I am so used to canceling hotels reservations with 24 hour notices with no fee. I had no idea that they would charge me one third of the reservation to cancel. I will use them again except to shop but will use other routes to book.

I needed a hotel room in San Diego for a one night layover on my way to Honolulu. I had only one requirement that the hotel provide shuttle service as I was only there for one night and did not want to rent a car or pay taxi fare. Travelocity advertised the Comfort Inn in San Diego as 6 mi north of the airport with shuttle. I booked the room and when I arrived found that Comfort Inn did not provide shuttle service.

I ended up paying 60.00 in taxi fares to the hotel and back to the airport. When I called their Customer Service which by the way advertises satisfaction guaranteed, I was given the run around. I was on the phone for more than two hours as the agent would put me on hold saying he needed to research something. the hold times got progressively longer and longer and it occurred to me that he was putting me on hold in the hopes I would give up. I finally asked to speak to his supervisor and he flat out refused. I kept insisting to speak to a supervisor and finally he said ok and put me on hold again. I never got to speak to a supervisor. The final straw was when I asked him for his name. He replied his name was 'Elvis Thomas'.

I had my doubts that this was his name as he sounded Indian. I asked him if he was making this name up and he said yes he was making it up and would not tell me his name. I finally realized that I was not going to get anywhere with my complaint. My only option is that for the rest of my life I will do whatever I can to discourage friends, relatives and business associates from using Travelocity. Hopefully the $60. I lost will be minuscule compared to the amount of business I cost them.

I recently read some wonderful articles regarding CEO Michelle Peluso and her ideas of what customer service is all about. A wonderful mentality, which promotes growth. I liked what I read. Unfortunately, it’s not what the Travelocity customers are getting. I have to wonder if Michelle Peluso is sitting behind a shaded wall and anymore has no concept of how her customer service representatives are handling situations. Does this apply to the Vice President of Customer Service also? Where are they?

Several days ago I went online to book seven tickets for a group of at-risk youth for my company. State kids who because of their achievements in academics and one who won the Achieving Against All Odds award, was being taken on this trip to Florida. None of these kids have ever been in a plane before. First time travelers and well earned. When trying to book online as I always do, I found that I could not finish the booking since it was continually kicking me back to their home page. I called their phone service to find out why and recall hearing the recording about a $25.00 dollar fee for using the service. When Erick came on the line, I asked why the site was kicking me back and he stated those flights were in the middle of price changes but he could help me over the phone. I stated adamantly several times that I did not want to pay a fee and if he were going to charge me, I would wait the half hour and do the bookings myself. He assured me everything would be fine. Fine? After the bookings I was charged $142.00 dollars worth of additional Travelocity fees. I objected and he stated I should write an email or call customer service because he had already charged my account. The following day I called. I was told I needed to send an email. I sent the email with no response for two days. I followed with another email and received what to me, was the silliest, poorest excuse of an email response, which did not touch base to the issue at all. I called customer service again the following day and asked for a supervisor. The customer service representative, Robbie, wanted to hear the details of my complaint. I stressed that I only wanted to repeat it to a person who could make decisions and yet he insisted. After many ‘I understand’, he stated that he would have a supervisor call me back in twenty minutes. I have never received a call.

Now, one of my requests was to know if the conversation of the original booking had been recorded as it mentions could happen. For it’s very simple, had they bothered to listen to it, they would have no way of getting around the fact that I was misled and basically robbed of finances. Even the amount of the tickets was raised during booking! Really though, and the saddest most pathetic aspect is that it’s not my money they took. Travelocity took funds garnered and scraped together for a once in a lifetime trip for at-risk youth. Trust me, this is no sob story, it’s fact and I find it pitiful at how sadly ignorant and contrary to those articles I read, the administration of Travelocity is. How can Michelle Peluso smile and accept such grotesque falsehoods about the value of Travelocity clients when she either knows nothing as she sits in her ivory tower doing her nails or she approves of these misconceptions herself.

