SAGA

Ok, so I'm here in Ireland, love it, Europe is my new home, at least for the time being. 'nough said. Pics and details will come later. But here's the Travelocity SAGA of which most people caught the tail end.

Here goes.....in mid-October, I bought two separate tickets: one set from Atlanta to Dublin (12/18) and back from Prague to Atlanta, and another set from Dublin to Tblisi (with a connecting flight in Moscow) and Tblisi to Prague (also with a Moscow layover, but less relavant). As soon as I email my itinerary to PCVGE (aka FannyC), she informs me that a flight from Moscow to Tblisi won't work because of political tensions.

No biggie, I can handle that. I call Travelocity who sold me the ticket to change my route. They say, "no, relax, if the flight is cancelled, I'll be put on a new flight. No changes are allowed." Bullshit. But, ok, I relax and trust that 'they'll take care of me.' Once again, bullshit.

Finally, right after Thanksgiving, I get an email from Travelocity saying my flight cannot be confirmed and to call immediately. I do as told, call, then they inform me that I will be issued a refund within 5 days of them receiving my paper ticket. And that's the best option they can offer me. I FedEx the ticket and call the next day WITH THE TRACKING NUMBER, saying it had arrived at 8am. Of course it has to go through processing, but here's where I switch to the angry customer.

Not only will they not recognize that it has arrived, but they also change the refund timeline from 5 days to 15-30 days. I enlist my co-worker's assistance and she gets me beyond the call center into "REAL" customer service.

There, I speak to someone who claims to have the power to make something happen but ultimately gives the same solution as the guys at the call center: refund in 15-30 days. About this time, another co-worker has given me info off hoovers.com, which provides the phone and fax numbers for the top three executives for essentially any big corporation in the world. First I start leaving messages for the CEO. I included a complaint letter with my returned ticket, but I realize that it probably got tossed.

Doesn't take long before I realize that my phone calls will not be returned, so I start dialing every extension possible until I talk to a human being in the Executive Office. This lady, and Exec Asst if very sympathetic, listens very well, hears my frustation, yada, yada, yada. She connects me back to the supervisor of the woman who told me REFUND.

I could have been FINE with a refund, but not after I'd already left for Dublin. At this point, it seems very clear that I'm getting the run-around, passed around, and no help. I call Travelocity's parent company ( I forget the name at the moment)....Sabre Holdings, YES!!

I call there, insist on speaking with a person, but still end up leaving a message. The lady calls me back and says she's "knocked on some doors," but that the two people above the lady I've been working with are out of the country.

At this point, it's very clear that I'm getting the run-around and I become even more irrate. I harass them to the point that by the end of the week, the lady threatens that no one will return my calls if I keep calling. And I know (as my hunch had already suggested) that I have made a name for myself in that office.

That same afternoon (a Friday), the EA that was sympathetic calls to schedule a conference call with the Sr. VP of Customer Relations and the Director of Support Specialists (the two higher-ups who'd been who'd be returning to the country on Monday from Manila.) I reluctantly agree.

Since my previous approach of angry customer had yet to yield results, I consulted with a friend whom I discovered got a refund by simply writing a letter. My letter and phone calls had been fruitless so far. I sent Quickee my complaint letter and he TORE IT UP. He reminded me that the whiny customer never gets anywhere but booted out of a business. Polite, firm, and courteous customers get what they want.

So after major revisions in my letter, approach, and attitude, I emailed a new letter to the CEO as well as the head of marketing for Travelocity at Vollmer PR. And yes, I included the two people who'd be conducting the conference call. I also sent it to the lady I'd been in contact with at Sabre Holdings.

I had my sales attitude ready. I was going to make my case, ask what they'd do to make it right, and wait. Quickee made it very clear that I couldn't be the one to break the silence. It never even got to that point. When they finally called, I was very polite and conversational. Then the SVP went straight into what she saw as the best option.

The put me on a new flight and ate the $500 difference from my original ticket price. The flight times changed, but I was totally prepared for and fine with that probability.

Then, on Monday, 12/18, the day I left for Ireland, the details changed again. But at least this time, I had a direct line to the woman who dreaded talking to me and knew to make me happy at all costs:). So it's resolved again. And I get to spend New Year's with my two best friends from high school, well, and one for the past 25 yrs really. Yay!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!