A day after this newspaper reported that a family of four from Bandra was not allowed to board an Air India flight to London last month because of an error on the part of the British Embassy staff in Mumbai ('Bandra family misses out on first UK holiday due to British Embassy goof-up', MM, June 7), the national carrier has refunded the ticket fare of Rs 1.57 lakh.
The Kakkar family, which had to cancel the trip, which would have been its first vacation abroad, is still bitter over what it calls "complete lack of responsibility" on the part of the British Embassy.
"The British Embassy staff is at fault. It's because of the carelessness of the staff that our vacation plans have been ruined. But they haven't even bothered to take note of our plight," said Manish Kakkar, who works for a leading telecom company.
Manish and his wife Shalini, along with their 11-year-old twins Tannmay and Tarangg, were offloaded from an Air India flight to London on May 14 after the airline officials at the Mumbai airport found that Tannmay's passport number did not match with the one mentioned in his visa.
It took five days for the mistake to be rectified, as the boy's passport was sent to the British Embassy in Delhi. By that time, the family's hotel bookings had been cancelled and they had to cancel the trip. Initially, Air India asked the family to pay Rs 10,500 for fresh tickets, showing them as no-show passengers (those who don't turn up for the flight).
Manish said the British Embassy has refused to compensate the family, saying the onus was on the flyers to check the visa details.
09/06/16 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror
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The Kakkar family, which had to cancel the trip, which would have been its first vacation abroad, is still bitter over what it calls "complete lack of responsibility" on the part of the British Embassy.
"The British Embassy staff is at fault. It's because of the carelessness of the staff that our vacation plans have been ruined. But they haven't even bothered to take note of our plight," said Manish Kakkar, who works for a leading telecom company.
Manish and his wife Shalini, along with their 11-year-old twins Tannmay and Tarangg, were offloaded from an Air India flight to London on May 14 after the airline officials at the Mumbai airport found that Tannmay's passport number did not match with the one mentioned in his visa.
It took five days for the mistake to be rectified, as the boy's passport was sent to the British Embassy in Delhi. By that time, the family's hotel bookings had been cancelled and they had to cancel the trip. Initially, Air India asked the family to pay Rs 10,500 for fresh tickets, showing them as no-show passengers (those who don't turn up for the flight).
Manish said the British Embassy has refused to compensate the family, saying the onus was on the flyers to check the visa details.
09/06/16 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror
