This is deja-vu all over again.
A few weeks ago LAN initially refused to make accomodations when one of the segments in a ticket they issued became useless as the airline (Pluna) had ceased operations.
(see
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lan-l...r-service.html )
The whole trip was JFK-SCL-MVD-SCL-JFK, and only the MVD-SCL segment was in Pluna. I purchased this ticket on Expedia and, again, LAN issued the whole ticket from beginning to end. There was no Pluna record locator.
Initially LAN wanted to charge me $1100 to reissue the ticket with a new MVD-SCL segment. This was close to the original price for the whole ticket. And this "best offer" was made by LAN despite the fact that they were selling one way tickets MVD-SCL for $340.
Fortunately, after many hours on the phone, Expedia was able to get LAN to do the right thing: reissue the ticket with an appropriate MVD-SCL segment, without extra charges.
Alas, I have a second ticket just like the one described above. This one for December/January. After 4 hours on the phone with Expedia, they have been unable to get the same accomodation from LAN even though the specifics seem to be the same.
My termporary solution: buy a $340 MVD-SCL one way ticket on LAN, and contest $340 of the original ticket purchased from Expedia. We'll see how that works. I would not want to see Expedia lose money due to LAN's poor customer service, but Expedia is the company that took my money in exchange for an airplane ticket that will not work.
When I spoke with the Expedia supervisor I told her I was stunned by LAN Customer Service's lack of responsiveness. I also told her all other airlines I have dealt with over the last few decades have provided much better service than LAN. I said:
"I wish you'd told me when you sold me the ticket that LAN's policies are so incredibly bad for customers".
She said, "I'm sorry, but we didn't know".