seawolf

IRROPS would be airline responsibility regardless on where the air ticket was purchased.

TravelinSperry

I used Vayama in the past. They took a few days to issue the ticket (it wasn't not immediate). So the rates changed by the time they came back to me. Further, the ticket was shown as business but they booked me in economy for the same price they showed. They said it was obvious the ticket wasn't business and I should've known that because of the price. Perhaps. But you listed the ticket as business class and I wanted business. They wouldn't budge or refund ticket. I never bought from them again. Steer clear.

GREAKLY

DO NOT USE VAYAMA. I have bought DUS-GVA ticket on Air Berlin via Vayama. Lately the airline moved the departure time to an hour and fifteen minutes earlier (from 9:10 PM to 7:55 PM). I am coming to the airport by train and simply cannot make the new flight. There are no more flights that day, so I assumed I could just cancel the ticket and get a full refund. However, when I spoke with the Vayama's CS they told me that it was a "minor change" and that the ticket (being non-refundable) could not be cancelled. They also said that they called the airline and it was their position, not Vayama's.
After that I called AirBerlin and learned that they have no problem cancelling the ticket and issuing me full refund because of such schedule change. It became clear that Vayama is lying. What shall I do at this point? Shall I initiate the chargeback with my CC (the charge came from airBerlin, not Vayama) or else?

TravelinSperry

I would call back Vayama and ask for a supervisor and tell them you personally called AirBerlin and they told you their policy differed from what Vayama found - and they should try again.

seawolf

The fact there is a thread with the title "Is Vayama worth the risk?" is a clear warning sign in itself.

GREAKLY

After I wrote on this forum I also reviewed Vayama on trustpilot:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.vayama.com

Not only they responded in less than an hour but also promised to look again into this issue. The contacted the airline and (surprise, surprise) the refund was authorized.

Apparently, bad publicity is what scares them.

TravelinSperry

Yup. That is my experience. I reviewed them poorly for my experience (see upthread). They contacted me and kept offering cold hard cash if I'd take down the poor reviews. I forget the exact amounts, but my memory recalls that they started at $100 USD and went up to $500 USD over a period of months. I declined every time. I do not take bribes. Their CS sucked when the issue arose and my review stands. I'd guess others take the money and pull down their reviews. Which, if true, means they have even more poor reviews than the ones we see. I stopped booking with them after my poor experience and have no intention of ever booking with them again.

gr8pirate

I used vayama to book about a dozen RT trips over the years a while back and never ran into any issues.
From what I'm reading here, it sounds like I got lucky!

GREAKLY

Where did you review them?

Lonsinla

I took a shot and bought two business class tickets for my parents from them as they were alot cheaper compared to other sites. I also bought the tickets with an AMEX card since I thought I could dispute with AMEX easily if any problems happen. I had a flight confirmation email after ten minutes and I was able to verify with United and Lufthansa though through their respective websites. Hopefully no issues happen during the travel dates but its been pretty straight forward so far.

seawolf

That’s a change from past performance when they took days to issue a new ticket.

syednadir5701

Extremely irresponsible customer service. NOT WORTH RISKING YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY WITH VAYAMA!!! First I receive notification from Vayama that itinerary has changed. Guess what....layover changed from 2hrs to 11 hrs. That is very inconvenient for me being Senior Citizen. I called customer service Oct/21/2017 and they said "Cancel Quote" is requested in the system to check with Airlines for refund Amount and I would receive quote in e-mail within 2 days. 2 days passed no mail....I followed up...this time customer service promised response in 5 hrs. Again No e-mail...Next day I followed up on phone......after holding for 20 mins customer service disconnected the call.....I followed up on phone next day same story continues.....IT"S BEEN 3 WEEKS but NO RESPONSE

TravelinSperry

Welcome to FT!

Perhaps try the Travix executives (owners of Vayama):
David Rush, CS Manager; [email protected]
John Mangelaars CEO; [email protected]
Hans van Druenen Vice President of Global Operations; [email protected]

ArgilVanda

Great. I was facing a similar issue with Vayama. Let's email them

AJ8888

Vayama has the absolute WORST customer service of any travel agency. I booked a business class ticket (even payed extra insurance) and had to cancel as I had to have emergency surgery. Per the ticket's terms and conditions I was entitled to a waver of the $200 cancelation fee if there was a medical emergency. I quote: ""cancellations any time charge usd 200.00 for refund. waived for schedule change/illness or death of passenger or family member."
When I spoke to customer service, however, they refused to accept this, telling me that in the industry "waver" means I have to pay. ?!?!?! Not only this, but the agent I spoke to kept interrupting me, was completely untrained, refused to let me speak to a supervisor or anyone else, and ended up hanging up on me. How is it OK for an agent to raise their voice at you ever, but even more so when you're only days out of surgery and don't have the energy to speak over them?

This experience is absolutely not worth the $30 that I originally "saved" by booking through Vayama instead of directly through the airline or Expedia.