June 17, 2013

Part 2 Bahama trip- The drama

Don't you love that feeling of the morning of a trip? I know I do; anticipation!! Bill and I had packed the night before, I had all of our paperwork, passports, confirmations for plane tickets, car rental and resort in my purse. I had a separate confirmation from the resort whose web page I had visited a zillion times to view the pictures. We were raring to go.

We had pre-arranged for to drive to Matthew's house in Richmond to leave our car at his place. He arranged to take a few hours off to drop us off at the airport so we didn't have to take a cab or pay for garage fees.

Our flight was leaving at around eleven a.m. It was early enough that we'd have almost a full day when we arrived in Freeport. Our plan was to pick up the car, pick up a few groceries and then check in.With map in hand and me as co-pilot all we had to do was slather on some sunscreen and we were ready for beach, sand, pool food and adult beverages.

Or so we thought!!

Now for the drama!


Let me just say this... I'm going to omit the real names of the parties (I will insert substitute names for the purpose of telling you what happen)- for now. And the reason? I have filed a complaint and am looking to be compensated to our ordeal. Needless to say until I hear from them it wouldn't be in my best interest to bad mouth them in an overt manner. If I do not get a more positive response than what I have gotten so far. I will share with you all the names. Heck, I'll probably their names whatever the outcome because it's just my nature to truthful about a consumer experience.

When we arrived at the airport and asked where our airline was checking in we were informed that they didn't fly out of Richmond. Talk about being sick to my stomach!  I had just received a confirmation just days earlier from the company I booked with.

We booked our plane tickets and car many months ago with one of those big online travel companies, lets for the sake of this post call them "hotpileofshit" You know the type of company I'm talking about they advertize all the time about giving you the best prices on tickets, hotels and cars. There are a few that have commercials on TV and I don't really have a preference I just used the one that gave me a direct flight. For the sake of this post let's call the airline we were supposed to fly with "bogusair."

Now most of you just know me and I pride myself as being pretty cool under fire. I've learned since the kids died not to sweat the small stuff. But we waited over six months and were really looking forward to this trip. I WAS beyond PISSED.

First I called "bogusair" How is it that they had those tickets for sale if they didn't fly out of Richmond? I got a big sorry for your inconvenience we'll be happy to refund your ticket price. And about new tickets? Sorry we don't fly out of Richmond so we can't help you. Really?! You're f'ing kidding me right?  At this point the porters at the airport thought my head was going to explode since I was sitting on an outside bench screaming into my phone.

Got the visual?


Then I called the people who had just days before sent me confirmation for my flights on "bogusair" direct from Richmond to Freeport Grand Bahama " "hotpileofshit." The customers service rep.  said she was sorry then told me maybe this wouldn't have happened if I would have checked the flight myself! Seriously??

Then she put me on hold for forever to confirm that "bogusair" was refunding my money. I was pretty sure the airport structure was going to tumble when I shrieked at the woman when she finally got back on the line that . "she better get me on a f'ing plane to the Bahamas and  do it now or I swear someone's gonna pay." 





From my mouth to God's ears.


As it turned out someone did pay and those someone's were Bill and I . "Bogusair" and "hotpileofshit" refused to pay any additional costs to us for their total fail in booking. We sat at the airport all day. Had to fly that night to Phillie, spend the night in a hotel and then fly to the Bahama's the next day. Do you know how cold it feels in Phillie at 11pm in the wind when you're dressed for the Bahama's?


What did this little drama cost us?

One lost day's vacation. priceless
Additional plane ticket costs, baggage fee's,Phillie hotel, fee to change car rental arrangements.....$500.00
Loss in the belief that there is such a thing as good faith. priceless

What did "the anchor"do?

I wrote a polite but straightforward complaint email to customers service at "hotpileofshit". Their response was to offer us a $50.00 credit towards our next booking and a sincere apology. Needless to say I consider the money part an insult. I contacted a consumer advocate who deals with many issues primarily travel (his name is Christopher Elliott http://elliott.org/ ) who has intervened on my behalf by contacting them about our situation. I'm hoping we'll get a more positive response now that he's involved.

What's I think.


