[Resolved]  Travelguru — Cheating and Harassment

To
Mr. Ashwin Damera
CEO
Travelguru.com (“Travelguru”)
802, 8th Floor,
'C ' Wing Eureka Towers,
Mindspace, Link Road,
Malad (West), Mumbai
– 400 064

Dear Mr Damera,

Greetings. I must begin with saying that your website provides good travel information for hotels. This being the case I am duty bound to formally register my consternation and reproach for the unfortunate series of events that could have had serious repercussions on my friend and I.

I booked a Standard Room in the Maison Perumal, a CGH (Casino Group of Hotels) Earth property in Pondicherry on July 24, 2011 and received a confirmation of the same TGU[protected] and I paid Rs 8960/- for the same. Travelguru accepted my money and this amount was debited from my account. Subsequent to this booking I received SMS’s and other such intimations from Travelguru, that quoted the name of the hotel that I had booked. My check in date was August 13, 2011 and check out date was Aug 15, 2011. On Aug 12, 2011 at 4:15 pm, I received another sms wishing me a pleasant stay and an intimation to note that my check in time at the hotel was 12:00 pm. Secure in the fact, my friend and I (2 girls) set off by road in a car from Bangalore to Pondicherry on August 13, 2011. I received an advisory sms at 12:02 pm while on the road trip, suggesting that I should call Maison Perumal ahead and inform them about a late check in if I was going to reach after 12 pm. Heeding this advice, I called ahead to inform Maison Perumal that we would be delayed but to kindly expect us in 2 hours. To our shock, we discovered that we did not have a reservation at the hotel. The gravity of the situation hit us, 2 girls, 113 KMs outside Pondicherry, without a place to stay on the August 15th long weekend. All the hotels in Pondicherry were booked out as it was coincidentally the Auroville Ashram founder’s birthday too.

We called Travelguru customer care number[protected] several times to be informed by the executive, Ms. Swati that we had been ‘upgraded’ due to a goo[censored]p by the management at Maison Perumal therefore squarely blaming CGH Earth central reservations system. She added that the hotel concerned had ‘begged’ Travelguru to accommodate us elsewhere and that there had been a mass booking and we were bumped off the list. When we insisted on getting a copy of the communication between Travelguru and Maison Perumal to confirm this, she refused citing company policy of not sharing the official communication, therefore offering little clue about who was really at fault. When I asked for details of this ‘upgradation’ we were informed that we were given accommodation in a ‘triple bedroom’ in the Nalla Eco Beach Resort, a 3 star beachfront property by Travelguru’s admission. We were appalled, you see we are frequent travellers and keenly investigate/research our hotels, the key parameters being security, access to the purpose of the visit and cleanliness. We were instantly aware that this was not an upgrade and that something was amiss. We spoke to the central reservations office of CGH Earth and the Manager of Maison Perumal. They informed us that Travelguru was informed on July 25th, 2011, again on August 11th, 2011 and then on August 12th, 2011 that there were no available rooms and that we were wait listed. Travelguru was informed on numerous subsequent occasions by telephone and was even sent a mail by the Central reservations desk of the CGH Earth.

At this point we were about 113 kms away from Pondicherry. We then asked Travelguru for an xplanation and we were advised to confirm the triple bedroom at Nalla Eco Beach Resort immediately or forfeit the booking for a refund as there was no other room that Ms. Swati could find on account of all the hotels being booked out. We requested time to visit this resort to check the place out before confirming the same. At this time we were one and a half hours outside Pondicherry. We were held at ransom in this fashion. We finally unwillingly confirmed the Nalla Eco Beach resort as we would not have any other place to sleep at night. I must inform you that August 15 was not just Independence day, but the 139th Birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo as well. We checked around 8 hotels and quickly realised that all the hotels were booked out. We accepted the Nalla Eco Beach Resort accommodation under duress and informed Mr. Shailesh Chowgule, a manager at Travelguru later that evening after accepting the booking that we had accepted it under duress.

