Three Online Booking Horror Stories That Show Why You Should Always Use a Travel Agent
byDaniel McCarthy/
Expedia and other online travel agencies (OTAs) boast about saving travelers money on flights, hotels, and rental cars at cities around the world. But, even when they promise savings, they’re not always able to deliver. Especially when travel plans go astray.
最大的问题?当事情出错时,通过OTA预订的旅行者不会从他们身边受益,并且阅读有关OTA的评论,事情往往会经常出错。
Here are three of the worst recent stories of passengers left out in the cold because of a lack of support from the teams at OTAs.
When a hotel isn’t a hotel
一位用户,华盛顿斯波坎的朱莉娅(Julia)开始了她的评论,宣称:“我从不写不好的评论,但是,我不会感到失望。”
根据她的评论,朱莉娅(Julia)一直试图在她预订的Expedia的一家酒店中退款,该酒店根本不是酒店,而是某人的个人公寓。
她写道:“如果我愿意,我什至无法过夜,因为甚至没有办法进入建筑物。”她无法购买保险,她与Expedia的预订团队联系,看看他们可以做些什么来帮助她获得退款,但由于没有正确的联系信息,他们无法联系酒店。
She ended up taking matters into her own hands, finding the hotel’s contact information and then serving as the middleman between Expedia and the hotel, going back and forth through email trying to get her money back.
“I have been mediating a conversation and relaying info back and forth between the ‘hotel’ and Expedia for over a month now and the ‘hotel’ insists they have not received any sort of messages, emails, or calls from Expedia requesting the refund,” she wrote. “I am still owed well over $200 and have not heard anything from Expedia in the last week.
“To say I'm frustrated is a huge understatement and I have not been contacted via phone or email despite my polite requests for over a week by any sort of management. I went to leave a Google review and it is impossible to do so. I have emailed time and time again. I have gone through every means to be noticed by them and am getting to a real point of anger.”
She finished her review by explaining that she wouldn’t be upset if she knew that her situation was getting dealt with, no matter how slowly, but she had no “reassurances that they were trying to solve the situation.”
再次检查,检查,检查
One user from Fremont, California, booked a three-day family vacation to Las Vegas through Expedia on a single itinerary, but it turned into separate, one-night bookings after going through Expedia’s booking system.
这意味着旅行者和他的家人有一天必须检查一下,第二天收拾行装并结帐,然后再在不到24小时前使用的同一张桌子再入住。
“酒店说登机厅仅在下午3点。房间还没准备好。我必须在大厅里等待行李到下午3点。并浪费了我在拉斯维加斯的假期。我预订了一次大峡谷之旅,但由于这个问题,我的旅行被取消了。我从早上至下午3点和我的妻子和孩子一起在酒店等着。去房间。对我来说,这是一次可怕的经历。”他写道。
假期结束后,他打电话给Expedia,试图得到一个答案,说明为什么要预订这样做,并看看他是否可以错过他预定的大峡谷巡回演出,以获得一些赔偿。他花了两个小时才与一位经理交谈,他最终提供了100美元的Expedia代金券以供未来旅行。
“Comparing my difficulties on that day canceling my precious trip to Grand Canyon and losing one whole day at Las Vegas was not enough for me,” he wrote. “This is not at all acceptable and I suggest not to go with Expedia anymore.”
被盗的保留地
一个新泽西一家写道,他们的Expedia保留地定于澳大利亚悉尼的一家酒店住了几个晚上,被盗了。
“We received a notice of a change in the reservation,” the user wrote, indicating that the reservation for a hotel in Sydney, Australia, had been changed to a non-existent hotel in the Dominican Republic.
Expedia, to its credit, was able to track down the recorded conversation of the reservation change, but didn’t end up helping to refund, or rectify, the hotel reservation.
“我们提出了索赔。他们回来说他们没错,我将不得不为酒店付款。我曾多次尝试升级到其法律部门,以确保报告欺诈。他们不会联系我。”用户写道。
Eventually, after more back and forth with Expedia, they refused to release the tape of the reservation being changed. Because the reservation was booked through American Express, which provided some anti-fraud protection, they were able to get a refund.
“Do not use Expedia. It is an unsecured site with highly questionable anti-fraud practices and atrocious customer service. Neither your reservation or your money is safe with Expedia,” the user wrote.