Hello folks,

This is my personal experience with Zen Travels while planning and executing my recent trip to Nepal after 5 years. Hope it will help others in determining how an attempt to buy cheap air tickets to visit home land after a long time might end up being costly beyond one’s imagination.

I decided to buy the tickets from these guys as I had heard good words from my friends and booked the tickets for myself, my wife and my infant. I followed up with them and made sure about the dates, the reservations etc. Finally dates were confirmed and the payment was made using credit card. They mentioned that they would issue e-tickets. I checked my email and I got so-called E-tickets. Immediately, picked up the phone and called Zen to make sure that the e-tickets that I received in the email were all I needed. I asked again and again to make sure. The guy on the phone said 'you don't need to worry, on the departure day go to the airport and just give them the booking no. and everything will be fine". In the email, the itinerary was there, and so were the names of all three travelers. My wife and I were traveling with infant for the first time and were a little nervous so we had to make sure everything was fine. Everything seemed fine indeed.

After almost 3 weeks the departure day came. Somehow managed the ride to airport, and at the check in counter, I noticed that the lady was still looking for something ....upon asking she said that she was looking for paper ticket for my infant. I told the lady 'this is what I received from my travel agent'. She insisted that I needed to have paper ticket for my infant. She asked me to call the travel agent. She further said ‘looks like they screwed up you guys big time. Who did you make the booking with?’ I dialed Zen's no. at DC. No one picked up the phone at first, then finally someone picked up the phone from Nepal (They use VOIP). Even though I dial DC’s no. the call is received from Nepal.  I explained what happened. The guy on the phone claimed that they had sent me the paper ticket. “How come I didn’t receive it?” I asked him.

The flight would leave at 4:30 PM and it was 3:00 PM already. The lady at the desk said 'I want to talk with your travel agent'. I gave her the phone....she spoke with the guy at Zen ...he said something which the lady could not understand despite trying again and again. I grabbed the phone and talked with the guy but I didn't see the situation get any better. I was running out of time. The lady gave me two options; either buy a new ticket for the infant and pay $948 for the same or talk with the travel agent and arrange something else and travel on a different date. She also said ‘even if you buy the ticket for that price you won’t get a seat for the infant since it is the last minute. Your child has to sit on your lap’. Come on now, even after paying so much, my child won’t get a seat? On top of that I already paid Zen for the infant's ticket when I initially bought the ticket 3 weeks ago.

“Hurry up, you need to make decision now”, she said. I thought “I’ll deal with Zen later”, and decided to buy the ticket as I was going home after 5 years. There was no turning back. She checked in our baggage in a hurry. I paid $948 for the ticket (still have the receipt). Then we rushed for the gate…….too late…we realized that we had just missed the flight.  

Called Zen again …..spoke with the owner of Zen in KTM, he apologized….however, the damage was done….he said the next flight was after 5 days. Guess what, I had to stay home…waste those 5 days out of my vacation which I could have spent in Nepal. I mean, how badly can someone screw you up?? I told Zen’s boss ‘because of your mistake I lost my 5 days which I could have spent in Nepal.’ He simply said ‘can’t you request your boss to extend your leave’. Yeah right, I work for my uncle who understands my situation and pities me. My friend, your leave has to be approved by your Manager first and then the Vice President approves it. I had maxed out on my PTO. I had saved all those days since last year.

After so much hassle, my wife thought she had taken too much without complaining, so she requested for a little consideration with Zen’s owner that she was traveling with an infant for the first time and if he could upgrade us to business class from Bahrain to Kathmandu. The owner said “if we do that we’ll be out of business”. I was like what?? Where is customer service? No customer service at all?

The next day….after much discussion and follow up the paper ticket arrived by FedEx.

