I'll reveal at this point that the online agent is Expedia, because they have finally decided to step up. The key was to get to "Tier 3 Customer Service". The lower tiers just sent me form letters with a bunch of words adding up to "get lost", but Tier 3 is actively investigating and are in direct contact with the airlines - I got that info from one of the airlines in question just now. Getting to Tier 3 required sending emails directly to Expedia's executives, because you can't do it through their phone system or website. I got the addresses from the elliott.org website.
Yes, the hardest part is (almost always) getting to the right people. In almost all cases, there are people who can make it right, but they are (for what should be obvious but unfortunate reasons) hard to contact.
WiseOne wrote:
Interestingly, in my conversation with one of the airlines I said there's nothing special about me so I assume this happens all the time, and what do people do in these cases? The supervisor I was speaking to said "I've never heard of this happening, and if it did happen all the time there would be a crisis of trust with the flying public." Well said, sir!!! But, in fact it DOES happen all the time. Elliott.org lists case after case of codeshare ticket and/or online travel agent problems that, as in my case, resulted in people having to buy very expensive last minute tickets at the airport. Sounds like this is something that a news organization should investigate and report! Anyone have ideas on who I should go to with this? I do know a reporter at a local paper in NJ (high school friend).
You might see if you can contact a consumer reporter at a local TV station. I would recommend "Consumer Reports" magazine but they are too communistically inclined for me to want to promote them.
Update again. I'm still waiting on Expedia's "investigation", and I'm told they're now talking to their ticketing department. Which I finally figured out is indeed responsible for the problem.
I was looking at my credit card charges, and it looks like when I paid expedia they set up the entire payment to go directly to Airline #1, instead of going through Expedia to be rerouted to both Airlines #1 and #2. Someone there had told me that it was Airline #1's job to send on payment to Airline #2, but there's no mechanism for that plus Airline #1 has no way of knowing the deal with Airline #2. That should be Expedia's job.
So, hoping they'll do the right thing. Eventually. Meanwhile, this is preventable: don't buy mixed-airline round trips. If you do, check the credit card charge to make sure both airlines got paid and not just one, so you can straighten it out from home rather than from a random European airport.
A shame, because that's actually the best use of agents like Expedia! If I wanted to buy a single-carrier round trip I'd just get it direct from the airline. I don't even like to deal with "airline partner" situations, because I learned long ago that this usually results in not being able to pick a seat ahead of time or check in online.
I just discovered and read this thread. Sorry it happened, WiseOne.
I've used Kayak for a few flights in the past several years and, other than having to travel between terminals for connecting flights, I didn't have any issues. Lately, I've been booking direct, though. Good to have this heads up.
anytime we do complex trips we use our local travel agent -liberty travel . at least i have someone right across the street i can deal with when things go wrong .
we just booked a cruise to cuba with a few nights before and after in miami . we let them do the entire trip including transfers . anything goes wrong and it is all on them .
Maybe! That $3K must really be burning a hole in their pocket.
I got a message from them that said they agree I should be refunded, but that they were going to try to squeeze it out of Airline #1 first. The very same one that said it was Airline #2 or Expedia's fault, depending on who I talked to. Good luck with that.
Lo and behold....I got an email from Airline #1, which I will now identify as Virgin Atlantic, 'fessing up to accidentally cancelling the return half of my ticket due to a system glitch and stating that they'll reimburse me for the cost of the one-way full-fare I had to fork over in Paris. It only took two queries from the Elliott.org advocate, several phone calls, a direct email complaint, and filing a DOT complaint against them to accomplish. Times 3 actually since I went through all those things with Expedia and Airline #2 as well. Will wonders never cease.
Two things. First, the above story is likely oversimplified, since it doesn't explain why I was able to confirm the return flight by phone. But fine, I don't need to know the inner workings of their computer system. Second, they claimed I paid about $100 less than I actually did for that one-way ticket. I hope the receipt I sent them fixes that problem. But...after all this wouldn't you think they'd do more than just reimburse me for that ticket??
AFTER I get reimbursed I'll send them a copy of the original email I got from them stating that it's Expedia's fault, and ask why it took all the above interventions to get them to do the right thing. Of note, filing with the DOT turned out to be the most productive action, as the airlines take this very seriously. Phone calls were the least productive, because you only get to talk to someone whose job it is to be a brick wall, and it leaves no paper trail. If something like this ever happens to me again, I'll skip the phone call, file a complaint on the airline website to document the incident & start the paper trail, wait for the written response (which will be a polite variant of "f-- you"), then file the DOT report.
Oh yes and...never ever buy a ticket through a third party! If you buy direct from the airline something can still go wrong, but now there's only one party involved and they can't play the blame someone else game. And especially don't buy multi-airline tickets. Next time I'll get one way flights directly from the airlines instead - a friend of mine said she did that once and it was only about $100 more than the combo.
EDIT: plug for the Elliot.org advocate as well. The email from Virgin Atlantic mentioned their direct inquiry. I would absolutely contact them for help if you get to the DOT filing stage and still have no response. I'll also say that I'm very glad there are people like that in the world, willing to help with these situations at no cost apart from an ad and viewer-supported website.
Last edited by sophie on Tue Nov 07, 2017 8:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
Good for you, WiseOne, for pursuing this to the end. Nowadays, it seems that companies with a large footprint have become very bold in their overreaching with consumers. Regrettably, life has become so complex and harried for most of us "little people" that it's just not worth the time and effort it takes to make these companies accountable. If more people did what you did, I reckon there'd be a whole lot less of this crap.
Well, $3K is a good motivator. I'd have given up long ago if it was only $100 or so at stake. Which I guess is exactly the business model. However, I did learn enough so I now have an efficient roadmap to follow as well as preventive strategies. A worthy investment.
