To,
The Deputy Commissioner
Shimla, H.P
Sub: Misbehave and Fraud by Brightland Hotel-Shimla.
Respected Sir,
I had booked the reservation for two days (7th May 2010-9th May 2010) in Brightland Hotel Shimla on 19th April through internet.
The booking was confirmed by the hotel via email on 21st April 2010. We had confirmed to them over phone and email that we will reach Shimla by Volvo Bus of HSRDC at 9 am and hotel had confirmed to us over phone that room is available for us.
We had deposited Rs.3000 as advance for booking in their bank account post which we had received the above confirmation. No mention of 12 Noon check in/out was mentioned in the confirmation email by hotel nor did they inform us over phone.
When I reached Shimla on 7th May at 6 m, I requested the hotel to give me the room and they straight away denied saying ‘There is no room available for you’. This was like a shock for a tourist who had given money for advance booking a month back, had confirmed it a day before over phone and now he has been told that room is not available!!!.
After lot of arguments, I had to call traffic police but they still denied to give us room and behaved very rudely with us. We then approached local police at Sadar Police Station, Shimla. The cops (Mr. Chandra Shekhar and his colleague) were very helpful and they came along with us to Hotel and had a 1 hour long discussion with hotel owner but Hotel Owner was very rude, adamant and unethical.
He was not ready to return our money back nor did he allot any room to us despite of taking money from us. Then, the SHO of Sadar Police also spoke to Hotel Owner but he was not ready for any adjustments and finally they take our written complaint to book it in their registers.
Hill stations like Shimla has always been a preferred place of tourists to have a relaxing and a good time to spend their holidays where they expect a friendly, cooperative and healthy environment. We found the people as well as the police in Shimla very much co-operative and friendly to people but
Hoteliers like BRIGHTLAND hotel spoil that environment by their rude, unfriendly, inhuman and fraud behavior thereby making the tourist’s trip a horrible journey!!!
I request Police and respective department to take necessary action against the Hotel Owner and help me get my money refunded of Rs.3000 from BRIGHTLAND HOTEL.
Regards
Shivadeep Panjwani
Gurgaon
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +91-8010437407
In Shimla where the hoteliers knows that the customers can not do any thing to them as there are more users are awaiting out side. So what ever comes to their mind they do it.They don’t provide the clean bedsheets and towels they were already used by the previous customers saying there is delay in laundry services . Their toilets are so dirty that it is stinking lots. I have been to Shimla with my children and the shopkeeper like to do whatever they wanted to do. One child wanted to put new cell in her watch. So we went to the Mall area and selected one shop to replace it. The shopkeeper removed and circuit board and replaced it with the bad one he has, and return to the child saying the cell is not available. What a fraudulent service providers.
i agree with shivadeep,
i had a similar harrowing experience with the management of the same hotel Brightland on the 14th of may 2010
actually the hotel is ok. It is the fraudulent nature of the people there that is the problem. The stay was ok. I booked a taxi from shiml to manali with the hotel people (mr ravi who is in charge of tours) who assured me that the hotel had its own fleet of taxis and the service would be excellent. 3 days manali was quoted at 4800/- for the taxi and i wanted an option of a drop to dharamshala which was quoted to 4800/- + 2000/- ie. 6800/- although this was a little more than what the local taxi people were charging (rs. 6500/-) i opted for brightland’s taxi feeling that they would be more reliable. However in manali the taxi driver flatly refused to go to dharmashala demanding 1000 more than the quoted amount. When calling brightland mr ravi said he was helpless as the driver didnt want to go forward. I ended up spending 1000 more than what i would have spent if i had got the taxi from outside other than the harrassment that i incurred
SPEED POST
June 14, 2010
To,
The Deputy Commissioner,
D.C. Office, The Mall, Shimla.
SUB: COMPLAINT SUBMITTED BY MR. SHIVADEEP PANJWANI
Sir,
I have received a copy of complaint via e_mail on 05/06/2010 submitted by Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani from Gurgaon addressed to your good self. (Photocopy attached).
