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Travelocity.com - Yahoo Travel ripoff ,the business that doesnt give a dam, waste of time and money Internet
In an attempt to save time and money I logged onto Yahoo's travel site (Travelocity.com) to find the cheapest flights from Dayton, OH to Phoenix, AZ. With only 9 days in advance, I couldn't find anything cheaper that $600 from Dayton to Phoenix. The best option was an 1hr and 20 minute drive to Indianapolis Int'l Airport. After an 1hr of researching travel options I found 3 tickets with United Airlines for $213.50 ea., totaling $655.50.
This was a 7 hour non direct flight, w/ a change over in Charlotte, NC, but it was affordable. I booked 3 tickets w/ United Airlines, from Indy to Phoenix departing on Friday, April 18th 2003 with a return date of Monday, April 21st 2003. This trip was a surprise for my 11 yr. old son. I was taking him and my wife to see my twin sister in Phoenix. He was estatic when I told him what we were doing for Easter since he had done so well with his grades in school.
The real surprise and nightmare came about 2 days before our departure date. A copy of my itenerary was sent to my email address. When I reviewed the travel dates I found that there was an error made with the return date. I had typed a return for May 21st instead of April 21st. I called Travelocity to plead my case. Apparently when I was clicking the return dates, I still had the "month" box highlighted and accidently rolled the mouse.
After explaining this honest mistake, Travelocity refused to cut me any slack. They said it would cost me $130 fee/ ticket to make any changes in addition to the difference in cost at that time. To change my return date with the same airlines, the severice rep said it was going to cost me over $800. I argued that the amount for all 3 tickets cost only $655.50, so that wasn't even relative. I asked, "there has got to be something you or someone can do to fix this problem"? He assured me that this was out of his hands and this was United Airline's policy to change a booked flight.
I asked what benifit is it for a customer to use your travel services? I explained that if I had just called United Airlines directly, this mistake would have never occured. I asked if he could just cancel the flights and give me a refund. The service rep at Yahoo travel could only apoligize saying there was nothing he could do. While talking with this service rep, using their website, I found a nonstop, oneway flight from Phoenix to Indy on the 21st of April with American Trans Airlines (ATA), that would only cost $170/ ticket.
Since I was already committed I had him book me 3 more tickets with a different airlines (ATA). This was still cheaper than the $800 he was going to charge to change the tickets w/ United. In conclusion, I attempted to speak with a supervisor, Sara, at Travelocity about this matter. In short of being rude, she was very unresponsive to my problem. I also called United to talk with them and they wouldn't touch the matter saying it wasn't their problem.
The lesson learned: Use Yahoo Travel as a tool for information but when you decide on the airlines or travel. Call the airlines directly. You can get the same tickets for the same price and if a mistake is made on their part, they will fix it, without charging you an arm and a leg.
Kerry
Englewood, Ohio
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Emily
Hurst,Texas,
U.S.A.
Tricky website cleaning up on errors.
#3Consumer Comment
Sun, March 18, 2007
Yes, I to reported on this that I was tricked into making a mistake. When you view the flights they look to be all in chronological order but they slip in an AM. So when you pick the wrong one and finish your booking, then view your booking you see the mistake. when you see this mistake you have 2 choices. Pay out the nose or waite 30 days for a refund minus $12 service fee.
Travelocity is cleaning up on website errors. Once you call and you hear click, click, click, that means your call is on it's way to BomBay. Customer service has 2 things they will repeat. refund or pay up, so they might as well be a recording. No inbetween at all. Do yourself a favor and just go straight to the airline you want to fly on.
Emily in hurst Tx
Jason
Exeter,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
it was not travelocity's error
#3Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 07, 2003
I have worked in the travel world for a little while now, and have friends that work at Travelocity. You freely admitted that you made an error when you booked on travelocity's/yahoo's internet site.
all air is ticketed/submitted within 6 seconds of hitting submit. at that point, any change or cancelation fees are fully applied. it was not travelocity's error that you had the wrong month in, thus the statement you made of: "if a mistake is made on their part, they will fix it, without charging you an arm and a leg" is not valid statement as you had stated that the wrong month was in the box. they also, next to each option for outbound and return, list the dates that that flt will be on.
you stated you were looking 9days prior, and noticed the error 2 days before. you are sent email confirmations of all transactions. had you called earlier it may have been possible for them to void the ticket prior to the ticket being submitted to the ARC.
travelocity cannot change, alter, or waive any fees imposed on a ticket. it is not a matter of travelocity 'cutting you any slack,' it is a matter that they have policies and rules that they have to go by that are imposed by them via the airlines.
further, the $800 charge, would more then likely be the fees to change in addition to any fare difference that may have been on the tckts as you stated you noticed this 2 days before travel, at which point tickets can be fairly expensive.
the true lesson here, is to make sure you check over what you do online, before hitting the submit button, then check immediatly any confirmation that is sent to you, and if any descrepancies are there, to contact the company immediatly. they still might not have been able to get the fees waived depending on the airline, but they would have had more elbow room to alter a ticket that was just done.