Cheated, misled, and financially wronged by IndiGo's refund

IMAGE: Passengers look at the information display board as many IndiGo flight services stand cancelled. Photograph: ANI Photo

I had to travel from Bangalore (4.30 am) to Purnea via Kolkata on November 25.

On reaching Kolkata and waiting for 3 hours we were waiting at the boarding gate as the status was still showing “Security check”. But suddenly 20 mins before ETD, which was 10.05 am, we were told that flight was cancelled due to bad weather conditions.

Though it was completely FALSE since it was sunny in Purnea. We were in complete panic as we had important works and places to go. Ladies were travelling alone.

Pathetic management by Indigo since they didn’t show transparency and strangely after 1.5 hours another flight of Star Airlines went to that same destination without any issue.

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Further, IndiGo is not offering full refund because my booking of 8th Dec had to be cancelled due to the ongoing situation and they deducted INR 498 as convenience fee.

 

Jayabrata Mukherjee was booked to travel from Bengaluru to Purnea via Kolkata on November 25.

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Dr Neeraj Suri details the ordeal his family had to go through and the reply received from Indigo Airlines.

Dear IndiGo Customer Relations Team,

My name is Dr Neeraj Suri, travelling under PNR XXXXXX, along with the other passengers under PNR XXXXX.

I am writing to you personally because, despite multiple attempts by my travel agent to explain the situation in detail, IndiGo has continued to provide rigid, policy-driven responses that do not reflect the actual circumstances of what we experienced.

My agent has already presented the complete sequence of events multiple times.

Unfortunately, every attempt has been met with a standard template reply without any genuine consideration of the extraordinary situation created entirely by IndiGo’s back-to-back flight cancellations.

At this stage, I feel compelled to write directly because--very frankly--we feel cheated, misled, and financially wronged by the manner in which the refund has been calculated.

Because IndiGo cancelled our original Ahmedabad-Delhi flight, and refused to shift us to the earlier 05:45 am flight (despite visible availability), we were forced to purchase a new ticket for all three passengers on PNR XXXXXX, at a significantly higher fare.

Under PNR XXXXXX:

• We travelled the Ahmedabad → Delhi sector.

• The connecting Delhi → Pantnagar flight on the same PNR was cancelled by IndiGo after the scheduled departure time, while we were already waiting at Delhi Airport.

This forced us to take an unplanned, last-minute road journey to Pantnagar, despite having paid four times the original flight cost solely because of the initial cancellation.

Yet, surprisingly, your refund calculation assigns an inflated cost of INR 12,500 per passenger to the AMD–DEL sector, even though the original fare for the same sector was only INR 4,500.

I want to clarify that I am not asking for compensation for the inconvenience caused due to flight cancellations.

However, the following realities cannot be ignored when evaluating a fair refund:

• We were informed of the DEL-Pantnagar cancellation only after the scheduled departure time, while waiting inside the airport.

• We wasted several hours at Delhi Airport with our child, expecting to fly.

• We were then forced to arrange a last-minute taxi at a high cost, solely because the cancellation happened so late.

• We had to undertake a treacherous road journey, something we explicitly wanted to avoid--especially while travelling with a child.

• We reached Pantnagar in the evening instead of the planned afternoon, leaving us rushing through important commitments.

• Had we simply booked only Ahmedabad–Delhi (costing ₹4,500), we would have reached Pantnagar by noon by road-- instead, we paid four times more and still ended up travelling by road.

After all this hardship, and after paying an inflated fare only because your flights were cancelled, it is extremely disappointing and unfair that IndiGo is still charging us three times the original AMD-DEL fare in the refund calculation.

Your team continues to insist on applying the "kilometres travelled" policy.

But this is not a normal partial-travel situation, and applying that policy blindly results in an unfair outcome because:

1. Both cancellations were by IndiGo, not initiated by us.

2. Denial of rebooking despite visible seats forced us to buy a new, high-fare ticket.

3. The inflated fare was due entirely to the expensive DEL-Pantnagar sector--not the AMD-DEL sector.

4. That very high-fare sector was cancelled, and yet its inflated cost is being allocated to the first leg.

5. We suffered financial loss, delays, stress, and a difficult road journey.

6. The refund logic punishes passengers for disruptions caused by the airline.

This cannot possibly be called a fair or customer-centric approach.

In an ideal customer-service scenario, the airline should be processing a full refund and offering compensation for the hardship, stress, delays, and last-minute expenses we were forced to bear.

Instead, you continue to send us the same policy template. To be very honest and blunt, this is absolutely pathetic on IndiGo's part, especially given the extraordinary circumstances.

Because of IndiGo’s cancellations, we:

• Paid four times the original fare,

• Got stranded twice,

• Travelled by road despite wanting to avoid it,

• Arrived late and exhausted,

• Suffered unnecessary stress with a child, and

• Are now being denied a fair refund.

I request immediate reconsideration with seriousness and fairness.

I sincerely hope IndiGo will not treat this as yet another routine case and will uphold its responsibility to its passengers.

Warm regards,

Dr. Neeraj Suri

 

Below is the shameless reply received from Indigo

Dear Mr Suri,

Greetings from IndiGo!

Thank you for reaching out to us and sharing the detailed account of your recent travel experience. We truly regret the inconvenience and stress caused to you and your family due to the flight cancellations and subsequent disruptions.

Please allow us to clarify that both cancellations occurred due to unforeseen operational reasons, which were beyond our immediate control.

We completely understand how challenging this situation must have been, especially while traveling with a child. Your feedback is extremely valuable, and we assure you that it has been reviewed with utmost seriousness.

As per DGCA guidelines and IndiGo policy, refunds are processed based on the distance-based fare calculation. We understand your concerns regarding the allocation of fare components; however, these calculations are system-driven and aligned with regulatory requirements.

While we empathise with the inconvenience caused, we are unable to offer additional monetary compensation beyond the applicable refund as per policy.

We truly value your trust and hope to have the opportunity to serve you better in the future.

If you need any further assistance, please feel free to contact our 24*7 call center at 01246173838 or visit our website www.goIndiGo.in

Thank you for choosing IndiGo.

Best regards,

Suraj Singh

Customer Experience Expert 

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