Complaint against travel agent
The trip was booked in Delhi by Aman tours & travel (The Federal). The Indian airlines flight to bagdogra was slightly delayed but very comfortable. We were met at the airport by the local rep. From East Wind Holidays, Siliguri, my local tour operator & after some delay we took the Innova to travel to Gangtok.
While we checked the room at Sidlon Residency, the taxi driver off loaded my luggage & left without our information. We were left stranded because as is usual the tour operators & the hotel authorities did not give us the promised Royal suite (AS ADVERTISED IN THE PHOTOS ON THE LOCAL WEBSITE OF THE SAID HOTEL) at the hotel & instead gave us the family suite which had a lot of smell & dampness.
We all kept waiting in the lobby of the hotel waiting for some help from our travel operators who by then had started avoiding our calls. After 4hrs long wait we had no choice but to check into the same dingy room. I spoke to Mr. Samrat Sanyal, the Director of East Wind Holidays & requested for either a change of room/change of hotel with extra payment/return to Delhi the next flight available. He was very helpful. He at least listened to our problems, unlike Mr. Gurpreet the Director of The Federal, our tour operator in Delhi; he had put his mobile on call transfer to his office no. to avoid any contact with us. It was in the night that the hotel manger felt pity on us & decided to make amends. He gave us a little better, although a category lower room (DOUBLE DELUXE) so as to make us more comfortable.
The next two days passed uneventfully. Gangtok is a beautiful place. Nature has showered this place with so much freshness & beauty that you don’t feel like leaving the place. We traveled in & around Gangtok.
On the 3rd day we were transferred to Lachung which is again a very beautiful place. The journey was very tiresome & long as the approach is very bad & risky. The hotel Fortuna at Lachung was clean & comfortable. Unfortunately the electricity failed at 8PM & was not restored until the next day morning 11AM, when I left the place. But again this place along with Yamthang valley is very beautiful. The approach to Zero point was cut off due a landslide on the way.
On our return we were told that due to landslides we could not go to Nathula pass. We were offered another alternate sightseeing tour instead. However the driver on arrival told us that we could not go to Rumtek Monastery, Botanical Garden or any of the other sites due to landslides. We passed our time at the MG road which perhaps is the cleanest & most beautiful Malls amongst all the hill stations.
We were again surprised when on our way to Pelling, THE SAME DAY, our next destination we found that the way to Rumtek Monastery was open, as we passed right in front of it, with hundreds of vehicles parked there. We now felt cheated by our driver & the tour operator once again. Since it was raining at that time we could not see the Monastery which is one of the most important points in Gangtok.
We shifted to Pelling & reached there by the evening. On our way when I called Hotel Tashigang to find directions, I was surprised again when I was told that the hotel had no reservations for us. I immediately called my local Tour operator/ coordinator Mr. Bhaskar Sarkar, who told me not to worry & that everything will be alright. On reaching the hotel I produced the voucher given by the tour operator & the desk boy reluctantly offered me the keys to my room. I asked for checking the room before I shifted my luggage. I was very curtly told that we were being given a room despite no reservation in advance & should not expect anything more. I had no option but to accept the room in whatever condition it was. But I made it a point to report the arrogance to the Manager of the resort.
We had opted for an extra bed in our double room. I was shocked to see the extra bed when it was set in. The top of the extra bed was in the shape of a bow/saucer. I demanded an appropriate extra bed but was again told that this was the only thing available, the others had accepted it & so should I. I asked to speak to the Manager who had left the resort by that time. The manager talked to me on telephone & very rudely told me
“You have been making a lot of noise ever since you have arrived. I am not used to this kind of nonsense. You should be grateful that I have given you a room despite no advance booking. If you do not stop making a noise, I will forcibly throw you out of the room & the hotel.”
I was shocked to hear these words. I was too scared to go out & have my dinner with my family in such a place fearing the worst. I locked my room from inside & tried in vain all night to sleep. I checked out of the hotel the first thing in the morning & headed for my next destination i.e. Darjeeling.
I was again in for a surprise here as the room given to me was very dirty, full of dampness & without any ventilation. The roof of the toilet was bent in the middle like a ‘v’ as it was about to fall off because of dampness. I had become wise by now. So I went to the reception & offered extra money if I was given a better room. I was glad to be offered a better room which was cleaner & better equipped. I was asked to pay one thousand rupees extra per night which I promptly did after talking to my tour operator, who promptly asked me do so immediately. By now my enthusiasm had fizzed off & I had accepted everything as it was & that made my life more comfortable.
I ended my ordeal by boarding my flight from Bagdogra, back to Delhi.
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