[Resolved]  Make My Trip — misguidance and wasted tour package

Address:

Kolkata, West Bengal

I had booked a trip to lucknow for 3 days from 29th sept. - 2nd oct 2017. I was unsure about the place (Lucknow) and asked for suggestion from the concerned tour planner of make my trip kolkata. I heard that lucknow tour wont take more than 2 days, so i asked if a 3days lucknow trip would be okay or if i should plan for something else / some other place. It was she (The planner) who said that it would be a perfect package - 29th sept - 2nd oct 2017 lucknow.

Getting assurance from makemytrip i booked my air tickets and later found out that 1st oct is muharram. I had visited the makemytrip office and enquired about the same. I was worried about the situation at lucknow for it being a muslim dominated city. But i was informed that there can be some rallies but we can roam around in some other areas and there wont be any problem.

On arrival at lucknow i came to know that the city will be almost closed down on 1st oct due to muharram and its not wise to go out on that day.

1st day we visited bara imambara, chhota imambara, rumi darwaza. We came to know that due to navratri, dussera, durga visarjan, muharram places will be closed, roads will be blocked from 30th sept. So we tried to visit residency as well on 29th. But that was closed.

2nd day residency was the only thing that we could visit. Roads were blocked. Places were closed. Police were all over the place. The driver didint want to take us anywhere. Neither he knows any place in lucknow. His excuse always was either traffic or ‘places will be closed so there's no point going’. So we ended up moving here and there in the car doing nothing at all. There was a textile exhibition going on. We went there and within minutes the driver called us back from there as well saying that the para military has arrived and the roads are getting blocked so we need to get out of that place.

3rd day was a total stand still. Muharram it was. The driver was supposed to come in the morning. But he came at 5pm. There was curfew, police, military, people with tazia and processions all over the city. And the entire city was closed down with places closed. We still requested the driver to take us somewhere and went out at 5 pm.. Roamed around a bit and got hold of an open chikan shop. While returning the driver showed us a boundary wall which he said was la martinere school. We couldnot see anything else other than a wall. I don't know if there was anything worth seeing / visiting. The driver informed us that no one can go inside the school and we are supposed to see the boundary only. Later we came to know that its a heritage building and we could go inside and look around the place. We missed that as well. Thanks to our driver.

So basically our entire vacation was a waste. Time, money everything. When i seek help from a tour planner it is she who should tell us if the time is correct or not, what will the scenario be in the city that we are travelling, what are the good/ bad things and plan the holiday accordingly. We are not supposed to know all these. This has been a ridiculous service from makemytrip. Its only 1 day that was actually utilized. Rest of the days either we were sititng back at the hotel or roaming round the city in the car for there were no places where we could go as they were either closed or we couldnt reach there due to road blockage. We didnt even find a roadside stall for tea on 1st oct. Why on earth would we pay such an amount to stay back at hotel?

The driver who has been recommended from makemytrip is a laid back person who doesnt want to go anywhere. Wherever we asked him to go, he is unwilling to go. Either its the excuse of traffic that we gives or he says the places will be closed. Many of the places mentioned in the itinerary was unknown to him and hence he didnt take us anywhere. Since we had no where to go, we had asked the driver to take him to lalbagh where there was a durga puja going on. Everyday, every moment he said i shall definitely take you there later’ and that 'later' did not come.

Practically makemytrip has wasted our time and money by planning a tour during this time during when the city goes in a stand still mode. Each and every person in lucknow have asked us not to go out on muharram due to safety issues. How come the planners had no idea? What sort of service is this?

Now who would pay for the wasted time and money. Places that were committed were not covered. The car was not there on time. The driver was unwilling and not aware of places. The city, road, places to visit, market were closed. We were sitting back at hotel. Why should we pay for the inconvenience caused by the tour planner. We are not responsible for what happened there. They should refund us for the services they didnt provide us. We spent so much money not to sit back at the hotel. Despite asking repeatedly about the city situation during muharram, concerned people from makemytrip have encouraged us to go for this trip and assured us that this is a perfect plan and we wont be facing any problem what so ever.

Now makemytrip is offering us a voucher of rs 2000/ which is only valid for 1 year. What am i supposed to do with that? Am i a beggar that they are trying to compensate my loss by issuing a rs 2000/ gift voucher.

I want to make people aware about such services so that people think twice before opting for makemytrip. I want an adjustment / refund for the inconvenience caused and the services that were not provided to me.

Kindly help.