TravelMaste
Consumer Report

Travelmaster advertized in an Indian throw away newspaper touting the lowest fare for India Travel. My brother spoke to the agent who called himself "TIM PUNKET" (by sound-not actual spelling). He offered India Travel Ticket from Newark-Mumbai-Delhi to Newark for $1475 round trip for dates 12/24/11- 1/9. This same sector with several other Travel Agents was costing anywhere from $1900-$2200. My brother asked me to decide and even though the travel agent was unknown to us, the price was right and I said to go ahead. Then Mr Punket (also had an email where he called himself as "LIAQAT ALI" with an email ID: travelmasternjny@gmail.com and a tel# cell (Personal Info Removed) advised my brother to deposit the check for $1475 in Chase Bank on Stelton Rd, Piscataway NJ in an account made out to "Taj mahal travels". I found it very odd as we usually pay by check to the travel agent address or by credit card. Additionally we had not received the ticket yet-everything was out of the ordinary but money had been deposited and we went ahead with the plan. We requested that the ticket be given to us immediately. An E-Ticket was issued by Mr Tim Punket and sent by email to me. The routing was NOT what I wanted-My brother called Mr Tim and requested the change. We confirmed the ticketing with Emirates but they said that the my name did not match the passport number registered for the ticket. On the travel date, my brother was very nervous whether there will be a problem with my travel but to his relief I was on board Emirates flight #EK202 from Newark and arrived via Dubai to Mumbai as appointed. On 8th of Jan the day before my departure from New Delhi India, I had notification from Emirates via email confirming that I was traveling on 9th January on EK 515 to Dubai. When I arrived 3 1/2 hours before departure to Delhi Airport, I was told by the Ticketing counter agents that my Ticket was SUSPENDED! They said that the Ticket was bought with a credit card. Then the merchant denied payment! So, in essence WE had paid with our money and the Travelmaster pocketed our money, paid by credit card for the ticket, issued the ticket to us but then REFUSED to honor the payment. So, though I could travel out of Newark, on the actual date of departure from Delhi, India, the ticket payment having been denied by Travelmaster agent Tim Punket (alias, we believe, Liaqat Ali)! Stranded in Delhi airport and after trying to find WHY my ticket was suspended and getting the printout from Emirates of the denied credit card payment by Travelmaster agent Tim Punket, I called Tim from India. My brother had already contacted him on his cell phone and conference called me. Mr Tim told me to buy the ticket on Continental airline which was leaving at 11.30pm-3 hours after my scheduled departure on Emirates. He said "I will pay for it". I told him the amount is $870 and he said "Go ahead-bring me the receipt and I will pay you back". Finally, I returned to NYC on Continental flight #83 on Jan 9th. I immediately contacted Mr Tim on his cell and he asked me to email the receipts for reimbursement. He told me to expect the check on my home address. One week later, I had NOT received the check in the mail. My brother and I on separate occasions tried to reach Mr Tim in the usual manner. There was NO sign of him-it was as if he was erased from the face of the earth-the telephone was disconnected, the Email was no longer there. We stand gyped of our money. I ended up paying $2300 for a ticket which was promised for about $1475 and underwent the horror of being stranded in another country not knowing if I will ever come home!

Company: TravelMaste
Country: USA

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