Trip Factory — I was promised a refund but company is forcing a credit shell.

Address:	11th Floor, N1 Block, Manyata Embassy Business Park, Bangalore 560043, India
Website:	tripfactory.com

Do not book with trip factory. I was promised a refund but company is forcing a credit shell. Company hiding behind a mail id.
Hi,

My name is vijay bahadur gupta and i booked a dubai trip for my family for 22nd march. Trip reference - tfn0020volq. I made full payment to them.

However i cancelled my booking around 5th march when the covid 19 situation was still evolving. I was given an option of choosing between refund and a credit note by my booking agent and i chose for my refund.

At first i was told that refund will take around 15 days, i contacted them after 15 days and i was told that refund will take around 45-60days due the pandemic.

I understood the situation and did not disturb them for full 60 days.

After 60 days i contacted the booking agent and i was told that the refund will take around 60-90 days after international borders open.

I told the booking agent to please expedite the refund as i need the fund, where in she told me that all employees of the company are on unpaid leaves and she can not do anything.

I got the company's phone number from their website and called them, the call goes to a automated response which replies that due to huge number of calls we can not take calls and you can mail on [protected]@tripfactory.com.

I contacted the travel agent multiple times and told her to provide me a number where i can call and explain my situation, for which the various responses i got were: i do not have numbers of anybody in the company, i am not allowed to share the numbers, etc.

Also i was told that you keep sending the mails on the above said id and somebody will get back to you.

As per the advise i mailed them explaining my situation. I got a reply saying that a credit shell has been issued in place of refund.

Again, i contacted the booking agent and i was again informed by her that my refund has already been approved then only and i was told to mail again stating all the facts.

I asked the agent for her mail id so that i can include her in the mail conversations going on, surprisingly she refused at first saying that their mail ids were deactivated. She then provided the mail id later.

After sending multiple mails trip factory is still hell bent on issuing credit note only.

And now the booking agent's phone is not in service, convenient.

Now my complaints with the company are:

1. I do not want a credit shell, as i need the funds.

2. My refund has been approved as i did not opt for credit shell. (Informed multiple times by booking agent)

3. Company is hiding behind a mail address, even does not have courtesy to callback when requested multiple times.

4. Somebody in care team even does not read mails and write only about credit shell, validity of five years and hopes for continued patronage.

5. After company the booking agent, who was sole point of contact for me went out of service.

Also in one of the mails the care team tried to make an impression that the company is doing us a favour by giving us the credit shell. This is the line from their mail"we at tripfactory is giving our contribution by cancelling your booking and the amount of rs 2, 39, 000/- has been loaded in your credit shell which can be used for your future booking and is valid upto 5 years."

When i asked what is their contribution in the issue, they kept mum.

Now i would strongly suggest to everyone to not book any service from this company as:
1. They have no courtesy to keep the customer informed,
2. They will not take the calls when you need them to,
3. They will go out of service when they do not want to talk,
4. They will not keep their promises.

I feel cheated after the attitude shown by the company till now, it goes on to show the charecter of the company. The way they went into hiding is just shameful, nobody in the management seems to have courage to face the customers. I have not forced them for refund today but they are forcing credit shell on me.

I have attached [protected]@tripfactory.com, which is founder of the company in all the mails. He has defended his company on many occasions on this forum which goes on to show that this review is reaching him.

Again save yourselves all the trouble, do not do any business with trip factory.
There are many travel agencies who thrive on the kind of service the provide