Odd situation with Travelocity & Air Tran - both a WARNING and a plea for help

[MulanMom]

I'm somewhat reluctant to post this saga, but I hope in doing so I can help others steer clear of this situation and hopefully get some good advice on how to resolve it. This will be long.

Back in Sept., before 9/11, I had three Airtran tickets I had to reissue through Travelocity. In addition, I also had to purchase a new ticket for my son who turned 2 in June 2001. As part of the reissue, I had to send in my boarding passes to Travelocity via Fed Ex, and new boarding passes were issued to me along with invoices for additional charges incurred as a result. Boarding passes were for our flights this March.

On March 10th, I arrived at the AirTran checkin desk 2.5 hrs before my flight. Presented the boarding passes to the ticketing agent. She looked in her system for a good 5-10 minutes and couldn't find me or my tickets anywhere. I remained calm, called Travelocity on the cell phone, was on hold for a long time as Travelocity agent was trying to contact AirTran's main help desk. When I relayed this to the ticketing agent, she mentioned if she could talk to Travelocity directly, they could possibly resolve it. Ticketing agent (TA) in the meantime was holding 4 seats for us.

When Travelocity agent came back on the line, I had her speak with Airtran TA. The Travelocity agent would not give the Airtran TA a number that would allow her to make the tickets good. I then got back on the line with the Travelocity person who stated their records showed our tickets were cancelled on 9/10, three days after our purchase on 9/7. She couldn't explain why. I asked if that were the case, why were charges put through to my credit card and never refunded. And if they were cancelled on 9/10, then why would they mail out the boarding passes on that date, 9/10? Basically I was left with having to hang on the line until they could get through to the Airtran main help desk (this was already going on for 45 minutes) or to deal with their consumer relations dept. Since I didn't cherish the idea of my vacation being completely ruined by this fiasco, I purchased new tickets at the gate and figured I'd hash it out later. The Airtran agent was incredulous because it all could have been easily resolved with her. She had the power to make the boarding passes good. (which they should have been to begin with)

On my return home, follow-up phone call with Travelocity didn't leave me with any better of an explanation. The agent tried to make it appear as if it were my fault because I wouldn't hold (after 45 minutes of doing so at the airport!). she then refused to give me any further information and said I had to contact their consumer relations department, and before I could get any answer from them, I would have to SEND IN MY ORIGINAL BOARDING PASSES! When I asked if this would've been the response I would've gotten on the day I was flying, I wasn't given an answer. When I pointed out they are the ones that took my money, she indicated they weren't the ones who charged our credit card...it was AirTran!

Followup with Airtran was more pleasant. Unfortunately, they had no record of the credit card transaction. I am still waiting to speak with their bookkeeping dept. who should be better able to explain how Travelocity deducts credit card payments in Air Tran's name. A review of my cc statement shows Airtran as the payee, but the location is Travelocity's.

I've contacted my state atty. general's office who advised me to file a written complaint and to not send my original boarding passes to anyone, they are my evidence. However, since Travelocity is an on-line company, I don't know if my state's AG office can get involved. I'm planning on sending written accounts to Travelocity, Airtran, AG's office, and the credit card companies involved. If anyone has any advice which could help me with this, I would appreciate it.

If anyone is holding boarding passes purchased through Travelocity, I would encourage you to contact the air carrier now and be sure you are listed on their manifest. The first Travelocity rep I spoke to on 3/10 mentioned the same thing had just happened with another customer.

Thanks for hearing me out. And thanks in advance for any assistance you can perhaps give.

Sharon

 

[zurgswife]

I would think that your CC would be able to get your money refunded if you have unused boarding passes.....

 

[CarolA]

You need to write your CC company immediately and dispute the charge. You paid for a service you did not receive, they can fight this easier than you can.

 

[travelcoupons]

ditto.. dispute the charge IN WRITING with the credit card company...provide all the details and i would be surprised if they do not reverse the charge and get your money back.

 

[MulanMom]

Thanks for the replies so far. Yes, I'm getting the credit card companies involved but it is complicated. Since some of the tickets were a reissue, the original billing date is in Oct. 2000. When I did the reissue, the charges were made to the CC in Sept. 2001; it is now well past the 60 day dispute date, though my bank did state the date I became "aware" of the problem should work in my favor. I placed the tickets purchased at the airport on another CC, and in speaking with their dispute person, they are reluctant to place the entire amount into question since they felt the problem was with the earlier Sept. 2001 charge.

I'm just so happy to come home to this! If you have more ideas, please let me know!

Sharon

 

[cherylp3]

Have you tried Planetfeedback.com ?

Sometimes companies read letters there and fix the problem.

Cheryl

 

[MulanMom]

Cheryl,

Thank you for your message. I've never heard of Planetfeedback.com. I'll have to check it out. At this point, I'll be writing to just about every company involved. Perhaps i'll post on the planetfeedback website if the problem remains unresolved after that.

Sharon

 

[Bill Seattle]

Your Attorney General will not represent one person. Others in your state will have to have the same experience for them to take up the case but they might make some important contacts for you. I am surprised that Travelocity does not want to protect their image in this case. You would think that you could go directly to AirTran but decided to go to them. Next time you will know better by their attitude. They must be blaming it on you or something. Have they given you THEIR side of the story. Do they think you called in and cancelled the tickets even though they were mailed and charged after they were supposedly cancelled.

 

[MulanMom]

Bill,

Travelocity has told me nothing over the phone nor have they provided anything in writing. I am really shocked by this as I have been a customer of theirs for about 8 years. Now that the holiday has passed, I'll be able to stay focused on this a little better and get down to the bottom of it.

BTW, spoke to my brother-in-law who had a problem with his airline tickets purchased through Travelocity for a trip he took in February. Apparently, it was an issue between the airline and Travelocity. I don't know the specifics but it had to do with the airline not having to honor the tickets issued through Travelocity if the flight is cancelled. That would not apply in my situation as the flight numbers remained the same as on the original tickets and the flight times were changed by 20-25 minutes.

Thanks for your thoughts and input.

Sharon

 

[MulanMom]

Bill,

Just got done drafting my letters, so the details are a bit fresher. To clarify, I'm pursuing this through Travelocity because AirTran has no record of the transaction. Not only in regards to the tickets, but they have no record of the credit card transaction from my card that made payment in their name. Those charges were applied through Travelocity's processing, though the payee is AirTran.

As for the cancellation comment, the Travelocity rep indicated AirTran cancelled the reservation. They haven't pointed the finger at me...yet. Maybe a letter to their Consumer Relations dept. will yield some results.

Sharon

 

[wbk]

Next time, why not book directly with AirTran on its site? We've purchased tickets via the AirTran site the last three times we've flown to Orlando and never had a bit of difficulty. The third party is the problem in your case.

Sure hope you get it resolved.

 

[MulanMom]

i hear you about booking direct on the website! I plan to do that for future travels. I, too, hope I can get it resolved! Thank you for your message.

Sharon

 

[hercamore]

Hi Sharon,

No advice here..sounds like your're doing everything you can to deal with a nasty situtaiton.

HOpe it goes better for your next trip.

 

[DisOrBust]

Since I work odd hours I hear a lot of talk radio. Clark Howard has a consumer info show and website. He recently had a caller on who had problems with travelocity and was getting no where. The caller finallyl sent his complaint directly to the president of Travelocity via certified mail outlining his problems and the lack of customer service and was responded to imediately. I am sure if you did a search you could fint the CEO's name and adress. BeveryLynn is our travel Guru on the Dis she might also be able to help.. you could try giving her a PM. Good luck! I am sorry for your frustration.