when i had to call in for a hotel !!!

I am going to narrate a really bad story here.
Early last week I was booking a flight to DEL and also needed a hotel in Agra (our go-see-Taj-finally, trip). The payment part didn’t go through but I got a message saying such things happen and I was promised that someone would call within 4 (FOUR) hours.

feedback point-1 to note: NOBODY bothered calling me. When I called into your flights department, they were not able to identify me by my login credentials. they however, acknowledged that a booking did exist and helped me conclude that transaction OFF LINE. It is time, you changed the verbiage on your warning message so there is no promise in the first place.

I then got transferred to the hotel department.
I spoke to Akshita/Akshata.
I gave her all my specs on the Agra hotel.
She promised to book and call me back within the hour.
2 hours later I got antsy and called back and found she had left for the day.
The new girl who took my call, had no clue about my booking/specs.
She promised to talk to the first girl and call me back.

I got no call.

I finally gave the booking to someone else (a 3rd girl).
She couldn’t transact fully but a 4th girl called me later in the evening to close the transaction.
13k+ I think for a no-name hotel (2 nights) in Agra.
She promised to send me some booking confirmation.

I was upset at the complete lack of coordination and finesse with the HOTEL section but was ok with the conclusion.

I was off on a little South trip and returned last night (look at my trip sheet with you).

On my return, I looked at all inwards in my mailbag and surprise surprise … Nothing in the inward from Cleartrip.
Nothing in my inbox too.

I called Starwood in BLR (my friend works there) and got myself a room in The Mughal (14k+).

I wrote to your customer support for a confirmation that they have NOT billed me (preemption is better always … I’d hate to see a card statement later and fight a fresh case). Rashmi called. I couldn’t take her call as I was on another line but I spoke to her briefly asking where I should call. She asked me to cal the 30014999 number that was showing on my mobile’s screen.

That number is a disaster.
Interminable queues.
When I did get in, Rashmi was busy.
Others who offered help were incoherent.
Rashmi finally called and said that booking has not happened at all (which explains why I didn’t receive any email/post).

feedback point-2: If this is an external call centre, you should IMHO sack them and get a new one. If this is being run in-house, you have to train them or hire the whole bunch afresh. I run a service company too and I know this is an uphill task.

I’d have headed into a marital discord if this itinerary had broken somewhere (full moons don’t happen often enough). I’m lucky overall in that I got off lightly.

The problem is, I still like your portal but will steer clear of all voice discussions at 30014999 (that is an absolute disaster in my opinion).

cheers,
dv

Venketesh

We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to you.
We thank you for your feedback and will look into this immediately.
Meanwhile we would like to inform you that as per your conversation with our Customer Care agents on 5th December 2007 we had confirmed your booking and for Agra in the hotel – Howard Park Plaza for the check in 22/12/07 and Check out :24/12/07 for 2 Adult and 1 Child. This booking was done offline at our end.
The confirmed Voucher for the same was sent to you on the email id dv@softcell.in on 5/12/07.

However we would like to apologize to you for any inconvenience caused to you and in case if the voucher has not reached you mailbox , we request you for an alternative email id so that we can email the same to you.

Thanks and Regards
Riddhi
Hotels

Hi Riddhi,

I work at Softcell – a large volume corporate Internet service provider. Our speciality is email (SMTP management being a key area). I just went through all logs of attempts by your SMTP host and am pleased to inform you that there are no failed attempts on 5/12/2007.
All successful connections tally with messages in my inbox (FYI, only one message was sent to me on 5th).

Earlier today, Rashmi said the booking was not done. She also assured me that I would receive a full refund if the card has been charged.

Now you, along with Krishna are opening a new chapter.

Like I noted earlier the whole effort is one confused mess (my reference to the muddled team is a summation).

I want a written confirmation from you that you will not bill me.

Thank you!

regards,
dv

Venketesh

Please be informed that your amount is refunded on 14/12/07, it will take three working days to reflect in your A/C the reference number to follow up with your bank is mentioned below.

• Amount – Rs.13,871/-

• RRN – 000043539072

• Auth Id – 077286

We are once again sorry for the inconvenience caused to you.

Thanks and Regards
Riddhi

Sounds good. Thank you!

Also, please note that you have been sending me mails from an ID that in my inbox, identifies itself as “customersupport”
It is preferred that your company identifies all communication as “Cleartrip xyz”

Makes it easy to identify and sort. I recall making noises about this once before but it’s not been actioned yet (or there are multiple interfaces/apps that need attention).

regards,
dv