Indigo Airlines — Deplorable and irresponsible ground staff

Address: Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

Hello Indigo Customer Service,
I, Santhi Varanasi, am providing my very deplorable and disappointing experience during my recent flight from Hyderabad to Bangalore on October 15th. I was at the Hyderabad airport well ahead of time (before 6.00 am) for my 7.10 am flight 6E 413, PNR - PFETFK. I had my boarding pass issued online and checked in my baggage. I was at the scheduled Gate 30B by around 6.15 am. When I checked with the Indigo staff at the gate, I was told to wait as there was still time for my scheduled boarding at 6.50 am. I kept waiting endlessly. Meanwhile a series of flights were announced for boarding at Gate 30B. Finally after waiting for a long time, when I checked again with the Indigo staff, I was told my flight had departed!!! Now this is ridiculous!!! How can a flight simply leave without calling for a passenger after my security check when I had my luggage checked in too???? Why didn’t they announce my name???? I was told there was a gate change in the last minute to 30A which was intimated to me through mobile notification!!! First of all, I am a Canadian citizen on a visit to India and the ticket was booked by my dad with his mobile number and hence I didn’t have that phone on me!!! Later when I checked with my dad, he said he received a bunch of messages that even confused him regarding the gate change!!! Now, is this the most efficient form of informing a customer about a last minute gate change????
From here, I was told there is an 8.40 am flight I could take giving me the impression that I will automatically be boarded in the next flight. This was FAR from what actually happened. I was quickly stripped off the luggage tags on my hand baggage, taken to a spot to record my information and was left to go to the ticketing counter to rebook my flight!!! UNIMAGINABLE!!! There I was told I have to pay Rs.6000+ for a fresh ticket (one way)!!! I had bought my initial return ticket for less than Rs. 5000! And the most ridiculous part of it is there were several other passengers from multiple Indigo flights including mine with the SAME complaint!!! Is this a new scheme and cheap tactic of Indigo to make quick money and increase business??? Several passengers including me were left with no other option than to shell out thousands of rupees in order to complete our journey!!
I was told my luggage was de-boarded which I can collect from some other counter!!! Seriously???? Indigo staff knows how to de-plane a checked in baggage but NO basic courtesy to just announce my name when I was sitting just right across due to last minute change by Indigo???? I asked to see the customer service manager and was led to Ms. Gazela who ironically seemed to have ZERO powers to resolve ANY issue at all. Me along with other passengers pleaded with her in every possible way but to no avail. All she seemed to be able to do is say “I apologize, please provide your feedback so we can improve our customer service in the future”!!! I don’t know if this is a joke!!! Being a customer service manager and nothing she can do????? I asked her, what can she do to make my experience better and apparently she could do nothing!!! And moreover I was told the 8.40 am flight was full and she can only book me on 11.35 am flight!!! One male staff in the baggage drop counter had the audacity to question us, when so many passengers were able to board the 7.10 am flight, then how is it we missed it???? So, this is Indigo customer service??? I kept asking them why they didn’t announce my name since my baggage was checked in and I was told it is against their policy!!! Seriously??? It’s against policy to announce name but fully within policy to cheat and LOOT innocent customers using cheap tactics. In any case, the names of TWO passengers were announced by Indigo staff – one Mr. Hemant and another name I am unable to recall. So, why not other passengers names?
Finally, I had NO other option than to shell out Rs. 7300 out of my pocket to board the 11.35 am flight. Apparently the price had gone up by the time the actual booking was done. Several other innocent passengers similarly had to pay thousands of rupees as penalty for supposedly missing a flight for NO fault of ours!!!
I am on a short visit to India from Canada and was going to Bangalore to visit my old in-laws for just 2 days. I lost ½ a day of time spending with my in-laws, was cheated and looted by Indigo of Rs. 7300, not to mention the stress, deplorable experience and humiliation by Indigo staf[censored] This type of experience in North America, the customer is refunded and compensated even for the original flight for the unpleasant customer experience.
I have been advised by fellow passengers that my dad lodge a complaint with the consumer court and also I upload this complaint on social media along with pictures of staff. I will be sure NEVER to recommend Indigo to anybody for giving me the worst customer experience ever and creating a unpleasant journey. In fact, I will ask every friend of mine NOT to fly Indigo!!!
So what is Indigo going to do about this? I am giving one opportunity to Indigo to rectify my situation and make my experience better. I am not interested in coupons for next trip. Will Indigo refund my money PLUS with compensation for a third rate poor experience and making me wait from 5.30 am in the airport for boarding an 11.35 am flight????