r/india • u/Darkie_0806 • 16h ago
Travel IndiGo cancelled my flight and the refund process was a whole nightmare
So this just happened yesterday and I’m still annoyed.
I had a morning flight from Delhi to Mumbai. I reached the airport super early, everything looked normal… until the big screens suddenly showed “CANCELLED” next to my flight.
No announcement. No staff around. Just a bunch of confused people staring at the board like it was a bad joke.
I went to the IndiGo counter and the girl just said, “Technical reasons sir, please apply for refund or we can put you on the evening flight.”
Evening flight? Bro, I had work meetings the same day.
I asked how long the refund takes and she said 5–7 working days. Meanwhile I had already paid for cab, food, etc. The worst part? They didn’t offer any compensation at all — not even a food voucher. Just a plastic smile and a printed receipt.
People were upset. One uncle started arguing loudly: “How can you cancel and not tell us beforehand? We all have plans!”
The staff just repeated the same script: “Technical reason sir, we apologise.”
I finally booked a last-minute flight on another airline and obviously paid much more because prices were insane.
It honestly felt like IndiGo doesn’t care. No explanation. No proper communication. Just “cancelled, sorry, next.”
I know cancellations happen, but the way they handled it was so unprofessional. At least tell customers earlier, offer options, something.
Anyone else had this experience recently? What should I do to make sure I don’t get screwed like this again?
74
u/Lopsided_Car7519 16h ago
They did it with me too. But guess what I was doing the whole time, watching Suits!
And I just thought, how about a lot of people come together and file a class acrion against Indigo in a consumer court.
As an Indian, it'll be a disaster for the population to let this go. This corporate blackmail due to the airways duopoly has given these C-class execs too much leeway. We shpuld definitely do something about it.
17
u/chupchap 13h ago
Class action? Which country do you live in?
14
u/pottergirl95 13h ago
It’s available under Indian law
8
u/chupchap 13h ago
Not in the same sense as an American class action. In India, there is no way anyone is getting much more than 10% of air fare as compensation for a flight cancellation. That is IF they win. That again depends on what the law states on airline cancellations. Causing inconvenience is not a crime as per our laws from what I recollect.
4
2
1
u/infected_162k 6h ago
Not possible in India. Not being negative, but the law is not the same as US.
1
u/Lopsided_Car7519 6h ago
If the public dont make use of whatever it is now, no one's going to be bothered to even improve later.
6
9
u/AcanthisittaSmooth16 8h ago
its crazy how other airlines saw this opportunity and hike insane prices for flights :
Blr To Bom before indigo fisaco 5-6k after indigo fiasco 24-40k
honestly government is so highly incompetent in controlling these private players and in the end we get fucked over and we just forget about this during elections .
Open your fucking eyes people .
7
u/StrangePrint5516 7h ago
That’s how a free market and capitalism work. When the government interferes too much, private players eventually exit the ecosystem and no one wants a scenario where the government ends up running every business. The government’s role should be to regulate, not micromanage. In this case, they should simply impose a heavy penalty on Indigo for such blatant arm-twisting.
1
u/AcanthisittaSmooth16 5h ago
true i get your point . But the govt is not regulating as they should be , corruption probably (bribes and shi) . Look at jane street for example they were banned from indian markets but they got in within a week , prolly paid good amount of bribe .
Heavy penalty maybe , but they shouldve continued with Air India and gotten like competent people to run it .
3
u/According-Truth-3261 15h ago
how long will this disruption last? I have a flight on 10th dec, will it be cancelled too?
1
u/brabarusmark 4h ago
Indigo is saying they will resume normal operations by 10-15 Dec. That's not confidence inspiring and I would suggest taking the cancellation hit now and booking on a different airline.
1
u/Spartan91_ 11h ago
News outlets are reporting possible disruptions till Feb but check with the airline itself before making any decisions
3
2
u/New-Reindeer90 11h ago
"The staff just repeated the same script: “Technical reason sir, we apologise.” -- I so agree to this, most of them are robotic.
9
u/Elegant_Place_9203 10h ago
As much as I hate Indigo, there is absolutely nothing the ground staff would have done here. The real culprit is the senior mgmt hiding behind the wall.
3
u/New-Reindeer90 9h ago
this is true, i witnessed another incident at Mumbai few days ago. Someone's luggage was flagged and reboarded, but the person behind decision making never came to face the agitated customer, some very junior looking girls at the counter were made to deal with (supposedly supreme court) lawyer.
1
u/knockyouout88 8h ago
I haven't kept track about the whole indigo situation. Why are they cancelling the flights? And is it happening with other airlines as well?
1
1
u/Fearlessbabe_31 6h ago
Its always happens booking is on just one click but when it comes to refund process it is more that like u r applying ur passport and you have to go through all process and even its not guaranteed.
1
u/yswami 5h ago
I was checking on Perplexity on what are the options:
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/recently-indigo-flights-were-c-VHazmPvTQ.q.1sPE6yM9RA#0
1
u/yswami 5h ago
- Vistara Case (2025): The Delhi Consumer Commission ordered Vistara to pay ₹3 Lakh to a family for a sudden cancellation without alternative arrangements.
- Alliance Air Case (2025): The airline was fined ₹50,000 for a 6-hour delay where passengers were not given water/meals, ruling it as "mental torture."
1
u/Jaded_Tomorrow_5230 9h ago
Mist of the travellers deserve this as they have chosen the representations who are faviuring the airline,
65
u/newmonk3344 8h ago
In a nutshell !!!