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CB Travel Agencies and Tour Operators Review of AirTicketsDirect (Voyages a la Carte)
AirTicketsDirect (Voyages a la Carte)

AirTicketsDirect (Voyages a la Carte) review: unethical dealings 18

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Author of the review
11:46 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I booked 2 airline seats for a multi city European trip. After entering passenger information, there is a box which states:
"Change your mind or cancel for any reason without penalty. A unique feature of AirTicketsDirect that assures total satisfaction with this airfare purchase. For any reason, you can cancel this booking within the same day you made the purchase - 100% free of charge" That is a "cut-and-paste" from their site, not my version of their wording. There is a box to check if you want to decline this, but why would someone decline something that is "100% free of charge"?

Well, it seems this company has a strange concept of what "100% Free of Charge" means, as when my credit card charges came through on the next page, there was a $39.98 charge for this "unique feature" of AirTicketsDirect.com. A charge of 19.99 per person!

Over an hour on the phone with the company was a waste of time. I am told that it is illegal for travel companies in Quebec to even sell any type of trip isurance. I am not a lawyer but was told this by a Montreal travel executive. It is illegal in my province to have "negative option billing" under consumer regulations.

In my view this company is unscrupulous and unethical, whether they operate within the strict confines of the regulations or not. I have forwarded the complaint to the travel group whose umbrella they operate under, Ensemble Travel, to see if they can stop this practise. I have also notified the folks at AMEX Platinum about them. In the meantime...my advice is stay away from this site.

Update by bobtor
Apr 16, 2012 11:49 pm EDT

The compaany Voyages a la Carte is actually in Montreal, not Toronto. This as a posting error. --bobtor

18 comments
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Myhongee
, US
Sep 26, 2018 7:46 pm EDT

They should be reported to the Better Business Bureau? If everyone did this, there might be some possibility they could not continue to do this to others.
link to better business bureau locator United States and Canada
https://www.bbb.org/en/us

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Myhongee
, US
Sep 26, 2018 7:00 pm EDT

I was just double charged for my ticket. They confirmed on the visa that the amount would be $346.00 for a one way from Minneapolis to Boston and they charged me 666.98 plus fees which equal 731.20 in total.

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Totalrec
, US
Aug 09, 2016 1:08 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

This company is toxic! What a nightmare. I am trying to make reservations for a family friend to visit my, soon to be, 89 year old father. Booked the flight through Voyages but never received a confirmation email. Had an awful time tracking down just exactly who we booked with. Once I got a number that worked and went through, what seemed like a rectal examination, I discovered that they had misspelled my dad's friend's name and Voyages would be glad to change the one letter for $75! I admit, I about lost my mind at this point and asked to be transferred to a supervisor. Once more, I was placed on hold then informed a supervisor would contact me in two hours! I bit my tongue and agreed. After 2 1/2 hours I phoned Voyages only to go through another rectal examination being told a supervisor would be contacting me very soon. Did not happen! The next day I phoned them again and, of all things, they couldn't even find my information they had yesterday. I lost my mind and patience! I hung up. Contacted the airline just to make sure they couldn't change the spelling. They couldn't but they confirmed that the reservation was made through Voyages and gave me their "locator number". Once more I phoned Voyages, gave them their locator number to no avail. According to my phone I spent 1:44.41 with them, mostly on hold! I finally had to contact my credit card company and am in the process of dispute litigation and had to rebook through another company. Under NO circumstances should you EVER use Voyages a la Carte!
Ric

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Unlucky Poor Guy
, CA
Dec 16, 2013 5:00 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Do not waste your time with this company! Extremely terrible and no services!

I bought two tickets from them and when the airline cancelled the flight later on, this company did not inform us by email or phone. They also don’t compensate us for our loss of money and vacation time. And they don’t even reply to our formal complaints.

The other big company “E……” has emailed us for a cancelled flight and said they would even call us. I just called them to fix the problem.

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tallyfly
Innisfail, CA
Dec 01, 2012 3:02 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I had the same problem with these bogus charges. NEVER EVER EVER will I use this company again

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Pierre Beaulne
Gatineau, CA
Oct 19, 2012 9:25 pm EDT

I just got scammed too by adding the amount of 197.24 wich called RBC insurance that i never applied for ! I cancelled my credit card and i will get a new credit card . dont forget you always submit the 3 digit (CVV) behind your credit card when you make a purchase then they have all they need to fraud so the best way is to cancelled your card and never make affair with that ### company = Airticketsdirect.com

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realgal
, US
Aug 17, 2012 8:29 am EDT

I should agree with all posts above. This company is a real scam. They advertise the cheapest prices that become unavailable within seconds. I guess they do it intentionally to attract customers. I actually called the company, and the agent was rude, unhelpful and basically "laughed at my face". The only thing he could say that prices change all the time, and I am not the only one shopping, blah-blah-blah, and that I should read their terms and conditions (which I had). So whatever they say - cheapest airfare, customer satisfaction guarantee, top notch customer service - that is all a big lie... they offer none of that! After reading all the reviews about this company, I am glad I didn't buy any tickets from them. Yes, I could've saved a couple of hundreds bucks, but that's not worth the aggravation and frustration that I might experience later... Hope they get shut down or go out of business soon!

