The intention of the note is to make customers aware of potential discrepancies in GoIbibo’s processes and systems which may affect the value of the ticket or refund resulting in incorrect charging. Unfortunately in absence of any grievance addressing channels handled by a non-customer service division, I have taken this channel to bring this incidence to the notice of customers, regulators (if any), and management.
Background:
I had booked a 2-leg itinerary for 2 passengers. Due to change in travel plans, I had requested for cancellation and rescheduling of the tickets. Cancellation / reschedule process broke at many points and had discrepancies due to which the following issues were observed:
- Only 1 leg of the ticket was cancelled against the two-legs for which the request was made. Reminder message from airlines [2 days before the travel date] helped me identify the issue
- 1st follow-up [2 days prior to the travel date] to cancel the ticket was inaccurately confirmed and acknowledged by CS agent but was not cancelled by the agent
- Upon receiving the check-in reminder from the airline [1 day before the travel date], I had to submit a 2nd follow-up request to cancel the ticket
- Leg 1 refund value was initially calculated as INR 192 by GoIbibo but later contested [nearly 30+ days later]
- 30 days later GoIbibo inaccurately calculated the refund value as INR -58 but after multiple email conversations / calls agreed to refund INR 192
- GoIbibo claims that INR -58 is the correct value and is now offering the refund of INR 192 only as a courtesy and INR 192 was calculated as a result on technical glitch
- In the refund calculation, GoIbibo seems to have excluded convenience fee of INR 250 which explains the difference between the two refund values calculated by GoIbibo
- Leg 2 refund value (INR 322) was inaccurately adjusted in the rescheduled ticket which resulted in overcharging of INR 100 to my credit card
- Detailed invoice provided by GoIbibo indicates the correct value to be charged to the card. However the payment system had inaccurately charged the card
- GoIbibo claims to be facing technical glitches due to which invoices are not updated or accurately generated
Observations:
- Inaccuracies in refund calculations and charging to the customer indicates that these processes are possibly manual in nature and are not reliable. GoIbibo customers should be diligent about the invoicing and charging to avoid any inaccurate charging
- Priority customer service (CS) requests seem to have an aggressive Turn-around Time (TAT) and CS agents seem to rely on unbaked / quickly available information [which may be sometimes inaccurate] to address the query / request. Customers should request for additional information / request confirmation details whenever they suspect inaccuracies in the addressal by customer service
- Unfortunately customer service agents do not provide any details about grievance addressal and relevant regulatory addressal channels. Hence makes one believe that e-commerce industry is NOT regulated and is in dire need of regulations
If you have faced similar challenges / issues with GoIbibo, please share the same in the comments so that prospective customers, regulators (if any), and management is aware of such incidents.
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