Click to play videoMumbai: Next time you book your air ticket online think twice. Chances are you may not get your refund back in time if you decide not to travel. Several consumers have been struggling to get their refunds for months.
Everyday, for the last nine months Manish Garg of Bangalore has been spending hours before his computer writing mails to Air Deccan. But he has not received a single reply as yet.
In November 2005 his account was wrongly debited twice for a ticket he booked through Air Deccan. Since then it has been an endless wait for him to get his money back.
Manish says, “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.”
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 entire transaction details and will send a cheque to the customer within 20 days.
But Manish is not the only one. Air India's customer Priya Maheshwari is facing a similar problem.
Manish adds, “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.”
Air India in its response says it is looking into the matter and will revert soon. Manish and Priya are hardly alone.
TV18 has received complaints from several other consumers struggling to get refunds. With increasing number of consumers going online, airline companies may need to do more to beef up their systems.
With inputs from Anil Sharma
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