We all have horror stories concerning travel. There are even websites (travelsucks.com) dedicated to collecting and publishing this information. My story is a little more in depth than some, so I thought I would like to set up a site dedicated to MY story.
Normally, I am not a vindictive person, but after the treatment I got from the (non)service at OneTravel.com, I felt it only proper that I return the courtesy they gave to me.
I don't travel a lot, so the few times I do, I expect them to be relatively painless. I have used OneTravel.com in the past, as well as Travelocity and other similar tools. Until now I have had fairly good luck. Well, recently my luck ran out... in a big way.
It all started out innocently. My fiancée and I decided to attend a yearly conference on one of our favorite topics. On 21 June 2002, I shopped around for good airline prices, and decided, once again, to go with OneTravel.com. I booked the tickets, put in my credit card (debit card) number and everything was happy. I got my confirmation, a couple days later the funds came out of my checking account and I thought everything was good and that the transaction was complete. Boy was I wrong. Here are the related entries from my bank statement
| 6/24/2002 | -232.00 | CHECK CRD PURCHASE 06/21 DELTA AIR |
| 6/24/2002 | -232.00 | CHECK CRD PURCHASE 06/21 DELTA AIR |
| 7/10/2002 | 232.00 | CHECK CRD PUR RTRN 06/21 DELTA AIR |
| 7/10/2002 | 232.00 | CHECK CRD PUR RTRN 06/21 DELTA AIR |
| 7/15/2002 | -232.00 | CHECK CRD PURCHASE 06/21 DELTA AIR |
| 7/15/2002 | -232.00 | CHECK CRD PURCHASE 06/21 DELTA AIR |
As you can see from the bank entries, there was a transfer of funds out of my account on the 24th, then back into my account on the 10th and then out of my account again on the 15th.
I ask you this. What sort of convoluted way of charging someone for products is this? When I asked OneTravel.com why this happened, they replied that it was their policy to "verify funds" and then charge for the tickets later. Well, as you can see, this was NOT just a verification of funds, it was an actual transfer which effected my account balance.
Now, at this point, I am just a little frustrated, not really upset, but frustrated. After searching their site for an 800 number to call to figure out what the deal was, the only thing I could find was a support e-mail address ( support@onetravel.com ). I wrote a long letter explaining what was going on, and asked for resolution. That is when I got the answer about their "funds availability" policy. I wrote back asking for further clarification, and for a refund of my overdraft fee. I also included my $.02 about the convoluted way they charge people, and told them they needed an 800 number. The reply was a message politely telling me that in order to resolve my issue I would need to call their support desk at 1-915-332-8785 (which is not posted on their site ANYWHERE).
So, I called this number, told the nice lady who answered the phone my problem and asked to be transferred to a supervisor. I am then told that supervisors only correspond via E-mail. I asked the nice lady why I was sent an e-mail telling me to call this number, and when I call this number I am told to send an e-mail. She couldn't give me an answer, but gave me the e-mail address of the "supervisor".
So, I sent ANOTHER e-mail, this time to resolution@onetravel.com explaining AGAIN what the issue was, this time outlining what I wanted done about it, as I am highly irritated by this point.
I would like to start by saying this is my 3rd e-mail. The first one
was not
responded to (or filtered by my spamguard), the response to the second
message told me to call your support number. When I called the support
number, they said they could not help me and that the supervisors ONLY
resolved through e-mail. In my second message, I clearly stated that I
wished this to be addressed by a supervisor. I am getting frustrated with
your service department.
My ResFinder Code is 10579406Hou
My Reservation Date is 21 June 2002 (over a MONTH ago)
My first e-mail contained the details of my complaint. In summary: I
ordered two tickets. The funds were removed from my account, the funds were
refunded to my account, the funds were removed from my account again.
Between each transfer there was approx 1-2 weeks. When the funds were
returned, I started investigating WHY they were returned. By the time I got
a hold of OneTravel support e-mail, the funds were removed again. Because
of these payments and refunds happening, the second payment was taken out on
a day when there was about $10 not enough in the account, and caused an
overdraft fee. I have some comments and requests about this issue.
1. If this is OneTravels normal policy of how tickets are paid for (payment,
refund, payment again) then you REALLY need to notify people, more than
once, in bold, flashing, red, neon type, make them type something stating
they have read it and understand, make them verify...
2. If this is OneTravels normal policy of how tickets are paid for (payment,
refund, payment again) then you SERIOUSLY need to re-consider the policy.
When buying something, either in person or on the internet, I don't expect
to have to pay for it, return it, and buy it again just to have it. To
expect this of people is unacceptable. If you can not change this, you
seriously need to re-consider doing business entirely. This is just a BAD
business practice.
3. You need to consider getting, and posting on your website, an 800 number
to facilitate conflict resolution. Expecting people to e-mail twice, just
to get sent to a phone number, and then having the phone number send them
back to e-mail, is completely unacceptable.
I think that my recent experiences with OneTravel.com have been poor enough
to justify my extreme displeasure with the company. If you require more
documentation of the dates of the funds transfers, or my contact with
OneTravel, I will happily provide them.
My requirements to return to the status of "Satisfied Customer"
1. Refund my $10.00 overdraft fee.
2. Compensate me for my time and frustration of having to dealing with this.
I have spent over 4 hours on the phone, writing e-mail and otherwise being
un-productive in my regular work. My time is extremely valuable to me and
my clients.
3. Explain your convoluted way of charging people.
4. Apologize for the problems I have had.
5. Establish a policy when a customer complains, asking for resolution, the
service section FORWARDS the message to resolution instead of telling the
customer they can't help them.
Sincerely upset,
Kevon Houghton
This ticket is issued by our sister offices in San Diego, and the processing
to make the
charge must be done in this manner for the back accounting to come through
properly.
I know this is causing major inconveniences and seems very strange to our
customers
using debit cards..
This is an issue I have been addressing with both our accounting and our
sister office's
accounting departments, and fortunately, I was told there is a "fix"
soon to come.
In the meantime, I know you are very unhappy, and I have forwarded all the
information to
accounting to resolve. I will follow this very carefully, and asked for them to
keep
me informed of the resolution of this problem.
Thank you,
F
Fay Heller
Manager
LOOKING FOR A GREAT HOTEL AT A GREAT RATE?
VISIT US AT WWW.HOTELWIZ.COM OR CALL US AT 800-929-2523 AND WE'LL BOOK YOUR
HOTEL FOR
YOU!!
I received a call from OneTravel. They said they would refund me my overdraft fee, but didn't know if they could compensate me for my time. The person I spoke with said that she would look into it and call me back. They acknowledged that there was a problem and that they had it fixed and that it wouldn't be a problem in the future.
I got tired of waiting (again) for a response from OneTravel and sent an e-mail.
From: Kevon HoughtonI received a message back from OneTravel.
From: Resolution (resolution@onetravel.com)About a month later, I recieved 2 really cheesy backpacks in the mail... Gee, thanks.
If you want to ask me a question about this, please e-mail me at kevonh@hotmail.com and inculde in the title "Onetravel sucks"
Please, if you value traveling, and good business practice, please pass this url to other people, and DON'T use OneTravel.Com. Thank you.