The Travel Troubleshooter: Maybe the price guarantee isn’t all-inclusive?

Question: I am writing to complain about poor service I received in connection with Travelocity’s price guarantee. We recently returned from an 11-night trip to Cancun, Mexico. Our package, which included airfare and accommodations at the Valentin Imperial Maya all-inclusive resort, cost $4,615.

About a week before we left, I found the exact same package on Travelocity for $1,170 less. I filled out a form on its site and followed up several times by email. I sent screenshots as proof. Each time they responded they claimed to have not received the proof. Finally, I posted the proof to a website to be sure they could see it.

Last night, I called Travelocity and was told they would get back to me in a few hours by phone. They did not. I have always been happy with Travelocity’s service — until now. Why is this such a problem? Travelocity has a guarantee. Is it asking too much for them to honor it? — Steven Estrella, Fort Washington, Pa.

Answer: You qualified for Travelocity’s price guarantee, which promises a $50 coupon and up to $500 back if you find a “qualifying” lower rate up until the day before you check in. Travelocity should have processed your claim — or at least responded to it — promptly.

Here’s a link to the full guarantee.

It appears that the proof Travelocity needed never arrived. You say you sent the files several times, but Travelocity’s representatives say they never saw them. Rather than simply resending the files, you might have considered reducing the size of the files. Often, email spam filters block large images.

Still, it’s unlikely that the files sent through the form, email and finally posted to a website, were all rejected by the system. Instead, it’s far likelier this was an electronic hiccup on Travelocity’s side.

I’m given the impression from dealing with many price guarantee complaints (not just Travelocity’s) that these types of requests aren’t assigned a high priority. As with any travel business, a lot of effort is expended on quickly processing your purchases. It takes only a few seconds to remove the money from your credit card account, but weeks, months and even years to return it.

What incentive — other than making a customer happy — does an online travel agency have to expeditiously refund the money under a price guarantee? I can’t think of one.

You took all the right steps by sending your request through the site, then by email and finally posting the evidence of the bargain online. I have a few contacts at Travelocity on my site that might have been useful.

I contacted Travelocity on your behalf. A representative emailed you and offered the maximum $500 refund, plus a $50 voucher toward future travel.

  • MarkieA

    I understand that the size of the refund was limited by the conditions of the guarantee, but I believe that Travelocity still ripped him off to the tune of $670 ($1,170 – $500, the $50 voucher is useless, as far as I’m concerned). It was THEIR “competing” deal that was lower, for goodness sake. I think, Chris, you’re being generous when you attribute the refund difficulty to a technical glitch. Call me jaded, but I’ll bet that the SOP for this kind of stuff at all of these places is, delay, delay, delay, hoping that the customer will simply give up.

  • Matilda

    “I understand that the size of the refund was limited by the conditions of the guarantee, but I believe that Travelocity still ripped him off to the tune of $670 ($1,170 – $500, the $50 voucher is useless, as far as I’m concerned)”

    That is why they have these conditions in place. The OP said he saw the price reduction a week before he left, so this was obviously a last minute deal to book the remaining empty rooms. He wasn’t ripped off.

  • http://www.dmuth.org/ Douglas Muth

    From a computer programmer: my suggestion for sending screencaps is that unless the contents need to remain confidential to upload them to a site like http://min.us/ or http://imgur.com/, and just include the link in the email. This bypasses all sorts of issues that can happen with file attachments.

  • Bill

    From my experience, all these low price quarantees need to be taken with a very large grain of salt. They are like travel insurance, there are scores of rules and exlcusions and lots fo reasons not to pay, and even when you qualify they take weeks and require pile of documents to get your money back.

  • Joe Farrell

    isn’t that guarantee $500 per person?

  • MVFlyer

    Joe–It isn’t per person–the T&Cs say $500 per booking.

  • MVFlyer

    I agree that these companies use their guarantees as lip service–after all, they’re the only ones who can enforce them, unless you want to take them to court. And they’re in no real rush to return the money (I think Chris was being charitable by saying that Travelocity didn’t get the paperwork).

    Just as an aside to how ridiculous these guarantees can be: there’s a chain of bedding stores in my area that advertises if you find a lower price for an identical bed within 30 days of purchase, they’ll beat the price by 10% or its free. Realistically, which do you think they will refund, 10% of the price or all of it?????

  • http://www.cutcat.com ChelseaGirl

    RE: “What incentive — other than making a customer happy — does an online travel agency have to expeditiously refund the money under a price guarantee? I can’t think of one.”
    As a business owner, our incentive is that the customer comes back. It costs much more to gain a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. We’ve given refunds to people who didn’t like a particular product, and almost all of them have gone on to order other items. I don’t see why the same concept shouldn’t apply to a travel agency. If Travelocity doesn’t honor its promises, the customer won’t book with them again. And of course, it’s simply the honest thing to do…wow, what a radical concept that is!

  • Joe Farrell

    @MVFlyer -= and how many bookings were made and for what? Were the airline reservations under hte same PNR or two? Was the hotel under the airline PNR or was that a separate booking? Whats the definition of booking?

    further, as I read the $500 limitation it only applies to the ‘Create Your Own’ vacation packages – there is no limitation for any other purchase- so – was this a create your own? And was it marketed as such?

