A senior Vodafone Idea executive has ignited a discussion online about airline refund practices after claiming she lost nearly Rs 40,000 despite her international flight being cancelled by the airline.

Kanika Mohan Saxena, Vice President at Vodafone Idea, detailed her experience in a LinkedIn post, describing a week-long struggle involving IndiGo and MakeMyTrip after her planned vacation to Bali fell apart due to repeated flight cancellations.

Bali holiday plans disrupted by multiple flight cancellations

Saxena said she had booked round-trip tickets from Mumbai to Bali for July travel, paying approximately Rs 1.03 lakh for the reservation.

The trouble reportedly began when IndiGo cancelled the original flight and offered an alternative route that involved an 18-hour layover. Finding the revised schedule impractical, she contacted customer support to explore other options.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kanikasaxena_reaching-out-to-my-connections-to-help-me-activity-7469983491833851904-YGQ6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAACwxCHgB2zuyodVhniRscV4BZ77k7subpBM

According to Saxena, airline representatives initially informed her that no better alternatives were available. However, after her travel agent identified other possible routes, she was eventually rebooked on a Mumbai–Singapore–Bali itinerary.

The new arrangement did not last long.

“A few days later( Friday ) , that itinerary was again rescheduled / cancelled as well where I got an sms from indigo that my flight is cancelled on Friday night . I then spent hours on calls with customer service trying to find a resolution at Indigo . During these conversations, I was informed that I would receive a full refund because the cancellation originated from the airline and not from me and the flight is cancelled again,” she wrote on LinkedIn.

Full refund assurance followed by partial refund notification

Following the second cancellation, Saxena said she was repeatedly assured that she would receive a complete refund because neither cancellation had been initiated by her.

She also shared screenshots of conversations that appeared to show MakeMyTrip’s chatbot confirming that a refund request was being processed.

However, she later received a notification stating that only around Rs 67,500 would be refunded, significantly lower than the amount she had originally paid.

Expressing her frustration, she wrote:

“To be clear:

-I did not cancel the booking.

-The original flight was cancelled by the airline.

-The alternative itinerary was also cancelled.

-I was informed that a full refund had been approved.”

‘₹40,000 cancellation charges for a plane which refuses to fly?’

Saxena alleged that the missing amount was deducted through a combination of airline fees, platform charges and other associated costs.

“Rs 40,000 cancellation charges for a plane which refuses to fly?” she asked, questioning how such deductions could be justified when the flights themselves had been cancelled.

Her post quickly gained attention online, with many users sharing similar experiences and debating whether passengers receive adequate protection when airlines alter or cancel schedules.

Customer support and AI chatbots come under fire

Apart from the refund issue, Saxena criticised what she described as ineffective AI-powered customer service. She claimed that after initially confirming the refund process, the chatbot stopped providing meaningful assistance.

She also expressed frustration over what she perceived as a lack of accountability between the airline and the booking platform.

“IndiGo puts it on MakeMyTrip, MakeMyTrip says speak to IndiGo. I swear this is the last time I am using your service,” she wrote.

IndiGo and MakeMyTrip respond

After the post gained traction on social media and LinkedIn, both companies publicly addressed the matter.

IndiGo stated that it had initiated a full refund for the affected booking and advised the customer to coordinate with the original booking channel to receive the amount.

MakeMyTrip, meanwhile, said it was examining the case with the airline and requested additional time to investigate before issuing a final update.

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