I was guided to their office on the 7th of Dec 2013 by a sikkim state dept taxi driver after i alighted my train at the new jalpaiguri station. They offered me a package for touring gangtok and darjeeling. the price for travelling to gangtok taxi stand was correct and all other prices were more than twice the normal prices. I questioned all the prices and asked. I was told that i will know when i get there. Believing in honesty i went for their work and paid them a deposit of Rs.3200 (total Rs.5600 for all bookings to be paid Rs.1700 in gangtok and Rs.900 in darjeeling). This included Rs.600 for my trip to gangtok, Rs.300 for taxi to hotel which actually costs only Rs.200 and which they lied about. They also charged Rs.200 as a processing fee and had no answer for what processing that was. They had charged me Rs.1500 for a trip to tsango lake, which only costs Rs.700. On top they charged me Rs.600 for a pickup and drop off to taxi stand for tsango lake. I wasn’t picked up and left waiting at the hotel for 90 minutes, after which i was told to catch a taxi myself to the taxi stand. i not only paid for the taxi but also for the tsango lake trip which was supposed to be managed by them. This is clearly a breach of service, not to mention a breach trust. At this point it was clear that they had lied about all the charges and ripped me off the deposit money. To confirm my doubt and make the watch india owners spill the beans himself, i called him and i told that i had to pay R.1500 for tsango. This caused him to panic and verify with the taxi driver. He then called me to tell that taxi driver confirmed that i paid him Rs.500. On this I asked him why did he charge 1500 and his answer was this is business. This is not business at all. Cheating tourists of their money. I asked for a refund on the deposit minus the Rs.1100 for the gangtok trip as he didn’t fulfil the rest of his commitments. He blatantly refused for the refund. I told him that i wont be using his services and will file a complaint with the correct authorities. In short, once you give them deposit, you loose it. then at the specific point you pay the actual fee for the travel. they charge a ridiculous fee for making a phone call that anyone could have. My complain is about lying and misguiding the customer when the customer asks for information about specific costs. He clearly told me that taxi costs Rs.300 when it costs Rs.200 and Rs.150 for the other journeys. He told me tsango lake trip costs Rs.1500 for 2 when it costs Rs.700 if booked by agent or Rs.500 if paid at taxi stand. Indian tourism is suffering because of businesses like this.

As a compensation, i want 1. my full Rs.3200 deposit back. 2. Rs.10,000 as a fine to be donated to world vision child education fund.

Complainant Information
name- apsolar