Complaint Review: Orbitz

We booked a dream vacation at a resport in Mexico for our family and another family. We bought airline tickets via Orbitz. Orbitz tried hard to make what would have been a routine vacation into a true adventure.

When I went to review airline seats 18 hours before takeoff, I discovered that, rather than the usual boring habit of booking us on one flight, which we could take, Orbitz had us booked TWO outbound flights on the same day, neither of which, it turned out, was valid. Definitely a lot of fun would have ensued at the airport had I not happened to try to check seat assignments.

I tried to find a way to contact orbitz to figure out what was going on, but could not find a phone number anywhere on the site. (Others here say they spoke to them by phone so I guess there is a number that is just well hidden. Another orbitz fun factor)

I called the airline, Aeromexico. Another company that believes life is too predictable and needs to be spiced up with the unexpected. Their customer support team have mastered the art of speaking at length without actually saying anything. Or at least I think they have ... couldn't really understand anyone there but the supervisor.

I asked his minions for the Supervisor's name as he was too busy to talk to me, and this is when it became clear just how talented this fellow must be. For, in the tradition of Anya, Prince, and other superstars, The Supervisor apparently has no family name, just a first name. One day he will perhaps be The The Supervisor Formerly Called Cheech. (Not his actual one and only name)

Anyway, turns out Aeromexico had unilaterally decided to change the times of both of our flights, making the connection infeasible, then also changed the date of the first flight to be one day earlier.

Brilliant!

But I foiled their cunning plan to free up seats.

Rather than pack and prepare for the trip, a dull task, I was enthralled to spend the next 45 minutes in a game of wits. A game, I am sad to say, which cannot be said to have yielded a good result - a tie at best.

Aeromexico told me that we needed 75 minutes between flights to transfer. With the new schedule they created, we would have had 70 minutes. So they would not let us take the flights we had previously booked.

We had only carry-on luggage. Simple solution: book us on the earlier connecting flight, and waive any fees if we missed it and had to take the later flight (which had plenty of seats). No dice. Apparently everything is timed so preciely in Mexico that a 5 minute difference in connection time turns the feasible into the Utterly Impossible.

The Supervisor recommended we cancel our daughter's participation in State finals (swimming), pack forthwith, and dash the 100 mile sor so to the airport pronto, in order to catch a flight a day early and overnight in charming, kid- and yanqui-friendly Mexico City. He could scarce believe his ears when I declined this generous suggestion. ("What a strange person!", I could hear him think)

So, in the end we had no choice but to leave home at 3am in order to catch a flight which enabled us to spend most of the day in the Mexico City airport, before finally reaching our destination 5 hours late - just in time to have missed all the activities for which we had paid the resort handsomely.

I did try to explain to our kids that a day in Mexico City airport is a superior experience to swimming with dolphins, kayaking, sailing, etc, but was stranegly unable to prevail in this line of reasoning.

Anyway, back to the part Orbitz played in this Mexican tragedy. Their errors can be summarized as follows:

- emailing schedule changes, including changing the DAY of the trip, with no follow up to ensure the email was being seen. (In this case, it turns out that our spam folder did indeed have Orbitz email about a schedule change in it)

- no process to make sure people know their flight schedules have changed

- having wholely inaccurate information in their online system. The flights I was trying to choose seats on were no longer valid due to Aeromexico's changes. Orbitz knew this - they emailed me - but their reservation system did not show the new flights.

- a strange inability to send a text message to MAKE SURE THE CLIENT KNOWS THE FLIGHTS WERE CHANGED

- an equally strange inability to call clients to ensure they know their flights have changed (Orbitz had my cellphone number)

- a mystery phone number for support ... I could not find it, although it apparently exists.

- In summary, misinformation, lack of follow through on changes, and a total lack of support.

Now let me contrast this with the site I normally use, let us call it Journeyspeedity. These guys get it. They have clearly posted phone numbers on their web site. They answer the phone. They make sure they contact you with any changes (versus assuming that slience means all is well, as Orbitz does, they request confirmation that you know of changes). They go to great lengths to resolve issues on your behalf. They are your champion with the airlines and others, as needed. In other words, you can rely on them to help resolve any issues that may crop up.

As for AeroMexico - I was feeling a little upset at my usual airline, let us call it Murcan Airyplanes, recently, over a scheduling issue. They fixed it, breaking their internal rules to do so. After the experience with Aeromexico I now feel like Murcan are a fantastic group of stand-up folks who are great to do business with. (Which they really are)