LKHK
Jun 28, 12, 5:22 am
I would like to share with fellow flyers my saga with Orbitz and their unbelievable ignorance and total lack of customer service.
Hopefully somene will take a lesson from this and choose other, more reliable and trustworty vendor (and airline).
Please bear with me:
Last year, (June 30, 2011) I have purchased via travel portal orbitz.com two plane tickets under the Alitalia reservation code QWERTY, flight ticket numbers: 055 xxxxxxxxxx and 055 xxxxxxxxxx and Orbitz record locator: AP1101012Dxxxxxx issued for the passenger name Mr. A and Mr. B. Routing was: PRG-MXP-JFK//BOS-FCO-WAW.
Surfing various travel-related web forums I have accidentally noticed that the first flight segment on the itinerary in question i.e. PRG-MXP, flight AZ7561 was for my specific flight date removed from the flight timetable by the operating airline. I have expected that sooner rather than later I will be contacted by someone from orbitz.com or that my itinerary will be modified somehow to reflect this change.
None of this happened for several WEEKS. Therefore I have contacted local Alitalia branch, which confirmed me in writing on December 1, 2011 that the flight AZ7561 was indeed axed from the timetable and that I should contact orbitz.com, which issued the ticket to modify the itinerary accordingly.
I have then contacted orbitz.com sometime in early December via its online chat feature, pointing out to the change in flight schedule however I was provided still the unchanged itinerary. I have no copy of this communication though.
Since there was no attempt to reflect the change in itinerary by orbitz for another TWO MONTHS I have contacted them in writing on February 13, 2012, i.e. 5 days before departure and was again sent itinerary in its original form, that is including at that time non-existing flight AZ7561 PRG-MXP on Feb 18, 2012.
Feb 16, 2012 I have been sent a written notification of an upcoming flight, again including non-existing flight AZ7561 PRG-MXP on Feb 18, 2012.
I have made my third attempt to contact orbitz.com (and have them do their job and finally reroute the itinerary) approx. 12 hours prior to departure by calling orbitz’s customer service number. Agent I have talked to was not able to provide me with any viable alternative for me and therefore I have inquired him about the possibility to cancel and fully refund the ticket due to schedule change by the airline. This option was confirmed to me as feasible and therefore I asked for both tickets to be cancelled and refunded.
Since I have received no confirmation of this ticket cancellation I have contacted orbitz and asked for one. Full refund was confirmed to me in writing on Feb 27, 2012 provided that it should be carried out within 75 days.
I have received no refund on my card even after more than 90 DAYS, therefore I had to contact orbitz.com in writing again (on May 22, 2012) and inquire about the status of my refund. In the response I was told by orbitz.com that the refund has been already processed and that it was approved by the airline. The next day, May 23, 2012 I have received another e-mail with completely contradicting information that the refund is subject to approval by the airline and that it will take another 45 days.
On May 25, 2012 I was told via one-line e-mail message that the refund was allegedly denied by the airline.
I have a paper trail of about 10 or 12 e-mails sent to orbitz and their replies. I have also spend about 2x30 minuts dealing with their "customer service" line. Fed up with orbitz, I also tried to contact local Alitalia office since it was them (says orbitz) who denied the refund. Silly me, I know.
May 31, 2012 I sent them a letter with a copy of al my e-mails I exchanged with orbitz. My complaint was received, assigned a file number and that was it. Two follow-up e-mails inquiring about status of my complaint sent in the past month remain without any answer.
What are my options? Am I unrealistic in my belief that I don't see why should I write-off money for 2 tickets because of forced cancellation due to schedule change by the airline?
I would love to get some sort of advice on how to proceed further because I seem to run out of options. Please note that I live in Europe as that may be a factor as to options regarding orbitz.
Opinions, suggestions are more than welcome. Thank you.
LKHK
Hopefully somene will take a lesson from this and choose other, more reliable and trustworty vendor (and airline).
Please bear with me:
Last year, (June 30, 2011) I have purchased via travel portal orbitz.com two plane tickets under the Alitalia reservation code QWERTY, flight ticket numbers: 055 xxxxxxxxxx and 055 xxxxxxxxxx and Orbitz record locator: AP1101012Dxxxxxx issued for the passenger name Mr. A and Mr. B. Routing was: PRG-MXP-JFK//BOS-FCO-WAW.
Surfing various travel-related web forums I have accidentally noticed that the first flight segment on the itinerary in question i.e. PRG-MXP, flight AZ7561 was for my specific flight date removed from the flight timetable by the operating airline. I have expected that sooner rather than later I will be contacted by someone from orbitz.com or that my itinerary will be modified somehow to reflect this change.
None of this happened for several WEEKS. Therefore I have contacted local Alitalia branch, which confirmed me in writing on December 1, 2011 that the flight AZ7561 was indeed axed from the timetable and that I should contact orbitz.com, which issued the ticket to modify the itinerary accordingly.
I have then contacted orbitz.com sometime in early December via its online chat feature, pointing out to the change in flight schedule however I was provided still the unchanged itinerary. I have no copy of this communication though.
Since there was no attempt to reflect the change in itinerary by orbitz for another TWO MONTHS I have contacted them in writing on February 13, 2012, i.e. 5 days before departure and was again sent itinerary in its original form, that is including at that time non-existing flight AZ7561 PRG-MXP on Feb 18, 2012.
Feb 16, 2012 I have been sent a written notification of an upcoming flight, again including non-existing flight AZ7561 PRG-MXP on Feb 18, 2012.
I have made my third attempt to contact orbitz.com (and have them do their job and finally reroute the itinerary) approx. 12 hours prior to departure by calling orbitz’s customer service number. Agent I have talked to was not able to provide me with any viable alternative for me and therefore I have inquired him about the possibility to cancel and fully refund the ticket due to schedule change by the airline. This option was confirmed to me as feasible and therefore I asked for both tickets to be cancelled and refunded.
Since I have received no confirmation of this ticket cancellation I have contacted orbitz and asked for one. Full refund was confirmed to me in writing on Feb 27, 2012 provided that it should be carried out within 75 days.
I have received no refund on my card even after more than 90 DAYS, therefore I had to contact orbitz.com in writing again (on May 22, 2012) and inquire about the status of my refund. In the response I was told by orbitz.com that the refund has been already processed and that it was approved by the airline. The next day, May 23, 2012 I have received another e-mail with completely contradicting information that the refund is subject to approval by the airline and that it will take another 45 days.
On May 25, 2012 I was told via one-line e-mail message that the refund was allegedly denied by the airline.
I have a paper trail of about 10 or 12 e-mails sent to orbitz and their replies. I have also spend about 2x30 minuts dealing with their "customer service" line. Fed up with orbitz, I also tried to contact local Alitalia office since it was them (says orbitz) who denied the refund. Silly me, I know.
May 31, 2012 I sent them a letter with a copy of al my e-mails I exchanged with orbitz. My complaint was received, assigned a file number and that was it. Two follow-up e-mails inquiring about status of my complaint sent in the past month remain without any answer.
What are my options? Am I unrealistic in my belief that I don't see why should I write-off money for 2 tickets because of forced cancellation due to schedule change by the airline?
I would love to get some sort of advice on how to proceed further because I seem to run out of options. Please note that I live in Europe as that may be a factor as to options regarding orbitz.
Opinions, suggestions are more than welcome. Thank you.
LKHK