Travelocity review: quick to take your money, will not refund it 104

Travelocity is ignoring my complaints on a booking I made through them. I need a hotel refund and Travelocity is not working to ensure my refund. Best Western Villa Del Lago in Patterson CA is the hotel - dont book through Travelocity and sure dont stay at Villa Del Lago. Villa Del Lago and Travelocity not communicating at all!

I have been a travel agent for the last 25 years. My first piece of advice to anyone is purchase your airline tickets DIRECTLY from the airline. It is not only normally the least expensive way ( with some exceptions of course) BUT there is no one to pass the buck too. Travelocity is nothing more then another travel agency. If it is a trip such as yours, I would even go as far as calling the airline over the web site. Document date, time, number and person you purchased your ticket...if there is any issues they can go to the agent. In most cases, with airlines - it is TOO BAD unless you get the right, knowledgeable person and being on top of things. NEVER buy air tickets from any third party. Buy directly from the airline.

Wow! People just like to complain about anything. This was obviously the daughter's fault for not finding out what she needs to enter the country.

we booked a hotel for one night, because we were going to a concert and didnt want to drive him ( three months ago)after deciding that we would not be needing it; I called 3 weeks in advance and talked to someone at travelocity, as someone else said thick accent that you can barely understand, and was told I couldnt get a refund ? excuse me ..my paperwork off of the web site says they DO NOT pass on any cancellation charges unless the hotel themselves charge a cancellation fee, I called the hotel before calling travelocity and was told no problem canceling, you can cancel up to 6 PM of the day u check in ( check in being at 3pm!) so why no refund? my credit card company said that they had already paid them but could withdraw if I asked them to, because this was considered that the services were not rendered ? not sure if that would work since its my word against them? very very unhappy and I will tell anyone who will listen!

What does this have to do with Travelocity.com, good sir?

You should immediately file a claim with the credit card that you charged your flight with. I believe that's the very fastest way to get a refund. I would also notify both that airline's CEO and Travelocity. Most likely the error is at Travelocity. Asiana is an excellent carrier - it's my favorite when I travel to Asia.

Last year I had a claim against a small Thai carrier, PB Air. They canceled all service to Danang, Vietnam at that time, and I was holding a reservation from BKK to Danang. They wanted to refund my money after 45 days, and that was unacceptable to me. I filed a claim with my credit card, Capital One, and received not only a full refund, but an added payment from that carrier.

(Asiana Airlines is part of the Kumho Asiana Group of companies - go to their website to get the CEO's name and contact address in Korea)

We made hotel reservations for two rooms. We were going to tour a college with our son. Then that evening found out he was going to be going to state in basket ball the same weekend that we had booked the hotel. We called back with in 4 hours of making the reservations. Travelocity refused to to refund our money. After many minutes of waiting, we spoke to a supervisor. They too said they would not refund our money. We then asked if they could just move the reservation to a later date. Again, after many minutes of waiting, they refused to move the reservations. They were unhelpful, unresponsive, insensitive not to mention wasting an hour of our time. We will not be using them any more. Hopefully I will be talking to the BBB next!

TRAVELOCITY is the WORST travel business I have ever had to deal with! EXPEDIA for now on!

Oh wow. We have had such similar experiences with Travelocity. Their customer care and customer response teams are the worst. I waited DAYS to hear from them when our travel needs were only a few weeks away. I had to call them over and over. Only to finally get a call with yet another canned response from someone who didn't read anything about my customer complaints. They don't return money. I had a really legitimate complaint and should have been refunded but they simply put the responsibility on the airline that it's the airline's fee and they can't do anything about it. It really is a big scam. I will NEVER use them again. I only someone would shut them down so this wouldn't happen to all of these good people. We lost hundreds of dollars. I'm going to open complaints with the BBB.

On a recent delay out of Tucson I called the Travelocity customer service twice and could not understand the agents. I tried to send Travelocity a comment and their comment page would not execute. I guess they do not want any customer comments.

I will never NEVER use Travelocity again.

I was on the phone with customer service for 3 hours -- just trying to get my boss upgraded to 1st class for his return flight.

Sounds simple, right?

3 hours and NOTHING. I was begging the agents to please help me so I wouldn't get fired.

Honestly, it was easier just to call UA directly and purchase ANOTHER 1st class ticket with my personal credit card.

For all of this, Travelocity said they would waive a $30 change fee. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Travelocity is one company you need to stay clear of.
I booked a reservation with this company and was not given the cheaper rate. I did not find this out until I checked out of the hotel, three days later.
I paid $69 a night for 3 nights, and the hotel's rate was $55.99 a night.
I tried to complain to the company once I got back to my home state, but even the manager denied me the courteousy I felt I was due for being loyal custoner.
During the booking process, I was put on hold numerous times and I could barely understand the person on the other end, not to mention the 2 to 5 minutes I had to wait each time I was asked to holrd. If you are given a cheaper rate, you can dismiss some of the problems with booking under certan circumstances, but when you feel you have been wronged, excusing the horrible service is not an option.
It is best to give your money directly to the hotel, instead of through a third party.

