Complaint Review:
Orbitz.com
I am writing to you to ask for your assitance with solving an issue we are having with Orbitz.com who are charging us for a mistake they made in booking a hotel room for us.
Approximately a month ago, my wife and I booked a hotel room through Orbitz.com. We waited for our confirmation email to arrive before setting off for the beach. When we did not get a confirmation email, we called them and spoke to a "customer service" rep and told them that we have booked but received no confirmation. She corrected the issue and we had our confirmation but we had to spell every last letter of the conversation to her and she did not appear to know what she was doing at the time. We enjoyed our stay at the beach and at the hotel check-in, there seemed nothing wrong with our one room.
On our next credit card statement, we noticed that Orbitz had charged us twice for the same day at the same hotel for two separate bookings. We called them on multiple times waiting on hold for hours. Eventually when we got through to a real person and explained that they had made an error, a "customer service" rep informed us that we had booked two rooms on two separate occasions and that is why we were being charged twice. Despite our protests and explanations of their errors, we were told that we "had better pay". Infuriated at the injustice, we called our credit card company and informed them that this was a fradulent claim for payment by Orbitz and that we had not ordered the service twice. The credit card company agreed to reverse the second charge and they were going to ask the Orbitz team to contact us.
A week later, I received a call from a "customer service" rep who had absolutely no tact or verbal skills. She persisted to inform me that I had made a mistake and I had better pay for the charge. This rep continued to inform me of how "the system works over here". I informed her that despite my strong English accent, I knew exactly how I need to pay for services I purchase and that I was not paying for an error the Orbitz service rep made (it was clear that the original rep had booked a second room in error instead of fixing any issues that may have existed. This may not have occurred if the rep was trained and knew what she was doing). After some un-polite conversation, we ended the interaction.
Today, I received a note from a debt collection agency asking for the money. We did nothing wrong (except using Orbitz !) and now we are faced with a debt of $139 or an issue with our credit history because Orbitz made an error. I have impecable credit history, both my wife and I are professional people with highly desirable positions and we are both educated above first degree level but we are frustated that Orbitz cannot admit to their error, fix it and move on. It seems that you cannot even speak to a real person unless you hold on for hours. We are never using a internet based travel agency like Orbitz again.
Please help me to get this corrected - you might be able to suggest other avenues we could try to have Orbitz correct their error.
Jay
Orlando, Florida
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Sarah
Falling Waters,West Virginia,
U.S.A.
Orbitz did it to me too, leaving me stranded in the desert for 5 days with no money for food, drink or transportation!
#2Consumer Suggestion
Sun, January 14, 2007
Orbitz did the same thing to me, charging me 3 times for an $800 ticket, wiping out my checking account and causing me to rack up huge overdraft fees!
I purchased one airline ticket through Orbitz at a price of $800. It was costly, as it was a last minute reservation and I needed to fly out of a tiny airport.
When I reached my destination in Flagstaff, AZ, I tried to buy a drink as I was dying of thirst and US Airways is very chintzy with their drinks. My card was declined, which was puzzling to me because I had checked my bank account the morning I left and I had over $2200 in there. The stranger behind me bought my bottle of water for me.
Onward to the rental car agency. I hadn't used Orbitz to book that reservation and when I gave them my card, same thing. DECLINED! I was humiliated and stranded. More kind strangers in Flagstaff gave me a ride to my friend's house, who was severely ill and unable to pick me up.
I immediately got on my friend's computer to check my bank statement, only to see that Orbitz had charged me 3 times for the ticket! I called Orbitz and was told that it was standard procedure for them to put 3 holds on the account, but I was not told this when I purchased my ticket (and I read ALL the fine print in everything I do, and it was NOT stated there). I explained that that was totally unacceptable and that I needed my money NOW because I was flat broke and 3000 miles away from home.
Not only did they refuse to help me, they became very argumentative and combative. I finally had to call my husband and get him to call our bank to see what, if anything, could be done. Were it not for the good people at my banking establishment, I would have been royally screwed, as they agreed to put a stop payment on one of the charges so I could have some cash.
Onward to the day I was to leave. Because of the terrifying (and boy do I mean terrifying) AmericanWest flight from PHX to Flagstaff, I refused to get back on that plane. It was even suggested by the flight attendant that I do not get back on the plane because I freaked out just that bad. I called Orbitz to change my ticket around, agreed to pay their ridiculous fees (the airlines don't even charge that much!) so I could take a shuttle bus from Flagstaff to PHX to catch my flight home to Baltimore. They charged my credit card 3 times for that fee too!
I get to PHX and whip out my debit card to pay the shuttlebus driver because I knew my bank had returned $800 to my account. My card was declined AGAIN and I was humiliated AGAIN. Were it not for the kindness of Grand Canyon Shuttle Tours who kindly ate the fee, I would have been arrested for not paying for services.
Okay. So my US AIrways flight was delayed (there's a surprise, right? haha) and I was very hungry and thirsty. I called my husband to have him check the bank account before I was publicly humiliated again, only to find out Orbitz had charged the $200 change fee 3 times! Once again, I was dead broke because of them. I was finally able to board my flight, still hungry and thirsty and were it not for the stranger sitting next to me that offered to pay for my $5 meal, I would have probably gone into diabetic shock.
Orbitz finally returned all of my money, but not before ruining my trip and compromising my health. The only suggestion I can offer to anyone in the market for airline tickets is to NEVER EVER buy from Orbitz. Call the airline direct (their tickets are cheaper anyway because they don't charge you the $9.99 Orbitz membership fee) and purchase your tickets that way. I have used other internet travel agencies with no problems whatsoever.
If you don't have an endless supply of cash in your checking account or on your credit card, DO NOT use Orbitz. They will rip you off so bad and leave you high and dry and they DO NOT CARE.