On July 4 I called Orbitz and asked for my ticket to be changed. My daughter's team had lost their bid in the National Basketball finals and we needed to return hom earlier than anticipated. That morning I spoke to an Orbitz Customer Service rep who made the change in my ticket and told me the change would cost $180. He said it was $60 for each AirTran ticket change ($120) and $30 for each Orbitz ticket change ($60). I agreed to the price and he said he would use the credit card on file (which I used to purchase the tickets) and that a confirmation e-mail would arrive in my in-box shortly.
Three hours later, no confirmation email had arrived.
I called back and was told that the tickets had been changed and the customer service agent read the new information to me again, saying she wasn't sure why the confirmation email had not yet arrived.
That evening, no confirmation email had arrived and my husband called back for me; as I had already checked out of my hotel and checked into another hotel near the airport. He was on the phone with Orbitz and placed on hold for more than 30 minutes. He called Air Tran who said they'd be happy to make the change, but it had to go through Orbitz. Air Tran gave him the exact wording to use when asking to be transferred so that he would speak to the correct department and personnel when trying to get the matter resolved.
Orbitz placed my husband on hold again for more then 30 minutes. He finally resolved that they were not going to return to the phone. Holding was their way of ignoring the problem and hoping he would go away.
Orbitz never made the ticket change they said they did, and I can only hope they did not charge me the $180 I authorized for the new tickets. I ended up having to take my initial flight back home. I was stuck in Minnesota for 4 extra days because Orbitz refused to follow through on the ticket change or pick up phone when someone is holding.
At home again, I emailed Orbitz about the debacle and they have failed to respond in any way. Air Tran advised my husband to NEVER use Orbitz and to always make your reservation directly through the airline. Orbitz offers no customer service AT ALL. They use the hold button as a weapon and just ignore you if they can't figure something out. They will rip you off, so learn from my lesson and stay away from Orbitz.
DM
Springfield, Virginia
U.S.A.
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