I was supposed to fly to NZ today for IMNZ but can’t because of kidney stones. I had booked my flight with travelocity. Normally their customer service is very good, but this time, when it got to getting a refund, it was very different.
I first called them 4 weeks ago to cancel when my father in law passed away. Told them I wanted to cancel my flight.
They told me I had not chosen to purchase the insurance, which is not correct, as I remember full well ticking the $29 box (for a $1500 ticket). One “lady” on the phone told me that anyway it was not a valid excuse…“what???”…
anyway I know full well that systems are not bug free and that it is possible that their system didn’t register me ticking the box. I thought, oh well, I’ll go anyway (forced to, but will go)
Today on top of this I tried to get a refund because I have a kidney stone which is bloody painful. However, I am afraid that they will give me the same crap.
Feels like airlines or travel agents take you hostages…they can do how they please…anyway, if someone has some idea of what to do…Dealing with a death, now being sick, is hard enough not to have to deal with crooks on top of this.
Dude, that is **SO WRONG!!! **I’m obviously no lawyer, but there are enough on this board to get you some good counsel. I was *really *hoping your string of bad luck would end with a solid race in NZ.
I’ve never had stones, but I do know what pain is. I feel your pain. Hope you get both your system and your refund issues cleared up in a hurry.
From their website: “Reimburses cancellation penalties or unused arrangements up to your total trip cost maximum of $2,000 per person should you need to cancel or interrupt because of illness, injury, or death to yourself, a family member, or traveling companion; jury duty; subpoena; or a documented traffic accident in which you are directly involved on the way to the airport.”
Looks like you should be covered. Why will they not honor this?
… have you paid your credit card bill that had the travel expense?
If not, contest the charge with your credit card company… may not be ultimately successful, but will buy you time until you get a proper resolution to your problem.
Actually, the total on his credit card bill ought to prove that he did purchase the insurance. Same with the reciept he should have received for the purchase (I think Travelocity sends email receipts?). Once the proof is compiled, have a “legal sounding” document written up to threaten them if need be. It’s amazing what a legal letter can do.
legal shmeigel…this sounds like a good job for the boys at team SHR and their 15yr old silca pumps…we’ll beat some sense into them…gotta protect a brotha. BTW francois…even if you get your money back (and are you listening travelocity…you better come up with the goods) it still sucks that you had to back out. All the ‘there will always be next years’ in the world won’t stop the sting. Gonna have to find a way to break the curse…maybe blowing up a tubular tire on national tv will help. We’ll see if it helps the Cubbies.
I hope someone of travelocity is wandering on the forum indeed…wonder if I couldn’t sue them for emotional distress…one of the person I had on the phone was plain rude…“a death in the family isn’t a good reason”…
Francois (officially looking for a voodoo sorcerer to break curse)
telling someone a death in the immediate family is not a good enough reason is definitely a good case for emotional distress (sadly now it is your word against theirs and up to you to prove it emphatically). I’d have been very inclined to lose it on somebody for that comment…hell… I’d still look into it (get a name?). As for the voodoo curse removal…I am so not the guy to help there. If it weren’t for bad luck I don’t think I’d have any. I contend that somewhere on the planet someone is leading a very jaded life at my (and now yours as well) expense. Wish I knew who they were…I’d like some retribution for all these years.
I didn’t lose it completely when she said that…just said “you are completely heartless. thanks for your help”. Yesterday I got an email from them asking how the service was…I didn’t answer back, but next time I will…
In that email maybe mention that you were seriously considering not only a class action suit against them for breach of contract (tell them you have emphatic proof that pruchase protect had been bought) but also for emotional distress if you are not satisfied with a prompt refunding of your airfare.
done…maybe the prospect of having to lose much more than a plane ticket will motivate them indeed…I can’t believe that someone who’s job is pretty much PR job would say something like that anyway…
Good onya m8…give 'em hell. And if you need us (I say us because I secretly want to be a card carrying member of team SHR) we’ll be standing in the wings…tapping our pumps in our palms…like any good Soprano with a baseball bat would do.
Francois, did you not get a message a the startof your call to travelocity stating “to assist with security and the training of our staff all our calls may be recorded blah.blah.blah?” I would be surprised if you didn’t, if you did when you contact them next atate time and date and insist that you want those tapes pulled and listened to. I have had cause to request that in the past and it goes very quiet on the other end of the line before they fold like a bad poker hand. You know you have got them then! Also stating the individuals name is a big mind concentrator for them, I always take the name of the telesales staff when I start the call it reminds them that you are on the ball and they are accountable.
Francois, My girlfriend recently had to change her flight to Australia because her visa did not clear in time. She called (this is the airline not a travel agency) and they told her it would be $1300 dollars to change the day of her flight. She hung up cried on my shoulder for a while, then called back, got a different operator who changed her flight and never charged her a dime. Sometimes it depends who you talk to. By the way everyone feel sorry for me, the gf is gone for 3 years, but when she comes back she will have a phd and I get to spend a whole year training and racing.
Then Francois, I think you’ve got them! Check your cc receipt adds up to the ticket and insurance and give them a ring. If you get no joy insist on speaking to the supervisor, team leader, manager or whatever the nomme de jour is and remember to trot out the date and times of your calls with their offensive telestaff. That combined with your Doctors details should do the trick without even mentioning seeking legal recourse.
I don’t really want to “get them”. Until now, I was very satisfied with their service and pricing. All phone calls had been friendly until the last two employees.
I just want them to accept that I am entitled to a full refund (less $5 as said on the contract). It’s not like I am trying to make easy money with a lawsuit. I have other things to worry about right now…
Francois, you misunderstood me. I merely meant that you have the evidence to support the fact that you are entitled to the refund for a valid reason, and are not trying it on. I was explaining (not too clearly, it seems) that if they were to play back the recordings of your conversations with their telestaff it should swing the decision in your favour if they were teetering toward refunding you.