Just watching the news lately it's clear nobody wants to take responsibility for their behavior or their mistakes. I've come to believe that these two businesses conduct themselves like government or even some low life man who beats his wife and then blames it on her. What's wrong with just saying let me be honest I made a mistake let me make it up to you?  What the hell is wrong with our society people?  "Bogusair" washed their hands of me when they refunded my money and left me stranded and "hotpileofshit" blamed it on them and slapped a paying customer in the face.

Something is seriously wrong!







30 comments:

  1. That is just awful customer service. so glad you got there in the end though. Good luck with getting your complaint resolved.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had something similar happen on a trip to London for DD2 and her for her semester in London. I would like to have had an ombudsman to help, no one would really help, not the airline, the travel agent, or the school. Many months later we got less than half our money back on the additional upgrade to business we had to buy to get her there with the rest of the group. To this day I think the travel agent or airline were at fault and good customer service would have been to waive the upgrade. Airlines do it all the time for rewards.

    ReplyDelete
  3. There is no such thing as good customer service.

    I'd be livid. STAND YOUR GROUND and I hope you prevail.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can't believe this story! A bogus ticket and they didn't own up to it and get you to the Bahamas on their dime? What the heck is wrong with companies these days? It's so sad that we seem to have lost all levels of customer service. I hope you get your money back and then some, Jen. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  5. OMG... SERIOUSLY!!! I can't believe there wasn't bloodshed over this. The absolute outrage you must have felt. If ever there was a need for heads to roll, this is the time. I hope you get a satisfactory resolution, however, they can't possibly refund your peace of mind, which, I'm pretty sure, is still on the floor of the airport!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah, I echo, "OMG!!!"Wow! I will be watching to see if you name names. My fried has booked a trip to Aruba in December, so I'll definitely tell her to check her flights herself. I am so sorry that this happened to you. I can't imagine that moment when you walked into the airport, prepared to check in and they told you they didn't fly out of there. Disbelief. Wow...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sally,Katie, Cl, Jennifer, Ms A and Teresa,

      Thanks ladies for all the support! Unbelievable huh! Looks like I'll be talking to corporate today from the "travel company" so we'll see what happens.

      Delete
  7. That's crazy!! What a mess. I'm so sorry. I hope you get your money back.

    ReplyDelete
  8. OMG I am became enraged just reading your story. It makes me nuts how no one cares about customer service anymore. Its like the world is filled with uncaring humans who are not human at all but robots. When these kind of things happen to me I take a breath and try not to let it effect how I am. I do not ever want to become one of them. YIKES. Glad that in the end you did have a great time but so sorry it started out badly.

    Came by from
    http://talesofthereborncrafter.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  9. WOW! You make me glad that I am going on strike against the airlines. Talk about corporate greed! How can any of this be tolerated? How can they get away with such shit? Please write a follow up post revealing the identities - I won't ever do business with them regardless of the outcome. But then I am not planning to fly ever again......

    ReplyDelete
  10. I can NOT imagine!! How in the world is it your fault that they sold a ticket for a plane ride that did NOT exist?? this is CRAZY! I hope things work out and you get refunded at least. ((hugs))

    ReplyDelete
  11. That is horrible! Let them know you plan to blast it all over social media. Go to their Facebook and Twitter pages (I am sure they have them) and complain, complain, complain. We consumers have got to stop taking it. Also contact the BBB.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dana, MA, JT, and Paula,

      All will be revealed very soon ladies. Talking to them today. Been on another trip visiting with friends but will know something by the end of the week. Update to come.

      Delete
  12. That is awful! Customer service has been so lost in this day and age. In my opinion, that company needs to offer to pay for your extra cost and throw in two free tickets. I hope you get properly compensated.

    ReplyDelete
  13. A voucher for a tiny ammount towards a future flight with a company who have annoyed you is useless. So sorry for you.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Omg, that sounds horrendous, I would have been distraught at the airport. Glad you managed to get things sorted and hope you enjoy your time even after missing the first day. My advice would be to go on the companies facebook site and complain there, I find it works...sometimes anyway x

    ReplyDelete
  15. HolyboguspileOshit!!! How's your burns...both from the sun and the schisters? Oh, wait you lathered up with sun screen...no sunburn. Might be you could lather up the bogusbuds and tell them to go where the sun don't shine! Oh, wait you pretty much did that already...those liar, liars pants on fire!!!