Oh, not to forget, even though we missed the flight…three of our luggage somehow made all the way to Paris. One was missing and we picked the other one up at the baggage services at our local airport. After three days three of our luggage arrived at our local airport. One, however, was still missing…upon checking with AA…….after almost 3 days they confirmed that it was on the way to KTM. Phew!!! Thanks to Zen again!!! Just 1 luggage was lucky enough to make it through to KTM.

Came back home that day with bitter feeling…the owner of Zen did at one point mention that they had issued the paper ticket for my child but sent to a wrong person by mistake!!!!! Where is responsibility? Where is Accountability?

Finally, we were flying from Bahrain to KTM but we didn’t see us upgraded to business class. This gets much better…we reached KTM at last. Guess what the day we arrived in KTM was, it was Nepal ‘bandh’. Thanks to Zen Travels again. Had we flown 5 days earlier as per our original schedule, we would not have been in that situation.

After few days I checked my email in KTM, Zen wrote saying they could not upgrade us to business class. So I told myself, maybe they’ll do while going back to Bahrain. So after 3 weeks, it was time to come back to US. Again…..no business class upgrade. Finally came to the US. There was an apology in the email saying again they could not do it. Then it further read ‘please accept 100 dollar JC Penny gift card for all the trouble that was caused to you’.

My only question to the reader here, what would you do with a $100 JC Penny gift card from Zen? I am simply not finding anything to do with it.

We (Zen Travels) made a big mistake as we shipped the paper tickets of the infant to another passenger who had exactly the same name (the passenger is aware of this).  As a result, the passenger and his family could not board the flight on the same day.  Because of the high volume of our sales, we maintain some procedures to ensure tickets are received by the passengers, and unfortunately, we did not find out about the problem until the passenger reached the airport.

We regret this error occurred in the first place and the passenger has every right to be upset with us.  Our purpose here is not to refute our mistake, but we feel we must respond to this thread because it leaves the impression to our customers that Zen Travels does not take care of its customers, and that cannot be substantiated by one customer’s negative experience.  Our performance and service quality is very good, based on the number of people who buy tickets from us each day and the quality feedback we receive from many travelers who use our services.

The passenger had historically bought tickets from us for his parents because of our price, service and overall reputation.  When we found out about the problem, we did not neglect him -- we gave him the highest priority to reschedule his family for the next available flight and made sure the tickets were shipped to the family by Fedex the next day.  We are open 24*7; we were able to assist him from the airport, till the time he returned home after his vacation.  As a result, the family was able to return to Kathmandu later that week (flights were not available immediately).  No flights had opened up on the preferred return dates so when the passenger reached Nepal, we rescheduled his family's flight because the passenger needed to return for work by a certain date. We reconfirmed the flights for every passenger who comes to Kathmandu, and we naturally took every precaution to make sure he reached home safely.

We are one of the best travel agencies because we sincerely take care of our customers, we respond fast, and our prices are very competitive.  Despite all the precautions we take, we know there will still be problems, and we’ll try to do everything to ensure they are not repeated, but when there is a problem, we’ll do everything we can from our side to help our customers.  Unfortunately, we can’t control everything, such as predicting a strike in Kathmandu, or lost luggage by American Airlines.

We also want to make some clarifications:

·         The US$ 948 in the message was for a replacement ticket for the infant at the airport.  Had the passenger flown that day with the replacement ticket, we would have to reimburse him for it.  That money was refunded to him by AA.

·         We replaced the infant ticket the very next day and made all arrangements as soon as possible

·         Like most of our passengers, we reconfirmed his ticket and met him in our office in Kathmandu 

·         We made sure that the passenger did not have to pay for any changes/fines.  We arranged or picked up any costs associated with these tickets

As pointed out in the posting, the passenger requested that we give him an upgrade to business class between Kathmandu and Bahrain because of our error.  We tried to arrange an upgrade for him, but it was way out of our budget and we had to decline this request.  Giving him a gift card or offering a Nagarkot trip was our way of admitting our mistake and atoning (in a manner we can afford) and in no way was meant to insult him.

