AIRLINE BOOKING SCAM
Complaint
CHRISTINA
Country: United States
CHEAPOAIR.COM is definitely a very poor company and I strongly urge ANYONE reading this to NOT use there "service".
On July 9th I went to CheapOair.com to purchase a ticket and was provided with a Reservation ID and a booking number. Now, I also went directly to the airline's website to verify the prices, and they were accurate, BUT Cheapoair was offering a $10 instant coupon so I figured I would purchase the ticket through them and not directly with the airline itself.
A few hours go by and I did not receive my ticket so I called them. I was on hold for 15 minutes and then was "disconnected". I then called back and after another 30 minutes was told by a representative that they were "processing' it and I should have a ticket shortly. A few hours later I call back. I waited 30 minutes on hold and once the representative asked me "do you really need a morning flight"? At this point, I'm thinking something is obviously wrong. Apparently, they were unable to offer me the ticket that I had purchased and booked. I requested to speak to a manager and was transferred to SHAW. He would not provide a last name. He basically kept giving the run around and tried to continuously blame the airlines. I told him that if I had NOT used the CheapOAir service and directly booked with the airline that I would have had a ticket so what reason do I have to use his service ever again if they can't provide what they advertise and promote? He did not have an answer. I made him give me a written confirmation that I would not be charged. I also requested the name of a superior. He declined to give me any names so that I could formally complain and told me to send a generic email to their feedback@cheapair.com. I gave him ample notice that I was going to post my story anywhere I could to warn other consumers that this website does not provide the services it charges to the customer!!!!!!
On July 9th I went to CheapOair.com to purchase a ticket and was provided with a Reservation ID and a booking number. Now, I also went directly to the airline's website to verify the prices, and they were accurate, BUT Cheapoair was offering a $10 instant coupon so I figured I would purchase the ticket through them and not directly with the airline itself.
A few hours go by and I did not receive my ticket so I called them. I was on hold for 15 minutes and then was "disconnected". I then called back and after another 30 minutes was told by a representative that they were "processing' it and I should have a ticket shortly. A few hours later I call back. I waited 30 minutes on hold and once the representative asked me "do you really need a morning flight"? At this point, I'm thinking something is obviously wrong. Apparently, they were unable to offer me the ticket that I had purchased and booked. I requested to speak to a manager and was transferred to SHAW. He would not provide a last name. He basically kept giving the run around and tried to continuously blame the airlines. I told him that if I had NOT used the CheapOAir service and directly booked with the airline that I would have had a ticket so what reason do I have to use his service ever again if they can't provide what they advertise and promote? He did not have an answer. I made him give me a written confirmation that I would not be charged. I also requested the name of a superior. He declined to give me any names so that I could formally complain and told me to send a generic email to their feedback@cheapair.com. I gave him ample notice that I was going to post my story anywhere I could to warn other consumers that this website does not provide the services it charges to the customer!!!!!!
Comments
Thanks again to all contributor for sharing your experiences
Thanks again to all contributor for sharing your experiences
This is the last time we book through cheap o air. When I tried to call the billing department, the guy said he couldn't help me because I booked a package and needed to talk to customer service. I will neve use them again. I should have stuck with travelocity!
I called my credit card company and dispute the charges, the fact that when I was booking the ticket, there was no airline disclosed, I went for the cheapest airline but I would never go for Spirit, and also to the fact that I can't cancel my ticket and also I was trying to contact them before the "24 hour rule".
Here is where the nightmare start a gentleman, that goes by the name of Hugo from Cheapoair called me and said he is from the "Resolution Team" he wanted to find out why I was disputing the charges and to find a resolution, after 20 min of explaining, not sure he was listing to me... he kept on saying the charges are legit, and finally I asked him call my credit card company, since he refused , I asked him to call me after 7 PM eastern time since I was working when he called me, Hugo first called was on 06/07 at 12:52PM. He never called. Hugo called me back yesterday, Friday 06/10 and with the same statement trying to find a resolution, at this point he said, that they will take legal actions against me. So, with him on the phone I called my credit card company. And he was repeating the same thing over, and my credit card company said, hang up the phone with the merchant.
An hour later Hugo send me this email "subject: REPLY URGENT XXXXX", the email states short and simple if I don't pay they will send me to a Collection Agency and this case might be treated as fraud, so a police report will be filed and also they report to the Credit Bureau. So I call called back Hugo as prompted on the email, and I asked for my case number with the police. He said he don't have any. Iasked Hugo for the contact information with the dispute team, they might listen to me, he first said they won’t talk to me, and then later said he don’t have, I told him you are refusing to provide me with the information, So I told him since this is not a collection email, this constitutes harassment. He said that all mention on the email will happened if, Cheapoair would lose the dispute with my credit card company. Once, again I told Hugo, you just threaten me. So I thank him for his time and I hang up the phone. I called my credit card company and they said not to worry because, this is still in dispute.
My five cents, I’m not sure how we can let these type of company operate, specially from overseas, they have no way to understand our culture and how we conduct business, especially if the agent never been to America and seen how Americans are, and No, Americans are not like in the movies and No the corporate agent that trained you do not represent the Americans, and Yes, money is the universal language, but money is being handled by people, and is people that fail to communicate, many time I have encounter overseas calling center when calling, tech support and such , they are to the point of being rude and they are condescend to us , Hugo many time during our conversation was yelling at me and treated me like I was a moron that purchase the ticket on their site and is my fault, so now I should not be complaining….??? And I’m the customer, I’m the one disputing charges, and is my money at stake…what it started as a simple ticket purchase is going as a nightmare, Cheapoair, might work for some customers, but they are not prepared to deal with the customer that have issues. And there is more to the history, which I was trying to explain to Hugo but since he would not listen to me… I will explain here…. The dates selected and the point of arrival originally, I cannot use, since the weeding location and dates was changed. And I can’t use the insurance because the tickets are not refundable. This happened way after I purchased the ticket…. I tried to explain that to Hugo on our first call…but was more interested in telling that is my fault for going to their website, and that the charges are legit….
Since Hugo’s email mention that I will be charged with fraud, which constitute a legal matter, I contacted the State Attorney in NY, since Hugo report a NY address, to file a complaint, but they want prove if any attempt has been made to remedy the situation. This is my second attempt, to remedy the situation. Since the first attempt was the emails that I sent to Cheapoair about my concerns. I will not make recommendations to everyone what to do…is your choice. My Best of luck whishes to all online shoppers.
Heed my words. Please pass this information on to as many websites as possibel. Lets get something going here so others will not have to go through this type of bisiness.