    Well, next time take a cruise. Oh, wait...last I heard that ended in a bigpileOshit!!! Okay, here's the ticket...a StayCation with PinaColada's in the cooler and steaks on the grill. Yeah, that's the ticket.

    Thanks for stopping by...I've missed ya, and glad to see you back. Stay after those liar liars pants on fire people.

    Sue CollectInTexasGal~Today's Post~
    Tombstone Tuesday...Chester's Stone Stump Still Standing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pamela, Ro, Francene and Sue,

      Thanks gals! I'll fill you in on the end game soon. The travel company is either going to be reasonable or I'll give the real names.

      Delete
  16. Outragous! How can they issue you with tickets and flight times when the plane does not fly from that airport? Fraud! I would definatley persue compensation and if you dont hear soon get the names on your blog,join twitter and everyone will re tweet for you sometimes that;s the only way to get them to sit up and take notice. You have taught everyone something that is,always check that your flight actually exsists,who would have thought you needed to do that?
    One thought,did you have holiday insurance? Over here most of us would never book a holiday without it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow ... the nerve of these people. I'm sorry to hear you had to go through this. My friend had a situation flying from London to L.A. A different situation, but still she wasted a day, was thrown in the back of the plane when she'd reserved a seat with more leg room, etc. She wrote a big, mean letter to the airline and threatened lawsuit. Not that she scared them, but as a lawyer she made it a legally nasty letter. The result? She got a free round trip L.A. to London. Not bad, but she's still mad and I don't blame her. Hope you get this resolved soon.

    ReplyDelete
  18. --You must write a letter of complaint or this sort of sh*t will continue happening.

    Xxx LOVE.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh my gosh, that's awful. Seriously awful. As someone who travels a lot, I definitely think you should be naming these companies!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Girl you better tell us who and what if they don't fairly compensate you. OMG I just ate something and and it disappeared while I was reading your post! I am so glad you wrote this in reverse. I wouldn't have been able to stand not knowing how the rest went ;-) Glad it ended well. Whew!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anne, Silvia, Kim, Emily and Kenya,

      One way or another the names will be revealed because they did the right thing or didn't.Will know by the end of the week.. Thanks gals for being my cheerleaders..

      Delete
  21. OMGEEEE!!! Jen I'm not one to laugh at people's misfortune's, but the way you told this story is so freaking hilarious! Still cracking the hell up over hotpileofshit! Classic! On a different note, customer service in today's world totally sucks! Praying for things to come out in your favor. I'll be checking back to hear the results.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The porters at the airport were laughing at me screeching into my phone I'm sure they thought i was a lunatic! You just wait the power of the blog will win out on this one. And I'm not talking about my teeny tiny one I'm talking about Mr Elliott, the man's got juice!

      Delete
  22. OMG, Jen!!! I am sooooo sorry to hear this! You guys so deserve this trip!!! Hopefully since you haven't posted in a few days you're finally on VACATION! ~Angela

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know right?? Just took a bit week to visit some friends but I'll get back to blogging probably today.

      Delete
  23. I'm feeling the rage, Jen!!!I could feel your heart sink when the ol' Richmond ain't the place to be started....oh man!!!!
    We experienced a similar situation when traveling back from Caracas Venezuela. The plane had 2, yes 2 groups booked for the flight home. Oh only 1 group could fit on at a time...oh no problem...I'm not letting anyone get ahead of me. Jim and I plus 2 friends had to slip on the plane so fast that your head would spin. They said that they would give us a flight to Miami then, do your own thing. Ha Ha Nope, not gonna happen!
    Long story short, we got home after they yelled at me for being saucy...oh I am so sorry for inconveniencing you! AND...we all got parasites....shhh...don't tell anyone...oh yes do...don't go to S.A.

    Ron here!

    ReplyDelete

I'm always interested in what you have to say...
Comments are appreciated!