Feed duped and deceived by Travelocity agent
Written: Aug 05 '07 (Updated Aug 05 '07)
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I must first begin this review by stating that part of the problem was with a miscommunication with our niece for whom we purchased a ticket.
Our niece was traveling with a college group from California to South America for a month as part of a Latin American study class. She wanted to have some time to spend with us in South Florida, so we agreed to buy her a round-trip ticket from California to Florida and then a return after her month-long trip in SA.
I had seen many commercials for Travelocity and decided to see if they could give us the best rate on a round-trip airfare. I found the site very easy to navigate and, since we had the exact dates, it was simple to choose flights and times. Our credit card was charged and the e-ticket was sent to our niece.
Now, where the problems began was the fact that she got the return date mixed up - her flight was leaving Buenos Aires late in the evening on one date, but actually arriving in Florida early morning the following day. She had given us the wrong return date. Consequently, she missed the actual flight that we had booked for her.
OK, it's a mistake and we didn't expect a "freebie" flight. However, my wife called Travelocity to see what could be done. She was told by the agent that a new, one-way ticket would have to be purchased and that it would be expensive since it was purchased the day before the actual flight. My wife asked if there was any way that we could use some of our airline miles to buy the new ticket and the agent said that we couldn't.
To make a long story short, we ended up paying almost $500 for a one-way ticket. At the end of the conversation, my wife finally realized and asked the agent - couldn't we have just called the airlines directly and used our miles? He finally stated that we could have done that - and the deal with Travelocity was finalized and there was no way to cancel or refund the ticket just purchased.
Now, why couldn't he have said that in the first place?
We feel deceived because the agent could have simply told us in the beginning that we could save money by booking the additional flight directly with the airline.
My issue is that they already made money on us with the original round-trip ticket. A little bit of good will goes a long way to keep a return customer. But, when a company uses deceptive tactics, it creates mistrust and is not good PR.
Again, I say that the mistake was on our part and we didn't expect anything unrealistic. But the agent could have really gained a loyal customer by answering truthfully in the first place to my wife's question. It would have cost him a sale because we would have immediately called the airline directly and cashed in flight miles, but he would have gained a repeat customer because of his honesty.
I guess that Travelocity and other companies like it are great if you know EXACTLY what you are doing. But I doubt very much that I will ever use that service again because of this experience. It was a very expensive lesson learned.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Airline tickets
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sophiesdad
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Location: Florida
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