[Resolved]  Cox & Kings India — Fraudulent and Apathetic Behaviour by Cox and Kings

Address:	400009
Website:	Asking for additional payment under the pretext of unavailability of rooms. Rude and unprofessional

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have been trying to book a holiday package with Cox and Kings and have been shocked by the apathetic, callous and frankly outright fraudulent attitude of Cox and Kings staff/representatives.

I had sent an enquiry for my trip on 28th of November and promptly received a response from your executive, a Ms. Nikita Jawkar. She made regular follow up calls to sell me the package proposed. I was fairly happy with the itinerary that was sent however, was not happy with one particular Hotel and made this clear to Nikita. I had communicated the same to her in writing as well. She assured me that she will change that Hotel and provide me another alternative. However, she pressed me to complete the booking and make payment while she would ensure that a better alternative Hotel is arranged for me. I took her word for it and made the payment on 30th Nov. I was assured that I will be sent the final itinerary and the Hotel confirmation etc. on 1st Dec.

Even though I had better more economical offers from elsewhere, I proceeded with my booking with Cox and Kings (CnK) aware of the premium I was paying due to the excellent reputation that the organisation enjoys, and hoped to have peace of mind if I booked with CnK. Unfortunately, my experience with CnK as soon as I made the payment has been a nightmare. It is shocking that an organisation of your size and repute treats its customers with complete disregard for their satisfaction or the commitments made by the organisation.

Ever since I made the payment, I only received a call on 2nd Dec for passenger details, however, I enquired again about the alternative Hotel and was not given any certain response. Post that I have been regularly chasing and my calls have been dodged by the representatives. On 5th Dec, again, only on my follow-up call, I was informed that I will have to make an additional payment of Rs. 18, 000 as the Hotels were not available. I was shocked that after confirming a transaction and making a commitment I would now be asked for more money. I refused to pay additional fees and requested Ms. Jawkar to provide me alternatives at the same cost. To this Ms. Nikita said that she would provide me alternatives in another location instead of the location that was agreed upon in the original booking. And that too would come with a supplementary cost. This was extremely unprofessional and on refusing to accept this, Nikita said, she would revert to me on 6th Dec with other alternatives in the same cost. However, again no one reverted to me in spite of me making repeated calls on 6th Dec.

I tried reaching her several times on 6th but I was repeatedly told that she is busy. Even after leaving several messages with other associates my call was not returned. Luckily for me, on one of the calls she happened to answer. Again she assured me that she will get back on the available options by 4 pm. I waited till 6 pm. Tried reaching her and I was told that there was a team meeting going on and she can't take my call. I again left a message and informed the travel associate that it was urgent. After waiting till 7:30 pm I called again. Then I was put on hold for approximately 10mins and was told that she is busy. Realising that she has been trying to dodge my calls all day long I insisted that I be connected to her or they need to cancel my booking.

Finally my call was connected to Nikita. She provided me the same options again. When I refused to accept the options and asked for a refund she connected me to her Manager a Mr. Pankaj. Hopeful that Mr Pankaj would resolve my issues, we discussed the entire issue. To my surprise, Mr. Pankaj was even more uncooperative and outright rude. Upon this I informed them that if they cannot fulfil their commitment I do not want to complete my booking and would like a full refund. To this, Mr. Pankaj refused that there is any commitment from CnK to provide a Hotel within the price that was agreed upon and said that I will have to either pay the additional cost or I will incur cancellation fees. I argued that as CnK is not able to book what has been agreed upon, why we should incur any cancellation charges.

This attitude and lack of professionalism is unacceptable. Kindly refund my entire payment immediately.

Regards,

Sandhya Nair