MakeMyTrip India — Complaint regarding increased layover time and irresponsible customer care service of MakeMyTrip and Virgin Atlantic Airlines

Website:

www.makemytrip.com

I booked a round-trip flight ticket for my mother's journey from Chandigarh to London (Heathrow) for April 12, 2021 and back to Chandigarh for 21 September, 2021 through MakeMyTrip. The booking of round trip was made on March 21, 2021. The booking ID on MakeMyTrip is NN[protected].

As per the booking details the flight (Virgin Atlantic
VS-354) had to depart from London at 21:10 hrs on 20 September and reach Mumbai at 10:45 hrs on 21 September, and after that, with a layover of 5 hrs 20 mins, my mother had to board the next flight (Vistara
UK-651) from Mumbai at 16:05 hrs to reach Chandigarh (the final destination) at 18:30 hours on 21 September.

However, when I recently checked the ticket details, I found that the flight from London to Mumbai has been preponed by 10 hours and now, this flight will depart at 10:50 hrs on 20 September rather than 21:10 hrs. This has led to an increase in the layover in Mumbai which is 15 hrs 45 m now.

This has put me and my mother in a tense situation as my mother is a senior citizen and she cannot withstand the effects of prolonged waiting hours as she will already be exhausted after her first flight of 9 hours. As this is a serious matter of concern and keeping in view the convenience of my mother's travel, I reported this matter to MakeMyTrip company to enquire why this has been done and to request to change the flight from Mumbai to Chandigarh to ensure that my mother's layover time at Mumbai airport is reduced.

Firstly, despite innumerous calls, I did not get any response from the company's customer care representatives, however, after more than 10-15 calls by me from Chandigarh and my brother from London, they picked the call but kept on transferring the matter to different sections of their company and I had to repeatedly contact the customer care representatives for resolution. Finally, after getting a response that flights cannot be changed, I then requested to at least provide with a nearby hotel accommodation for this increased layover time, so that my mother can rest and to assure her convenience as the layover time is during the night. To this, the company again denied to provide accommodation and told me that I need to contact the Virgin Atlantic Airlines for the resolution. Also, they forcefully tried to close the complaint case when we were not satisfied with the resolutions they were providing.

My brother from London contacted the Virgin Atlantic Airlines through call as asked by MakeMyTrip, and he was shocked to hear from them that they cannot do anything to resolve this matter and he must contact MakeMyTrip for resolution as the booking has been made through them.

Both the companies put the responsibility on each other which is extremely irresponsible and unacceptable.

Upon repeated requests, MakeMyTrip assured that they will try and ccordinate with the Airlines to arrange accommodation for my mother and hence, I became hopeful of a satisfactory resolution. However, just a day before the flight, they denied the accommodation request which again has questioned the authenticity and effective customer care promises of these companies. This did not provide me enough time to think and arrange an alternate travel plan for my mother.

This issue is a serious matter of concern as my mother is a senior citizen and an elderly person who cannot stay for so long keeping in view that she is traveling alone and is old. The waiting time is during night and considering her age and gender, I feel insecure about her well being.

Because both the companies did not entertain the matter and suggested to cancel the flight, which I feel is totally irresponsible behaviour on behalf of such reputed organisations, my mother had to suffer all the inconvenience and ill treatment keeping in view the current pandemic scenario where a lot of precautions are also to be taken.

This has put me and my mother in a tense situation.
Therefore, after trying every possible way, now I am complaining about their bad service and irresponsible customer care service.

I thereby, want to demand for an accommodation for the convenient layover of my old mother or an action must be taken against them for the harassment and inconvenience that they have caused.

I have attached the screenshots the flight booking details and emails.