E-travel booking sites not foolproof

Last week, a Mumbai air traveller was shocked to find at the check-in counter that her return ticket to Goa had been wrongly booked by an online travel planning website. Instead of June 2, the ticket was booked for June 1, and the return for June 6 instead of June 8. The strange part is that the consumer, who is a banker by profession, received a receipt confirming both the dates. She called up the site's customer care number and was told to send across the complaint. "I then had to book new tickets at a very high price; Rs 7,000 for two tickets, one way."
This case shows up that online travel sites, which book you into airlines, hotels and package tours, are not foolproof. Their software can throw up glitches. Says an airline official, "There could be some kind of a system interface error." Other than wrong dates, online faux pas include booking of only some part of the travel or absolutely no booking at all. The airline official says such errors occur because online booking is still nascent in the country.
In the unfortunate scenario where a consumer discovers such a serious lapse, Nirmala Desikan of Chennai's consumer organisation Concert advises that he or she must gather all the supporting evidence, like the booking ID and e-ticket.
He must send it across to the online company by registered post and ask for reversal of charges to the credit card.
18/06/07 Rucha Biju Chitrodia/Times of India

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Categories: General Aviation Jun 2007, New Jun 2007