The Ministry of Haj is investigating a complaint by 11 French Umrah pilgrims that the Umrah company they had made the booking with duped them on their accommodation and visa period. Undersecretary of the Ministry of Haj Hatim Qadhi said investigations are underway into the program which was marketed at foreign Umrah pilgrims. The pilgrims have alleged that they were not accommodated in the hotel in Madina the company had promised them earlier but were forced to accept an accommodation far from the Prophet's Mosque. They also claim that despite being promised they'd be taken on a tour of historical places, they were only able to visit Jabal Uhud (Mount Uhud) and Quba Mosque all on their own expenses. “The situation in Makkah was much worse than what we faced in Madina,” one of the pilgrims, Su'aad said. “We had to travel on a rundown minibus driven by a man who appeared to be unfit for the job, as he was driving recklessly. When we arrived in Makkah we couldn't find the company's representative.” According to the pilgrims, they waited next to the Hilton Hotel where they were supposed to stay but to they soon realized that no such bookings had been made in their name. “We waited for a long time and missed many obligatory prayers we intended to perform in the Grand Mosque,” Su'aad said. “We shuttled between various offices: to the Ministry of Haj branch in Makkah, Supervision and Monitoring Committee and the Complaints Committee, but all our efforts were in vain.” Finally an employee of the Ministry of Haj employee arrived and contacted the company's representative to sort out the accommodation for the pilgrims. He offered to provide accommodation in various hotels in Al-Ghazza District and on King Abdulaziz Road. However both of these hotels were far from the Grand Mosque and unacceptable to the pilgrims. “We wanted our accommodation in Hilton Hotel as per our bookings from France,” Su'aad said. “But they provided us with accommodation in Al-Misfalah District.” We realized that they had tampered with the contract prompting us to lodge an official complaint with the Ministry. __