  • Matilda

    @Joe Farrell

    I think it’s safe to assume that this was one booking. The OP states that he found the same “package” at a lower price. Therefore, he most likely booked and paid for everything in one go (airfare, hotel, transfers). It doesn’t matter how it shows up with the airline or the hotel, as far as Travelocity would be concerned, it was all the same thing and that’s what they are calling a booking.

  • Joe Farrell

    Why would i assume anything when real facts are what are controlling? the $50 limit applies ONLY to “Create you own” vacation packages . . . . is that what he bought? Was it a formal ‘create you own vacation package?” or did he just buy the hotel and air together? Does a package require a ar or some transport? These are relevant questions since people are making assumptions – never make assumptions – always real ALL of the words. Make Travelocity state that what he bought was a “create your own” vacation package. This is not brain surgery its common sense language usage.

  • Thalassa

    @ChelseaGirl said As a business owner, our incentive is that the customer comes back. It costs much more to gain a new customer than it does to retain an existing one.

    That is exactly right. I work for a store in a business many see as dying. Our competitors are filing Chapter 11 and closing down, but we’re growing like crazy, adding stores and jobs. Why? We believe in true customer service. We offer lower prices to begin with, knowledgeable personable employees, and if a customer isn’t happy, we give them massive amounts of credit to get them to come back. We often credit 200% of the original sale, because it doesn’t really cost us anything, and they not only come back, they bring friends. If our competitors had ever learned that lesson, maybe they’d still be in business.

  • DJP

    From a retail standpoint of price matching….believe it or not its common practice for large retailers of products to get exclusive rpoduct codes so they dont really have to price match.

    For example when Circuit City was what it was (yeah I know its still exists) competing directly with Best Buy a manufacturer like Panasonice would have the same identical model but assign different product codes. One for Best buy and the other for circuit city where the stores could claim its an exclusive brand or the can claim price match guarentee when in reality it would never happen.

    To me this is deceitful …the idea of price guarentee means just that—if its advertised at a lower price you will get that price–not in the fine print where there is a refund cap like $500.

  • Rick

    Anyone else think that Matilda works for Travelocity or a similar company?

  • Eric

    Orbitz price guarantee is even more useless. In order to qualify, someone has to book THE EXACT trip you booked. Same flights (with same class of ticket), same hotel (with same room type), same everything. If any one minor detail is different, no refund.

  • Mary Graham

    Ya know, that really stinks. Honestly, folks should not have to go through you for help with these things. I’ll never book with Travelocity. Sounds like a great scam to me.

  • Suz

    @ Rick – no – it isn’t fair to accuse someone of being a troll just because you don’t like thier stance. We should all be open to feedback from both sides without personal attacks.

    It sounds like they didn’t get a very good deal. But most travelers know that last minute deals to fill open rooms and seats are going to offer big savings. You have to assume Steven looked around before he booked the trip and thought he was getting a fair deal – or he wouldn’t have booked it.

    I agree the “price guarantee” is misleading and gives the buyer a false sense of security. But $500 is better than nothing, which is probably what he would have gotten if he booked it direct or with an agent.

  • Matilda

    Nice try Rick, but I’m actually a government employee. Does that make it better or worse?

  • DAN

    So the spam filter blocked the attachment but passed along the rest of the message? I don’t buy that.

    And Travelocity requires their customers to prove what was offered on Travelocity’s website? That is clearly a ploy to get claimants to go away. Of course they already have the proof in their own system records.

    Since we are talking about proof, how much proof is a screenshot anyway? I don’t know how to use any fancy programs like Photoshop, but I could doctor up a screenshot just fine using nothing but Windows Paintbrush. Maybe I should start doing that and making claims to Travelocity since they claim to not have access to their own product’s pricing history.

  • Kelly

    I am going through the same thing right now with Expedia, although for much less money, only $90. I have emailed them with an attachment of the screen shots last week but guess what? No response! So I emailed them again through their form on the website just now and I am not really expecting anything, but I figured I would try. $90 is a lot to me so I am hoping I can get it refunded.

  • Geoff

    Use a real ASTA agent. Our clients get the whole difference back. Last week APpple lowered the NOW by 150.00 per person for a family of 5. Got the whole difference back. Online stilled made a bunch of extra money.

  • mxcnvixan

    Travelocity falsely advertises prices: charges higher prices
    online and through customer service than advertised.

    I attempted to book a round trip flight from LAX to San Juan Puerto Rico. The
    prices of all the flights appeared as $490.40, but at the end the prices ranged
    between $513.00 to $590.00 (not including tax).

    I called customer service to help. The claim that the data
    is not updated quickly was used. The service agent then booked my flight…he
    also got the $490.40 ticket, yet he also had to overcharge me; $513.00 not
    including tax. Not only was I overcharged, but I also had to pay a fee for
    using their agent (silly me thinking their agent would have the true price).

    I find it incredible customer service agents are not able to
    get the price advertised as well.

    I find this unethical and have filed a complaint with the
    Better Business Bureau.

    My complaint may fall into deaf ears both with travelocity
    and the Bureau…but if no one documents their illegal practices, they will
    continuously get away with it.

    BTW, this is not the only time it has occurred.

  • bodega3

    I am not one to defend OTA, but their fares are not what we call live.  Even with the airlines, what you see on the screen isn’t live inventory.  Their international fares may not include the security fee, which is very common to add on to a base fare.  Not seeing the linear I can’t verify what happened, but it isn’t false advertising, it is consumers not understanding what they are seeing and then expecting someone who know nothing about fares that answers the phone call to figure it out.  They are only order takers and nothing else.