Doris Weller booked a set of roundtrip tickets from Wichita, Kan., to Houston on AirTran recently. Her husband, Lawrence, needed to be in Houston for an important medical treatment. The airline sent her a confirmation.
But it wasn’t the kind of confirmation she expected. On closer examination — which, unfortunately, didn’t happen until the couple arrived at the airport — it became clear that AirTran had sent her a notice that her credit card had been declined.
Result: the Wellers had to buy another set of tickets for $1,588.
Should AirTran refund the difference between the original tickets and the higher, walk-up fare?
Weller explains how this happened:
We did not look at the form closely. On Oct. 12, when we went to the Wichita Airport with our “confirmation” number, we were surprised to learn we did not have a reservation and if we wanted to board the plane we needed to pay $1,588.
Well, my husband has been a patient at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and medical test were scheduled for him the following morning. Since he is followed for his cancer in Houston and Discover has never declined payment on his Discover Card before, we decided we had to go.
We returned two days later to Wichita and contacted both Discover and Air Tran to ask if they could assist us.
Discover initially said, “no” we couldn’t dispute the credit charge and Air Tran said, they had not billed us $637 for the [original tickets for]. They said we should have read the reservation form they sent us, where payment status, said, “declined”.
Hang on. If AirTran sent the couple a form that looked like a confirmation, then we have a problem. If, however, Weller simply didn’t read the email from AirTran — well, that’s another issue.
This week we will get my husband’s Discover bill that includes the $1,588 charge. For two decades we have used our Discover credit cards, and never before had this kind of issue. Plus, when AirTran placed our flight status on “hold”, why did we get a receipt and itinerary form?
AirTran is well within its rights to charge the Wellers a walk-up fare of $1,588. But those expensive last-minute fares were designed for business travelers who are on an expense account — not for couples who are on their way to Houston for cancer treatments.
I thought AirTran should have another opportunity to review this case, so I suggested the Wellers send a brief, polite email to one of its executives. They did.
A few weeks later, they reported back:
I just got a call from Andrew Carlsen, a customer supervisor who offered us a courtesy round trip in Feb. from Airtran Airways for my husband and myself. I was concerned, since on this visit, the oncologist said, we needed to stay longer, about a return flight.
Mr. Carlsen gave us a confirmation number, spoke of the two black-out dates in February, and suggested we call and arrange [our return flight]. And… when in Houston, as soon as we know when we can return to Wichita, as long as seats are available, we can get a courtesy flight back.
Again, we so much appreciated your hearing our concern and providing a concrete suggestion that worked. Hopefully when we follow through with making the courtesy flight arrangements, they go as smoothly as Mr. Carlsen indicated.
So AirTran kept the Wellers money, but offered a free flight from Wichita to Houston, which they would have had to book anyway. They’re happy with the resolution. And if they’re happy, I’m happy.
What could they have done to prevent this? Apart from reading their “confirmation”? At the ticket counter, they might have been able to negotiate a lower fare on compassionate grounds.
(Photo: Kevin Boydston/Flickr Creative Commons)
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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
WHAT, they should get a full refund, then the free ticket, shame on airtran, fleecing a cancer patient, thats low
I am terribly sorry to hear of Mr. Carlsen’s cancer. Have been there, done that, and have the T-shirt. No matter how good the treatment, it is not a pleasant experience, and I hope that he has a full and speedy recovery.
I am also pleased to see Air Tran had some goodwill regarding this unfortunate incident. It does sound like Air Tran at the very least needs to look at it’s back office web system to ensure that confirmation numbers are only issued in the instance of a complete/approved purchase. That said, there are many carriers out there who will still let you “hold” a fare for 24 hours while you get things worked out. Maybe that is what Air Tran intended, maybe not.
Either way, I also think that if a card is declined- however innocently- ultimately the passenger is responsible regardless of their health condition. I have had this happen for increasing frequent “fraud checks” by card issuers who then turn around and call me. While I am irritated by it, I have to own it. In this case, I feel Discover owes them a better explanation that Air Tran.
