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ICHHEY/ELITE TOURS n TRAVELS

ICHHEY/ELITE TOURS n TRAVELS — ICHHEY TOURS n TRAVELS, Kolkata - Mental Harassment and Nightmarish experience

Address: Kolkata, West Bengal

I had a very horrible experience with Ichche Tours and Travels (www.ichheytoursntravels.com) recently and would like to share my story with you so that no one falls for this trap. . PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!! Just one week back, we had visited Purulia through a trip conducted by Icche Tours. I was travelling with my parents, mother-in-law (3 senior citizens aged 65+), my younger brother, wife and daughter (3 yrs old) –a group of 6 adults. This was the first time we went with Icche Travels and had booked through them after seeing their ad in renowned Anandabazar Patrika. The lady owner of ICHCHE Travels/Elite Travels promised us the best of service and comfort at the time of advance payment (in full). We had visited her office twice to enquire about the details and verify if any issues are there. But every time, we were told that the tickets are confirmed and everything is in order. We were not handed over the train tickets (both ways) and instead assured that the confirmed train tickets will be handed over to us at the Howrah Railway station on the date of departure. We were also not introduced to the manager who will be in charge of the tour and accompany us to Purulia, as promised by her earlier. It was a 4 day trip - departure from Kolkata on 22 Jan’15 11 pm via Chakradharpur Passenger (Kolkata to Purulia) and return to Kolkata on 26 Jan’15 via Dhanbad-HWH D.D. Exp Chair Car. We were charged a total of approximately Rs.40000 for the trip to cover accommodation, travel, food. We were assured of well-furnished deluxe hotel in Purulia for the 3 nights stay by the owner before bookings. On 22 Jan, we reached Howrah at around 10 PM and our train was scheduled to depart at 11 PM. The designated manager Icche Travels, who was supposed to accompany us – an old man, (aged 62+) handed us the rail tickets. We were shocked to see only 2 tickets were confirmed out of 6, and we were handed a ticket containing 6 names ALL of them RAC. Moreover, the age, sex of the passengers were not matching with us as well. So, it was clear that this ticket was not meant for us, but they were trying to make us travel through a RAC ticket for some other group (not sure how!!!) We were left with no other option but to to board the sleeper class S2 as the full money was at stake. Meanwhile, that old manager had disappeared . We tried to to call him repetedly but his phone was switched off even before the train had started!!! We tried calling the owner but she was unreachable as well. Finally, we had to negotiate with the TT inside the train and managed to get 3 side lower berths. 2 persons had to share 1 berth which was extremely uncomfortable, and we could not sleep the whole night. There was absolutely no need to travel like this, we have never ever travelled like this. Let alone with senior citizens and a child. Had they informed us earlier that tickets were not confirmed we could have postponed the trip. In the morning the train reached Purulia Jn. at 6:30 AM, and then suddenly the old manager’s mobile started ringing, now that the train reservation fiasco was over. Very smart move indeed! I tried to question him and called up the owner as I was boiling with anger over this harassment the last night.This lady not only behaved rudely, but kept insisting that she had “confirmed” tickets for all o[censored]s, and we are lying…unbelievable!!! Next, 2 cars arrived for 12 persons. That was the full group for the Purulia trip, of which 6 was my family. The owner had said that it will be a group of 20 odd people. We were transferred to the so-called “well-furnished” hotel – Hotel Manas Sarovar in Purulia. We were “welcomed” by another old lady, another manager from Ichche Tours who had arrived at the hotel the previous day and was supposed to look after the guests till the trip ends. Let me give you all a description of the hotel first. This is not even a hotel, but actually a building rented out for marriage ceremonies with rooms for the marriage parties. Those rooms are used as hotel rooms for such tour companies when there are no marriage bookings. No manager or support staff in the hotel till 10 AM, no lifts and we were provided rooms in the 4th floor. 