In January we booked flight to Israel. A little over $4500. Less than three weeks before the trip, the airlines changed schedules and now couldn't make our connections. We spent three aggravating days with Orbitz trying to get rescheduled. When that failed, we canceled the flights and booked a new set of flights, also through Orbitz. That was the beginning of April.
We still have not had our money returned (to credit card) for the canceled flights. We have logged *hours* on the phone with Orbitz. Almost a month ago, I finally got a supervisor who said he would follow through on the problem. The next day he left a phone message saying that the airline (BMI in England) wasn't available, but he would see this through.
Today, I called Orbitz and they started the run-around all over again. I finally spoke with a supervisor, named Ann. Ann tried calling the airline, but the appropriate dept. was closed due to the time difference. She said that she'd have to try calling them tomorrow, and would call us back. At that point I pointed out that this is exactly the ground we had already covered. I pointed out that *I'm* the one who's out over $4500 and paying interest on it to the credit card, that they basically had a free loan at my expense.
Her reply was that it isn't really Orbitz's responsibility, that the airline had to refund the money. I responded that since Orbitz had taken the order and processed the credit card, I held them responsible. She repeated the excuses. I told her I recognize that technically her excuses are correct, but it is bad customer relations to take someone's money (even if to just pass it on) and then give excuses about not refunding it. She repeated AGAIN how it isn't up to them. I told her she was making a mistake passing the buck, and that I was going to give them free publicity.
So, there it is folks. If you buy airline tickets on Orbitz you may save money, BUT if you need a refund due to their changes you cannot count on seeing your money. It has now been so long, that credit card dispute departments won't handle a complaint like this.
So, bottome line: Orbitz took $4500 of my money. The flights were cancelled, so they did not provide the service. They have not seen that the money is returned in anything near a timely fashion. They keep promising, but I keep paying interest to the credit card.
Next stop, the State Attorney General's Office, Consumer Fraud Division.