The responsibility lies with the Wellers to verify the intinerary and the status of their reservation. Had they done this, they could have booked the ticket with a different CC. So I don’t see where AirTran did anything wrong.
Having said that, a cancer patient, for whom money is probably already tight, maybe deserves special consideration. AirTran could have gotten some really excellent PR out of this situation had they handled it a little differently. Think of how the Wellers would have been singing the praises of AirTran had the airline agreed to honor the original fare. In this travel climate, PR like that is worth it’s weight in gold.
Normally I am the first one to defend a business when it takes action in the case of non-payment. In this case, I really can’t. Why does a credit card decline notice look like an itinerary at all. How about a completely different notice with a bold subject line reading “CREDIT CARD declined. You have not been ticketed.” Another option is that you don’t get the confirmation screen until the charge has gone through (fairly normal practice).
Lets face it. In today’s society of multiple emails for every purchase no one takes the time to read every word on every one. We quickly scan the email provided to determine its meaning. An email that looks like a confirmation is a confirmation in our mind.
Interestingly, Air Tran got off easy. There was a $900 difference between the two fares which would be worth almost 1.5 tickets at the original fare. Instead, they only had to give up one ticket and who knows what will happen when they try and use the free ones.
It is clearly apparent that AirTran was out to gouge the Wellers. It was entirely within their flexibility to have honoured the original fare when they showed up at the airport, seeing as there was a traceable backgrounder to show the situation as to what had occurred. I would also be on the phone blasting out and pulling a strip off the back of a senior VP at Discover card (a card whose time and purpose seems to have passed it by around 1988) as to why the card was declined….although I also think it might be in the ValuJet-era c/c interface systems that AirTran uses, since a perfectly valid MasterCard of my cousin’s couldn’t be approved and he had to email in to AirTran, speak to a supervisor, etc. Apparently they downloaded some trial software from Saturnus but never paid for the renewal license so that is causing a fair share of hiccups because of said cheapness.
Did they book the flight online? If so, then the problem is two-fold. First, AirTran should have made it clear that the CC was declined, and should not have sent a confirmation, or something that looked like a confirmation. Second, the Wellers should have double and triple checked any correspondence they received. They also should have checked to make sure that their CC was charged.
While I feel sorry for them, I always double check when I make purchases like this.
I think it’s hard to answer what they could have done to prevent this without seeing the notice they received that their credit card was declined.
I’ve fat-fingered my credit card # before and had it declined, and the message is always pretty clear that the transaction did not go through. But I have never done this with AirTran.
The Wellers are paying in full and then some for their flights. The current flight at $637 plus the future flights at around the same or maybe a bit more is less than the $1588 they have already paid. And come February, who knows what can happen – Customer servcie “forget the deal”? Their needs change? Perhaps this is the best deal because, they probably should have checked the receipt more closely (and it is entirely understandable why they did not!) but Air Tran could do a lot better than this.
Best wishes for a good out come and happy holidays to the Wellers.
I have to give kudos to American Airlines and their procedures on credit cards. I inadvertently gave them a number to an expired card, which was declined. They still issued the ticket and contacted by PHONE to tell me there was an issue with the card. American Airlines did not cancel the reservation, but in fact, issued the ticket on good faith. Once they reached me by phone, I was able to give them the correct expiration date (the account number had also changed).
The problem is not that Air Tran or any carrier did this, it is certain based on
everything that is happening in the airline industry needs to be looked at and then
regulated by the DOT and FAA. The Air Carriers in the us according to the certificate that they’re issued exist only for the neccesity and need of the US
traveling public. A fact that has been lost over the years since the CAB was
replaced by the DOT and other regulators. So they now do pretty much as they
please. Rates, Rules, should all be approved by the regulatory bodies and they should again have to publish a electronic or printed tariff as they did well through the 1970′s… when the actually made a profit and passengers recieve good servie and far treatment. They want taxpayer support but then they wish to do anything
to that same taxpayer they wish… everytime they screw up… the come back for
more taxpayer dollars – and use the same business model… isn’t crazy doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?
