Orbitz ripoff disappearing ticket bookings Internet

Orbitz has terrible top-level customer service and that can cost you money.

My wife and I booked tickets for a vacation via Orbitz in October 2003. We found out a week before our trip that my wife's grandfather had passed away. We called Orbitz to find out if we could change our ticket so that we could attend the funeral or if there was an option to get a refund. After holding with customer service for over an hour, we were told that the ticket could be fully refunded. We asked to do that and were assured that the credit would show up that day.

We booked new tickets and attended the funeral. 5 days after being told we could receive a refund, Orbitz called to tell us that the tickets could not be refunded, but would have to be re-used. The change fee with the airline would be $100. This seemed absurd given that we called Orbitz and received confirmation that we could get a refund before we purchased new tickets.

We accepted that this was a regrettable situation, but had been very satisfied with Orbitz over the previous 3 years, so we decided that we would use the credit at some future point. On May 22, 2004, I attempted to use the credit.

I spent approximately an hour on hold to speak with a representative in the exchanges department. That representative spent approximately 45 minutes helping me find new tickets to purhcase with the credit. At the end of the call, he told me that the fare difference that I would need to pay would be $175.80. I provided my credit card, was told that it was approved, and the agent read my new flight details to me and said that I would receive an email confirmation and the details of the trip would show up in my Orbitz account within 24 ours.

On May 24 2004, because I had not received an email nor had the trip shown up in my account, I called to confirm. I was told at that time that no record of my purchase on May 22 2004 was found. The comment entered by the agent with whom I worked for 45 minutes (and to whom I provided my credit card to purchase the new tickets) was that I had "decided not to use the credit". When we tried to re-book the tickets that I had tried to book on May 22, we discovered that they were no longer available. Other tickets available for that date were $100-300 more expensive. I asked to speak to a manager and was informed by her (Melissa, she would not give her last name) that because my call had not been recorded, Orbitz would have to stand by their agent and could do nothing for me.

As this was the second enormous mistake that Orbitz had made with this purchase, I was very upset and asked that they at least make it possible for me to purchase new tickets at the price I would have gotten on May 22. She refused and basically accused me of lying about my conversation with the agent on May 22.

So... after being loyal Orbitz customers for over 3 years, my wife and I will never use Orbitz again for travel purchases. As a result of their poor customer service regarding this issue (which is sad because I have also had some terrific customer service experiences with them), we are out approximately $400 more than we should have had to spend on these tickets.

I suggest using anyone else to book your tickets.

Christopher
Boulder, Colorado
U.S.A.