Abhishek's 6 days trip to Kashmir
I had booked my family's (4 adults) travel package to Kashmir for 5N/6D with Shayas Tour & Travel agent (Mr. Shabbir). Prior to the booking confirmation from my side, Mr. Shabbir was very polite and quick in responding to any questions both via whatsapp and phone when we were discussing on the quotation shared by him. However, once the booking was confirmed and partial payment was made by me, I slowly realized after a few days that he had actually tried to cheat me when I saw the hotel booking voucher for the first time.
Instead of booking 2 separate deluxe rooms, he had booked a family room without asking me at 2 of the 3 hotels to save money. I asked him to change the rooms for which he was reluctant initially and made excuses about room availability. Then, I called up the hotels directly and found out that the rooms were actually available, and the agent (Mr. Shabbir) had not approached the hotels to make any changes. Only after I told the same to Mr. Shabbir, he contacted the hotels and got the rooms changed. This indicates his attitude of trying to fool the customer in the first place.
Next, on reaching Srinagar, I found out that Mr. Shabbir had given the contract for the vehicle (Innova) to a third party (Mr. Kaiser) who directly called me and immediately demanded extra money for the AC charges (Rs. 500/- per day) saying that my booking was for a Non-AC vehicle. When I checked my booking voucher, it did not specify anything regarding AC or Non-AC against the vehicle Innova. I informed this to Mr. Shabbir the next morning and he shared me an old voucher which I had already declined (due to family room) where it was mentioned Non-AC at the bottom that I had missed to note because I had immediately declined that voucher on seeing a Family room booked instead of 2 separate deluxe rooms. Anyhow, I acknowledged this as an oversight on my part also and agreed to pay partial amount for the AC after speaking to Mr. Shabbir.
But, on reaching Pahalgam, I was shocked to note that Mr. Shabbir had booked a cheap Ecco vehicle to save money for our tour to ABC valleys for which he had actually charged me Rs. 2500/- The Ecco was very uncomfortable. However, we were able to only cover Aru and Betaab valleys before it got dark in the evening and hence Chandanwaari valley could not be covered. As such, only 1800/- were paid to the Ecco driver leading to 700/- saving for Mr. Shabbir. I did inform this to Mr. Shabbir for which he did not say anything.
Next, on 4th day evening, the driver asked us about our plan for the next (5th day) which was Sonmarg as per our itinerary. On hearing about it, the driver suggested that as there is no snow in Sonmarg currently, and the Srinagar-Sonmarg route has similar scenery as the one we already saw during our Srinagar-Pahalgam journey, either we go to a different place or leave from the hotel at 7 AM sharp to avoid traffic jam if we insist on going to Sonmarg only. On thinking about the 2 alternative places suggested by the driver, I liked one place called Sinthan Top having snow. It was at an additional 25-30 km distance as compared to Sonmarg from Srinagar, but could be easily managed to reach within 3.5 hours as per the driver himself. So, this seemed to be a good alternative to Sonmarg which I conveyed to Mr. Kaiser who initially seemed fine with this proposal. But, around 10.30 pm, Mr. Kaiser called me and said that as the trip to Sinthan Top would lead to additional distance of around 60-65 km. he would not be able to include it due to additional fuel cost. On the other hand, Mr. Kaiser suggested me to go to DoodhPathri which was at a distance of only 50 km. from Srinagar. I never expected such kind of response knowing very well that I had booked a comprehensive package of hotels with Innova for 5N/6D. So, how does the distance(km) calculation come into play? I had already paid for the Innova for full 6 days of my itinerary. Mr. Kaiser told me to discuss this further with my agent - Mr. Shabbir and that he would agree to take me to Sinthan Top only if Mr. Shabbir allows. Anyway, I did call Mr. Shabbir but he did not pick my call and just asked me to message him (sensing this topic was already discussed between Mr. Kaiser and him). Nevertheless, I did convey my plan to Mr. Shabbir via whatsapp messaging where he simply refused to change destination from Sonmarg to Sintha Top without citing any concrete reasons.
The next morning (5th day) when we woke up, assuming we would have to go to Sonmarg only, it turned out that my elder daughter had caught stomach flu and bad headache..due to which she was in no condition to get out of the hotel room. I conveyed the same to the driver and also told him that he can go to have his breakfast and lunch during the day. In case the situation improves, we might call the driver for a short local visit in Srinagar only. The same thing happened, and we just went out for 2 hours in the evening for a brief visit to a local market in Srinagar.
Finally, on the 6th and last day when we were supposed to fly back to Delhi from Srinagar airport, Mr. Shabbir messaged me to pay the AC charges for the Innova. I told Mr. Shabbir that we could not go to Sonmarg as per itinerary and hence the fuel cost of around 180 km (back and forth from Srinagar to Sonmarg) was saved. Considering this fact, he should not demand us for the AC charges to which he had a long telephonic conference call alongwith Mr. Kaiser on phone, and simply refused to acknowledge the fact that he did save on the fuel cost for the Sonmarg trip that got cancelled. I clearly told him that going by his own logic where he refused to allow us to change the destination from Sonmarg to Sinthan Top just because it incurred additional 60-65 km. fuel cost, now he is denying the fact that he actually saved fuel for 180+ km. After a long debate, he just asked me to pay Rs. 1500/- for the AC to the driver directly, which I did as there was no option left, and I did not want to miss on reaching Srinagar airport in time on the last day. Moreover, I came to know that he instructed the driver to switch off the AC on the last day of the trip.
Besides all of this, Mr. Shabbir failed to communicate to Mr. Kaiser about my travel package inclusions! We had ABC valleys at Pahalgam included and one hour Shikara ride included. But, for both of these inclusions, neither Mr. Kaiser nor the driver were informed in advance. On reaching the particular spot, the driver looked clueless and asked us to go for the rides as if we had to pay for it separately. Only after telling the driver that this activity is already included in our package, the driver would call Mr. Kaiser who would further check with Mr. Shabbir leading to wastage of time and spoiling of our mood at both the occasions.
Overall, it was a very disturbing experience, and all the good moments were marred by the poor and cheating attitude of the travel agent and his travel companion. I would never recommend this agent to any future traveler.
I would also request Travel Triangle to not be associated with such kind of cheat mentality travel agents to protect their own image and to ensure they get recurring business from tourists.
Thanks,
Abhishek Goyal
Dwarka, Delhi