Since this passenger’s experience (and this posting), many passengers have inquired about our customer service quality.  We made an honest mistake and we did everything to accommodate him.  Naturally, many readers would be wary about us after reading such an email but even some of the passengers friends have traveled with us during and after this incident, when we explained what happened, and all the things we do to become a better travel agency.

 

Hello folks, This is my personal experience with Zen Travels while planning and executing my recent trip to Nepal after 5 years. Hope it will help others in determining how an attempt to buy cheap air tickets to visit home land after a long time might end up being costly beyond one’s imagination. I decided to buy the tickets from these guys as I had heard good words from my friends and booked the tickets for myself, my wife and my infant. I followed up with them and made sure about the dates, the reservations etc. Finally dates were confirmed and the payment was made using credit card. They mentioned that they would issue e-tickets. I checked my email and I got so-called E-tickets. Immediately, picked up the phone and called Zen to make sure that the e-tickets that I received in the email were all I needed. I asked again and again to make sure. The guy on the phone said 'you don't need to worry, on the departure day go to the airport and just give them the booking no. and everything will be fine". In the email, the itinerary was there, and so were the names of all three travelers. My wife and I were traveling with infant for the first time and were a little nervous so we had to make sure everything was fine. Everything seemed fine indeed. After almost 3 weeks the departure day came. Somehow managed the ride to airport, and at the check in counter, I noticed that the lady was still looking for something ....upon asking she said that she was looking for paper ticket for my infant. I told the lady 'this is what I received from my travel agent'. She insisted that I needed to have paper ticket for my infant. She asked me to call the travel agent. She further said ‘looks like they screwed up you guys big time. Who did you make the booking with?’ I dialed Zen's no. at DC. No one picked up the phone at first, then finally someone picked up the phone from Nepal (They use VOIP). Even though I dial DC’s no. the call is received from Nepal.  I explained what happened. The guy on the phone claimed that they had sent me the paper ticket. “How come I didn’t receive it?” I asked him. The flight would leave at 4:30 PM and it was 3:00 PM already. The lady at the desk said 'I want to talk with your travel agent'. I gave her the phone....she spoke with the guy at Zen ...he said something which the lady could not understand despite trying again and again. I grabbed the phone and talked with the guy but I didn't see the situation get any better. I was running out of time. The lady gave me two options; either buy a new ticket for the infant and pay $948 for the same or talk with the travel agent and arrange something else and travel on a different date. She also said ‘even if you buy the ticket for that price you won’t get a seat for the infant since it is the last minute. Your child has to sit on your lap’. Come on now, even after paying so much, my child won’t get a seat? On top of that I already paid Zen for the infant's ticket when I initially bought the ticket 3 weeks ago. “Hurry up, you need to make decision now”, she said. I thought “I’ll deal with Zen later”, and decided to buy the ticket as I was going home after 5 years. There was no turning back. She checked in our baggage in a hurry. I paid $948 for the ticket (still have the receipt). Then we rushed for the gate…….too late…we realized that we had just missed the flight.  Called Zen again …..spoke with the owner of Zen in KTM, he apologized….however, the damage was done….he said the next flight was after 5 days. Guess what, I had to stay home…waste those 5 days out of my vacation which I could have spent in Nepal. I mean, how badly can someone screw you up?? I told Zen’s boss ‘because of your mistake I lost my 5 days which I could have spent in Nepal.’ He simply said ‘can’t you request your boss to extend your leave’. Yeah right, I work for my uncle who understands my situation and pities me. My friend, your leave has to be approved by your Manager first and then the Vice President approves it. I had maxed out on my PTO. I had saved all those days since last year. After so much hassle, my wife thought she had taken too much without complaining, so she requested for a little consideration with Zen’s owner that she was traveling with an infant for the first time and if he could upgrade us to business class from Bahrain to Kathmandu. The owner said “if we do that we’ll be out of business”. I was like what?? Where is customer service? No customer service at all? The next day….after much discussion and follow up the paper ticket arrived by FedEx. Oh, not to forget, even though we missed the flight…three of our luggage somehow made all the way to Paris. One was missing and we picked the other one up at the baggage services at our local airport. After three days three of our luggage arrived at our local airport. One, however, was still missing…upon checking with AA…….after almost 3 days they confirmed that it was on the way to KTM. Phew!!! Thanks to Zen again!!! Just 1 luggage was lucky enough to make it through to KTM. Came back home that day with bitter feeling…the owner of Zen did at one point mention that they had issued the paper ticket for my child but sent to a wrong person by mistake!!!!! Where is responsibility? Where is Accountability? Finally, we were flying from Bahrain to KTM but we didn’t see us upgraded to business class. This gets much better…we reached KTM at last. Guess what the day we arrived in KTM was, it was Nepal ‘bandh’. Thanks to Zen Travels again. Had we flown 5 days earlier as per our original schedule, we would not have been in that situation. After few days I checked my email in KTM, Zen wrote saying they could not upgrade us to business class. So I told myself, maybe they’ll do while going back to Bahrain. So after 3 weeks, it was time to come back to US. Again…..no business class upgrade. Finally came to the US. There was an apology in the email saying again they could not do it. Then it further read ‘please accept 100 dollar JC Penny gift card for all the trouble that was caused to you’. My only question to the reader here, what would you do with a $100 JC Penny gift card from Zen? I am simply not finding anything to do with it.