1st -3rd floors are reserved for marriage parties it seems. Stinking rooms with smell o[censored]rine, no cupboard/storage/tables/chairs in room, no buckets in the bathrooms; instead we were provided paint thinner cans. 50% of the rooms didn’t have geyser installed. Rooms were small in size and gave the appearance of a mess room instead, not at all suited for families. By now, we had given up still we tried to vent our frustration and ask both the old managers.But we got no concrete response from anyone, they were just trying to avoid and ignore, and we had to resign to our fate in the hotel rooms which was supposed to be our home for the next 3 nights. We got the rooms cleaned after much shouting, and one day, I had to go out and buy Phenyl and Dettol myself for the urine stench (due to lack of sweepers in the evening). No support staff for the hotel is there – the trip manager had brought a cook and 2 helpers with her who had to act as the hotel staff as well. Really surprising and pathetic arrangement, we were sure by now that we had made a big mistake in trusting these folks and embarking on this trip in the first place with 3 senior citizens and a 3 yr-old child. The food served during the 3 nights of our stay was average. The next surprise was waiting for us when we started our day sightseeing trips to visit the places mentioned in the itinerary. We came to know that old manager who was accompanying us on all the sightseeing trips, is coming to Purulia for the first time and is clueless about the places and locations. So much for a tour guide!! It seemed that he is travelling to Purulia at our cost for no reason!!! The second day, we were told that the itinerary will be changed and some of the spots will be covered on the last day (the day we had to board the train) if possible. On the last day of sightseeing, we were supposed to visit Garpanchkot, one of the prime attractions of this entire trip. We were lucky to notice that the 2 drivers were bypassing and skipping the location. We came to know after grilling them, that they don’t know where the prime attraction of Garpanchkot is, (even though they were local guys) and how to reach there. Finally, we had to intervene, enquire from local people, and find our way to Garpanchkot. By now, we had reached our tolerance limits, and were waiting to get back to Kolkata at the earliest, and be free from this agony at the earliest. Throughout the tour, we were not handed over the return tickets despite repeated requests and were told that we can only get them on the last day as per their procedure and all the tickets are confirmed tickets. On 26th Jan’15 at around 5 PM in the evening, we were dropped off at Asansol Railway Station to catch our train – DHD HWH D.D Express, at 7:45 PM for journey back to Howrah. And now comes the final nail in the coffin which beats all the surprises so far – at around 5:30 PM, we come to know that the train is cancelled since last 1 month. I can’t explain how we were feeling at that point after our torturous ordeal over the last 3 days. We had to run frantically to meet the Station Master for enquiring about the train and alternate arrangements –Indian Railways has always been pathetic in terms of customer service. None of the officials could provide any alternative, rather we were advised to cancel the existing tickets, purchase general (unreserved) tickets for the next passenger/express train to Kolkata, take a chance and negotiate with the TT for any berths if available. Finally, that is what we had to do as we had no choice, we had to sit at the station for 7 hours and boarded the HWH Mithila Express Sleeper class compartment. We had to keep our luggage beside the toilet and spend the entire night without any berths/seats and had a scuffle with the RPF as well for travelling like this. . This is how we reached Kolkata at around 4:30 AM in the morning after a sleepless and harrowing night. Finally our trauma came to an end. Neither did we get any refund or any compensation from Ichche Tours and Travels, rather the owner has been a pain to talk to, as usual, for her adamant and belligerent nature. I know this has been a long read, but I wanted to share every detail, so that no one falls in the trap of Ichche/Elite Tours and Travels. They have been worst in terms of travel arrangements, accommodation, tour management, behavior among all tour operators I have travelled with so far. I will post my experience in all Mouthshut, major customer forums, IndiaMike, complaint sites, and even am trying to publish our ordeal in the media/newspapers if possible. I would request you to please help me with this, if anyone has any contacts. I can be reached at [protected]@gmail.com
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I share the same concerns with Ichhey Tours and Travels. This company also runs under the name of Elite Tours and Travels. The owner is a lady who goes by the name of Madam Ghosh. Her phone numbers are [protected]/[protected]/[protected]/[protected].
We recently went on a trip to Bhutan which started on 17th Oct, 2016. We were told that the group was of 25, and all passengers will be allowed to meet other fellow co-passengers along with the manager of the trip. We were charged INR 17895/person for the trip which included all meals/hotel expenses/car travel, etc., excluding the train fare from Kolkata to Jaigaon and back. We were promised 3 star hotels in Bhutan and full means including tea twice a day, breakfast/lunch/evening snacks and dinner. All were mentioned in the receipt when we made advance payments. Below is the experience we all faced in our trip:
