Beware of your next online hotel booking, it may be a killjoy

Beware of your next online hotel booking it may be a killjoy Ask Rahul Kumar 49 name changed who was left stranded at Dabolim airport here with his family and friends after a reputed firm Expedia India failed to inform him about the cancellation of his advance booking The bizarre incident comes to light at a time when the central government has taken cognisance of many consumer grievances arising out of online ecommerce companiesRepresentational pictureThe incident which took place in the last week of December when Kumar who had paid around Rs 1 lakh in advance to book hotel accommodation for six people including a 10yearold but was left stranded shows how vulnerable Indian consumers are when the service standards of a major travel ecommerce player like Expedia India are found wantingIn this particular incident the company apparently forgot to tell Kumar that his booking had been cancelled even though it knew about it nearly 15 days in advanceI got to know about the cancellation only after I reached Goa I found out about it after I called up the hotel to get directions Kumar told IANSI tried reaching out to Expedia India for over eight hours that day but in vain My call was transferred over six times to different customer care representatives and still no resolution was offeredThe hotel owner name withheld informed IANS that Expedia India was aware of the booking cancellation in advance and that the ecommerce player had even taken the responsibility of rebooking the guest at no extra costEmails exchanged between Expedia India and the hotel concerned and accessed by IANS show that the ecommerce player had taken the responsibility of lodging Kumar and his family but failed to do soWhen contacted Expedia Indias spokesperson said On behalf of Expedia we deeply regret and apologise for the inconvenience caused to the customer A full refund of the booking has been processed already and we are working to address the requisite gaps to ensure that such incidences are avoided in futureThe nightmare of the holidaymakers did not end with just the lastminute cancellation of hotel bookingKumar said that despite repeated conversations with Expedia India and receiving repeated assurances he was offered no alternative or refund As a result he had to in peak holiday season make a lastminute booking at an exorbitant price at another hotel that was not even remotely as good as the one he had bookedIt was a double whammy for me I had booked the package in advance made the payments in advance and had to again book another hotel at an exorbitant price just because Expedia India failed to inform me about the cancellation before I landed in Goa with my wife and kid All this was avoidable Kumar saidThe great irony is that anytime you make a booking on Expedia it insists theres no need to reconfirm the bookings Anytime you call up their customer care you get the same message repeatedly What happened with us was a big joke and an absolutely harrowing one at that Rahul addedAdding insult to injury instead of rebooking us they came back to me after a few days offering a compensation of Rs 3000 in coupons to be availed with my next booking This behaviour of Expedia India is way below the standards expected of an international brandAccording to industry insiders incidents like these erode the trust of people in ecommerce platforms and may prompt the government to come out with guidelines similar to those being enforced for flight cancellationsMore horrendous is the fact that millions domestically use the online booking platforms which promise customers the moon but cant even deliver a hotel roomConsumer rights activists say such cases highlight the need for the Consumer Protection Bill 2018 to be passed by Parliament The legislation was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday and is expected to be passed during the Budget SessionCommenting on the need of a strong consumer protection bill that will also deal with ecommerce George Cheriyan Director CUTS International said that an important provision of the Bill is that a consumer complaint can be filed at the place where the complainant resides which is a clear move from the caveat emptor to caveat venditorCatch up on all the latest Mumbai National and International news hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go