Etripto.in — False promises, bad service and mental harassment by this travel agency

Address: Etripto Travelers Lower Arithang, Arithang Gangtok, East Sikkim - 737101 Gangtok, Sikkim

Website: etripto.in

Hello,

I booked a package from this company on 7th October for Sikkim. This package covered the dates – 9th to 16th October. The places we were promised in this package were – Gangtok, Lachen, Lachung and Pelling. This included sightseeing and transfers, hotels accommodation and food.

We were not provided with payment receipts but I have Google Pay transaction proofs where payment is done to Etripto and Ambika Saha who manages the agency.

Do not fall for this trap. Stop if you’re thinking of booking your Sikkim trip with Etripto Cheapest travel agency and looking for reviews and complaints against them on the internet first.

While on our trip, we met 3 other groups who were facing similar issues due to mismanagement and false promises of Etripto.

We paid an advance amount of 15, 000 after confirmation of the package.

First, the hotels. We were said to be given hotels with good services. The attender at our first hotel – Crown Dela Cruz, Upper Sichay Road, misbehaved cause we arrived for check-in at 11’O clock in the night.

The next day we were supposed to leave from Gangtok to Lachen. The driver arrived but we were asked from Etripto to make a full payment. It was 10th Oct0ber, Sunday and UPI was not working. The bank servers were undergoing issues and the payment couldn’t go in. We were told that until we make a full payment, our cab to Lachen, which was around 120KMs (about 6 hours of hill travel) will not start. We were given no other option but to make the payment.

We then went to an ATM to get the money and after paying 40, 000INR cash to the person, we started our transfer to Lachen at 12’O Clock. The driver for this and coming 2 days was supposed to be this guy named Ashish Rai.

We noticed that Etripto/Ambika Saha has contacts with local cab company run by a person named Dev (Dev Tours) who sends drivers and his cabs to transfer tourists. Ashish Rai, 29 year old driver but had no maturity. He was short tempered and drove the can in rash. Whenever we asked him to slow own he would just not listen. Somehow we reached Lachen and were dropped at a hotel. Driver took out our 3 luggages and backpacks from the car and flew away. We tried stopping him so that we could check if this was the correct hotel.

Etripto never provided us with hotel, cab or day itenerary info beforehand. We had to call Ambika and ask for every details. This was just the start of the trip and we, 3 o[censored]s, went through a lot of mental and physical trouble altogether.

On the14th of October, we called Ambika/Etripto asking for our day plan and driver details. We were asked to pay the remaining amount which was 15, 000INR and that driver was enroute. We paid the amount and all the dues were cleared now. The driver refused to come to pick us up. We tried following up with organizer again, we were asked to wait. A driver then came to pick us up only to run away saying he isn’t paid much for Gangtok to Pelling 3 days trip. He started dealing with other customers waiting for a cab to Siliguri. He threw our luggage to the top carrier of Wagon R and refused to tie it up with rope.

My friend who is a travel vlogger, seeing this happening, started recording video in his camera. The driver ran away and called the organizer saying the tourists were making his video and not accepting his misbehaving and careless attitude towards tourists who are paying for this service.

We ended up wasting our whole day on 14th in the hotel lobby cause we already checked out in the morning. Then arrived 3 more groups with similar complaints against Etripto false promises and bad services. We have their experience on video.

We then called Ambika asking for a way out of this situation where we had already wasted a day of our trip. He agreed to provide us a refund of 15, 000INR that we paid in the morning and send it back to us.

So my concern is why do this travel agency make false promises when they can’t manage it. Why do this company takes over booking for money when they can’t deliver it to their customers. My whole trip was spoiled due to issues almost everyday during the period. And I wouldn’t want anyone else to fall for this trap. This is not less than a scam to me where you fool people by promising cheap travel but under delivering the services.

There is no customer support to ask for help. The only person available is Ambika Saha who manages everything. The sales team as usual are only for selling the packages and no communication post that.

This trip was a nightmare for me and all 3 o[censored]s.

We demand a refund of 10, 000INR from Etripto for causing mental and physical stress and harassment to 3 o[censored]s travellers. This was a 8 day trip costing 70, 000INR amounting to 8750 per day. We were refunded 15, 000INR for not being able to manage our next 2 days and the trip ended in 6 days instead of 8 promised days. We wasted our 6th day waiting in the hotel for a cab to arrive just to know that Etripto will not be able to deliver us the services it had promised in written.

Kindly look into this seriously and help provide a resolution.

Jay

Client Name – Areeb Ahmed