DO NOT BOOK WITH ONESTOP TRAVEL AND TOURS - IT'S A DEATH TRAP

I had booked our trip with OneStop Travel in Phoenix and dealt with Ashika Benimadha. I travelled to India and the experience was going okay for a while until we realized that the tour guide was taking us to places that he benefits from. However, all that was fine. It’s actually nothing compared to what you’re about to read. On the 4th day in India (14th June 2018), I fell ill. Tried contacting Ashika and to no avail. I then tried called the insurance that I had taken with Ashika, only to have them tell me that I don’t have a policy with them after almost 20 minutes on the call with them. The lady was also rude and did not care. By this time my condition was deteriorating and I was extremely weak with a very high temperature.

Ashika was aware that I did not have an India Sim Card and was only able communicate on email or whatsapp by using hotel Wi-Fi. She was also well aware of my condition as communicated to her. The hotel does not make international calls either so that did not help. When I notified ashika that I’ve been told I do not have a policy, she then just responded with an email saying quote policy number:***.

Despite me telling her that I had given them all my details and they cannot pick me up on their system. I have been using other random peoples phones during this time. I was in the hotel lobby for 4 hours trying to get a doctor to come and see me. Eventually, I can’t recall whether it was the insurance that eventually responded to my +-10 mails to them, they got a doctor to me at 10:30pm on the 15th of June. Ashika, still did not care. Doctor had treated me but my condition was getting worse. The doctor had said that I should go to the hospital. With no assistance in a foreign country, I had taken a cab to the Hospital. . There were so many times when I had to WhatsApp my Fiancé who is in another country, and ask him to call Ashika and ask her to please contact me urgently. She would not bother calling the hotel and be transferred to me, but rather, email (in an emergency situation emails are not ideal). Her emails were short, blunt and cold. She showed no care whatsoever. I have heard of other travel agents, none like this though! To date, I have been in 3 hospitals, yet I have not received one email from her asking if I am OK, or even alive. She definitely lacks two of the main travel agent characteristics: Dependability and Relationship building s****s. I did not get to do a single thing except visit hospitals in Mumbai, and did not get to see Mauritius at all.

I am still recovering from this incident and would never recommend One Stop – not because I just had a bad experience nor am I upset, but because someone can lose a loved one like this! I am “lucky” to be here to tell the tale. When I got to the hospital in Durban, the Physician said I was “lucky” to have been admitted “just in time”. My condition had worsened to a point where I was losing my vision. Putting this experience in this review does not do justice to what actually happened. I threw up at every board gates, I was sleeping on airport floors, I felt like I was about to lose my life at any moment. To also think that I had even spoken to Ashika before travelling to India, regarding my honeymoon trips as well as our tri-annual holidays, I just thank God that I had this experience, and it’s a huge lesson of who not to deal with. I was surely not aware and very naïve thinking that my travel agent was supposed to help me in my time of need. Despite the expenses I had incurred – this was the most traumatic event of my life.