I paid more due to TG's ignorance about hotel. Review on Travelguru

I have been using TG for tickets, hotels, etc., for some time now. Like most other portals, I have mixed feelings about them. This time it was a hotel booking.

I stayed at Jabalpur for 4 nights (hmmm...I know there is nothing much to see. I realised later :-)). Anyway, when I booked through TG, I told them that I have a 10-yr. old kid. The executive (yateen), told me it is best to pay in advance, and so instead of the 2-adult fare of 1430/- per night, I ended up paying 2090/- per night. In other words, an additional 660/- per night for the kid.

When I reached Hotel Samdariya, they told me that no additional charges are levied for the child. It seems the hotel quoted only 1300/- per night to TG, child or no child. Assuming 1430-1300=130 is the TG commission, I paid nearly 2600 more to TG, for free.

When I told TG on the phone, they said nothing can be done now. They asked me to get a letter from the hotelstating that the child does not attract additional charges. When I told the hotel, they were obviously cautious since they stand to lose business from TG. I do not blame them.

So, either TG's database is wrong, where adding the child causes the tariff to inflate. Or, Mr. Yateen tried to do a good turn to his organisation at the customer's expense. Who knows? Bottomline is that it is better to call up the hotel beforehand to get the details that TG will not give you, either due to ignorance, or to take advantage of the customer.

It is a hard lesson for which I paid 2600. Those reading this, please beware, and save your money.