I booked an international flight on Travelocity in April for departure at the end of June. 3 weeks prior to my departure I received an email from Travelocity stating my flight was changed significantly and I must call customer support. I called them immediately. The rep I spoke with told me to disregard the message I received because it was an internal error and my flight is still as scheduled. I asked her to please send me confirmation of my itinerary to ensure there isn't a problem.

After a couple days I still had not received the email confirming my flight, so I called them to double check on my flight. Good thing I called them again, because the flight to my final destination had been cancelled! After spending 2 hours on the phone with them, they told me I had 3 options: 1) I could get a full refund, 2) I could leave a day earlier or a day later on the same airline at the same fare, or 3) they could book me on another airline at an additional cost. If I left a day earlier I would have to take another day off of work, pay for a hotel room when I arrive at my destination, and wait for my travel partner to arrive the next day. Either way, I am stuck paying more $$ for my trip.

Since I was done dealing with Travelocity and the language barrier in their "customer care" department, I decided I would get a full refund and go directly to the airline. After spending nearly an hour on the phone with Travelocity again, the agent said he would cancelled my flight, I would be issued a refund, and he would send me an email to confirm. I thought great, I can finally move on with this! I found another flight only $80 more than the original flight, called Continental Airlines (great service!), and had them hold my reservation for 24 hrs until I receive confirmation from Travelocity that I will be getting my refund.

24hrs pass and I still did not have an email from Travelocity. They informed me that I will not recieve the email confirming my refund for up to 48hrs and my refund will take to 30 days. I asked if there was any way I can receive an email sooner than that, because the airline will not hold my reservation much longer. The Travelocity rep then proceeded to tell me I was lying to him about my flight being held by Continental and there is no way any airline would do that for a customer. Upset by his response, I asked to speak to his supervisor. The agent said he would be tranferring me, but hung up on me instead.

As of right now, I do not have a ticket for my trip. Continental has issued another 24hr hold for me, but will not be able to hold my reservation longer than that. I am supposed to receive an email from Travelocity confirming my refund in 24 hrs. After reading the other customer reviews, I am afraid I will not receive a response from Travelocity confirming the refund so I can book my flight on Continental, and I am afraid I will not receive my $700 refund within the 30 days as I was told.

I will NEVER use Travelocity again or any third party for that matter. ALAWAYS BOOK DIRECT!

My mother-in-law was diagnosed with a brain tumor 5 days prior to taking a trip to Atlanta. I contacted Travelocity with the necessary paperwork from the physician. I followed up with 4 emails and a fax. They told me someone would call us back within 48 to 72 hours. I have not heard anything yet. This is a awful company and I would suggest that no one goes through this company. I am currently on hold with them and they just told me they have nothing on file besides "they're still waiting for our paper work to be sent to them". THEY ARE A BUNCH OF CROOKS!

I too am still waiting for a $876 refund from Travelocity. Two months ago, after numerous, hourlong calls, I received an email saying that my refund was "being processed". Since then, nothing has happened. The email is one that says "Do not reply". I've been waiting to see if the refund would appear on my credit card statement--it hasn't and I'm trying to steel myself for another round of frustrating calls.

Do they ever refund money?

Travelocity has very poor customer service. I called and spoke to a person I could hardly understand because of her thick accent. Moments later I was switched to a person trying to sell me airline tickets to China. I then called customer service again only to have another person I could not understand again. I requested to speak to her supervisor, after thirty minutes I was transfered to a person from a Travelocity department that only did bookings for five or more nights stay. Needless to say I never got the service promised on the Travelocity commercials. They don't do things right!

Listen Jack, It's sad you had to talk to the big bad Indian you racist sob. But what is more sad is that you are too ignorant to know that ALL airlines especially in the turbulent market of today will have change fees for flights typically from 50-130 plus fare difference. Add the fact that you received a bulk rate with a package deal and you get steep penalties for changing. That you SHOULD have read on the fu*king site. Just another idiot in the pool. Next time do us all a favor and take the train.

I have just had a very similar experience with travelocity via New Delhi, India. I cannot believe what a scam they get away with. There is no accountability whatsoever. I made a reservation that was billed to my credit card, received an intinerary, and then they cancelled it a half an hour later. I called them in India and they transferred me 5 times over 1 1/2 hours, and I still got nowhere. I demanded that I get rebooked for the same price on the same flight, but mysteriously the price had gone up by $500. I spoke to at least two supervisors, and they all ended up passing me off on someone else. Not one person was able to give me the name and phone number of a person that I could talk to later about the issue. I am completely outraged by this system.