1> After making full payments 20 days prior to the start of journey (as mandated by the company) the owner (Madam Ghosh) stopped taking calls. She used to respond very infrequently and most of the time calls went unanswered or she was busy and would have called later (as she responded) - which eventually never came.
2> We never got to meet our fellow passengers and manager for the trip prior to starting our journey.
3> A week before our trip was scheduled to start, I received a whatsapp message asking for additional payment of INR 12600 as meal expenses for 3 persons (I went with my parents). Madam Ghosh mentioned that Bhutan govt stopped allowing permits to cooks who were supposed to travel with us and mentioned that other companies were also facing the same issue. Perplexed at the sudden message, I tried callied multiple times but each time she was disconnecting the call.
4> When I called the next day, she kindly picked up the call and asked to me visit her office at 109/19, Hazra Road, Kolkata, West Bengal 700026 the next day at 11 AM. I reached there at 10:50 AM in the morning, but office was closed. After repeated attempts to call her, she responded with a very disgruntled voice that it was a holiday for her. It took many persuasions and almost a begging to make her agree to come to office since it was important to sort out the additional expenses for food.
5> On inquiring about the additional expenses, she refused to listed and flatly said that either we pay up or lost the amount already paid. She won't be able to help anything. She also mentioned that other tour members had agreed to this option and I should also agree since majority opted for it. I came to know later all other tour members protested on this and was told the same thing by the lady named Madam Ghosh. All were bluffed into believing that others agreed to her option. Anyway, no one had any option since the entire amount was already paid. And we, bengali bhadraloks are not known much into making troubles.
6> The first jolt came when we boarded the train and from the reservation chart came to know that our train tickets were in RAC. Madam Ghosh had promised to provide confirmed tickets. I was travelling with my old parents and it was very difficult for them to make the overnight journey without getting a bunk bed to sleep in the night.
7> The food that was served throughout the journey was pathetic to say the least, inspite of the additional INR 12600 that was charged and which was not part of the original contract. Almost the entire group was full of aged and retired persons (barring a couple o[censored]s) and they did not get a proper full meal. Breakfast was mostly 2 breads and tea. Food was not only very very bad in quality but quantity was very small. It reached its peak when dinner was served on the last day of the trip with a spoon serving of veg chow and half a bowl of lentil soup.
8> The hotels were very very bad. Forget about 3 start, they were not even 1 star. We were kept at B.T. Gatsing hotel in Paro which is a secluded property in a corner of the city after which there were no buildings. The rooms were shabby, full of flies and mosquitoes. The bathrooms were dirty and almost all the taps were broken. The hot water gizzard did not work. On complaining to the manager of the hotel (who was also owner) the reply came that you get what you pay. He also mentioned that we are free to leave the hotel if we wanted. We had to bear the torture of two nights. The hotel rooms were never cleaned during our stay. I wonder whether it was cleaned before we stayed at the hotel.
9> The hotel at Thimpoo - Bhutan Centennial Hotel was a relatively better one. We stayed there for 3 nights but each day from the morning to evening there was no water. We had to survive on cold water for our showers till 7 AM after which it used to run out and then water was available only after 9 PM. There were also problems with gizzard, toilet flush, taps and room lights. The owner at least listened this time although he mentioned that it was perennial problem at the hotel and he could do very little to fix everything so soon.
10> The tour company had no manager of their own. Ichhey contracted with local transporters in Jaigaon/Fuetsilling who drove the cars in Bhutan. The cab drivers acted as tour guides/managers, etc. whatever you call them. They were themselves burdened with the responsibility of the group which they did not like.
11> After reaching Bhutan we met passengers who travelled with other tour operators - Gitanjali, All Seasons, Chalo Jai, etc. All of them had cooks with them and there was no problem of permit from Bhutan Govt, as Madam Ghosh has conveyed to us in charging the additional food money.
12> This company also had quite a few police raids at their office due to prior cheating episodes. They are always looking for new fish whom they can trap and extract money.

