AIRLINE BOOKING SCAM

ComplaintsScamsCheapoAir.com

Complaint

0
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!!!!!!

Comments

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  • 0
    peter12341234
    Same as others that after the tedious process and hours waiting for responses they just increase price and change itineraries. For 3 days I was trying to contact their credit department. I waited for over 1 hour each time to get the phone interrupted. Finally they were like nothing happen, cancelled my reservation and offered another one at higher price. But never the same route I requested. I has being traveled for the last 25 years and never had so horrible experience. Took me 5 minutes to reserve with travelocity. But cost me over $500.00

    Suggest to complaint against this company, use any forum and send your complain to BBB.org
  • 0
    cheapoair
    Dear Customer, please have your daughter email us the 7 digit booking number that she received when the booking was actually completed. If it did go through as a charge, she would of received an email immediately with the details. I can certainly assist with this, and do apologize for this inconvenience.  Email to:

    randrews@cheapoair.com
    place BLOG in the subject line
  • 0
    julie
    I have booked many trips with Cheapoair.com.
    The first time, I got worried, the price was so much less than advertised anywhere, so called the airlines directly.  they confirmed that I was indeed booked on that trip, and it was paid and confirmed.  They further stated that Cheapoair books many of their flights, and there are no problems.
    I have travelled all over the world with Cheapoair, and have had no troubles ever...including car rental reservations.
  • 0
    Pramod
    Hello...!!

    I booked my return flights to Bangalore India with cheapoair, booking no. #9160673. My flight is on 3rd Feb,2012.
    While booking the flight i gave all the information correctly with passport copies. When i checked the confirmed ticket my first name has been misspelled (insted of PRAMOD it is PARMOD)when i called them to change to correct spelling because name on passport does not match with passport airliner will not allow to board the flight and immigration will also be problem.
    When i called their toll free number they telling me to cancel the exsting flight with no refund and go for new reservation. Because of their mistake they are now asking me to pay for.

    Please help to take it concerned


    Thank you,
    Pramod
    Cellph:252-452-3332
  • 0
    Evan
    think again when you want to book with Cheapoair.com their Low Price Guarantee is a bunch scam. i booked at 10 pm last night with spirit for feb 10-12 6:15am flight , return at 9:00 for two passenger coach for $289. today i called spirit to double check the fare, rep at spirit quoted me $167 with the promo 50off. that's a big difference for the same flight and time.

    i called cheapoair.com 3 times.

    1st time 30+ minutes of on hold waiting.. only to be disconnected when they wanted to transfer me to customer service

    2nd time another 40+ minutes only to be disconnected when they are transferring me to Super Visor...

    3rd time i was put on hold for a  for almost a whole  hour!!!! finally got to talk to someone only have them to tell me, they price Guarantee  is only good till the time you book. WTF?

    I feel like i been ripped of. They won't refund, price match.. they don't even want to talk to you. once they have your money, good bye.

    i think i have more chance disputing this with my credit card company at least i don't have to wait 3 hours for someone to tell me no.

    booking number ref #9870618
  • 0
    Joe McCauley
    My son and I had a nightmare trip Houston-Munich 17 Dec. 2011 due to cheapair.com. They 'mix and match', which results in nightmares: ticket issued by United, carriers were Continental (Co) and Lufthansa (LH). As a result it was impossible to get a boarding pass online: United website said go to Co, but we had no Co confirmation nr. At the Houston airport Co said LH had no boarding passes for us from London onward, we'd have to waste precious time trying to get the boarding passes in London. Before that, cheapskateair.com threatened us with cancellation of ticket and loss of money if we refused to be rerouted through Stuttgart. In London, LH had us in the computer with Stuttgart as destination! The Co flight was late so we had to take a later flight from London. LH tried to force us into a 7 hr. delay, with Stuttgart as destination. We finally got a fairly quick direct flight, a Co agent called LH and got us boarding passes. Both cheapair and LH get 'F' for service here. Then, our bags were lost by LH, took 3 days before they finally arrived.
  • 0
    Cheapoair
    Dear Sir, we are currently working on getting this resolved. Unfortunately because you are contacting us 2 months later to advise there is an error, we have to get permission from the airlines to make a correction to the name. Our escalations team will be in touch once we hear back from the airline on their decision, we appreciate your patience.
  • 0
    Cheapoair
    Evan, I have looked into your concern regarding the pricing with Spirit airlines.  I called Spirit and was not given any 50.00 promo discount unless you signed up for their credit card offer, in which the coupon was valid for your next trip. I was given a total price of $297.16 for two travelers, after they added the $111.16 for taxes and fuel charges for both passengers. So what you had paid for your tickets with us $289.20 is actually cheaper than what the cost is on SPIRIT.  Feel free to visit their website, you have to go through the booking process in order to get to the final cost, but you can exist out once you reach the payment page. I do apologize for the inconvenience.
  • 0
    Cheapoair
    Joe, I am very sorry for the inconvenience. If you could email me your 7 digit booking number I would like to investigate into this. Continental and United have merged so you will have flights that are code share operated. This information is on your confirmation under the flight details. As for the confusion at the airport, unfortunately we have no control over how the airline employees handle the situation, perhaps they still are going through the effects of the merger. Feel free to email me your 7 digit booking number so we can determine why you had such a problem with the tickets.  We cannot fix something, if we are not aware of any problems.