Where does this end? The guy in India is probably making $30 a month while the corporate fat cats are sipping cognac. It is totally disgusting, and there is no recourse for the customer whatsoever.

Are there any formal groups or organizations that are addressing this kind of scam?

Hey Ronald
I don’t agree with your view about mileage problem with airline and blaming travelocity for it.
I will tell reason why u brought ticket from travelocity reason they offer best price, as this ticket are for lower fare airline doesn’t honor passengers full mileage on them that the reason as ticket u brought would be a bulk deal between agency and airline.

With regards
Victor

This happened to me with Orbitz, with the same message that the offering price is no longer available; the new price is... Orbitz apologized but did nothing about it. I think it's a case of bait and switch. Obviously not pleased to know that travelocity uses the same procedure. I refuse to use Orbitz again.

Travelocity gave me a guaranteed reservation for 3 nights at the Greenview Hotel in Miami Beach, FL. We get there and the hotel decided not to honor our reservation or those of at lease 7 other guests that we know of. They tried to move us to their sub-par, under reconstruction property 5 miles away and we did not have a car. You call Travelocity... India... and they say they will assist. They guarantee they will make your experience a good one... acutally, later... after more than 10 calls and emails... turns out they guarantee that they will try to make the hotel make you happy. In our case the hotel people were/are bad apples and all Travelocity can say is... we guaranteed we'd try and help but we are not responsible for anything. Sorry for the inconvenience. Sorry the only room you could find cost 3 times as much and that you are out more than $700. And yes, Travelocity is still happy to make you a reservation at the Greenview Hotel... they want to make money on you.

Has anyone been able to get a refund from Travelocity? They stole $500 from my husband by issuing paper tickets for a hard-earned trip to visit family in Samoa. Travelocity told us the interisland leg of the trip, between Am Samoa and Samoa required paper tickets. However, upon checking in at the airport were told by the airlines that the paper tickets were no good. Travelocity puts on a front to being sooo helpful on the phone, but now four months later we are still waiting for our refund. We want our money, a demand letter was sent over a month ago, of course they did not respond. We will continue to look for ways to proceed and warn others. And we will never trust Travelocity again.

In this day and age of online purchase, consumers are exposed to unscrupulous practices from faceless vendors. Unwary consumers are left to deal with inconveniences, ripoffs without any recourse.

Complaintsboard is the right forum to expose such practices. It could be of further benefits to the electronic citizens by offering tools to hold vendors accountable for their actions, knowing that legal advices are not allowed.

A good first step would be a link to organizations that regulate this commerce, state and federal offices that can take action against false claims, switch and bait practices, denial of services. It would provide means to effectively file complaints beyond the ineffective contacts of irresponsible vendors who never intend to make things right in the first place because they rather spend the resources on fattening their bottom lines without a trace of human decency.

I feel for those who are ripped off and hope that they can find a fair solution to their problems. We all try to make our money go a little farther (definitely not a situation where greed leads someone to try to buy a $1000 item for $1) and don't deserve to be "legally robbed." I call it legal robbery because the gray area in the contracts doesn't protect the unwary consumers who do not read the fine line (nobody in the right mind would read 10 pages of fine prints on every benign purchase) , can't afford the time or find it economically feasible to fight in the legal arena.

Good luck.

I could not agree with you more. I traveled to Spain in DURING my stay there, Iberia created a charter service for local flights that is cheaper than their regular service. Well, guess what, they switched me to one of these flights without telling me and as it turns out, and if you travel internationally you know what I'm talking about, now I'm on a national flight that conects to an international flight. Duty free is not a problem...checking my bags out four times and back in IS! As is the additional 140Euros I had to pay for excess baggage. See it turns out that although I was connecting to an international flight, I was no longer on a fully booked connection, so my weight limit was national. I tried to go through Iberia, but they sent out confirmations to all travel agents, IE Travelocity, to inform their clients, which Travelocity of course did not do. So Iberia has washed their hands of it. Travelocity has asked me to send all sorts of information via fax and email. They said they would consider my case and although they could not reimburse my full expense as I'd already flown (no, really, I guess they expected me to stay in Seville until this was solved), but that they could probably reimburse the fees. My last contact was in December. It's now the end of March and still no word. I can't get a hold of consumer relations because my emails to them are now bouncing back... I wonder if they've identified my email address and are just rejecting them automatically? Anyway, can't get a hold of anyone willing to tell me if they will refund what I had to pay since technically it would not have been charged had I been on the international flight that I booked to begin with. In short, if anyone has any ideas on how to deal with this in a matter that is legal and won't get me locked up for killing someone, please let me know.