I tried to book an airfare on the website www.AIRFARE.com on Sunday night around 12 midnight 08-23-09. The airfare was for the next day 08-24-09 leaving Chicago O'Hare Airport at 11am. I have used various other websites to book air travel in the past without any problems. When I booked it, they had an extra $40 fee because I was using a non-USA credit card (the card is from my bank in Australia). This seemed odd but not alarming. I then proceeded and they presented me with some terms and conditions. Nothing too special there. I then booked the ticket, they emailed me saying that my booking was made but my flight was not confirmed until I filed out and faxed some forms with a copy of my credit card and passport. I called the website to tell them I do not have access to a fax or scanner and it also seemed that if i filled out these forms they were going to charge me again! They told me to go to a library and do this in the morning, the flight was at 11:00am, and the library opens at 9:00am. And United Airlines (the airline I was supposed to fly with) requires all passengers on international flights (which is what I booked) to be at the airport at least 2 hours before flying. This isn't even including time to travel to the airport. I told the customer service center of the website, but they wouldnt listen that there was nothing I could do. I asked to talk to a manager, to which they replied "they just left". And I should call back in the morning at 9:00am. I called my bank in Australia, and they informed me that the company had already charged my card and they couldn't cancel it. I then went to bed at around 3am. I Woke up the next day at 8:30am tried to call them to talk to managers/supervisors etc. The first time I called the person told me he was unable to transfer me, and I should call back and he gave me two extension numbers of "managers". I could both of the numbers but no one responded. I called back another customer service agent, he told me "they just arrived" and transferred me to another number that also did not answer. So I called back for a third time and spoke to a different person, who told me that there are "no managers", there is simply a "authorization centre". He then told me to call back the other numbers AGAIN. At this point I still thought I might have had a chance but couldnt even talk to anyone till 9:30am. They still said they would not issue a refund but I didnt have a ticket... They had charged me for nothing. I then checked my online back account balance and found that they charged me an $350 extra, without any authorization at all or even mentioning it to me! When I called up to ask about the second charge they said they knew nothing about it. I then asked if it was a "cancellation charge" and the man said it was part of their conditions. And made it worse was that he was rude and offered nothing but that explanation and said he had to go, before hanging up on me. So I was originally charged $605 for the ticket, for which my bank charged $7.50. I was then charged another $350 and my bank charged another $7.50. I never receieved a ticket. I never received a refund
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