Apr 12, 2011 01:22 PM
11198 Views
I write this on behalf of the 30 tour participants of the Far East Tour from 23-Dec-10 to 1-Jan-11 managed by Raj Tours & Travels. My letter to the management team reproduced below is comprehensive. Post the fiasco, the utter lack of concern on the part of the customer "dis" service team makes me wonder about the vast difference between wht they advertise (the Sun) and what they deliver (pluto!). Several visits to their headoffice and several calls to their team incl.
Mr.Bharathbhai, Mr.Bhalchandra Shelke, Ms. Chaitali, Ms.Swati, Mr.Sushil among others have not yeilded the anticipated refund. The horror story unfolds as below. Briefly, we were left in a foreign land literally on the road with no accommodation at the end of the tour when most ppl. were short on liquid funds :
To,
Representatives and the Management at Raj Travels Pvt. Ltd.
This is regarding the fiasco in my group tour with Raj Travels in Far East package (Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore) during 23-Dec-10 to 01-Jan-11. Following is an objective assessment of events as they unfolded (in chronological order):
28-Dec-10: Day 6 of the tour: We are informed by Mr.Sushil Ahuja (Tour Leader) in the evening that we won’t be having any overnight accommodation at Genting Highlands on the following day (29-Dec-10) despite stay being part of the communicated itinerary. My well-travelled friends have opined that Genting Highlands is by far the best place to stay in all parameters for a holiday (great climate, good view and facilities) and a very vibrant nightlife. Some have stated that not staying at Genting is like not having visited Malaysia. Worse news followed.
30-Dec-10: We are told that we will have to check out of the Grand Chancellor hotel on 31st Dec early morning and there is absolutely no accommodation available in Singapore and that Raj Travels has failed to book hotels and arrange for any alternative accommodation in the whole country of Singapore, which is supposed to be the best location in all of Asia (& probably the world) for spending New Year’s eve (31st Dec evening and night). We are asked to make a quick decision about whether we should go back to a different country viz. Malaysia for stay from 11 pm on 31st Dec10 to 3 Am on 1st Jan 11 with the added physical & mental harassment of having to move around with heavy luggage and having to go through the detailed immigration formalities in Malaysia and Singapore twice. We had categorically rejected this incomparable option at the outset and communicated the same clearly to the Team leader promptly, clearly and without any scope for doubt. While the Team leader declined to assist in providing any comparable and viable alternatives, phone calls to the Head office in Mumbai, India were not answered despite calls being made during regular office hours as per Indian Standard Time in Mumbai.
Am surprised as to the highly unprofessional behavior of all the concerned Raj Travels representatives especially after claiming to receive national awards stating to be best in the industry by Raj Travels in full page advertisements in prestigious and leading newspapers like the Times of India publications. This certainly deserves a review.
Pls. note that as per me, following are breaches of my contract i.e. not fulfilled despite being mentioned clearly in the itinerary:
1) 31-Dec-2010 : No accommodation in Singapore for over 28 hours between early morning on 31st Dec and mid-day on 1st Jan 11 (2 days). No Dinner on 31st Dec 2010 in Singapore. No alternative accommodation in Singapore on 31st Dec10 & 1st Jan 11 (2 days). No alternative to keep our heavy luggage among numerous bags within Singapore. Accordingly, no high season surcharge is due to Raj Travels.
2) Being forced to spend additional money in Singapore on the relatively expensive travel fare, dinner, water among other daily essentials for the entire period of 31st Dec 10 and 1st Jan 11 that a stay in a foreign country entails. Pls. understand that this was in the 2nd half of the trip when majority of the fellow passengers (including myself) were low on cash balances and without access to any currency (Indian ATM cards couldn’t be used in Singapore and Malaysia to withdraw cash). This has caused me great stress, many embarrassing situations and high levels of worry. I also did not have a mobile phone so as to be able to contact anybody and try to make my own arrangements and was literally on the streets of a foreign country for the entire night of 31-Dec-11. Could not even get a vehicle on time for reaching the Singapore Changi airport on time.
I truly believe that I would have been much better off had not taken done this Far East tour at all and simply stayed back in Mumbai itself.
3) Failure on the part of Raj Travels to get us tickets for the Song of the Sea show – the major attraction at Sentosa, Singapore.
4) 29th Dec 10: No overnight stay at Genting Highlands in Malaysia despite being part of the itinerary.
5) 30th Dec 10: Not being shown the Singapore Flyer (comparable to the London eye). Despite being part of the itenerary and as confirmed by the tour leader.
6) Absolutely no communication from any representative of Raj Travels Pvt. Ltd. 29th Dec10 onwards. Phone calls made to the Headoffice in Mumbai went unanswered. Severe mental trauma was caused to me as a direct result of all of the above.
We request you to kindly compensate me for all of the above negative events promptly.
We are considering strict punitive legal action against the Raj Travels group for this breach of contract and utter callousness in mending the damage. Certainly, am never advising anyone any tour with this money minded group.