Nalla Eco Beach Resort is not a 3 star resort, the room that we were provided had crack in the wall, pillows that smelt o[censored]rine. The Bathroom had stained-glass windows that looked out onto the hotel’s open air restaurant/banquet hall and the next door room’s balcony, offering no privacy to the bather. At night, anyone who bathes in the bathroom exposes their silhouette to the entire hotel. The balcony door could not be securely locked as the hook that secures bolt was broken and the door did not have a handle. The other customers of this hotel were mostly bachelors who spent the night drinking and making noise in the hallway across our room. This was not a safe place for two women to stay. I have photos that I shall attach and send to you, not for the purpose of downgrading the hotel, but proving to you that Nalla Eco Beach Resort does not compare with Maison Perumal or serve as an upgrade as advised by the Customer Care executive Ms. Swati and Mr. Shailesh Chowgule, the manager at Travelguru.

We informed the Travelguru manager on duty – Mr. Shailesh Chowgule of the circumstances and he offered us another room the next day at Hotel MASS, another 3 star business hotel in the city. We checked in there at 3:00 PM of August 14, 2011. The MASS was a much better hotel and was a much safer option as there were families staying.

As per my conversation with Ms. Swati and Mr. Shailesh, I have the following points to make:

1. I had booked Maison Perumal as it comes as its a 3 star heritage hotel [not on your website as Mr. Shailesh Chowgule pointed out that it is in the general category (whatever that means), but as per my online research] and my entire idea was to stay in a heritage hotel in Pondicherry with my friend in the heart of the city and see the heritage buildings etc. I had of course decided not to stay in a beach resort in Pondicherry because if I want to stay on a beach, I would go to Goa as its my preferred beach destination. Mr. Shailesh Chowgule in his attempt to pacify me about staying at Nalla Eco Beach Resort during the incident actually spoke to me as if he had done me a favour by putting me in a 3 star ‘beach accommodation’ which according to him WAS an upgrade since it Travelguru lists it as a 3 star beach property. I had then mentioned to Mr. Shailesh that he doesn’t know what the property even looks like and I have first hand knowledge of it as I was sitting in the hotel room. I will also add here that Nalla Eco Beach Resort was nowhere near the city. It was located on the East Coast Road, about 10 kms away from main Pondicherry and so it defeated my entire purpose of being in the heart of the city and increased my travel cost and time to and fro to the city.

2. When I asked Ms. Swati to describe the upgrade that was generously being bestowed to me by Travelguru she mentioned, “Ma’am – you are getting a triple bedroom!” I would like to mention here that she made it sound as if I was getting a villa on the beach. First of all, there were only 2 o[censored]s friends on the trip, so a double bed and an additional bed in a cramped room hardly made up for the disaster that happened. It is not like we were offered a suite in Nalla Eco Beach Resort and given the unsafe place it is for women travelers, it wouldn’t have meant anything.

3. A small Google check on Maison Perumal and Nalla Eco Beach Resort will establish which is the superior hotel based on service, location, reviews, cleanliness and preference according to Tripadvisor. Maison Perumal is perpetually sold out and the fact that we got a room in Nalla Eco Beach Resort [while being grateful that we had a roof over our head] raises an alarm that this hotel has a problem. Nalla Eco Beach Resort is compromised on safety and a lot of its so called amenities. They do not provide broadband internet although it is listed, do not provide a newspaper in the morning etc. I have mentioned the other more serious shortcomings above and will not elaborate further save to say that Travelguru’s rating system on Hotels needs to be seriously revisited because it is not enough to compare a Rs. 4900 triple room at Nalla Eco Beach Resort to a Rs. 4500 Standard Room at Maison Perumal and call it an ‘upgrade’. At best Nalla Eco Beach Resort will be a 3 star beach resort for large groups who would like to stay on a beach, drink and don’t want it to be too costly. Of course, this is a matter of perception as well, but I beg to differ on your rating system. I am a well heeled traveller and have booked rooms directly and indirectly and through third parties like yourself and this has never happened to me. Needless to say, I will think twice before using your company’s services. I will also warn others through appropriate mediums.

