Air India — Extremely rude and unresponsive customer service

Address:	New Delhi, Delhi, 110 001
Website:	airindia.in

I had booked flights from Delhi to San francisco for my parents Three days ago, my Mom found out that she needs a heart surgery immediately. My dad has to be with her for the surgery. When I called Air India customer support, informed them about the situation and requested for a cancellation, the representative on the other side told me that I will have to pay the penalty for cancellation. This medical emergency doesn't fall under Air India's cancellation policy of full refund without penalty. I was surprised to hear that. I had made bookings on other domestic airlines here in the US and none of those airlines even flinched to cancel the tickets without penalty. How is a person supposed to fly if they have to undergo a surgery. I requested the rude rep to transfer me to her supervisor, and in turn she transferred me to the escalation department after putting me on hold for almost an hour. The rep in escalation department told me to send an email to the [protected]@airindia.in requesting for cancellation and refund. I sent an email to the e-commerce group requesting cancellation on Dec 12, since the reservation was made online. I did not hear back from them in 48 hours. When I called back the customer service dept again, I was told that was not the right procedure, that I had to cancel the ticket on phone first and then send an email to the ecommerce address. What I don't understand is why did the ecommerce/sales group not reply back stating the same. Every time I call the customer service dept now, they tell me that we hear the recording of what the call center told you on friday and take action accordingly. They tell me that they will call me after 2 hours and then no calls. This has been ongoing through out the day. I have called them three times now in last six hours with no call back. They put me on hold for hours. Its like their delaying tactic, so that the customer would give up. Its like they are running a scam, to cheat customers. It is unbelievable that a company like Air India has such untrained, unorganized and a cheating customer care department. What do I have to do to get attention from anyone in AirIndia. I am so exhausted. I feel like I will have to lose Rs.1.5 Lakh that I spent on tickets, because AirIndia is trying to fleece its customer.