Location/place: Patna
Four days ago my wife received a call from the number +91 9654890191 by Piyush Jain. He was selling a 7 night 8 days holiday package for INR 6999. He represented himself as an executive of GreatIndiaTravels.in which is a partner of India Mart. He also sent email from the email id: [email protected] confirming the same package. My wife asked him to speak to me directly.
Piyush called me on Friday the 6th of July 2012 and explained the package I told him that I am not aware about such schemes and your company. He asked me to log on to Indiamart.com and see the great india travels banner on their website. I explained it to him that I’m still not convinced about their authenticity as its just an advertising banner and it doesn’t say anywhere that they are his partners. He then passed on the phone to a guy named Abhinav who represented himself as a Senior executive in GreatindiaTravels. He explained to me how genuine this offer is and I shouldn’t worry bout the authenticity of this deal and the company. I told Abhinav that I won’t be able to avail this offer as you require 30 days prior notice and I am planning a holiday next week. I don’t have time to receive the voucher which you send by post in 10 days time. On hearing this Abhinav confirmed that he will do it online for me and once I have made the payment he will book it for me for next week. He said this is an exclusive offer and he will do it for me for next week as a promotion. He handed over the phone to Piyush Jain who checked and confirmed the availability of the Hotel Dar-E-Salam in Srinagar from 19th July to 23rd July for a Premium Suite inclusive everything.
I felt it a little dodgy and asked him to call back tomorrow by the time I could do some research on the company. He said this deal is just for today and he will not be able to give it to me the next day to which I ended up the conversation saying it will be my bad luck then.
I received another call yesterday which is Monday the 9th of July 2012 from the number +91 9654890191. The guy represented himself as Danish one of the sales executive of Great India travels. He said he is calling directly from the Hotel Booking Department. This was so cheeky as I was told last week by Piyush that the deal will be over that day. I sensed it is as a sales technique. I told Danish that I contacted the hotel Dar-E-Salam in Srinagar and they confirmed there is no rooms availability on such dates and they have no tie up with greatindiatravels.in. He convinced me that their tie up is with RCI and they book the rooms in advance and just pay the maintenance cost to the hotel. He then confirmed me the availability after checking his system that a Premium Suite room is available from 19th to 23rd of July 2012 in Hotel Dar-E-Salam in Srinagar. When I asked him to send an email confirming the availability he said he can’t do it now as he is not permitted to do so. Danish said he will stay on the phone with me and once I have made the payment he will book the hotel and send me the room confirmation along with the Room number within 30 minutes. He transferred my call to another department and i spoke to a guy named Sikandar who took me to their website greatindiatravels.in. When I told him that my booking is for the next week and Danish already confirmed it so I shouldn’t check the 30 day prior notification checklist. He said do not worry as 30 days is just for international booking and my booking is dealt with high priority and I will get the same hotel and dates i have been promised. I made a full payment of INR 5499. Following are the details:
Date: 09-07-2012, 13:43:06, The Transaction iD: 21114388, Payment ID: 9481002, Merchant Ref No: MCRPD2F75GHAY
I have also mentioned in the details section of the payment page about the hotel and the dates which i was confirmed by Danish.
After making the payment I was transferred back to the executive named Danish. He said he is transferring me to the verification team and asked me to confirm my address with them which I did.
After confirming my details he hung up the phone on me. After 2 minutes I received another call from the number +91 9654890191. A guy named Mayank Chaudhri was on phone. He said I will receive a voucher by post in 10 days time and then I will have to notify them at least 30 days prior to booking for the dates and hotel I want. I WAS STUNNED. I told hi that i already have discussed this with Abhinav, Piyush, Danish and Sikandar that I am going next week and they have confirmed this to me. He didn’t listen to me and started telling me the terms and conditions of the package. When I asked him that I wanna speak to Danish he said he has gone to Lunch. It was so disbelieving that a guy who was on phone with me for past 30 minutes just went to lunch 2 minutes ago without even completing our conversation. I told Mayank that why do you not confirm it with your executive Danish who made these statements. He did not listen to me. I told him that i was confirmed by Danish that i will receive a confirmation for the booking and my room number details within 30 minutes after i have made the payment. Mayank did not listen to me. He did not check with his executives about the false commitments made to me. He was just not ready to listen. He said he is passing it to the verification team and they will call me tomorrow. He just hung up.
Today on 10th of July when I did not receive any calls from your team, I tried calling back the same number from which i received the calls yesterday. +91 9654890191. The number never connects and keeps telling its switched off. Then I went on your website and took your helpline number 0120-6722100. I called this number and spoke to Raj Tripathy who represented himself as the team leader. He gave me two other numbers ( 0120-6722105 0120-6799805-809) and asked me to call for this issue and disconnected the call. I kept trying these numbers for 45 minutes but no one answered. I called back again and spoke to Raj Tripathi but i was told he is busy in a meeting. I asked him that I want a full refund and they said they can not do it. The guy disconnected the phone after saying that. Since then I have received three – four calls from the same number +91 9654890191 and they asked me if i am happy with the package. As soon as i tell them that no i want a refund they hung up on me. This is unprofessional. This is cheating.
According to Distance Selling Regulations I am entitled for my full refund. On your website greatindiatravels.in, Under the terms and conditions section the bottom line clearly says that a customer is eligible for the refund within 20 days of the purchase. By law you are supposed to record your calls and you can check what i have been committed by your representatives.
As an evidence, I have a complete log of your calls, emails, list and names of representatives I have spoken to. I have a screenshot of the terms and conditions from your website and a screenshot of my transaction.
I need a full explanation of why i was treated like this and why I was targeted for this scam. Was it just a cheap sales tactic? I want you to issue me a full refund with immediate effect. If I do not receive any calls from you and my money has not been credited to my account within 24 hours, I will lodge an F.I.R. with the local Police and press charges of cheating and fraud against your company and all the personnel involved to the Cyber Crime Department and the Consumer Court .
Awaiting Response
Saquib Khan
Interactive Technology Specialist
iDreamz . London
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