A ticket of Indigo airlines was purchased by me using my own Debit Card. The ticket was for my wife and my child, who is an infant, for travel from Ahmedabad to Kolkata. The date of travel in flight 6E-410 was 14th November, under the booking reference of A5LNLS.
Prior to booking of the ticket, a perusal of the terms and conditions as available on Indigo airline's website, revealed that a traveler was allowed upto 20 Kgs. of check-in luggage without any additional costs with respect to the particular type of booking which I was about to make.
However, every extra kilo over and above this free allowance, would entail a charge of Rs. 100.00 per kilo. Details available on the said airline's website also offered that should a traveler wish to book in advance such extra kilograms for luggage, the same could be had at a 20% discount through online payments at the time of making the booking.
This arrangement appeared reasonable and cost-effective, keeping in mind that many of us often have to cram their luggage at the last minute.
My wife and our daughter, duly checked in well in time at the Indigo counter at Ahmedabad airport on the scheduled date of departure of their flight 6E-410. Their luggage was weighed and was found to be 35 Kgs. in weight. It was at this point of time that confusion and our troubles began.
Indigo Airlines staff manning the check-in counter failed to notice that aside from the free 20 kilos of luggage, we had already paid Rs. 800.00 for another 10 kilos. Hence, it was only natural that a further charge for 5 kilos should have been levied at a rate of Rs. 100.00 per kilo.
Instead, they charged for the entire 15 kilos which formed the luggage weight over and above the free limit of upto 20 kilos.
My wife informed me of this over telephone straight from the airport as we had anticipated that there could be extra baggage charges involved, as without the benefit of a weighing scale at home, there was no way we could accurately determine the weight of our packed luggage.
Immediately, I asked her to rush to the airline's check-in counter and inform them of the mistake. This she did, and also put me on the phone with your authorized personnel manning the counter. Regrettably, by the time she had placed the call to me, she had already paid for the excess baggage using her Debit card.
After carefully going through the bookings and the details of payment made, online, towards extra baggage, Indigo's check-in staff admitted that a mistake indeed had been made. They promised that while charges for 5 kilos of excess baggage shall still apply, the charges levied for the extra 10 kilos will be reversed and that my card, which was used to make the online booking, shall reflect the credit within 3 working days.
Later on, I called up Indigo's customer care help desk to explain the entire sequence of events and seek reassurances that the amount which had been mistakenly billed and collected by your counter staff, shall be refunded. The customer care help desk, while confirming that the refund as promised by the Ahmedabad airport check-in counter shall be reversed, stated that the amount should reflect in my credit card account within the next 48 hours of the call.
Ever since then, I have called Indigo's customer care help desk at an interval of 5 days; every time to have the airline promise me that the amount shall be credited within the next 48 hours.
It is now over a fortnight since I had first taken up this issue with this airline. To my utter astonishment, even to this day no one from this airline has thought of communicating with me on this matter. Nor has the amount, as promised by Indigo, been refunded.
At this point of time, I feel that the airline has adopted a policy of not correcting its own mistakes even if that puts an emotional and mental strain on its patrons. What is more confounding is the fact that for a measly sum of a thousand Rupees, Indigo is willing to put its goodwill and reputation on the line.
Time, most will agree, is very precious for all concerned. This makes it all the more distressing for me to use up this resource in order to bare the circumstances of the case before all and sundry with the intention of seeking a swift and expeditious settlement of the matter.
I trust that Indigo Airlines shall not delay the matter any longer and immediately refund the amount with all speed.
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