4. I had provided Mr. Shailesh Chowgule 2 options to redeem the fiasco that happened thus offering Travelguru a chance to remedy the situation:
a. I would continue to stay at Nalla Eco Beach Resort for the second night if I was refunded 50% of my booking money; or
b. Travelguru at their cost would put me up at a four or five star hotel in Pondicherry to redeem their folly and extend this as a gesture of goodwill. I had also given him a choice of hotels to choose from including – The Promenade, Hotel de L’Orient, Le Dupleix, Maison Perumal etc.
which of course Travelguru did not avail of.

[Please note that the above are not a reflection of Mr. Shailesh Chowgule’s or Ms. Swati’s professionalism. At all times, they were courteous but they were helpless as well and therefore tried to pacify me into taking up at Nalla Eco Beach Resort.]

Now to my causes of action against Travelguru:

1. I have a right to know if my booking is waitlisted as soon as Travelguru knows it. This was not the case as I received a confirmation by mail from Travelguru on July 24, 2011 that led me to believe that the room at Maison Perumal for 2 nights is confirmed. I also know that Maison Perumal never lied and ‘begged’ Travelguru to accommodate us elsewhere because I have written to them on an email and they have confirmed the chain of events that transpired between you and them. Why cant Travelguru deal with waitlisted hotel bookings like train bookings in the event of being overbooked/waitlisted? You should not be sending me a ‘confirmation’ email until you sure the room is mine. Ironically you ran a promotional campaign in 2007 called “A Hotel Room Guaranteed. Any Budget. Anywhere”.

2. I understand now that the sms’s that Travelguru sends me are automated (as Ms. Swati and Mr. Shailesh Chowgule pointed out on the phone to me), but they are misleading when they say, “Wishing you a pleasant stay at Maison Perumal (A Casino Group of Hotel) in PONDICHERRY tomorrow. Please note your check-in time is 12 noon. In the event of any delay please keep the hotel informed on 91 [protected]” and “Good Day. If you have not checked into the Maison Perumal (A Casino Group of Hotel), we would advise you to please call the hotel on 91 [protected] and inform them of late check-in. Have a pleasant stay in PONDICHERRY”.

3. Why doesn’t Travelguru send me an sms with their customer care number? I had no reference of it and it would have been easier to track down the Customer Care number if I had an sms with it. I had to call a friend since I was on the road for the number.

4. When I asked Ms. Swati and Mr. Shailesh Chowgule why I was not informed that I did not have a confirmed reservation at Maison Perumal (and that I had to find out for myself much to my horror), they said Travelguru has a policy of trying to confirm the hotel room for me ‘till the very last minute’. That is very laudable at my expense. At what point did anyone at Travelguru think they should inform me of waitlisted room situation? Was it not enough to inform me about ANY changes to my reservations by August 12th, 2011 so that I could have made a decision to cancel my travel/road trip? Why did Travelguru risk my safety and compromise on my comfort?

5. I have suffered severe disappointment on my vacation since the hotel provided to me on the first night was unsafe and very far from the city when I wanted to be in the heart of the city to be able to walk to historical places of interest, shop and sample cuisine. I was also responsible for the safety of my friend who had come along with me. The second hotel, although far better in terms of location was a regular business hotel with no heritage value as I would have liked to stay in. Therefore, I was forced to spend most of my time commuting or checking in and out hotels.

6. Oddly, someone dialling the Travelguru customer care number[protected] from a landline is able to get through faster than those with a cellphone. Please note that those who travel would find this very inconvenient as customers in trouble would obviously use their cell phones while travelling to get clarifications etc. The customer care wait times before connecting to the executive and hold times while the executive is finding information is appalling. I was on hold 4-5 times during my call with Ms. Swati with a total hold time of approx. 25 minutes. This is ridiculous. She also did not call back on my cell phone when she had promised to. When I asked her why she did not, she mentioned that she said my phone was out of network, which is rubbish because my family was able to reach me on my phone through out the road trip.

PLEASE SHOW CAUSE AS TO WHY I SHOULD NOT FILE A COMPLAINT IN THE CONSUMER COURT.

Regards,

Pakhi Bagai