I had a not so good experience with raising a chargeback request for a Smartbuy transaction I did on my Infinia card.
In Dec'24, I had booked a 2-day stay with Azaya Beach Resort Goa using my HDFC Infinia card through Smartbuy. The partner was Cleartrip who in turn (as I found out from the hotel) had booked through Expedia.
On arriving at the hotel, I discovered that the hotel was a disaster. Far from being a 5-star hotel as advertised, there was hardly any staff, rooms were terrible, no water in the bathrooms, and so on. I immediately spoke to the manager on phone (there was none on duty) and we finally negotiated that I will check out immediately & they will process the refund back to the original source within 7 days. I requested them to send me an email confirming the same and he promised he will send it the next day when he is back at work. I had no choice & left the hotel.
After I returned from my trip, when I tried to call the manager, he started blocking my calls & did not send me any email.
Hence, I called up Cleartrip support & raised a ticket. Cleartrip asked me to send them a written communication from the hotel confirming they are willing to refund. I explained to them that they are not responding to my calls & emails. Cleartrip themselves wrote to & called the hotel property but the hotel did not respond to them as well. Surprisingly, the hotel is a Cleartrip partner, but Cleartrip just closed the ticket claiming no response from the hotel.
After a few days, I finally raised a dispute with HDFC Bank and asked for a chargeback. I informed them that both the hotel & Cleartrip have been of no help. HDFC also unfortunately took the same stance that they need an email confirmation from the hotel to process the refund. I explained to them that I am not raising a “refund” matter but a “disputed chargeback” because the hotel is acting fraudulently & not responding either to me or to Cleartrip. However, HDFC refused to entertain any request for a “chargeback”.
Finally, I happened to visit Goa again last week & again visited the Hotel. After being confronted face to face, the hotel staff finally sent me a mail confirming they agree to the refund & based on that Cleartrip finally processed the refund.
I am disappointed at HDFC Infinia’s so called great service since they avoided calling it a “chargeback” or “dispute” and every time treated this as a “refund” case. Probably, HDFC cannot go against its own Smartbuy partners and cannot raise a chargeback against their own partners? For me all is well that ends well, but the Infinia support was surprisingly disheartening.
In Dec'24, I had booked a 2-day stay with Azaya Beach Resort Goa using my HDFC Infinia card through Smartbuy. The partner was Cleartrip who in turn (as I found out from the hotel) had booked through Expedia.
On arriving at the hotel, I discovered that the hotel was a disaster. Far from being a 5-star hotel as advertised, there was hardly any staff, rooms were terrible, no water in the bathrooms, and so on. I immediately spoke to the manager on phone (there was none on duty) and we finally negotiated that I will check out immediately & they will process the refund back to the original source within 7 days. I requested them to send me an email confirming the same and he promised he will send it the next day when he is back at work. I had no choice & left the hotel.
After I returned from my trip, when I tried to call the manager, he started blocking my calls & did not send me any email.
Hence, I called up Cleartrip support & raised a ticket. Cleartrip asked me to send them a written communication from the hotel confirming they are willing to refund. I explained to them that they are not responding to my calls & emails. Cleartrip themselves wrote to & called the hotel property but the hotel did not respond to them as well. Surprisingly, the hotel is a Cleartrip partner, but Cleartrip just closed the ticket claiming no response from the hotel.
After a few days, I finally raised a dispute with HDFC Bank and asked for a chargeback. I informed them that both the hotel & Cleartrip have been of no help. HDFC also unfortunately took the same stance that they need an email confirmation from the hotel to process the refund. I explained to them that I am not raising a “refund” matter but a “disputed chargeback” because the hotel is acting fraudulently & not responding either to me or to Cleartrip. However, HDFC refused to entertain any request for a “chargeback”.
Finally, I happened to visit Goa again last week & again visited the Hotel. After being confronted face to face, the hotel staff finally sent me a mail confirming they agree to the refund & based on that Cleartrip finally processed the refund.
I am disappointed at HDFC Infinia’s so called great service since they avoided calling it a “chargeback” or “dispute” and every time treated this as a “refund” case. Probably, HDFC cannot go against its own Smartbuy partners and cannot raise a chargeback against their own partners? For me all is well that ends well, but the Infinia support was surprisingly disheartening.
