Orbitz.com Deceived us Internet
My fiance and I decided to book a hotel using Orbitz.com for the last night of our trip in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We wished to save some money for the last nite as we knew we would be spending a lot for the entire trip.
We usually use Expedia and Travelocity in booking hotels but after comparing prices on the night of the booking, we found that Orbitz.com had a better deal.
We were looking to book a hotel right next to the airport and close to the beach so we could relax before we were to leave the next morning for home. On Orbitz.com, we found a Day's Inn with address of 2201 North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale as being 1 mile from the airport, six-hundred some feet from the beach and a complimentary shuttle costing five dollars per person to and from the airport. The estimated price was 63.99 for the nite. We were delighted, believing we were saving money on cab fares and so close to the beach. We booked through Orbitz.com the hotel for 30-31 of January.
After traveling around Florida reaching the last nite of our trip in Fort Lauderdale, we were excited to go relax by the beach and sip on some drinks. We reached Fort Lauderdale Airport and dropped off the car. We then went to find the complimentary shuttle. After 45 minutes of asking and trying to figure out where this mysterious shuttle was, we called the Day's Inn. The clerk told us there was no such shuttle. Perplexed, we hailed a cab thinking it wouldn't cost that much since it was only a mile away from the airport. Well we kept driving and driving. We told the cab guy we thought he was going the wrong way because the Orbitz.com confirmation stated it was 1 mile from the airport. He said not according to the address and so we kept driving.
We reached a less than desirable Day's Inn after a 21.50 cab fare about 15 miles from the airport. I went into the lobby and told the front-desk clerk of the mix-up. She told us that Orbitz.com always books people at that hotel stating it was one mile from the airport, across from the beach and a shuttle.
We called Orbitz.com and spoke with a custmer service associate. She verified on the website that the hotel we booked was one mile from the airport, across from the beach and included a shuttle for 5 dollars pp. We told her not even close. She then called Day's Inn. After being put on hold, she said she spoke to her supervisor and they couldn't do anything for us at that time because it was Day's Inn fault for giving them the wrong information. She told us to call back and get the fax number to fax our receipts to corporate to get a refund for the mix-up. We didn't have a pen on hand at the pay phone with all our luggage.
When we arrived at our room, we called and received the fax number to Orbitz.com.
We arrived home the next day and decided to check and see if they updated the information on the website for the hotel they threw us in. We saw that they did and were happy that they corrected the problem. We thought since they corrected the information, then they would have record that they did indeed have the wrong information listed.
After faxing all the receipts and a letter refreshing the problem, we get a call back from Orbitz.com. The customer service associate explains they cannot reimburse us because she verified on the website the updated information was correct. In short, she basically called us liars. Nice way to treat first-time customers right?
I think it's interesting that since they updated the site with the correct information, they can state that this never happened. From their prospective, they have no record of any Orbitz.com customer service associates verifying they misled us and booked us in the wrong hotel. It's nice to know how they run business on their website. We will not be using their service again and will be warning others to not use their website as well.
Dave
Brunswick, Maine
U.S.A.