Hyderabad: In the case of a deception in which a travel agency at Banjara Hills tried to take advantage of a family of four from Mahbubnagar, the consumer forum came to the rescue. The family had booked a Bahamas cruise ticket for four nights, which was a part of their trip of 17 nights and 18 days. The complainant, Mr Krishna Sanjeev Kumar, had to pay nearly Rs 4 lakh for each member for the entire US trip. This brought the total up to Rs 14 lakh and this had been paid to the agency on March 10, 2016. The complainant had forwarded the scanned copies of the passports and US visas of all four members for verification. He received all the documents back after verification three days prior to the flight and boarded from Shamshabad airport on May 19, 2016.
However, after reaching Port Canaveral in Orlando, the family was in for a rude shock as they tried to enter the cruise to Bahamas and were stopped by the officials stating that the two children could not be a part of the cruise as they were holders of a “single entry US visa” as opposed to the parents who had multiple entry visas. Despite repeated pleas, the rules were not bent and the complainant stated that the opposite party should have known the rules and informed them beforehand.
With no option, the parents contacted their relatives residing in Tampa, which was four hours away from the point of departure of the cruise, and asked them to care for the children for four days. The complainant stated that despite paying such a hefty amount, his children could not enjoy the cruise which was supposed to be an integral part of their family trip. Moreover, the tickets were non-refundable.
Although the complainant's family tried to approach the opposite party for a refund, they evaded the calls and messages of the family. The complaint said that he had to bear a heavy loss of money, mental agony and damages only because of the defective service of the opposite party and the improper verification of the travel documents.
The opposite party contended that the tour package they booked had amenities such as hotel accommodations, meals, transfers and others as per the tour itinerary. The tour excluded specifications of visas and they had also reduced the cost of the visas as the complainant had obtained it himself. They further stated that the verification was done for the passport and tour details, as promised, but not for the visas. They added too that they are not liable to pay a refund for the complainant's fault in not ensuring that they had valid visas for the tour schedule.
The forum noted that the opposite party could not shirk their responsibilities. They stated, “If the opposite party had checked the visas of the complainants before they boarded the cruise, they would have faced no problems. As a responsible and well reputed organisation, they should cater to the needs of their client.”
Since the opposite party could not provide a peaceful journey to the complaints, the forum ruled in favour of the family and asked Thomas Cook to pay a sum of Rs 1 lakh, which was the cruise ticket charges and Rs 50,000 as reasonable compensation.