I am highly surprised to go through the false and baseless contents of this complaint. The brief facts of this case is as under:-
That we our professionally running our Hotel since the year 1959 and our hotel is registered with the Deptt. Of Tourism, Govt. of HP. We are getting business from Travel Agents, through walk-in guests and from reservation through our website ‘www.brightlandhotel.com’. If one visits our website, there is a separate reservation section in our website where a reservation form is generated which is to be filled by the guest online and then this form is submitted by the guest online. Then we receive this reservation form on our e_mail address. The brief contents of the reservation form are name, address, telephone numbers, nationality, type of accommodation required, check-in date, checkout date, etc. etc. At the end of this reservation form, we have mentioned our hotels ‘reservation procedure and terms and conditions’ like bank account details, checkout time 12:00 noon, jurisdiction, etc. etc. The photocopy of this reservation form is attached herewith for your ready reference please. It is very important to mention that before the guest submits the online reservation form, he has to give a declaration mentioned on our website ‘I have gone through the reservation procedure and terms & conditions and I agree to abide by them’. Then only the online reservation form is submitted by the guest.
Now, we receive the duly filled ‘online reservation form’ from Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani on 19/04/2010 at 14:40:17 hours on our website linked e_mail inbox. The copy of this duly filled online reservation form is attached herewith for your reference please. Please note that Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani had submitted this reservation form only after going through our reservation procedure and terms and conditions and he had agreed to abide by the same and then only he had desired to submit the online reservation form. Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani had desired to book one double Corporate Room in our hotel on European Plan for 2 PAX w.e.f. 12:00 noon of 07/05/2010 to 12:00 noon of 09/05/2010 for two days. I am particularly mentioning that on our website, it is clearly mentioned that the checkout time is 12:00 noon.
Now, in response to the online query submitted by Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani, we had sent our reply to Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani through e_mail on dated 19/04/2010 at 5:13 pm that we can provide the desired accommodation w.e.f. 07/05/2010 to 09/05/2010 (12:00 noon check-in /checkout). The tariff was disclosed to him along with total amount payable, bank account details, reservation procedure, terms and conditions, etc. The copy of our reply sent through e_mail is attached herewith for your reference please.
Now, after satisfying himself with the tariff, check-in / checkout time, other terms & conditions, etc. Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani decided to book our hotel room on our terms and conditions and not his terms and conditions. Then this guest deposited a sum of Rs. 3000.00 only (non-refundable/adjustable) in our bank account. The balance of Rs. 2600.00 only was to be paid by this guest on arrival.
Now, after depositing the payment, the guest sends us an e_mail on 20/04/2010 at 15:49:39 hours informing us that he has deposited the payment. Please note that this guest was never forced to deposit the payment in our bank account. Only after satisfying himself with our hotels facilities and services, tariff, check-in / checkout time, etc. etc. Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani decided to book our hotel. After depositing the payment in our bank account, Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani sends us the above e_mail informing us that he is coming to Shimla by HPTDC Volvo Bus and he will reach Shimla on 07/05/2010 at 9:00 a.m. The copy of this e_mail is attached herewith for your reference please. The outcome of this reply on behalf of Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani is that after making the reservation having satisfied himself with the rule of check-in / checkout time 12:00 noon, he is dictating terms to us and forcing us to allow him to check-in early at 9:00 a.m. instead of 12:00 noon. In our reply, we have no where mentioned to Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani that he will be allowed to check-in early before 12:00 noon nor we have given such confirmation on the telephone.
Now, on 07/05/2010 at 5:45 A.M., Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani arrives in the hotel and started arguing and misbehaving with the hotel staff and he was demanding his room at that very moment which was actually booked from 12:00 noon. He had booked Corporate Room no. 517 which was occupied at that time. He was arguing to get room no. 517 vacated at that time. He was very politely told that the room which he has booked would be available from 12:00 noon onwards as the check-in / checkout time is 12:00 noon. At that time room no. 517 was booked till 12:00 noon. He was given two options:- (a) To wait in our terrace garden / restaurant and he was allowed to use common washroom (b) To check-in in some other hotel room till 12:00 noon which was vacant at that time on extra direct cash payment. The guest was very rude and he started shouting in the reception. He declined both our above mentioned offers. How can we provide him the room at 5:45 AM free of cost till 12:00 noon?
