Richa Chadha blasts Air India, MakeMyTrip on X after cancelled flight, gets full refund in hours

Richa Chadha also questioned Air India and MakeMyTrip's prompt response after she wrote about the incident on X despite her assistant trying to resolve the matter for two weeks. (Image credit: Instagram)

Richa Chadha on Sunday hit out at Air India and MakeMyTrip after she faced difficulty in getting a refund following a sudden cancellation of a flight. The actor minced no words as she slammed both the airline and the travel company for resolving the matter hours after she made the incident public when her staff had to haggle with the customer support executives for two weeks but in vain.

Terming the practice a "scam", the Fukrey actor wrote, "Perhaps the best way for substandard airlines to make a quick buck is to cancel flights without intimation, or change timings so you miss your connections! With the collusion of so-called convenient flight booking portals like MakeMyTrip."

She added that after her flight was cancelled, she did not receive much help from MakeMyTrip customer care and claimed that when she did contact them, she was told that her booking id does “not exist”.

Richa Chadha had a similar experience with Air India.

"Rude customer care chicks at Air India will ensure your business class fare is pocketed, and won’t even apologise for changing timings last minute or being arrogant! Do yourself a favour, and avoid these 2 SCAMSTERS in 2024! I hope your companies endure more losses than you have in all of your collective histories, saste (cheap) cheats!" the actor wrote on X.

SCAM ALERT! @makemytrip@airindia Perhaps the best way for substandard airlines to make a quick buck is to cancel flights without intimation, or change timings so you miss your connections! With the collusion of so-called convenient flight booking portals like @makemytrip .…

— RichaChadha (@RichaChadha) December 30, 2023

Hours later, the actor shared an update that Air India and MakeMyTrip had finally processed her refund.

"Within hours of this tweet, I received the entire refund! For 2 weeks my assistant had followed up, to no avail. MakeMyTrip said the refund hadn’t come through from Air India, hence the delay. I received one call from Air India’s SOCIAL MEDIA team, not their customer service. I guess, they’re bothered by appearances, not poor service," Richa Chadha wrote.

She further questioned the companies' prompt response after she wrote about the incident on X despite her assistant trying to resolve the matter for two weeks. The actor also urged customers to speak out on public platforms whenever they feel they are being wronged by "big companies".

"Customers, please always use your voice, big companies don’t care about you per se, they care about their image," she said. "And MakeMyTrip and Air India, I appreciate all the help, thanks. Do ask yourselves - would you have been so prompt if it wasn’t a celebrity? If your answer is yes, PLZ READ THE COMMENTS UNDER THE TWEET: you will find ordinary customers with unsolved queries. Solve them. You have your work cut out for you, and trust me this is the kind of positive PR money can’t buy."

Update : Within hours of this tweet, I received the entire refund! For 2 weeks my assistant had followed up, to no avail. @makemytrip said the refund hadn’t come through from @airindia , hence the delay. I received one call from Air India’s SOCIAL MEDIA team, not their customer… https://t.co/TyoxWBzvNo — RichaChadha (@RichaChadha) December 31, 2023

True to her word, responding to her first post, many X users shared similar stories of instances where they felt they were being cheated by such companies.

"I booked a return flight to Srinagar with Go First on MakeMyTrip and it went bankrupt. This happened in Nov 2022 and I'm still waiting for the refund. That’s the condition of the biggest travel company in this country," commented Sohail Ansari (@Rockingomni).

Another X user wrote, "I agree. MakeMyTrip is unscrupulous and the lead exploiter of Digital India orchestrated by GoI. Recently, they charged me Rs 9,200 for a small non-ac room for two days in Shantiniketan. The portal mentioned Rs 600 extra for breakfast whereas the hotel was charging Rs 150 for lunch."

Read more: 'Worst flight': Author recalls travel horror on Air India Melbourne flight