Travelocity.com Bait & Switch and No Customer Service or Consumer Affairs or Whatever they Call it San Antonio Texas

Disgusted wouldn't begin to explain it. When looking for a hotel for an impromptu visit to the beach, we received the following on Travelocity:

$76.46 - Best Western (2 double beds)
$79.00 - Casa Del Mar (bunk beds, sleeper sofa & bedroom
with kitchen)
$119.00 - Victorian (bedroom, sleeper sofa, and either day bed or bunks, with kitchen)

Pretty much as we would be in the room to sleep only for one night, we reserved the Best Wester, a non-smoking room (my husband is allergic) - hit "buy my room" or whatever the catch phrase is, got in the car and drove the hour it takes to get to the beach with the kids. I did not check the confirmation email before leaving. When we got there the check in personnel told me the rate was $89.00. I explained that I had been given a rate of $76 and change by Travelocity - she showed me the fax they got from Travelocity showing the rate as $89.00.

She did give me a long distance number to call if I wanted to - it was Friday after 5:00 - no answer, but the voice mail did direct me to consumer relations - who told me they don't deal with customers, I would have to talk to "customer service". Now look at those two names - consumer relations and customer service - is there really a difference or are we playing word games? When I talked to a human who pretended to care - she said if I got home and the email confirmation I was sent by Travelocity said the rate was $76 - that Travelocity would reimburse me. Had this been the case - we would have gone for the room with the kitchen so we could save a little bit of money on food while we were there?????

Anyway - we went to our Best Western room, the first thing we noticed was the smell from smoke and the ashtrays in the room. Before allowing the kids to put their swimsuits on we called the front desk to ask to be moved to a non-smoking rooms, none available. They did their best, put and oxygenator in the room for a couple of hours and sprayed some "smoke away" in there - helped for a couple of hours, but certainly affected my husband's breathing.

When we returned home and I opened the email - the rate was $89.00. I still have the post it note that I wrote the rates on before making the reservation - $76.46 - COULD I MAKE THAT UP? The next thing I did was email Travelocity and explain all of my concerns to them, from the rate to the smoking room, to the fact that I've been a "Travelocity Preferred" member for several years now as I've booked all of my personal and business travel through them.

I told them that I expected a reasonable reply within a reasonable period of time, it's been ten days and I have not heard one word. What I have learned in business and as a parent is that when you make a mistake you own up to it, admit it, and do what you can to fix the problem. Travelocity's silence has shown me that they do not practice this, and that they are o.k. with not only loosing a customer, but having them tell others about the experience. The addage "if you have a happy customer they may tell someone, if you have an unhappy customer they'll tell 10 people" that's going to come true right about now.

Last Time Travelocity User
Houston, Texas
U.S.A.