Complaints filed against Jordanian travel agencies after haj

AMMAN The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs is looking into a total of 68 complaints from Jordanians who have recently returned to the Kingdom after performing Hajj, the greater Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

According to the director of the Hajj and umrah department in the ministry, Yousef Qudah: Some people filed more than one complaint, thus, the number should be thought of as a result of a few people who have had more than one unpleasant incident, rather than 68 people who have all had a bad experience.

Qudah also mentioned that all the complaints had to with private Hajj and umrah bureaus that provide transport and accommodation services.

Diana Ramahi, one of those who have filed complaints, shared her experience with The Jordan Times: A bureau we had signed a contract with in Irbid told us we would share rooms with three people in the group. When we got there, the motel had no reservations under our name.

It gets worse. When we contacted the trip supervisor, his solution was to put us with the people who were already in the rooms meant for us. So we ended up as six or seven people in one room, paired up with strangers, she continued.

Incidents such as Ramahis case are abundant when dealing with fraudulent bureaus, as put by Qudah.

What these bureaus do is provide us and their customers with fake reservations that they obtain from elusive motels, and once the hajjis [Hajj pilgrims] get there they realise that the rooms are actually occupied, but by then it is too late, he added.

Such bureaus and motels, said the director, will be seriously looked into by both the ministry and its Saudi counterpart.

Transport was one of the top complaints as well, with one incident told by a Jordanian citizen being that upon returning, one bureau made the hajjis get off the VIP bus they paid for and get into a smaller, non-air conditioned one.

When we protested, the supervisor said you either get on this or walk back to Amman, Adam Sarayrah wrote on Twitter.