My wife and I bought tickets threw Orbitz.com from Poland to the States, having one connecting flight from Chicago to our destination. I have had terrible experiences with both CheapTickets.com and Expedia, so I thought I would try a new service. I read all the fine print before purchasing and they still managed to be screwed in the end.
Orbitz.com sold us tickets on two different airlines (Lot Polish Air and United) that DO NOT have a baggage agreement with only a 2 hour layover time between flights. This means that not only do we have to pay to check our luggage twice with two different airlines, that we will be forced to deal with customs, collect our baggage, change terminals with all our luggage in tow, check in for our domestic connecting flight, pass threw security and make our flight all in under 2 hours. Where as this may be possible if everything works perfectly and the ques are light, I wanted to make sure there wasn’t something I could do to get a little more time being that I am a realist and have traveled internationally quite often.
After spending 1.5 hours on the phone with their customer service, I was told by two different people (one a service rep, then one a supervisor) first that we WOULD NOT have to check our bags again only to have them contradict themselves 10 minutes later after they actually checked with the airlines we will be flying with.
In fact, I was put on hold for 8 minutes by the service rep who then ‘called the airline’ only to find out it was closed because ‘it was 3 am in Poland.’ I informed her that I was calling via Skype from Poland and that it was in fact 11:00 am. I asked if she had actually tried to call at all and if so, what was the number? She said that they cannot give out the numbers because they are specifically for services such as Orbitz.com or the like.
Completely confused as to what she was saying, I asked her about possibly moving the flight time of the connecting flight back to give us more time. She informed me that it would $200 per ticket to do this and add 4 hours to our layover time. I explained to her that I was on Orbitz.com and that the ticket price for the exact same flight we were now talking about was only $112 including all taxes and fees. I asked her why would I spend $400 to move tickets when I could just buy two more for $224? She told me that if I did it this way, I would not receive my money back for the original tickets I booked.
Obviously, I asked if I paid the $200 per flight ‘transferring fee’ would we then receive money for the original flights? She said no. I asked why would she even bring it up in the first place if it wasn’t an option at all to which she replied, and I quote, ‘These are the tickets you purchased and agreed to so there is nothing we can do about it.’
I then asked to speak to her manager. I was connected with a woman named Luna who I was forced to explain the entire situation to again. I asked how Orbitz.com could sell ticket combinations for international flights not taking into account all these issues? She told me repeatedly that ‘the computer says its enough time according to the airlines standards.’ When I asked her if this was a standard situation, she agreed that it was not and told me that these times are ‘based on domestic connections.’ I asked her if she knew what she was now saying and if she really thought it made sense and she launched into whatever the monitor she was sitting in front of told her to say, repeating it over and over.
We went around and around, me explaining the situation in as many different ways as I could and her speaking but not actually saying anything until she told me she would do ‘some research and put me on hold.’ After 11 minutes, she came back telling me that there WAS in fact a baggage agreement and that I wouldn’t have to worry about checking the luggage at all. I told her, again, that this contradicted what the previous woman had told me and asked her to make sure.
After being on hold for another 10 minutes, she came back and said that she had spoke to Lot Airlines (who had previously been closed because it was 3 am in Poland according to the first woman) and that there WAS NOT a baggage agreement but that ‘they said it was probably enough time.’ I was so furious at this point that I asked her if she realized she just contradicted herself. She ignored the question completely and went back into her schpiel about how ‘the computer says its enough time.’
It took me asking 4 more times for her to admit that the was wrong about the baggage agreement and then put me on hold yet again only to return to say that she was just told that if we miss our connecting flight, that United would move our tickets to the next available flight free of charge because ‘their standard times were in fact not enough.’
I asked her if I could get something stating this emailed to me and she said they had no way of sending out emails from their computers. I asked her then what would Orbitz.com do for me if I get there and this isn’t actually correct and I am forced to pay for additional tickets as well as checked luggage? I told her that I had in fact been recording this entire conversation and that I just had her making a guarantee that I wouldn’t be charged if I miss the connecting flight. She asked if I could hold again, I said yes, and the call then dropped.
She hung up on me after an hour and a half of contradicting information and mistruths.
It is my plan to call every day, record the conversations and make their lives hell until I get satisfaction. Actually, what I should say is, until I get reasonable service for my nearly $2000 spent with this horrible company.
Please do not use this service at all unless you want to deal with the same sort of situations. I wish that I could possibly suggest a better service but I haven’t had much luck with any similar in the past. Granted, the situations have been different, but the complete lack of care for the customer has been exactly the same.
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