where/whom to COMPLAIN about TRAVEL/TOUR operator
 

We were in Kerala in Feb 2005 and we were shortchained by TOURINDIA(p)ltd of Trivandrum,Kerala.Any ideas as to how to go about getting our grievences/complaints investigated and get our monies back? Readers thoughts/suggestions are welcome.Thanks.

did you pay with a credit card???

If you want to vent you've come to the right place.

Sorry, hit reply too soon. If you have an interesting complaint maybe the ombudsman at Conde Naste Travel Magazine or Frommers Budget Travel would take it on.

have you tried to contact the CEO of the company directly first before making other complaints?? how about the local tourist office??

also how about the hotel you stayed at during your visit

We prepaid by cash Rs.18,000 to TOURINDIA for a 2 night backwater riceboat cruise around Alleppy on one of their own boats.We wanted to pay by Creditcard,but they required payment in cash.I wish we had paid by Creditcard.Biggest mistake we made.Hopefully,all readers will learn from our mistake.Also,we learned later that the going rate for one bedroom was about Rs 4000.
We have spoken several times with the manager and a director and sent several e-mails while in India and after coming back.They are refusing to accept responsibility.

What actually was the nature of the proplem / complaint?

I've just had a similar experience with a hotel in Mysore. We checked into an air conditioned room and were asked for a credit card to secure the room when we checked in, which we supplied and signed for. When we got to the room, the air conditioning didn't work. They sent the 'boy' to sort it out. After fiddling with it with a screw driver, it worked. We switched it off when we left the room about an hour later. When we returned to the room at about 11pm, it was sufficiently cool to leave it switched off. However, when we tried to turn it on at 1am, it didn't work. We complained the next day & expected to be refunded the additional fee we had paid to get the air conditioning. The receptionist actually laughed and thought we were joking. We explained that we certainly weren't and shouldn't have to pay for substandard service. We suggested that he send someone to check the airconditioning as he obviously thought we were trying it on. The 'boy' confirmed that it was, indeed, broken again. He again asked us to sign the invoice and the manager would speak to us. We refused to sign it until after we spoke to the manager. After waiting for the manager for 10 minutes, we asked how long he would be to find out that he wasn't actually in the building and wasn't expected for an hour! We asked the receptionist to phone the manager. After a long argument in which the manager told us that at 1am, we should have told reception so that they could have moved us into another room, he refused to refund the difference. He said that there was nothing he could do and we really should have moved, even at 1am in our bed clothes. He then hung up and the receptionist asked us once again to sign the invoice. I refused. The receptionist then got very rude and told us we were wasting his time and to get out. We were helpless to do anything but write in their comments book. So, my point is that even if you pay by credit card, once the payment has been taken, there is nothing you can do about it. Credit card companies will not dispute payments that you have authorised and then changed your mind about. We sincerely wish we had not charged our card, but paid by cash. I will never again pay for a service or goods up front in India as customer relations are very sadly lacking. In case you are interested, the hotel in question is 'The Village' in Mysore. We stayed there as a treat to ourselves as it's substantially more expensive than most of the other hotels in Mysore. Obviously, we will not be back and I would highly recommend that it is avoided. We should have got the message when we realised that we were the other people staying in this particular hotel over a busy period! I am curious as to why Craig & Raichand feel it would have been better to pay by credit card?

it surely is difficult to get reimbursed for substandard service/rooms etc...but voicing legitimate complaints on a forum like this will get the word out quickly.

the internet has now become a huge voice for the average traveller.

I would find out if this hotel has a parent company and if so, fire off a letter to the corporate office. Also to the local hotel. I would also notifiy any official tourist group/guild of India that exists.. though a special note about using the Internet to complain, this past month Fr**mmers budget travel magazine had an interesting article that stated that though in the US you can post anything you want online.. in other countries, you can be held legally liable, believe this or not, and several individuals have been charged by local governments for slander posted via online travel clubs etc... this was new information to me.. I belive instances where people are actually sued are rare, but proceed with caution and find out the specifics on how these laws sit in India.That being said, I would definately post on Tripadvisor and other legitimate travel clubs. But sometimes.. at the end of the day, you just have to learn from your mistakes and "write it off" as we did after using ridiculously overpriced cabs in Budapest... thanks for taking the time to post though and I am sorry about your experience.