ugh.

I wasn't going to write about this since it doesn’t actually change anything. But yesterday’s post was mildly therapeutic. Here we go……

Back in April, I booked a flight from SoCal to Seattle, through Orbitz. When booking the flight, the site hung and spun on the page confirming my credit card charge. Knowing how this stuff works, I let the page do it’s thing for at least 30 minutes before closing. I then went into my account on Orbitz just to see if it booked the flight anyway. It did not show up so I started up the process again. (What I should have done was call my credit card company to see if the charge came through. But, alas, I did not. Moving on…..). The second run through, of course, went without a hitch. Voila!  Flight booked. House hunting trip set in motion.

I check my credit card statement online a few days later only to find two charges from Orbitz. Sigh. Call Orbitz, navigate the system (details fuzzy here….been a while), finally get to a human only to be told that they will not refund the airline ticket because they have already paid the airline. I will have to take it up with United.

Call United. (again…details fuzzy because it has been a while). Ultimately get informed that this was a non-refundable ticket, however, they will be happy to issue me a credit which I can use up to one year from the original purchase date.

Fast-forward to today. I call United to book a flight, using the credit, for my daughter to come up from Texas. Since I will be using a credit, I know there is no way that the automated system can handle this. So my goal is to get to a human as simply as possible.

Call #1 – Press #3 for travel within the 50 states. Get a busy signal.

Call #2 – Press #3 for travel….then I get one of the fancier systems that actually responds to voice commands. Problem is, the options it provides do not allow for you to get to a human. I get frustrated trying navigate to a human, and hang up.

Call #3 – Press #3. Don’t say anything at all in hopes that no response from me means they need to get a human involved. No Deal. System states, something to the effect of, “I did not understand, thank you for calling. Click.”

Now I am about to blow a gasket…..

Call #4 – Press #3. On a whim I say “Customer Service”. The system responds with, “Did you say ‘Agent?’. Well I didn’t, but at least it sounds promising so I lie and say yes.

Now I get…..a human…..but there is a slight language barrier. But to be honest, not enough to complain about. Just enough to note. I ask if they can locate my credit. They do. (that in itself is a miracle to me….I thought for sure I would have to fight that battle…). I am then told that because it is a non-refundable ticket, the actual credit is $100 less than what I paid originally. okay. I fly enough to realize that the airlines have to stick you somehow and have had that stick shoved in and broken off a few times. Not Happy, but so be it. Then I am told that since I am booking over the phone there is a $15 service few. I point out that on the United web site it clearly states that there is a $10 fee for making phone based reservations. 

Bookingfee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I even offer to provide the URL. I am told the information on the web is incorrect and that I will be charged $15. I begin pleading my case only to be cut off with, “Oh, but since this is a credit on an existing ticket, you are not subject to the fee”. Maybe there is hope yet….

I am then asked for the flight info. I have their site open and start providing the flight information. We get all that squared away only to hit the final roadblock…..the representative asks me who the passenger will be……this is key, because she asked me this question. I state the passenger name as my daughter’s name. Which she then asks me to spell for her. Which I hear her typing in. I am then, casually informed (after asking me the spelling and typing it in) that I can not use my credit for this traveler. Only I can use this credit. I can not apply it toward the purchase of a ticket for anyone else other than me. Please read this paragraph several times if you don’t see the absurdity of asking me for the passenger information, accepting it, verifying it, typing it in, only to disclose this amazing piece of critical information.

I ask for a supervisor. I get a supervisor. Language barrier a little higher, but still, nothing to complain about. Just something to note.

I plead my case only to get fed this line. “It is not an airline policy, it is an FAA Policy that tickets can not be transferred to another person”. In arguing with this person, it was also a “government policy” and then an “industry policy”. I pressed the issue and asked where I could find this policy, preferably now, through the web for reference, so I could educate myself for future reference. Of course it could not be provided, but if I called back to the EXACT SAME NUMBER I dialed for my reservations but selected a different option, that I could speak to someone about the policy. He could not transfer me.

That is when I lost it…

It was hardly a drunken Mel Gibson moment, no four-letter words. No accusing him of causing all the strife in the world. But I was very, very angry and he did not get a word in for a solid 2 minutes.

So hear I am, credit with an airline that I will never, under any circumstances fly again, and I still need to book a flight for my daughter.

The best part is……I have vented……and I truly feel just a tad bit better…..

 

Cheers!