1. I had booked a ticket from www.ticketgoose.com on Wednesday. The details of the journey is as per the e-ticket attached.

2. The journey was to start from Bangalore to Trivandrum at 1730 hrs from Kalashipalayam on 14 May 2010.

3. The seat number as per the seat allocated (and also printed in the e-ticket) is 17 and the travels name is given as Choice Travels.

4. I contacted Choice Travels in Bangalore for confirmation on Thursday (13 May 2010) and I was conveyed that there are no seats available on that specific day (ie. 14 May 2010).

5. I then contacted ticketgoose office on 080-42112753 and 0********53. They said that I need not worry as the seat is indeed confirmed and it is being dealt by a person called Sunil of Choice Travels.

6. I called Choice Travels for the second time and they said that although they have allotted a few seats with ticketgoose, the particular seat (No 17) which I had booked was not allotted to them.

7. I called ticketgoose office again. They said that there must be some miscommunication among the people in Choice travels and the ticket is indeed confirmed. They reassured me that there would be no problem. They also gave me the mobile number of a manager in ticketgoose, Mr Arun (********87). First he reassured me and then said in call me back in 5 minutes. The 5 minutes became 20 and then I decided to call him. He said he is on his way to Choice Travels and will contact me soon.

8. When he did not call me in 2 hours, I decided to call him again. This time he said that the problem is resolved and that I would indeed be getting the seat.

9. I called up Choice Travels later in the evening on Thursday. This time they were more forthcoming and said that the seat would be allocated to me tomorrow (ie. On Friday, 14 May) morning.

10. Accordingly, next day I called Choice Travels by around 1000 hrs when they asked to call them again after 1030 hrs. So I called by 1115 hrs, when they vehemently denied me a seat. I said that had they told the same thing the day before I could have tried for alternate arrangements which was now denied due to paucity of time.

11. I called ticketgoose office again wherein they were reassuring that there would be no problem at all and I would be able to travel. This when I was denied a seat by the bus operator (Choice |Travels) themselves. They said that they will call me back again which I knew from experience that they wouldn’t. So, I hung up the phone and cancelled the ticket.

12. The amount paid for booking the ticket was Rs 981 while the amount I got back after cancellation was Rs 715. Rs 266 was deducted just for cancellation. This seems to be a strategy used by the travel agent (ticketgoose) to make money. God knows how many consumers have been fooled by them.

I request you to punish both the travel agency (ticketgoose.com) and the bus operator (Choice Travels) as I am sure both are collaborating in this enterprise. Also I want to be compensated for the amount incurred for cancellation and the discomfort caused to me mentally as I was not able to go home. These people should be taught a hard lesson else they would never mend their ways.

Capt C Balagopal
********22