Mar 21, 2007 06:06 PM
7169 Views
When I read the other review on Hammock I realized that they have not changed too much after all these years. Old habits do die hard.
I am referring to an incident of November 2002. My wife and I had gone on a short Kerala trip arranged by Hammock. At first it seemed that they were knowledgeable and were able to advise us so that we would have a good experience. A Dussera rush delayed the trip but finally we started off from Bangalore for backwater trip followed by a Thekkady(Periyar Jungle) trip.
Hammock had led us to understand it would be a Alleppy-Quilon trip that would cover trips through the famous canals. After about four hours into the cruise a feeling of gloom settled in. I realized that irrespective of whatever we had expected and led to believe, we had actually embarked on a version that covered none of the canals. We spend the entire day over a vast expanse of water and rice fields.
At night we anchored near a village and next morning the houseboat went back to a drop off point that was far from the resort, over a an hour earlier than the committed end time. On the way we passed through a couple of canals that rubbed in the experience that we had expected - and paid for - but did not enjoy.
On returning I got in touch with Mr. Chandran, who runs the business. After a long discussion and a few emails Mr. Chandran came up with the story that we had signed up and paid for an Alleppy-Alleppy tour. In fact he said we had consciously chosen this tour over the other.
After washing his hands off all responsibility he wrote, "We would like to take full responsibility for the lack of being able to fulfill your expectation on a long deserved holiday. Kindly let us know what we can offer as compensation, so that we could get back to the houseboat operator for the same."
To top it off Mr. Chandran went on to write. "As I was going through your file, I realised that Rashmi had made a mistake in invoicing. In our Invoice No.7148 dated 28/10/02, though she has entered the Periyar House - Thekkady stay, she had not filled in the amount, which is Rs.1397/-. In other words, she has short collected Rs.1, 397/- & our receipts are also issued accordingly."
Well perhaps it was my fault after all. It did not issue a request for proposal or sign a contract with Hammock that detailed out the scope of services. My wife and I merely talked to them face to face and over the telephone for a few days. We took them on their face value. I did not double check by making use of the information that was freely and easily available over the Internet.
What more can I expect from an average Indian business house? No wonder "Caveat Emptor" is a principle that is firmly accepted by the sale of goods act.
