Aug 03, 2013 10:51 AM
1122 Views
We were cheated by this travel and hospitality company recently. They provide bungalows on rent in popular hill stations like Lonavala, Matheran, Alibaug. I saw their ad on one of the website and asked them about a 4BHK bungalow in lonavala. The website address is https://lonavalaholiday.weebly.com/bungalow-no2-4bhk.html. The photos on the website were very attractive.
They said that it was available and the amount was 17000 for the weekend. I was asked to pay 10000 in advance through net banking and was later told to pay the remaining amount when we reached the bungalow. I paid 10000 to them through netbanking. After 2 days, they changed their stand and told me to pay the full payment 1-2 days before the check-in.
Again after 2 days, they again changed their stand and told me to pay full payment immediately as bungalow owner had another group who were ready to pay bigger amount to them. I paid the full amount to them immediately.There was no invoice or bill sent to me of the amount.
Later when I called the caretaker he told me that the room was not available at the said date as there was some meeting to happen there. After making repeated calls to the travel agency they assured me that your booking was confirmed and there would be no issues.
But this was not the end. When we reached the so-called bungalow, we found that it was not a bungalow at all. It was a two 2 BHK flats combined in an apartment on the ground floor. And they call it a bungalow. Ha! Also, the rooms including the toilets were very dirty and nothing was like what was shown in the photos. The travel agency had mentioned that there would be utensils and plates in the kitchen for use.
But the condition of utensils and plates was so bad that you would not even touch them. The caretaker was of no use as he had just ran away after giving us the keys.
On the next day, there was no water in the bungalow and even after calling the caretaker multiple times there was no response from him or help available to get the water. We ourselves had to buy the water from outside or fill it from the building premises. On returning to Mumbai when we called the travel agency, they refused to accept any of these complaints and admit that it was their fault.
This was our experience so we request all the readers you not to do any dealings or transactions with them.
