Comments on: One flight, two tickets http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/one-flight-two-tickets/ Consumer advocate Christopher Elliott's site. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:25:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: TOM HARPLEY http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/one-flight-two-tickets/comment-page-1/#comment-6269 TOM HARPLEY Sat, 17 Nov 2007 23:18:51 +0000 http://beta.elliott.org/photos/one-flight-two-tickets/#comment-6269 HOW DO YOU GET A REFUND ON AIRLINE TICKET OR TAKE A EARLIER FLIGHT? HOW DO YOU GET A REFUND ON AIRLINE TICKET OR TAKE A EARLIER FLIGHT?

]]> By: Myra http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/one-flight-two-tickets/comment-page-1/#comment-2188 Myra Sun, 23 Jul 2006 22:59:33 +0000 http://beta.elliott.org/photos/one-flight-two-tickets/#comment-2188 I wonder if was a problem with there system and you never got to approved the transaction could you call the company of your credit card of your bank and let them know what took place for them to investigate and refund your money, just a guess... I wonder if was a problem with there system and you never got to approved the transaction could you call the company of your credit card of your bank and let them know what took place for them to investigate and refund your money, just a guess…

]]> By: E. Prakash http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/one-flight-two-tickets/comment-page-1/#comment-2187 E. Prakash Thu, 13 Jul 2006 02:12:15 +0000 http://beta.elliott.org/photos/one-flight-two-tickets/#comment-2187 I have had similar experiences on both Expedia and Priceline. One was for 3 tickets to Chicago. I had looked at a couple of dates in considering which to get ticketed for. Somehow when it came time to submit my request, the date was changed ot the date I didn't want for the ticket date. They issued those tickets for the wrong date and for a flight departing 1 hour from the time of the flight. In the case of the 3 tickets to Chicago, I had printed several of the windows with the information, but apparently not the right one that they wanted to see. The second problem was for one ticket to Toronto, in which they processed a ticket that I decided to not get when I was at the "submit" stage of making the reservation. I decided not to go through with the ticketing. In both cases I contacted the companies as soon as I found the problem, one immediately, and the other was a late evening reservation and I caught the roblem in the morning. Often the contact possible with the companies is possible by e-mail only and can be several hours later, before you receive a response. In both cases, the respective companies refused to acknowledge that there was a malfunction in the ticketing process and refused to even consider a refund or reisue for the correct date. In both cases I was shut down from further appeal and told -in essence- "tough luck". By the way, as soon as my call was recognized as a complaint, the demeanor of the agent became defensive and negative about finding a solution to the problem. Consequently I will not use either of those sites unless I absolutely have to, because I know that the "cheap ticket" can end up being as expensive as a full fare 1st class ticket and you have little recourse. Interestingly enough, the only cases of a reasonable resolution to problems with ticketing through these companies that I have seen seem to result only after a known consumer advocate, with the power to publicize the incident and possibly illuminate how these companies operate, intervenes. I recognize that they deal with leftover seats on flights and consider all sales as "final sales" however, until there is an absolutely fail proof method of processing and ticketing a reservation, they should honor immediate changes in the case of an error or seek out solutions to make the customer happy. They aren't the only ones to offer inexpensive tickets and with some research, I have found several other ways to get my "cheap" tickets and be treated as a valued customer in the process. I have had similar experiences on both Expedia and Priceline. One was for 3 tickets to Chicago. I had looked at a couple of dates in considering which to get ticketed for. Somehow when it came time to submit my request, the date was changed ot the date I didn’t want for the ticket date. They issued those tickets for the wrong date and for a flight departing 1 hour from the time of the flight. In the case of the 3 tickets to Chicago, I had printed several of the windows with the information, but apparently not the right one that they wanted to see. The second problem was for one ticket to Toronto, in which they processed a ticket that I decided to not get when I was at the “submit” stage of making the reservation. I decided not to go through with the ticketing. In both cases I contacted the companies as soon as I found the problem, one immediately, and the other was a late evening reservation and I caught the roblem in the morning. Often the contact possible with the companies is possible by e-mail only and can be several hours later, before you receive a response. In both cases, the respective companies refused to acknowledge that there was a malfunction in the ticketing process and refused to even consider a refund or reisue for the correct date. In both cases I was shut down from further appeal and told -in essence- “tough luck”. By the way, as soon as my call was recognized as a complaint, the demeanor of the agent became defensive and negative about finding a solution to the problem. Consequently I will not use either of those sites unless I absolutely have to, because I know that the “cheap ticket” can end up being as expensive as a full fare 1st class ticket and you have little recourse. Interestingly enough, the only cases of a reasonable resolution to problems with ticketing through these companies that I have seen seem to result only after a known consumer advocate, with the power to publicize the incident and possibly illuminate how these companies operate, intervenes. I recognize that they deal with leftover seats on flights and consider all sales as “final sales” however, until there is an absolutely fail proof method of processing and ticketing a reservation, they should honor immediate changes in the case of an error or seek out solutions to make the customer happy. They aren’t the only ones to offer inexpensive tickets and with some research, I have found several other ways to get my “cheap” tickets and be treated as a valued customer in the process.

]]> By: Ilene Rachford http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/one-flight-two-tickets/comment-page-1/#comment-2186 Ilene Rachford Wed, 12 Jul 2006 18:16:09 +0000 http://beta.elliott.org/photos/one-flight-two-tickets/#comment-2186 A similiar thing happened to me last year on Orbitz. Apparently Orbitz had a computer problem after I put in my credit card and my tickets were not confirmed. I tried to get into "My Trips" and found nothing. I called Orbitz and was told they were experiencing a problem and to try again shortly. I asked if she could confirm or deny my ticket purchase but I got the usual "Our computers are down". I was *assured* that if I had not received a confirmation and there was nothing in "My Trips" my order had not been processed. Knowing how hard it would be to receive a refund if the order had, indeed, been processed and I bought another set of tickets, I called my credit card company. No charge showed up on the "recent transaction" screen, so I waiting for a customer service rep. She was able to check my account and did indeed find the ticket charge! I then called the airline, got a confirmation number and printed out my itinerary from there. The one nice benefit was that I was charged only the ticket fee, not the additional $10 handling charge from Orbitz. A similiar thing happened to me last year on Orbitz.

Apparently Orbitz had a computer problem after I put in my credit card and my tickets were not confirmed. I tried to get into “My Trips” and found nothing.

I called Orbitz and was told they were experiencing a problem and to try again shortly. I asked if she could confirm or deny my ticket purchase but I got the usual “Our computers are down”. I was *assured* that if I had not received a confirmation and there was nothing in “My Trips” my order had not been processed.

Knowing how hard it would be to receive a refund if the order had, indeed, been processed and I bought another set of tickets, I called my credit card company. No charge showed up on the “recent transaction” screen, so I waiting for a customer service rep. She was able to check my account and did indeed find the ticket charge! I then called the airline, got a confirmation number and printed out my itinerary from there.

The one nice benefit was that I was charged only the ticket fee, not the additional $10 handling charge from Orbitz.

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