Two years ago, I lost $965 (approx Rs 60,000), after a New York - London flight in which I was booked was cancelled. After getting no help from MakeMyTrip (MMT), I had to book another ticket on another airline for the above amount. The refund process became a ping-pong ball between MMT and Air India (the airline in question). Finally, MMT washed their hands off the whole thing asking me to contact Air India directly. And I still haven’t got my refund, despite meeting them in person, sending the docs many times and whatnot.

Cut to two years later. Once again, I decided to book my ticket online and went to MMT (I know, I know.. I should have known better.. but I seriously thought things would have gotten better).

After selecting my flight, I am directed to a page where they ask for payment (naturally). I did the initial payment using some points and was expecting my OTP for the balance payment. Suddenly, I received a call from an MMT agent. I tried telling her that I was anyway making the payment, but she insisted that I should open another window and go through the process there. Unaware of what's coming my way, I followed her instructions. On the payment page, I was asked to make the full payment again. When told that I have already paid around 15% through the points, she nonchalantly assured me that the same will be credited and I should make the payment here (not the balance payment, mind you, but the full payment!)

Now starts the trauma. MakeMyTrip's call center is woefully slow, the instructions slower still. However, what gets your goat, is the fact that I had to wait for a full 13 minutes before somebody comes on line. After asking for all the details, the customer care personnel cheerfully tells me that she cannot help but will transfer the call to someone else. This someone else comes on after a while and tells me he will transfer the call to someone else. When I remonstrate, I am told that someone will call me. I am still waiting.

The problem is, MMT is a listed entity. Yet, there is no way you can reach out to any supervisor. Its website has a ‘write to management’ link which returns a “500- Internal Server error’ meaning that the link doesn't exist. They really did not expect anyone to write to them.

In the meantime, my ticket prices may go up, my points that I have redeemed are lost somewhere in the labyrinth of MMT technology and I may be getting a cardiac arrest.

The most irritating part of the whole episode is even when your problem is not solved the call center employee will read his script “is there anything else I can help you with”. You feel like wringing his/her neck.. but then, technology does save some people.

L Subramanyan is founder of Trivone Digital Services, publishers of TechTree and other properties.