What’s a consumer to do? Believe IA or Yatra? Yatra maintains that they warned me through a disclaimer but I went through their site again and found no disclaimer presented to me until the CC entry page. They do have a link to fare rules which you have to CLICK to read but it is never shown to you by default. I told them they should HIGHLIGHT IN RED, the tickets which are non-refundable but all they could say is "you have to click on the link to read fare rules".
I’m planning on taking this to consumer court and would like to warn MouthShut members about the shady processes of Yatra that cost me over 20, 000 Rs. They say that none of their support calls are recorded and no case history is maintained. Why am I not surprised?
In a crowded online marketplace, one of the ways to stick out is to offer TRUST to the consumer. It’s clear to me that you can’t trust your money with Yatra.
My advice to readers - Stick to ticket price aggregators like Zoomtra and book direct through airlines.
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PS. If anyone needs the contact information for consumer disputes in Delhi:
DELHI DISTRICT FORUM(South)
District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum
C-22 & 23, Udyog Sadan
Institutional Area
Behind Qutab Hotel
Mehrauli
New Delhi.
Telephone No.: 26961433, 26565666