Oct 05, 2017 09:15 PM
37732 Views
This was the first time I have booked any holiday with Thomas Cook and having traveled extensively around the world, I can vouch for the fact that this has been the most horrendous experience. I had booked the Beautiful Uttarakhand 5N/6D Package(43, 000 INR CP). The booking was from Delhi to Corbett - Hrishikesh - Mussorie - back to Delhi. Below is the summary of the terrible experience and the ordeal:
1.Even after I made the complete payment at one go, they kept sending me confirmation and notification mails that my pending payment needs to be made.
2.After having made the complete payment at one go, they sent me someone else's quote which was four months old asking for payment.
3.During booking, they confirmed to me a particular resort and after booking, they kept stating that the booking has been made as per my choice but at the last minute when the booking vouchers were sent, the resort was changed. When asked, Thomas Cook after sales team based at Mumbai stated that they have blocked a better resort for me than the one I has chosen.
After 8 hours drive from Delhi to Corbett, and driving the last leg of almost 4 to 5 kms into the buffer zone of the jungle in pitch darkness(no prior travel advisory was provided and even the driver of the cab company provided by Thomas Cook was extremely upset about the harrowing drive in complete darkness without any proper route marker) I found out that the resort was under renovation and closed for customers.
Thomas Cook had sent the vouchers to us but had not sent any confirmation mail to the hotel. At 8 pm, me and my mother who is aged were standing in the lobby of the resort which was filled with construction material and dirt and was smelling musty and was dark. The resort manager was called by the security guards, who came after half an hour and he was equally shocked at seeing us. He informed us that the resort was under renovation and that they did not have any booking. When I called Priyanka(Thomas Cook after sales coordinator) on the emergency number that she had provided us, she listened and never reverted with any solution. She hung up and even after the second call, there was no response from her side. Immediately, she must have realized her mistake and immediately sent the email to the resort while we were waiting out the horror. However, the resort manager could not do much at that time as the damage was already done. He was nice enough to go an extra mile and arrange for an accommodation in another resort nearby. We never heard back from the Thomas Cook office till we again called Priyanka when we reached Mussorrie as the confirmation was not sent by Thomas Cook there as well.
Our second stop after Corbett was Hrishikesh. We were booked at The Narayana Palace and parts of the hotel too was under renovation and we were given a filthy, dirty, musty room with paan stain on the walls. As per Thomas Cook all our bookings were supposed to be in at least a three-star category hotels and resorts. After speaking to the hotel manager myself, the room was changed and we were given a cottage. Next stop was Mussorrie where we were booked in the Sun and Snow Hotel. There as well, the confirmation of the booking was not sent and the hotel was under renovation with 5 to 6 stray dogs sleeping in the lobby and once again the resort manager had to be contacted and the resort manager and his assistant, Tusheeta were extremely helpful to arrange a good room for us. Everywhere we had to personally arrange for our stay, so ideally there was no coordination or service delivery from Thomas Cook who are supposed to be the mediators to ensure that the holiday of the customer is hassle free.
We could not enjoy the vacation and it was more of a nightmare than a relaxation.
Even after several calls to Priyanka and email to the Thomas Cook team, I have not heard back from them. This simply shows that they just don't care once they sell the packages. Terrible mistake on my part that I made the booking blindly just because I believed they are an established brand name. Horrible Service delivery.
To summarize how they operate, the below pointers are self explanatory:
1.Extremely unprofessional.
2.The currently thrive on just the name.
3.Lack of coordination between Thomas Cook and the actual service providers(hotels/resorts/cab companies/guides).
4.Thomas Cook Team has no idea about ground reality. They never make any surveys or field studies.
5.No real-time and genuine travel advisory.
6.Post sales team is pathetic and most of the time the emergency contact numbers are unreachable, switched off or unresponsive. They keep passing on the calls to everyone except the person you want to speak with.
