Comments on: Scam alert: don’t buy Southwest tickets on Craigslist

By: Yatra Coupons

Yatra Coupons — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:07:56 +0000

Thanks for the nice blog, very informative and helpful to determine ticket scams….thanks a lot

By: Chandler

Chandler — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:41:18 +0000

I work with a company where most of the business is done online. So I know the in and outs of the credit card system.

While I sympathize with William Marleau, Southwest is not at fault here. People get scammed everyday and in this case, it was Mr. William’s turn. Its cruel and sad but it is what it is. Southwest is a business and as a rule the customer needs to pay for the product. Lot of times on our site people would use the product and call the credit card company after 3 months and dispute the charge. We just eat up the loss and do not go through a collection agency after the user because 1) its too much hassle and 2) if word got out that we are using a collection agency to retrieve fees it would give us bad publicity. However, because our scale is lot smaller than Southwest and fraud rate is less, we can get away with this.

I have also seen parents dispute charges when they couldn’t recognize the fees which ever authorized by their sons or daughters (on an add-on card.). Its the most frustrating experience to deal with such parents. If you have an add-on card and you do not recognize a charge, shouldn’t you at least call the card holder first?

I completely understand Southwest’s position and they are absolutely right in trying to get their money back. Lesson learned? Do not use craigslist and always use your own card to buy stuff. Are few dollars off really worth it ? Use Bing or Priceline or expedia or Kayak and you will get a good deal. Period.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:13:12 +0000

Hummm, people should know better than to get involved in shady online transactions with people they don’t know. What’s to say they’re not buying tickets purchased with stolen credit cards? If people refused to buy shady online products, then these situations wouldn’t happen. You can’t get something for nothing (or close to nothing); quit trying, and you won’t get burned.

By: u

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:56:26 +0000

thanks for the blog…
I may become a victim of similar problem….
I got a email address from gumtree.co.uk for cheap ticket to australia…
and I though it would be great saving.. the price for the ticket was 500£ but market price was 1000£.
I have given my details (just name and passport number not bank details) to that email .. then guy booked a ticket for me… I dont know whose credit card he has used or what he did but he manage to book the ticket… and given me british airway booking reference number …. I called british airway … the customer service says it is a genuine ticket… but then I this blog… I realise it my be I will be in big trouble… so I decided to not to pay this guy.. and I called british airway… five days before my travelling date… I ssaid to british airway I am not travelling and te cutomer service guy has excepted my situation and not down all the details… Let see what will happen..
Figures are crossed..
I hope I want get any trouble for this….
may be I will write again..after my holidays… what next happen

By: vri

vri — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:38:42 +0000

there seems to be a notion that if Mr. Marleau had purcahsed the ticket based on a Rapid Rewards voucher, he would have been OK. But what is to keep the seller from canceling the ticket and reclaiming the award after he has pcoketed the money?

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:42:57 +0000

Someone mentioned buying from Ebay. I bought airline tickets from Ebay, and it turns out that they were fraudulent.

By: Linda

Linda — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:28:21 +0000

Chris, the passenger definitely should be held responsible. He used the services of the airline without paying them. Period.

He paid someone, yes, but not the airline.

Imagine giving your next door neighbor money that you owe to the neighbor across the street. You still owe the money to the neighbor across the street!

By: Arron

Arron — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:03:57 +0000

lissieo46@yahoo.com – it is a scam. The apartment is still available. As I said also in my ad, the apt. is located on 375 South End Avenue New York, NY 10280.

Beware. Don’t send money using western union or money gram.

By: johnson

johnson — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:03:43 +0000

It’s always recommended to buy such items from reliable sources. A search for airline vouchers would yield established sites like http://www.ebay.com and http://www.vacanttravel.com.

For me, I wouldn’t dare to buy directly from strangers in craigslist. If buying discounted tickets gives you insomnia, I’d suggest you that you might be better off buying normal tickets from airline.

By: Dan Ferrell

Dan Ferrell — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:49:03 +0000

You can always verify the voucher prior to purchasing, if its in person.

Online, I’d recommend that you use a reputable company like ebay.com where there are tons.

I look on http://www.travelbydeals.com/marketplace/ , vacanttravel.com, travel.ebay.com.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:19:32 +0000

So my question is this…. did the purchaser not verify the authenticity of the purchased ticket with Southwest? With all the scams going around, one would reasonably expect to do a little legwork to insure against this. I feel for the guy but come on… Southwest has to do what what it can to avoid this. If they simply let this one go, everybody and their brother would be selling “deeply discounted tickets” on Craigslist and the carrier would go bankrupt. Considering the shape the airline industry is in currently, they certainly don’t need the help of scammers to further assist them with bankruptcy! They’re all doing failry well on their own!

By: louise

louise — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:25:29 +0000

SWA does not sell left over seats to consolidators so that empty seats can be filled. SWA does not participate in consolidators like Orbiz or Expedia, which are owned by a few other major airlines. SWA has a huge and powerful legal and fraud departments that constantly scan ebay and craigs lists and issues orders to cease and desist. People just change their email address and phone number when issued the warning and try again. Rapid Reward Ticket fraud is huge. When RR Customers selling their tickets are a part of it, their memberships are revoked if caught and tickets canceled. Employees are warned if they sell their buddy passes, they face termination. Many people unfortunately buy tickets from people with stolen credit cards. If they are last minute purchases, it is very difficult to catch the passengers before travel. The credit card customer sees the charge on his bill 30 days later and then challenges the charge. Then the investigation starts and SWA seeks to recoup their money. If they let WJM get away without paying, then everyone else will want to fly for free too. WJM should go to small-claims court and try to recoup his money from the ticket-seller as well. Just go down the food-chain. SWA did not contract the Craig’s List ‘merchant’ as an authorized travel agency to sell WJM the ticket. Just buy from SOUTHWEST.com next time. Enough Enough of being the sad victim. You got taken by someone but it wasn’t SWA.

By: Plet39

Plet39 — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:07:28 +0000

To all the blowhards who are jumping on Mary — not everyone does the credit card kiosk thing. I usually do, and not all airlines require that the credit card you swipe even be the one you used to purchase the ticket. The credit card is basically used as identification. Since I purchase my tickets so far in advance that I don’t always remember which card I used, I simply swipe whatever card I have with me. I’ve never had a problem getting my boarding pass.

Joe Farrell: I recognize that you travel way more than I do and know more about such things than I do, but I’ve ready many of your postings, and you always come across as such a pompous, condescending donkey butt that the facts get lost in the “I’m smart and you’re not” attitude. Lighten up!

By: RegularGuy

RegularGuy — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:20:12 +0000

The only person dumber than the one who buys an airplane ticket from… CRAIGSLIST (can’t even say that without rolling my eyes)… is the person who defends him.

And who expects any business to “treat them with love.” Okay, maybe certain business yes… but not an airline.

I got a particular chuckle from Mr. Marleau’s response on this board…. “I am the victim.” Well guy, you kinda did that to yourself. Hope you learned something from this and don’t allow yourself to be victimized again by your own stupidity.

With love,
RG

By: Lex

Lex — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:56:55 +0000

The old maxim still holds true — “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” If Mr. Marleau bought the ticket for $200 less than WN ‘s advertised price, would he have called them up and offered to pay the difference. I think not. Caveat Emptor.