Then the guest himself went to Bus Stand Police Post and got hold of one police constable. After listening to us the constable told the guest that when your booking is from 12:00 noon, then why you are harassing the hotel people and refusing to pay extra charges till 12:00 noon? Then the guest went away and he checked in some other hotel. Then in the evening the guest came to our hotel along with two Police personnel (one was ASI and one was Sub Inspector Mr. Chander Shekhar) from Police Station Sadar, Shimla. After thorough listening to us, the ASI (one Sikh gentleman) demanded the phone number of the H.P. Tourism Department from us and then he had a talk with the Hotel Inspector. The Hotel Inspector told the ASI that as per rules, the check-in / checkout time is 12:00 noon. The guest is at fault and if one arrives early before 12:00 noon, he has to pay one day extra charges for the room till 12:00 noon as per rules. Then the guest started demanding refund of Rs. 3,000.00 only which he had deposited in our Bank account. We refused to refund the amount and clearly told the guest that your room is lying vacant from 12:00 noon onwards and you can check-in right now but the guest refused as he had already checked in some other hotel. We told the guest that as per our rules mentioned in the website and in our replies that “All reservations are subject to confirmation from the Hotel and confirmation will be issued irrevocably for the period specified and guests are liable for entire period irrespective of late arrival, early departure or ‘No Show’. In case of cancellation / ‘No Show’, payment received will not be refunded / adjusted under any circumstances what so ever and the payment received by us will be treated as Reservation Fee / Retention Charges as the case may deem fit. All disputes will be settled in Shimla Courts only, whether by legal action or otherwise. Reservation of accommodation will be done strictly on the above terms and conditions only.†Hence, the question of refund / adjustment does not arise. In this case, there was ‘NO SHOW’ as Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani did not check-in to take the room which he had booked. His room no. 517 was lying vacant on 07/05/2010 w.e.f. 12:00 noon. Only after accepting our terms and conditions, he had made the booking and was very well aware of ‘NO SHOW’ clause.
Then the guest wanted to lodge an FIR against us but the Police clearly refused to them because there was no fault of ours and the guest was at fault. In the e_mail he is forcing upon us to allow check-in at 9:00 AM but actually he arrived much early at 5:45 AM and started misbehaving for no rhyme or reason. Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani is filing a false and baseless complaint against us. We specifically deny the false and baseless allegation that we have misbehaved with the guest and we have done fraud. We specifically deny that we had confirmed early check-in on telephone and e_mail. Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani is now intentionally trying to tarnish the reputed image of our Hotel and for such baseless acts; we reserve the right to file a defamation suit in Shimla Courts against Mr. Shivadeep Panjwani. We are reputed and one of the oldest Hoteliers of Shimla and we are also one of the top ten Luxury Tax payers in Shimla district. You are requested to kindly see our old record. We are reputed professionals in the Hotel Industry with a clean record. It is only due to our professional services and good will that we have a high rate of occupancy. We are here to serve our guests and not to harass them and do fraud with them. We always abide by all rules and regulations under the HP Tourism Act. But I must say that such mischievous guests should not be spared and legal proceedings should be initiated against such guests for filing false complaints.
Thanking you
Yours faithfully,
(Surinder Singh)
Encl.: As above
Copy to:
The D.T.D.O. (Shimla), Department of Tourism, Govt. of HP, Tourist Information Centre, Tuti Kandi Byepass, Shimla (H.P.) —- for information please.
Mr Singh
Have you considered training your staff in conflict resolution techniques?
With the proper training, this volatile situation could have been diffused leaving your disgruntled guest satisfied, regardless of the fact that the customer had unreasonable expectations. Much better than this stressful result that arose…and your damaged reputation. Don’t forget, a customer on average tells ten people about a bad experience, those ten tell many more, etc…
Something to consider.
Thanks Mrs. Devere…Atleast somebody understands the pain and agony of the unsatisfied and frustrated customer…….
The comment has been moderated by the editors
Mr. Shiv,
I also faced the same issue. Can you tell me if you tell me if you got the money refunded .. Whom can i contact to complain against them.
Ms. Sandhya, I did not get my money back from the hotel. Hotel guys are so selfish that they ate all my hard earned money, misbehaved with me and gave me lot of pain and agony. Such people demolish and spoils the image of beautiful tousit spots like Shimla.. GOD(wahey guru) will never forgive the owner. It is so unfortunate that even the administration and police can’t help the tourists.
The comment has been moderated
Most Pathetic HOTEL in entire Shimla is Hotel Brightland. The hotelier is …………….. misbehaves and abuse with their customers. I would never recommend anyone to Hotel Brightland in Shimla.
Regards
Shivadeep
…….edited by admin..
@Shivadeep
Instead of taking names about the hotel, it would be better if you can reply to the points raised by the hotel in it’s reply.
I also had a horrible experience with Brightland hotel in Shimla last month on 26th Aug. The owner misbehaved and did not bother to give the basic services of the room as published on their website. He also tried to physically abuse 2 of my friends after which we left the hotel. Will never recommend Hotel Brightland to anyone.