Note: The behavior of the owner (Madam Ghosh) changes once you pay the entire money. She will be very sweet and appear concerned about your money before you make the full payment. Once you fall in her trap, she reveals her true nature and treats you like a puppet. I sincerely urge to not fall in her traps. There are many other tour operators who are genuine and does good business. They are customer friendly and cares for their customers. Its always good to go with reputed companies if you choose to go with one. It was a good learning experience for me since I was out of the country for a long time, and did not have enough knowledge and/or time before planning for this trip to Bhutan with my parents.

I request all future travellers to completely boycott this company ICHHEY TOURS AND TRAVELS / ELITE TOURS AND TRAVELS. If you still decide to go with this company, GOOD LUCK !!
Reply
I hereby Madam Ghosh the owner of ICHHEY TOURS & TRAVELS, KOLKATA by viewing this complain against me & my company want to say something for my defence, i request the viewer to go through this matter and judge the original matter nutrally, hope for ur kind co-operation, thanks.

Mr.A.Kundu and his parents booked our Bhutan tour of 17/10/16 before 2 and half months ago from the date of depature, not only that, maximum passengers who booked our Bhutan tour of 17/10/16, not a single passenger booked the trip 120 days before which is a schedule opening date for train tckts, but still we arrange 2AC Tckts for them which was in waiting list Up & Dn both, we knew that within 2 & half months the position of the tckts will change and the tckts will be confirmed and so on not only their tckts and other passenger's tckts also confirmed either fully or reservation against cancellation without tatkaal, Mr.Kundu has got their 3 UP Tckts RAC confirmed and Dn fully confirmed, isn't it great without prior booking 120 days before, we still arranged them & others to get confirmed/RAC tckts to get into the train & travel peacefully, but he is so mean he forgets the efforts o[censored]s, anyway,
None of our other passengers complain against our hotel and car as we provided DLX category hotels in Proper location in Jaigaon Hotel Kasturi, Paro Hotel B.T.Gashel, Thimpu Hotel Centinental, viewers may check the category of hotels in website, these are all Dlx category hotels with all modern aminities and the cars we provide all INNOVA consisting of 7 pax in each car, so no question of complain arrises, nor any other passengers complained against hotel and cars.
As per Bhutan Govt policy all the maximum Tour companies did not get the permit of Kitchen staff cook & helper to get into Bhutan from Oct'16 puja onwards, Chalo Jai has taken their staff by air which was not possible for us and another company Geetanjali has taken their staff without permit and caught by the Bhutan security Guard on check post by paying a fine of 10, 000/-each for 4 pax total 40, 000/-, which is not permissable,
while sending our first group to Bhutan on 9/10/16, we faced the problem & couldn't send our kitchen staff to get into Bhutan, and then we decided to give the food from hotels of Bhutan, which is very costly, so we had a discussion with the group members of 1st group, then they suggested us to bear 50% of the food cost and they will bear 50%, so we agreed with them, and so on the 1st group continues,
By facing this problem i personally call every passengers to my office on 13 & 14/10/16 and stated everything in details, and the passengers of 17/10/16 has verified that with Bhutan Embassy and others,
when they were confirmed of this problem all the passengers agreed & ready to co-operate with us and ready to bear 50% of the food cost and we too bourne the 50% of food cost with them,
except This Mr.Kundu and his parents denied to pay a single peny for food, still we entertained them with food through out the Bhutan trip, such a shameless person by taking all the facilities how does he do that, is it an example for an educated person, shame
For his personal grivances he does such complains to ruin my & our company fame & goodwill, we don't expect it from a litarate person,
so viewers please judge yourself and give the judgement whether i m guilty or not, if not just ignore such complains and get hands together with us for a better tour events,
Thanks,
from, ICHHEY TOURS & TRAVELS, KOLKATA
Reply
More over ICHHEY & ELITE TOURS & TRAVELS are not same concern, ICHHEY deals with domestic and ELITE deals with International for ur kind information.
Reply
This is in response to the post of the owner of ICHHEY TOURS / ELITE TOURS. She again lied in her post, as she did to us and also used derogatory language against me - which is a reflection of the kind of person she is. Whether ICHHEY and ELITE are same or different companies, the point is both are run by the same lady.

A few points regarding the notes on her defence -

1> When I decided to travel, I checked availability of seats with her in her group since no other companies were accepting new bookings. When she could not provide reservation of tickets, why did she accept the bookings ? Did any one force her to accept the bookings ?
2> None of the passengers were happy with hotels and meals provided. Every one was forced to accept them since all payments were made in advance and Madam Ghosh did not pick up anyone's phone calls while we were on the trip. I have posted phone numbers of all passengers (barring a few whom I don't have). Readers of this post can call and confirm my complain with those of Madam Ghosh's claims themselves.
3> All other tour operators namely Gitanjali/Dolphin/Cholo jai/All Seasons had permission for taking cooks except the company ran by Madam Ghosh. She completely bluffed about Bhutan government in spite of taking additional money than what was agreed upon as part of the package.
4> Why would I have personal grievances and would try ruin some body's company whom I did not at all and have no interest to know her any more after the horrible experience we all had with her ? This is a completely lame statement and downright silly.
5> She mentioned another lie that me and my parents denied to pay any single penny for food. Was she doing charity here ? She asked for full additional money for 7 days, over the above the already paid charges, under the pretext of food. Everyone protested and she lied to every one saying all passengers agreed. She played a trick in talking to different passengers at different time and not letting all of them meet her at the same time.

