AIR INDIA CANCELLED MY FLIGHT!

OH no! That sucks!

To answer your questions - You *can* call AirIndia, but their customer service is all a huge joke.  I called and got told my travel agent had to talk to them, even though my TA said I had to call AI...so I called my TA back and told him what AI said and begged him to call. He did, and I got my refund within a week.

I must say you are lucky. I called AI (in the UK) and they (a rude sounding lady) told me that the flight has been cancelled from Calcutta and I should cotact the AI office in Calcutta. When I contacted AI calcutta they told me that since I purchased my ticket from the UK, they can't decide anything on the refund and I must contact AI in the UK. The TA says he can act only when I get a letter of refund from AI. Noone is ready to cooperate in any way. 

Does the UK have something like the Better Business Bureau?

I'd keep calling, try to speak to management/supervisors, and harp on the travel agent to do something - part of their job is to help their customers, right?

Air India wouldn't let my husband and I travel on flights we booked. We left the tickets at home but had all our booking information and receipts. We offered to pay to reissue the tickets. They refused. They told us we could buy totally new tickets for 3x the amount.

On the day, they had a queue that wrapped around their section of the airport at their complaints desk. We were sent there to rebook, but by the time we got to the counter the person running it just turned around and left, closing a door behind him. He did not return. We missed the flight and they wouldn't refund any of our money.

I hope you have better luck!

Yeah, as nice as the cheaper flight had been to book, I don't think I'll be using them ever again.  Besides, I just hooked Tim's TESCO card up to BA to earn frequent flier miles

Does the UK have something like the Better Business Bureau?

I'd keep calling, try to speak to management/supervisors, and harp on the travel agent to do something - part of their job is to help their customers, right?

After spending ample time and money on phonecalls, I have given up.  Travel agent is a joke. They got their money and are least bothered about any refund. Learnt 2 lessons:

1. STAY AWAY FROM SO CALLED CHEAP AIRLINES LIKE AIR INDIA.
2. STAY AWAY FROM CHEAP TRAVEL AGENTS LIKE SOUTHALL TRAVELS.

I am now on BA and sincerely hope it doesn;t get messed up and ruin my holidays. I didn;t know I can hook up my Tesco card with BA  . I am gonna do that. Can it be done after the tickets have been booked?

After spending ample time and money on phonecalls, I have given up.  Travel agent is a joke. They got their money and are least bothered about any refund. Learnt 2 lessons:

1. STAY AWAY FROM SO CALLED CHEAP AIRLINES LIKE AIR INDIA.
2. STAY AWAY FROM CHEAP TRAVEL AGENTS LIKE SOUTHALL TRAVELS.

I am now on BA and sincerely hope it doesn;t get messed up and ruin my holidays. I didn;t know I can hook up my Tesco card with BA  . I am gonna do that. Can it be done after the tickets have been booked?

As far as I know, the Tesco link means you can redeem your Tesco points for BA miles and it doesn't have anything to do with the flights you book through BA.