In conclusion, I searched a great deal for a contact person of value and authority. Even calling the Travelocity corporate office to if anything, ask if they knew or yet, incorporated themselves the policies and procedures in which the customer service representatives give Travelocity clients the runaround. I did not reach a human at all and I have no intention of wasting one more moment of frustration on them. Since Travelocity’s conception I have booked flights with them as a favorite. Never once using a person but booking the flights myself and evidentially I booked a decent amount because I’m supposed to be a VIP Client. And now, because of this sad lack of response and empathy, no matter how small or trivial the situation, I will not use Travelocity again. It must be nice for a company to be so secure in their productivity that they can lose future purchases for the amount of $142.00 dollars. I don’t suppose they have the benefit of feeling that deep pride that an ethical company knows about at the end of the day.

Booking with Travelocity on two occasions was an absolute nightmare. Our Puerto Vallarta get-away and my Thanksgiving trip to London were both ruined by Travelocity, yet they still managed to charge us TWICE for the same ticket, which was never issued to me.

Short summary:
Travelocity CONFIRMED my trip by email then a month later (on the day of my travel!) when I attempt to do online check-in I find out that I have no reservation with British Airways. I call BA immediately and the agent confirms that there is no record of a booking under my name; it never existed at all. Impossible, I say, I have confirmation from Travelocity. She laughs and says Travelocity routinely waits until the very last minute to purchase the ticket from the airline. What does this mean to the customer? Frequent "fair-jumping" and "cancellations" of reservations that were never even made! This is their dirty little secret and, like with most business tactics, the customer gets screwed.

After literally waiting on hold for half the day during multiple phone calls and disconnects with Travelocity Customer Care in INDIA, finally "Gearald" the manager basically tells me, "We're sorry, but we tried to inform you of the cancellation by email." I say not true, I have no spam blocker on this private email account. He says sorry, but it looks like a "hiccup" in our system; we apologize (I'm in business and I know the classic "system glitch" BS excuse when I hear it). He just keeps piling it on, until I reveal the fact that BA already confirmed that no booking/reservation existed at any point with their airline, so what gives? Awkward pause, then "Sir, I'm going to confer with my supervisor, may I just place you on hold for two to three minutes please?" Go ahead, "Gerald," tell me another one.

After the day-long fiasco with customer service, as if that was not enough, I get my Master Card bill next month and see that Travelocity ended up charging me for my "canceled" non-existent ticket not once, but TWICE! Beyond absurd.

So I opened a dispute with Citibank MC and in December '06 I overnighted via FedEx a formal letter of complaint to "Customer Care Relations." They do not care. Lots of empty promises from pseudo-supervisors like "Gerald" and "Sean" in India. It is now almost six months (May 21) and we're still getting the run-around. This is not just unbelievably bad service or outright deception, it is both.

Their parent group, Sabre Holdings, is negotiating its sale. In the meantime their customer service has deteriorated and the company uses fraudulent booking procedures [ask Airline ticket agents; they hate them]. Travelers should avoid Travelocity like the plague. If you've been burned, file a complaint with your state attorney general's office. Better Business Bureau has less credibility but still worth reporting to BBB because they at least publish unresolved disputes. Spreading the word on the web is our only chance at changing things.

Beware of Hidden Travelocity Fees!

Until recently, I had been using Travelocity and Expedia pretty much interchangeably for reservations & travel arrangements. I will no longer be using Travelocity.

I recently had to cancel a motel reservation. It wasn't a last-minute cancellation and I was in full compliance with the cancellation policy of the motel chain. The motel charged me nothing. Travelocity, however, charged me a penalty EQUAL TO THE PRICE OF THE ROOM ! I sent letters to both the motel chain and Travelocity. The motel chain apologized, and assured me that they had levied no charges to me or to Travelocity. Travelocity provided no refund, and pocketed approximately $300 of my money... for nothing.

Do not use Travelocity! If you have to cancel, even with plenty of advance notice, they will still keep your money... ALL of it !

Eric Cruise
Rommel Fence
Poland, NY USA