I booked a return ticket from Delhi to Milwaukee (23 Aug’09) and back from Chicago to Delhi (7 Sep’09) in Continental Airlines through Makemytrip.com.
The agent Parabjit Singh at Makemytrip quoted me a price of Rs. 132, 000/- for the return ticket. However I kept insisting him that the price showing in their website is far much lower than his quote. It was around Rs. 88, 000 for the same airlines and itinerary on their website. He told that these are fake prices showing only prima facie to attract customers, and they will be corrected in 5 minutes. Avoiding the risk of getting my card debited just to test the fares I confided in him and requested to book the ticket at Rs.132, 000/-. I had faith that the person sitting across is thinking of customer satisfaction.
My faith was completely broken the next day when I browsed makemytrip.com once again to check the fares. The fares which I was guaranteeing the other day were still the same at around Rs. 88, 000/- and nothing changed at all. I was cheated by Rs. 45, 000 just by trusting the agent / travel consultant at makemytrip who overcharged me the previous day.
Just to cross check if they are fake prices, I made a fresh booking at makemytrip, this time some new caller picked up the phone. He got the same itinerary booked for me at Rs. 88, 000/- and then I asked to call Parabjit on line and let me know why did he overcharge so badly for the same ticket. But he hung up the phone. Sent a mail to them immediately, but there is no reply.
Thereafter I contacted Continental Airlines directly and managed to get the receipt of the ticket which makemytrip had booked from Continental for me….believe it or not below is the factual data.
Price charged by Makemytrip Original Price of Continental Airlines Overcharge (%)
Rs. 132, 600 Rs. 86, 689 Rs. 45, 911 (53%)
Finally I got my ticket cancelled from makemytrip (Despite their high deduction charges of Rs.8600) and booked it directly from Continental Airlines on their number:[protected]the number routes to Houston, but the callers are charged at local rates)
Following lessons learnt:
Please do not trust makemytrip.com / they can cheat you anytime and they have a plethora of stories to concoct.
Book tickets directly on the Airlines website it may at times be marginally high, but you will have a peace of mind that you have not been cheated in some or other forms.
Stay away from makemytrip and similar travel agencies. They make profits by marking up price over and above airlines’ basic rates….which is recovered from innocent customers. They are complete eye washers….trust the fact.
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