Sharjah: A resident says he and his family suffered a series of problems during their pilgrimage to Makkah because of alleged failings by their service provider.

Aftab Alam, a manager at a chemicals company in Dubai, said the family was allegedly not provided a timely and exclusive taxi service from Jeddah — where they landed in Saudi Arabia — to Makkah as promised.

The family — Alam, his wife and two daughters — were performing Umrah or the “lesser pilgrimage” earlier this month.

Alam also said he was initially taken to the wrong hotel in Makkah.

After Umrah, pilgrims typically visit Madinah, where Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is buried.

Alam added that on reaching Madinah they had to hop from hotel to hotel because there was allegedly no reservation for them. According to the Indian expatriate, the setbacks lasted hours and left the family exhausted.

He also said they were asked to “surrender our passports” before a fourth hotel eventually agreed to accommodate them.

Alam said he paid Dh2,850 for the pilgrimage package — which included Umrah visas, a taxi pick up in Jeddah and hotel stays in Makkah and Madinah — to Sharjah-based Al Hammadi Travel and Tourism for Haj and Umrah.

Al Hammadi has denied any wrongdoing.

An Al Hammadi employee said Alam’s complaints were without merit.

“To begin with, the car did arrive on time [in Jeddah] and picked them up alone as promised. If [Alam] can prove otherwise he will be refunded. The car also dropped him directly to the [correct] hotel in Makkah,” said the employee.

However, Alam maintains, “If their driver can swear my claim is wrong, I will drop my claim regarding this point.”

‘Lost’

The employee said he was not aware that Alam had visited different hotels in Madinah, adding that even if that were true, it was not the company’s responsibility because he did not book the transport from Makkah to Madinah through them.

“He might have got lost. But his claim that our company made him go through four different hotels because there was no booking is false.”

According to Alam, the two parties were in touch over email regarding the alleged issue and he claimed to have documents indicating the hotels were changed.

The employee added that the family’s passports were “put on hold” as “standard procedure” by “Saudi agents” who work with pilgrimage tour operators.

Alam said, “Then why didn’t they keep my passport in Makkah?”

UAE-based pilgrimage operators are regulated by the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments in Abu Dhabi.

Yahya Kadhim, from the authority’s Sharjah office, said pilgrims can file a complaint against operators with evidence to support their claims.

General inquiries and complaints can be sent to info@awqaf.gov.ae.