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E-book air tickets, land in trouble

Khushboo Narayan
CNN-IBN
Posted Wednesday, September 06, 2006 at 07:34
Updated Wednesday, September 06, 2006 at 08:06 Email  Print

TICKETING TURBULENCE: That air journey could get difficult if you're not careful while e-booking tickets.

Mumbai: Everyday, for the past nine months, Manish Garg of Bangalore has been spending hours daily writing mails to Air Deccan. But he has not recieved a single acknowledgement as yet.

Last year in November, his account was wrongly debited twice for a ticket he booked through the airline.

Since then it has been an endless wait for him to get his money back.

So, the next time you book your air ticket online think twice. Chances are things could go wrong and you may end up not getting your money back.

"For the first few months, when I spoke to the call centre they kept on saying that my refund will be processed in the next 15 days," says Garg.

Finally, when the airline did respond, it came as a disappointment for Garg.

In its response, Air Deccan says since it is an old case, the bank does not have payment details.

Now the company will have to check all transaction details and will send a cheque to the customer within 20 days.

But Garg is not the only one. Air india's customer Priya Maheshwari is facing a similar problem.

"I called up the customer service centre but they did not respond. Later when I wanted to speak to the supervisor they did not respond and said I cannot speak to the supervisor," says Maheshwari.

Air India in its response says it is looking into the matter and will revert soon.

Garg and Maheshwari are not the only ones.

The TV-18 network has received complaints from several other consumers struggling to get refunds.

It's clear that with increasing number of consumers going online, airline companies may need to do more to beef up their systems.

(With Anitl Sharma in Jaipur)

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This is not suprising. I faced a similar incedent with Jet. I cancelled by ticket and was denied refund for...

Shrikant

I have faced similar problem in Air Deccan in Feb. 2006. i booked online Ticket for Jamnagar - Mumbai ,...

Maqshood Khalif

I am also one among the traveller trying to get refund from one of the Low cost airlines. I had...

Abhi

I had a similar experience with Kingfisher Airlines. I was booking a ticket in thier website, after I punched in...

Sateesh

Even i faced the same situation as Garg. I had booked 2 tickets by Kingfisher Airlines on 18th of June...