    randrews@cheapoair.com

    place Blog in the subject line
  • 0
    Evan
    To Whom it May Concern,

    Within 10 hours of making the reservation I called CheapOair THREE times to have this matter resolved.  Each time connection was lost.  Why is it that your reps ask for a call back number in case of a disconnection, but NEVER called me back?!?  Is that how you treat your customers?  After the FOURTH time I personally walked through one of your reps on price matching the deal on Spirits Airlines official website.  He confirmed that the airfare was in fact CHEAPER thatn CheapOair, however could not price match due to company policies and that price match can only be done on the same day of booking.  What exactly does it mean when CheapOair advertises the "4 Golden Guarantees", #1 being "lowest price guarantee"?  After speaking yet, with another rep I asked to have the booking cancelled and was told I needed to get it done through the airline?  So, in fact, I did what was recommened and was able to purchase the airfare at a lower price than CheapOair; giving a difference of over $120!  I have recently booked international airfare costing over $2000 through CheapOair, but because of this incident with your company unwilling to make a compromise I will no longer do business and will surely pass this horrible experience on to family and friends.  As a consumer, we look to third party carriers, such as yourselves, to give us the best deals, and I will have to say, that out of all the third party ticketing sites CheapOair has competitive pricing.  However, due to the lack of customer service and customer loyalty, I feel that CheapOair is one site I will no longer do business with.  Thank you so much for replying to my complaint so that I can clear this up with you.  I do hope CheapOair considers putting their  customers as the TOP priority in the future.

    Thank you for your time.

    P.S.  please find the attachment stating the cost of the same exact roundtrip flight, which includes all taxes and fees.

    http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/2131/spiritsairlinelv021012t.png
  • 0
    CheapOair
    Evan, I also went onto Spirits website and the fares that came up did not offer the 50.00 discount. In fact, the pricing I got was actually more expensive than the fare you paid to us. I would like more information on how you obtained that 50.00 discount, because it was not offered to me when I went online. They do have discounts if you join their $9.00 fare club, and also discounts if you sign up for their credit card, but there was no visible $50.00 discount that I could get. Our low fare guarantee is if you find a lower 'PUBLISHED' fare without any service fees, or any special promos the airline is offering we will match. Some airlines only offer "web" specials that can be found on only their website, those are not considered "published" due to the fact they are airline promos, and not offered to any other travel company. I believe I addressed this in an email you sent a few days ago.
  • 0
    CheapOair.com
    This is being addressed by our priority customre service team.
  • 0
    LMF
    Someone stole my debit card # and used it on this website to book a flight. I've been trying to talk to someone about this and EVERY SINGLE time I FINALLY get through to someone in "billing" they hang up on me right after I tell them what I'm calling about. What the hell??? Don't use this site, RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!
  • 0
    cheapoair
    LMF, first of all you need to file a police report and close out the account. Any one could of taken your debit card and went on our website to book flights. I'm sure our billing agent didn't purposely disconnect the call if they where in the middle of assisting you. When we don't have the confirmation number, or the actual person traveling to locate a reservation, it can take some research.  If you contact me, I will work with the billing team and our fraud department to assist you with this. Please email me at:
    randrews@cheapoair.com
    place BLOG in the subject line with the details of what has happen, I will be in touch.
  • 0
    Cheap-O-Air = SCAM
    I called cheap-o-air to change my travel schedule, and they somehow managed to cancel my flight (same as classic back-order scam). They first told me on the phone the cacellation fee is $50, and next thing I know is I get an email about $60 fee on my smart phone. I told them right away they overcharged me, but the guy on the phone changes his story and telling me that I misheard what he said and I am lying. Fine, I won't argue over $10, since I was just happy to be through with their dirty business. Then few days laters I was billed twice $60 and $30 on my credit card. I called back once to be hung up and then put on hold forever, called again when the guy said he'll return my call but never did.

    So I gave up dealing with these scam artists and took it up with my credit card company.
    I would hate for more good folks out there to be scammed by these cons and theives.
  • 0
    BTW
    LMF- You are right. It's either that they have a phoneline that can't keep up with the 56k or that they immediately hang up when they deliberately hang up when they hear key words like "overcharge" "scam" "dispute".
    So they always ask you for a number to call back in case they get "disconnected", which they never do anyway lol
    or they would to verbally harass you.
  • 0
    CheapOair
    I would be more than glad to assist you with your complaint. However, booking number would be appreciated, and you can email me at:
    randrews@cheapoair.com
    place BLOG in the subject line
  • 0
    Cheapoair
    Actually LMF hasn't contacted me so that I can assist him! this must be resolved.
  • 0
    RCobb
    | 1 reply
    DO NOT REFER TO ME AS YOUR "CUSTOMER"!  YOU MAY REFER TO ME AS THE  "VICTIM"  OF YOUR                            SCAM OPERATION.

            CHEAPOAIR  MAY NOT GET YOU THE FIRST TIME YOU FLY WITH THEM, BUT BELIEVE ME
                                THEY  "WILL"  GET YOU TOO -  READ THE REST OF THE POSTS AT THIS AND
                                OTHER COMPLAINT SITES  - DO NOT PUT YOUR TRIP AND MONEY AT RISK!

        FLY WITH ANYONE BUT CHEAPOAIR - THEIR COMPANY WAS MADE TO WALK ALL OVER YOU.  

    THEY ARE FOREIGN OWNED AND OPERATED AND THEY ONLY CAME HERE TO RIP OFF GOOD AMERICANS
    • 0
      CheapOair replies to RCobb
      Cheapoair is based in New York, and employ many types of people like many companies around the world.  We care about our present and potential customers, and will work in the best interest of our  customers to make a situation right good or bad. Some people create the inconvenience, but don't understand the ramifications of their actions, therefore hold us accountable. We will work to resolve any issue with a satisfactory resolution, within our control. Remember we also work with our travel partners and have to follow their rules put in place.
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