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rudy65
Lethbridge, CA
Jul 26, 2012 2:10 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

We also were duped by these scammers, happily paid the $19.99 per passenger "Best Purchase Guarantee" while under the impression that if the fares dropped they would refund the difference.( Other REAL Travel Agencies now offer this service free of charge) !
Not with this outfit, I called today and they've actually agreed to refund our $39.98 (2 passengers flying to Europe and back)after explaining these charges were only for flight cancellation on the same date as the purchase !
Purchased these tickets on May-16 for travel in August and September, could purchase same now and save $350.00 !
Never again will we deal with this company and for them to have the nerve to advertise "Cheap tickets, Discount travel, Cheap airfares, Travel Services", but we will use better rated companies such as Expedia, Flight Network or Travelocity instead !

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Knar
Montreal, CA
Jul 10, 2012 10:07 pm EDT

Please read the text: "For any reason, you can cancel this booking within the same date you made the purchase - 100% free of charge" = "... you can cancel ... 100% free of charge". They do not claim anywhere on the website that this SERVICE is free of charge, only that with this service the CANCELLATION is free of charge.

Yes, it could be worded more clearly and I personally do not like charged option you have to click away. But be fair: they never told you that this option was free. They just did not mention the price of it, when they offered it.

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aguest
montreal, CA
Jun 08, 2012 1:28 pm EDT

I had the same experience, its kinda misleading when it says "100% free of charge" however on the check out page the charge does show. You just have to pay attention before you pay.

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Freakophone
, CA
Jun 06, 2012 2:06 pm EDT

Actually I just booked on their site(Spain here I come!) and it does show all charges on the final page of the checkout process before you are required to enter in any payment info. I agree that the "Best Purchase Guarantee" isn't that clear, and I ended up clicking back to deselect it, but it does show up on the final page of the check out process. Read before you enter in your payment details people!

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nuaabill
Calgary, CA
Jun 01, 2012 1:58 pm EDT

In the checkout page, there is no any clue for a fee of the price gurantee.

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nuaabill
Calgary, CA
Jun 01, 2012 1:57 pm EDT

I just booked 2 tickets in their website. When I was in the check out page, all fees including tickets, tax and optional insurance show in that page. But it doesn't show there is a fee for the Best Purchase Guarantee.

I only noticed that when I received the confirmation email.

That is obvious not fare and kind of a scam.

Thus I called the customer service right away (after 10mins I booked the tickets), but the guy refused to refund me this fee.

This is not a pleasant experience with this website.

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nuaabill
Calgary, CA
Jun 01, 2012 1:52 pm EDT

I had the same trouble with them 15mins ago. I called them 1st and they refused to refund me that. I called my credit card company right away and replace my card by a different number. I belive it will solve all problem with them and I wont deal with them forever!

Per this post, I can say that they DO that on purpose!

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Harmonious Solutions-Uncle Fairdeal
San Diego, US
Jun 01, 2012 1:15 pm EDT

Can I offer assistance via public display of complaint in our online magazine? Contact Uncle Fairdeal with Harmonious Solutions column, East County Magazine. we can prevent others from being ripped off or resolve a misunderstanding.

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Harmonious Solutions-Uncle Fairdeal
San Diego, US
Jun 01, 2012 1:00 pm EDT

If you are on west coast, we can help contact me at gbpdinc@hotmail.com, I'm a consumer protection columnist.

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dsav
Montreal, CA
Jun 01, 2012 12:41 pm EDT

I have run into the exact same problem last night when I purchased plane tickets fhrough this company. I immediately tried calling them but their offices were closed so I emailed them. They replied saying they could offer me a discount for my next purchase, to which I answered back telling them what I wanted was a refund. I haven't heard back from them since. Were you able to get your money back, bobtor?

The Lidman Foundation
The Lidman Foundation
Lewisville, US
Apr 16, 2012 11:55 pm EDT

Thanks bobster. We believe you.