Readers, below are the numbers of the passengers who travelled in the same group. All are disgruntled and swear not to travel with this cheat company again. Please call and verify for yourself about the lies of this tour company before getting cheated of your hard earned money. Elderly persons who can't protest much are the prime targets of this company. Persons from other groups who travelled with this company and were cheated also complained at the same site along with phone numbers.

Mr. Mrinal - [protected] / [protected]
Mr. Sankar - [protected]
Mr. Ashish Pollay - [protected]
Mr. Subit - [protected]
Ms. Anyasha - [protected]
Mr. Arindam - [protected]
Reply
Prometheus Gaming's reply, Jul 20, 2021
You can go create your Own Company with so many damn Info you have 😂😂
O ngl, All ### though
This is a money grabbing ### travel agency.. guys never ruin your holidays by booking with them
Reply
Prometheus Gaming's reply, Jul 20, 2021
It's my request dear, I've been a Manager in this company, Don't believe in random lies
This company gonna rule tourism one day.
Mark my words foe
And Madam, Moumita Maitra is not my mother but she's a mother like figure to me.
Whomsoever it may concern,

This is to notify that from our whole group people family of Saha, Ghosh, and Jash, we booked a trip from Ecche tours and travels for Bhutan. For the whole trip it was the worst experience to travel with Arindam Mitra under Moumita Maitra ma'am for all o[censored]s.

In the whole trip the behavior of Arindam Mitra was worst than we ever expect. He continued arguing with everyone, didn't notify us ever about where to go when to go, we felt like hopeless everywhere with everything.

In the whole trip he quarreled with the hotels staffs, bus driver of your travel agency only!
In the last day we all had trains and flights to catch so we decided to leave early, but he denied in the last moment even after agreeing before. In the whole process we got so late on the road that all o[censored]s had to miss the flights and trains. Truly all o[censored]s including him!

The worst thing was in the end on the road while coming he pooped in our bus itself other than using a latrine, and horrible smell started coming from him. Later on he confronted himself that he pooped in his pants and didn't even want to change. In that bus travelling with him with all the smell became impos6for us. Even the bus driver asked him to get down and change but he didn't.

We can't imagine a person like that was sent from your company to be with us! It is shameful, and disgraceful. If you don't take any step against the whole thing we will keep posting this concern about Ecche everywhere in social media.

From,

Arunima Saha, Anusmita Saha, Anup Saha, Rina Saha, Biplab Saha, Manasi Saha, Rajasree Saha, Gita Ghosh, M K Ghosh, A Ghosh, P jash, D jash. (The whole group in the trip!)
Reply
Prometheus Gaming's reply, Jul 20, 2021
Believe me,
Your were the most Horrible CUSTOMER we ever did Business with
And Watch your mouth you small piece of ###. Watch your back before spreading all ### in social media you Piece of ###.
God Bless your damn Poisonous soul
### bag lady
Just to inform all the readers
These list has been the most notorious CUSTOMERs we have met so far. Amit has been the most Notorious Family we traveled with, All lies they've spoke in here so far. Arunima the most Inhumane Lady, The most disgusting CUSTOMER so far.
For more info. Call us.
We've been a quality Tourism Hub, And a Very Proper One. Running from very beginning, Don't believe in random ### talkers from Random ### Post peoples, They're the ### bags of Society. God Bless them. Contact us for Tourism Regarding info
Not this ###stormers

ICHHEY TOURS n TRAVELS, Kolkata - Mental Harassment and Nightmarish experience - Comment #3863834 - Image #0
Reply
Don't believe in them
They're the most BLACK LISTED CUSTOMERS from Entire Tourism Hub.
Reply

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    Kolkata
    West Bengal
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