My recent experience with "EXPEDIA.COM" ...
... there is something I want to share with you, something which made my blood boil yesterday late in the evening!
I am here in gorgeous Albuquerque now for some three months and as it happens, it becomes necessary to fly back to Nebraska for a few short days to get some paperstuff taken care of, visit some folks and run some unavoidable errands. After three months that's just the way it is and so I thought, lets get it done and book a flight ASAP.
I sat here at my laptop after work, that is after a 12-hour (or make it better 13) shift, tired but determined to find what I wanted: a reasonably priced ticket to Omaha and back. A colleague had warmly recommended to go to EXPEDIA and do the booking through them ... he said he always takes advantage of their services and never ever encountered a problem. Well, he's a very respectable person with lots of experience with domestic flights and so I did what he suggested, anticipating I would more or less whizz through the whole thing and have a pleasant experience - and go to sleep. I never expected what followed ...
It was the first time for me that I booked a ticket online ... either I went to a travel-agency and had them take care of everything or I did it by phone. Each flight, anywhere ... never had a problem.
So encouraged by his words I started off right away with EXPEDIA website and found a flight for two-hundred-I-guess-seventy-something dollars - and was a happy camper! A fantastic price I thought ... but when I tried to figure out how to go about, I was a bit unsure - and decided to call them and ask for assist. A guy answered the phone, I suppose he is from India. I am NOT judging whatsoever - I travelled India and love the Indian people dearly - all I am doing is stating a fact. He was impatient from start and when I told him, I was interested in this particular flight, he briefly searched and told me, the price was wrong. I insisted I saw it right in front of me, on EXPEDIA website but he kept on repeating it wouldn't exist. He even told me I should refresh the site and even shut down the computer and restart it ... well, to make a long story short - he tested my patience to the very limit. He told me, the actual price would be some one hundred dollars more ... I wasn't convinced. If this price was listed, I said, even though possibly accidentally - the flight should be sold for this amount. It was misleading potential customers.
The agent asked me if I would book this more expensive flight and I told him NO, I was not interested and didn't understand why EXPEDIA as well-known company didn't honor their ads ... and suddenly I heard a CLICK in the phone - imagine - the guy hung up on me in the middle of my sentence!! What a buffalo I thought ( which almost constitutes an insult for the four-legged buffalos!) .... but as giving up is not an expression that exists in my vocabulary so I called back - and got a young woman at the other end of the line. I told her what had just happened to me and that I was very upset about his conduct and consider it the epitome of rudeness ... well, maybe she didn't understand what an epitome is, who knows ...
In the meantime I had indeed refreshed the website (just to be on the safe side) and guess what? The low flight price was still listed and damned, I WANTED it! I told her it was not feasable that one price which didn't exist, was still listed but she gave me the same story as her impudent collegue and after a short few minutes and again the question if I wold book the more expensive flight and with the same answer from my side - she became very short and unfriendly and terminated the call by snarling what I wanted was not available and the usual "thank you for calling EXPEDIA and have a nice evening" - yea right!! By then the low fare was still officially available on their site and I looked straight at it! Image this audacity!!! I was furious! Needless to say, EXPEDIA will NOT see nor hear from me again.
Then I checked all possibilities I could think of and finally called FRONTIER Airlines hoping, even though I had almost lost my hope already, that ANYONE in the airline industry would be friendlier and more considerate and helpful ... and was almost shocked at the courtesy and patience, the kindness and professionalism! I didn't like the fares though and finally ended up booking the flight through PRICELINE ... very reasonable in price, smooth sailing through the process and without any rude word. It shows it is possible!
I would show those rude EXPEDIA travel-agents the door and tell them to close it from outside!~
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