It is easy to enter a wrong digit or a wrong date. Air Tran should have notified notified them right away by phone or e–mail. I wish them both a happy holiday and good luck.
It is interesting that some people here seem to suggest that Lawrence should get special treatment because he is a cancer patient.
Now think about that.
Is this really the expectation level that we have about customer “service” from an airline these days? Unless you’re a cancer patient, it’s normal that an airline treats you with contempt?
So the Wellers admit they didn’t review the travel documents carefully. Did the Wellers notice they were not charged $637 on their Discover account? The cynical side of me thinks they did notice they weren’t charged for the tickets but the mistake was in their favor so they never contacted AirTran. I hope that wasn’t the case and they were entirely innocent but still failed to review their itinerary carefully. AirTran did the right thing by offering them 2 round-trip tickets the Wellers can actually use.
[QUOTE] We did not look at the form closely. [/QUOTE]
That explains it all. No one else is responsible for your money except for you – this is not a situation where
Who just shows up at the airport today? If they had tried to check in online the day before they would have found out right then and there they had no reservation. They did not book seat assignments – they just merrily assumed all was well because they did not read the confirmation they got.
I am not elderly, ill, a cancer patient, a single mother, a minority who has been traditionally downtrodden, or any other special category of passenger.
That means I’m screwed, right, if I make a mistake?
How about if I”m just plain stupid, maybe just ignorant? Is that going to be a good excuse soon?
Because people who are dealing with serious illness don’t have anything else to think about. Other bills. How they’re going to come up with the money for those bills. Fighting with the insurance company. Again. Family. Chaos. Having to travel by plane for treatment because what you need isn’t offered at home. And oh yeah, now this. Forgot we have to be sticklers for every little detail. Maybe Mr. Weller has always been the detail-meister in the family. With everything going on, it’s no wonder something got missed. And yeah, they deserve a little extra compassion and special treatment…just because they’re dealing with cancer. It’s not the same as dealing with every day life. I wish Mr. Weller better health, and better travels for both.
AirTran has a big part of the problem. Usually, Airlines cannot complete and issue a receipt for an airlines ticket if the Credit Card is declined.
So don’t make the confusion by issuing the receipt. It’s a fault in the programming.
I wonder if anyone has a cancer patient in the household ?
You will find out that the cancer patient can hardly read the prescription and keep the pill schedule straight, don’t ask them read the airlines reservation.
And the partner who take care of the patient have to work to earn the money, do the work for at least two person, and that, not counting the children.
I really have sympathy for them. And the airlines should too.
@ Not Really Barbie
I just made airline reservations and received itinerary / receipts all set for check in and with seat assignments. I cannot ckeck my Amex for about three days because it takes that long to post on line. I could easily go to the airport with my carry on luggage, thinking everything is just dandy and unless I received notification of a problem (and how many letters have we seen where the notification never arrived???) or took the extra step of checking (which I do, but still might not), never know there was a problem. Let’s lighten up on the passengers and take this as a teaching moment.
The OP admits they did not look at what they got.
I fail to see how this is the airline’s fault.
I’m very sorry the man has cancer, and I hope he has a full recovery, but that doesn’t excuse a failure on his part, or that of his wife, whoever attempted to make the reservation.
I read this and I noticed the one problem here… They flew Airtran….Enough Said… Sorry ladies and gentlemen..This airline is garbage and you get what you pay for. After they stranded me in Atlanta for 6 or 7 hours, SOLD OFF OUR SEATS, and couldn’t find a crew to pilot us to Dallas, I’ve never flown these idiots again. I don’t plan to either. Suffice to say, that due to weather, we arrived with our connecting flight with barely time to spare. Amazingly enough, it had parted and left the gate long before. We were at the gate when they were “Suppose to shut the doors” and that plane was no where to be found. So yes, I am sorry Wellers. If you want better service, try Continental or Delta. AirTran Customer Support are trained monkeys. They can answer a phone. Nothing else.