zentravels u guys have my full support.. there is no other nepali travel agent that will come and apologize in public...

nepalitraveller,let this go... zen travels have given u something in exchange... u did suffer a little bit in airport.. but comeon ... it wasnt that bad..

Have you considered suing the company?
You can get every penny out of them. Take this to the court.

Latoboy:  "u did suffer a little bit in airport.. but comeon ... it wasnt that bad."
Are you serious? You should have been on his shoes and then you would know how it feels to be in such a situation.
Everytime i call Zen Travels there is an Indian women answering the phone. I am not even sure if its a nepali company or an Indian!

Anyway, my point is, as long as you suffered due to their negligence, whether or not they "apologize" in public, you should sue them and settle this in court. This is exactly why when something unfair happens to a nepali, ultimately nothing changes... coz we are afraid to take the right path.. all we know is take it to the streets! Com'on people, do the right thing.. take it to the court. Well, if you can't take it to the U.S. court then mevermind.. coz if you go back to nepal.. nothings gonna happen....

Anyway Zen Travels.. that was really sad.

Peace Land Travels.

dont talk about suing and stuff.

this is a very low margin business they are in. you have to feel for the business owners point of view.

i am sure they wont be repeating such a mistake again.

besides to Sue is expensive.. if u get lawyers and stuff... who knows.. zen might not even pay since they are not based in USA.

Look who's encouraging people to file a law suit, Peace Land Travels. Is that how you outperform the competitor?

 

Last time I needed tickets to go to Nepal, I called Peace Land Travels. PLT was supposed to call me with rates but that call never came. I called back 2/3 times and I was told that the person, who answered my first call and was supposed to send me the rates, was out of office or at lunch. Then I gave up. 

 latoboi-- r u kidding me.

i think u should sue low margin re they say they have many customers. that was just totally unacceptable and wht makes me mad is them writing how gr8 they r. well u screwed up once and in business when u screw up apologize do everything to mend that especially if its a customer and the problem has been brought to attention at a public forum ( its just like politics save ur image) not make ur self look like arrogant self centered bastards

best thing for u to do will be repay for his tickets (at least the infant's that he had to buy again). and maybe do something else as well(apologize).

>> The US$ 948 in the message was for a replacement ticket for the infant at the airport.  Had the passenger flown that day with the replacement ticket, we would have to reimburse him for it.  That money was refunded to him by AA.

From Zen's response It was refunded.