WARNING-DO NOT BOOK YOUR TRIP WITH THOMAS COOK “CUSTOMER CARE” ( FRAUDS)
because of bad health I'm sharing my feedback little late ( EUROPE SUPER BUDGET TRIP-6TH TO 16TH JULY) but as I had so much to write I was not in any hurry but took my time so that no other innocent customer face what I faced
My Ordeal before you guys gets a briefing of my experience with Thomas Cook.
Beware of Thomas Cook India Limited’s international holiday SCAM.
They offer you a Fake Bargain deal for their own Internal Targets.
Misleading customer service by the agents who DO NOT remediate for any issue after the payment is made in full ( INR 5, 70, 000) for a Super Budget Europe Trip.
Wrong visa guidance which led to the UK visa denial, due to this I had to repay for the tickets on my own after a promised refund from my initial FULL payment. ( No refund has been issued so far) .
A mix of miserable and ridiculous hotel experience in a foreign land ( Paris) .
Thought I had paid a top dollar to treat my parents, however, the expectation of the dream trip with my beloved parents has left me with WOEFUL memories.
I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THOMAS COOK. The worst travel experience I’ve ever had.
The piece of the story perhaps may forewarn the prospective tourists about Thomas Cook’s formula on how to fleece the unwary common man that has been the hallmark of false commitments.
Like any common man, I planned Europe trip to my parents who are in their 70’s and wanted to make it the most memorable trip ever. I called Thomas Cook and spoke to ( VIPUL) who offered me a Super Budget Europe Trip, even after being low on my funds, I agreed to the offer which raised my budget to 5.7lakhs for 3 people including the extra charges I had to pay later. He took the initial payment of INR 1, 70, 613, disappeared and never called nor wrote back with the further movement of the trip. I only had 20 days to apply for the visa ( both Schengen and UK) , I get an email from a lady named ( PRIYANKA) asking me for the remaining balance of INR 2, 39, 250. When I enquired about the visa procedure, she insisted to provide any and said the visa will be applied only after settling the full and final amount, I wasn’t convinced, however, respected their terms and paid off the remaining balance.
I received a call from Jaipur who represented himself as a Visa consultant who asked me to present myself as unemployed even after working for a reputed bank. He further insisted saying the visa will be denied if I show myself as employed. I felt a little twisted but I had no other go. Hence I applied; to my surprise, my visa was rejected. There was neither a proper comment nor any reaction from Thomas Cook regarding the UK Visa denial. My parents got their visas approved however I was left alone. Upon the UK visa denial, I decided not to take Thomas Cook’s help for Schengen visa, approached a visa attorney who conveyed that the entire procedure followed by Thomas Cook was not pleasing he also mentioned that we can’t change the documentation as European visa process follows a same coordinate system throughout the nation and he advised me to add a College ID to prove that I am studying and preparing for my Government Exams in India. Shengen Visa was applied a week before the departure date which was the 7th. I had to send a number of emails in between but none of them were answered. I called the customer support but couldn’t get a hold of any ( 18002099100) .After calling them a million times a guy named ( RAJENDER) came into the picture and put me into fault for the visa denial and said departure flight ticket was canceled due to no-show, he further asked me to buy a cheap ticket on my own and the amount will be refunded. After appealing them so many times to ensure the information provided is true they gave me a Manager’s email Id, his name was ( NILESH) who never called me back nor responded to my emails.I expected my part of the refund for the UK as I had a refusal. ( Not a single person responded over this issue later) .
I was concerned for my parents journey as I couldn’t accompany them during the UK visit, they provided me a number and said that there will be a Thomas Cook personnel inside Delhi Airport who accompanies the tourists in checking the baggage and filling all the documentation, to my surprise there was no one inside and the number provided was a UK number which I was not aware off until my friend from the USA told me that it’s an International number. When I spoke to UK representative ( Beena), she said she has no clue of what happens at the airport in India and we had to make our own proceedings. Well, nothing left than guiding my parents over the phone and they fly.
It was my turn to take off the flight to Paris on July 7th, 3 hours prior to my departure the great manager Nilesh calls me and tells me that my return ticket from Geneva was also cancelled, he further asked me to book my own return ticket again by calling Emirates and Thomas Cook would compensate with minimal reduction. Emirates had no clue regarding this. I was left with no money; I called my friends in USA and had to take their help in booking the ticket which was INR 41000. Here is what Thomas Cook told me, I was supposed to be received by their agent in Paris however no agent was present at the airport, no surprise, had to travel alone to their hotel by spending an extra 50 Euros, after reaching the hotel the hotel guys said they were not aware of any reservation being made by Thomas Cook and need a reference email, after waiting 8 hours outside the hotel, I went inside and pleaded with the hotel guys, with courtesy they allowed me to use their WIFI, I contacted the UK number which was given to me and after a long argument I somehow managed to get the hotel booking reference number, after entering the rooms, we were left with pathetic service, were there was no air condition, no lights, and no room service at all, in fact the whole group who came to Paris from UK complained the same. This is what is being done by the so-called scammers who are taking advantage of people. I was sick from the mental pressure I had to handle all those days and finally had to stand by my decision to write this so that nobody falls into this kind of trap.
In the overall trip, the only person who was responsible and well maintained was Beena. I appreciate all her efforts yes, She was the only responsible representative from the whole Crew who actually knew what her dut is been and performed it with utmost perfection. very punctual and yes a genuine human being, not a machine, thank you so much been for being there and always being concerned for mom”S Jain food.
I would further move on with filing a case with consumer court due to the heavy loss which incurred. I had to take a personal loan to make every needful attempt to make this trip wonderful, however, no promise was kept. Who will answer this? Every moment was expensive. I also attached the chain of emails sent asking me for the payment without any resolution.
