Complaint Details

Status	:	Resolved
Complaint No	:	0002834/2013
Category	:	Travel
Date	:	07-01-2013
Subject Line	:	My bad experience with www.travelguru.com
Complainant	:	Siva Prasad
Address	:	G-2, Nirmal Bhavan, Asha Officers Colony, R.K.Puram
Complainee	:	D.V. Travels Guru Private Limited (www.travelguru.com)
Address	:	802 C, Eureka Towers, Mindspace Malad, Link Road, Malad (W)

Complaint Details
My name is Siva Prasad and I am writing to you about my horrible experience with www.travelguru.com.

I stay in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Me (& my wife) and my friend (& his wife) planned to visit Coorg, Karnataka to spend New Year. After reading lot of reviews about the hotels, we finalized Capitol Village Stay near Madikeri in Coorg for our stay.

I had booked 2 rooms in Capitol Village Stay, Coorg, Karnatka using Travelguru website on 21-12-2012 for my stay from 29-12-2012 to 01-01-2013. I received an instant confirmation with booking ID TGU0000883660. I was waiting for a quiet New Year with friends which turned out to be a nightmare.
We started for Coorg by car on 28-12-2012 from Hyderabad. On 29-12-2012, just two hours away from my hotel, Travelguru calls me to inform me that the hotel booked by me is not available. I told them it was too late and I am very near to Coorg. They did not budge and confirmed that they cannot get me rooms in the hotel. This happens after 12 hours of driving and I was really tired. I protest that they cannot cancel the booking in the last minute. They inform me that they had tried to reach me on 28-12-2012 as well. As I was driving, I could not answer their call. Does calling up customer just one day before the check in date absolves them of their responsibility?

I was not happy with this. They gave me mobile number of Capitol Village manager. They wanted me to talk to him to arrange for an alternative arrangement. It was their responsibility to arrange this. However, I accepted this making it very clear that if I do not like the accommodation, they need to make alternative arrangements. They promised to look into this. I called up the hotel manager and he informed that he had never confirmed this booking. In fact, Travelguru had confirmed this booking to me without checking with the hotel. The hotel had a wedding on these dates and had been booked full long time ago. I really did not expect this from TravelGuru. The manager gave me another phone number to contact for accommodation. The other person when contacted gave me another number to speak to. The last person gave me the directions of the property which was about 15 km from Madikeri. This could not have gone any worse. But there was more to it!!!

The property was very bad compared to Capitol Village. They did not even have a kitchen. It was just a house in middle of nowhere. I called up Travelguru and made it clear to them that I am not going to stay here. They informed me that I have no other option but to stay here. This was audacious on their part. I had no other option but to drive back to Hyderabad after they gave me no choice but to cancel the booking.

TravelGuru has not yet refunded the booking amount. They had confirmed the cancellation and refund to me in a mail on 29-12-2012. It has been more than a week and my follow up revealed that they did not process the refund till 04-01-2013.
My New Year plans were spoiled and I had to spend good money on fuel and hotel stay to reach Coorg.

I wanted to bring this experience with you so that Travelguru is more responsible with other customers in future. Also, I need your advice to take this forward legally. What are my options?

With Regards,

Siva Prasad
9866977753
Siva.prasad@ncr.com

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