Yes, the couple made a mistake by not reading the “confirmation” carefully, but if the transaction did not go through then there shouldn’t have been anything that even remotely looked like a confirmation. (for example I had a problem ordering an iPhone the other day on line and in clear, large, bold letters across the top of the screen, I saw a notice saying my order had a problem)
At the airport the airline should have been more compassionate and honored the original fare. there were obviously empty seats that could be sold, so why the problem. the couple had the original e-mails or non confirmation showing the price that they had agreed to pay. Someone there should have made an exception for someone who was obviously ill.
I am glad though that the airline has stepped up and offered another flight for the couple. There is still a slight difference, but in the end the mistake was a much smaller financial one.
Oh barbie, boo hoo,I cannot feel any sympathy for you at all. You just use the same cliches. There are tons of single mothers. How have you been personallydowntrodden?
Here’s the problem: the purchase process should have NEVER made it to point of the customer getting an email. The website should have immediately attempted to charge the card, and inform the customer in real time that their card was declined so the customer could have called their bank or taken any other action necessary.
Yes, I program computers for a living. Yes, I’ve built systems such as this before, that can charge cards in real time and handle declined charges. It can be done. It’s not rocket science.
The whole point behind the various financial networks (Visa, MC, Amex, Discover, and others) is so that transactions can be processed in real time, from merchant to cardholder’s bank, in no greater than 3 seconds.
Either AirTran has made very bad business decisions when building their reservations system, or they have some bad programmers. Either way, something needs to be fixed to ensure that this sort of thing doesn’t happen again.
Thank you Doug. I figured it was Air Trans fault.
I am completetly agree with Doug. They shouldn’t have any confirmation or email issue as long as the CC bank cannot authorize the amount charged
It was a programming error. Or Air Tran act bad faith to want to keep theses customers hostage and knowingly they will pay larger sum on date of departure.
Never travel on Air Tran and never will.
Hey Ames – did you READ your itinerary? Did it have a confirmation code and a PNR? You had seat assignments and a ticket number on your recipt , right?
Its not about checking your bill cause not really barbie never mentioned anything about that in his/her post. But in their case MONTHS went buy – and apparently – they
a) never checked their credit card bill to make sure they were charged properly – which is fraught with its own problems! – pr
b) they never the charge, knew they were not charged, and thought woo hoo! we got a free airline ticket.
Neither choice deserves one IOTA of compassion from any of us here.
YES THE AIR TRAN COMFIRMATION LETTER LOOKS THE SAME WHETHER THE CREDIT CARD IS DECLINDED OR NOT. YOU WOULD HAVE TO READ THE WHOLE ITINERARY TO SEE IT. IT HAS A CONIFRMATION NUMBER AND ALL. WHICH IS MISLEADING. I’M NOT SURPRISES AIR TRAN DIDN’T GIVE THE MONEY BACK. THE FREE FLIGHT DIDN’T COST AIR TRAN ANTTHING NOTHING.
Some of the comments are of the “Well, you flew on xxx, what did you expect?” variety. I would venture a guess that just about every US airline has people that would say the same thing about them.
As for cutting cancer patients some slack, well, we could extend that idea to just about everyone who is sick.
I am the kind of person that reads virtually every word in a brochure and I look for the asterisk footnote because I am now conditioned that there is always some gotcha lurking to separate me from my money. Does that make it right? No. And we should not have to be explorers when viewing email messages (assuming that in this case the email message was not clearly identified as a credit card denial instead of a confirmation message).
The takeaway here is that we all need to assume that businesses are not going to do the greatest job of ensuring all goes well. That way, when it does, you’ll be happy. And if it doesn’t go well, well, you already figured it wouldn’t, so you won’t be surprised and you would have planned for that contingency.
/just my opinion, I could be wrong.