I had asked for trouble free, hassle free holiday and mentioned about how and where I wanted the hotels. I gave her a lot of money to block the hotels. The agent booked hotels for me by giving me their websites. They looked good but whenever i asked the question about the location of the hotels she would tell me that Trust me, i have booked the best for you. Though on few occassions before the booking, I had asked for some hotels which she mentioned were Unavailable. That was almost 3 months before my tour.
My first suspicions aroused when I found out about hotel Laxmi Vilas Palace in Vrindavan.
I found out that this hotel is not in Vrindavan but in Bharatpur which is in Rajasthan. I have 3 kids and how logical is it to give a hotel which is 120 km away from destination. Whenever i asked her about it (right from September), she mentioned it to me that it was 5 minutes away from Vrindavan ISKCON temple. What can you expect a person who is living several hundred km away from India to react after paying up Rs.50K?
I then started checking out other hotels. The hotel in Delhi - Avalon Hotel: It is on the outskirts of Delhi (100km away). I had mentioned to her before I did any booking that I didnt want hotels away from the city. I found out the reality one month before the tour and she told that I would have to pay her retention money if i would cancel it. I checked with the hotel staff and they told me the policy of retention money is only if we cancel 48 hours prior to check in. I mentioned to her several times but as usual, she was too defiant.
However I cancelled the delhi hotel and asked for other hotels. SHe quoted the price of Jaypee Vasant Continental- 11500 Plus taxes. However when I approached the hotel, it quoted me 8500 plus taxes.
I had asked her to book Jaypee Agra palace too which several times she told me was unavailable. However when I checked out Jaypee Agra, they told me that they were available. I asked her that we would like to see the Taj mahal during the night. Howver she informed us that there were no night tours at the Taj Mahal in Agra. When we reached Agra, it was the opposite.
Also my train tickets were booked by her too.- 3 months in advance. However she never bothered to check the dates and timings. My train to Ahmedabad from Jaipur was scheduled on 10th Dec 0:45am and the booking done by her was on 9th Dec 0:45am. I found about the problem 9 days before the train departure. She never apologised for the mistake (she told us it was technical error and she is a qualified chartered accountant) and gave me tickets at the last moment in my jaipur hotel. However we had to run several times at the jaipur station to re check it since she again made a mistake. Our tickets were changed from Rajdhani to Ashram express (no compensation given, no apologies), our familyof five had to travel in two different compartments in all different berths. My kids are 11, 8 and 4 year old.
Also she purpotedly told me that Ashok hotel in Jaipur is kind of 5 star. My family of 5 (2 adults and 3 kids) were told us that it was a suite with 2 bedrooms. However when we reached there, it was just one bed, mouldy bathroom, etc... I paid her money well in advance, however when we wanted to check out we found out tha she didnt pay the money to the hotel.
This happened the second time since that day itself we wasted our two hours in Ranthambore (Hotel Dev Vilas) with the same problem. Though the staff at Hotel Dev Vilas was good, I was told that I would have a suite with 2 bedrooms, again which I didnt get it.
I was charged Rs.40000 for Hotel Dev Vilas in Ranthambore and Hotel Ashok Jaipur (which we didnt stay in). And the misunderstandings created by her between me and my husband when she asked me for my marriage certificate while I was in Rathambore. How would carry a marriage certificate while travelling???
Rathambore Dev Vilas Hotel bill came to around Rs.18000plus and Jaipur Ashok upto Rs6500.
Isnt this day light robbery when she claims that she didnt make any money.
What is the credibility of your travel agents? I was embarrased at both the hotels when I was told that I had to pay up the money. Not only that I had to go and get another hotel for my family in Jaipur - for the same price of Ashok Jaipur I got a better hotel for which I had to again pay up.. There are photos of her enjoying her stay in Holiday Inn jaipur when she gave us a such a bad hotel to us.
I totally paid her Rs.85410 for train tickets, car and 2 hotel bookings. However claims made by her are that she didnt make a single cent from this deal. Where did this money go???
PADHAM Travels, owned by Sangeeta Agarwal, 240, Hallmark Commercial complex, LBS Marg, Mulund (W). Mumbai-90
Telephone no: 25907511/ 9819811440
Email: [email protected]
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