Well, there are a couple of issues here. I haven't had any web reservations get "lost," but there are serious limitations with online booking. First, the usual "no penalty for cancelations in the first 24 hours" protection you have with phone reservations doesn't seem to apply. Second, a lot of things that are simple to do on the phone or in person are difficult or impossible on the web today.

The bottom line is, web booking is decidely inferior to anything that involves dealing with a human using a professional CRS/GDS interface, and the only really strong incentive I have to continue using the web is the online bonus (which can be significant, especially for short flights), and the occasional 5%-10% web-only discount (comparable to "meeting" discounts, so that's not such a big deal).

I was told that a major hotel chain saves 87% every time someone books a room online instead of calling a reservations agent. They do not pass that savings back to the consumer.

Whenever I book electronic tickets online, I always have itineraries and receipts printed on airline ticket stock at a CTO or airport ticketing location. That way there are never any unpleasant surprises at check-in.