Info may come in handy for those who travel around India.
My mate and his wife flew to Trivandrum, spent 3 weeks around Kerala, flew Kingfisher up to Goa for another 3 weeks. All booked through Jewel in the Crown.
Came to leave via Dabolim and was met with the remark at the immigration desk.
" Oh no Sir, it's not possible to fly out of India on a charter flight from a different airport you arrived"
But was told it would cost £200 each to cover administration costs.
Now my mates a bit street wise (many times in India) so used all his knowhow plus all the legal docs he could muster, still would not budge.
Ok, can i have a reciept then, so as to claim from Jewel in the Crown.
"No Sir, no receipt"
Can i have your name, rank and number.
"No you can not"
Call the police then.
"This is a military airport and police are not allowed in here"
Then i will take it further, can i speak to your supervisor.
"No you can not and be very careful Sir, you have not left the country yet"
So my mate calls Jewel rep and after speaking with immigration guy was advised to pay £100 each or they would not be allowed to fly out of Dabolim, and would have to go via Bombay on scheduled fligths at their own expense.
Needless to say my mate reckons Goa can shove it from now on. Will still visit India, but with the adverse changes and latest carry on, says Goa has had the last penny out of him.
Contacted Jewel in the Crown UK, so far, because no receipt, not a leg to stand on.
Another lesson learnt !!!!!
Jewel in the Crown is a tour operator I assume. So the question is they must have arranged the whole tour and would surely have stated the arrival and departure airports? Or am I missing something? Very strange going ons!!
What is it with Goa these days.... EVERYTHING is now about greed and money. When will they (govn/tourism) ever learn?
andy
I would say the way things seem to be heading, five years is a bit optomistic Alan
Heard something similar before Eddie, I believe that if a foreigner enters on a charter that they have to leave on a charter, not 100% on this but it does seem very dubious, Jewel on the other hand should be worded up about such things, maybe the official was right ? but to offer no reciept is another matter all together
The rules are, that if you arrive in India on a scheduled flight you cannot leave on a charter.If you arrive by charter you can leave India anyway you want.So if your friend arrived into Mumbai on a scheduled flight the official was correct.
very surpised that jewel in the crown never mentioned this to your mate eddie????
i would'nt really blame the goans on this one,,,
i would say the reason they do is,is to keep track of people which i feel is a good thing,,shame we dont do it here ,but that is another topic
There was a letter in the Herald on Thursday (21st Feb) from a guy in the UK regarding a similar incident....did your friend write it???
Very good letter, they printed it as their STAR LETTER with the caption "Corruption puts tourists off"
I've tried to find it on the website but there seems to be problems on there at the moment.
GFF xx
When I worked in Goa Winter 2000/01, I flew in Air France to Mumbai in early Sept, and flew down to Goa 2 days later on Jet.
Seven months later, *name removed* - paid $100 to an airport "Official" to make a spurious 'phone call to the immigration officer so that another "official" could place a Dabolim stamp in my passport as it is not allowed for Schedule passenger to depart on a charter flight. This was the case with all my staff, pay the baksheesh or go schedule. It was cheaper and more convenient to pay the bribe.
Unfortunately, this is the "charm" and I use that word very tongue in cheek.
A couple of points Eddie, firstly Jewel in the Crown have an obligation to ensure that your friend has an unhindered passage, and being told that the tour operator is shirking their responsibility is something ABTA would be very interested in.
Secondly, the rep should not tell your friend to pay £100 to fund the corruption in Goa. It is the tour operators responsibility and it should state in pre travel documents if any in resort "surcharge" needs to be paid.
From the information we have, Jewel in the Crown have failed in their duties as a go between and responsible operator and at the very least should have paid the £100 for their guests to ensure the safe passage home and reclaimed that money from their own in resort agents.
Sorry if I am going on a bit about Jewel in the Crown, but it really hacks me off when they treat guests with utter contempt. I have worked at the sharp end and know that India has her own idiosyncrasies, but customer care is at the forefront.
That said something needs to be done with this constant ripping off of the hand that feeds you.
If we all stopped going where would they be then...........
-
Edited by
Fiona
2008-02-23 22:12:45
name removed
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