Poor service from travel agent and price beat issues

LFirejelly on 03/04/2013 - 00:40

Hi all,

I've recently been looking for flights to Europe in May
After reading the post on 'Business/Economy Mixed Flights to Europe from Australia 2013 - $1899 ~ $2700', I went with the recommended travel agent in that post. But the whole experience had been painstaking with lots of issues - and definitely did not end with a bargain.

Sorry it's a long winded story. But I really need the wisdom of Ozbargainer to determine whether I'm an unreasonable customer

I went to the travel agent who recommended the scoot to Singapore, then with Etihad to Rome, and back from Frankfurt to Sydney for ~ 3816 for two people
I went home did a bit of search myself, and Singapore airline had special on at that time which would avoid the two stop over on the way to Europe, the budget flight, an extra day off work, and a deal with the hotel there
I read the 'Price beat' criteria very carefully, and I brought along printed quotes from Australian sites BYO and Skyscanner, which were printed within 24 hours, with flights exiting Australia. Basically my travel looked at the quote, did a bit of search and told me my quotes weren't genuine, because there's additional taxes hidden cost not added, and the website was showing me the price that was only available if I booked return with Singapore airlines. He told me his fare was definitely the cheapest and urged us to pay the deposit. I believed his words and agreed to pay for the deposit, that's when the problem started

1) Multiple mistakes
- My travel agent told us deposit were around $100 dollar each with a little extra for insurance. He ended up charging us $670. He later told us he has accidentally charged us twice for the insurance
- He didn't know about the promotions his own company had the time regarding $50 cashback for new members. I had to log into his website and show it to him. His defense was his own company was not great at informing their own workers. He had trouble processing the discount and had to ask his colleague.
- Had my name wrong, and my friend's name wrong on the invoice despite us printing out our names out for him. I called him to rectify it, but he just laughed it off as his bad typing, and said it was just record keeping and doesn't matter
- After that he gave us our travel insurance, and he had our names wrong again on the insurance cover. This time I was adamant he change it for us. He again laughed at it and said he was being a goose.

2) Price beat
So after all the mistakes I was getting a bit dubious about his ability. I went back to check on the quote I had given him. Processed everything right down to the payment section. The actual quote I gave him was genuine and definitely was cheaper. And if I had book online myself with the exact same flights he booked for us, it would've been $1000 cheaper all together through BYOjet. I called him to question about his failure to price beat. His first response was
a) Again the additional costs of taxes and hidden cost - I told him I had processed right down to payment and there was no such thing
b) He then proceeded to tell me if that was the case, why had I not book on line instead. And tried to educate me that people should not book with dodgy website but with travel agencies because I can make mistakes during my own booking…

I called customer service to complain about the poor service and that I should qualify for the $1500 for failure to price beat on their part. Customer service responded quite promptly, but the first replied e-mail said that they talked to my travel agent, and my travel agent said he could not price beat because I did not provide quote from an Australian company. After faxing over quotes I had from Australian companies. Customer service then e-mailed me and said, my travel agent said I did not have flights exiting Australia, that's why he didn't price beat. I then faxed over quotes exiting Australia. Customer service then replied saying my travel agent said because they only price beat fare out of Australia, they never price beat flights back from Europe. It was impossible to give me a cheap fare, and that I had agreed with his suggestion at that time with Scoot and Etihad. And that customer service is fully confident with their travel agent and that he did not fail to price beat.

The customer service also made me feel like I was making a big fuss with the mistakes my travel agent did and I have yet received any apologies. From the e-mail she said "As advised during our discussion earlier this morning we acknowledge that you are unhappy with the customer service received, notwithstanding he has rectified the name discrepancy. "

So from the conclusion, I don't really know if anyone can get any bargain from booking with this travel agency. Especially when I've been told by both the travel consultant, and the customer service that it would be cheaper with online prices, because they don't price beat flights back to Australia. They couldn't even give me a qantas flight fare I wanted back from Europe.

I'm still waiting to hear from them for the resolution of this problem. Customer service wrote "we are looking to resolve this issue with you amicably".

Am I being unfair in asking them to compensate for the failure to price beat as stated as a guarantee on the website? What would be a reasonable compensation on their behalf for the service I received?

Travel

Comments

  • cuteduck on 03/04/2013 - 00:49

    Why not just book it online yourself… save the hassle rather than spending your energy filling up the complaint

    • Firejelly on 03/04/2013 - 09:12

      Will definitely do it myself next time! I just assumed the price would be the same with a travel agent, and they give you support 6 Days a week so if I have any need to change any flights or anything is to happen overseas, they can make bookings/change flights for me.

  • rasun81 on 03/04/2013 - 07:20
    +1

    I would do what you did till showing the agent online quote, but if agent said your quote is expensive, I would verify again than paying deposit to him. All salesman are same. You sure learned your lesson so this loss is your price for that.

    • Firejelly on 03/04/2013 - 09:48

      It was a good lesson. I don't think the travel agent was genuinely trying to rip me off. I just assumed he knew more than me which he didn't, so will definitely verify everything again next time.

      • uccoffee on 04/04/2013 - 13:47
        +1

        they dont usually know more compare with people at ozbargain. :)

  • m0nkeycheese on 03/04/2013 - 09:02

    Last time I went to Japan I popped into a travel agent to get some help. None of them had ever been there and just handed me a pamphlet and sat there and watched me flick through it. It was by then I realised that I knew more about it from looking on Travel Advisor online than they did. I just smiled politely and left..

    They do have a point tho, all your resivations are guaranteed with a Travel Agent. As long as you stick to the well known websites you shouldn't get ripped off.

  • c64 on 03/04/2013 - 09:28

    is this flight centre?

    • Firejelly on 03/04/2013 - 10:01

      Yes it was. I'm not recommending it or not recommending it since I've only had this one experience. I guess I just wanted to let people know they might not end up with a bargain even if they advertise price beat and to always triple check everything you book. Even though they haven't apologized or come to a solution, the customer service have replied all my email very promptly. Will definitely update again when I know what their response is.

      • Firejelly on 04/04/2013 - 09:47

        *sorry, just realised I should probably make it more clear, it was with student flight centre, which is owned by flight centre. The customer service e-mail I have been corresponding with ends with @flightcentre.com, so I just said yes when you asked whether it is flight centre

        • whiteflame on 11/04/2013 - 16:36

          it was flight centre ran by students :)

  • cruise on 03/04/2013 - 09:57
    +2

    I went to Europe 2 years ago. When I was planning I searched online for the best available business class airfares. I got the cheapest prices I could, printed them out and took them to a local travel agent and said I want these flights and fares if possible.

    She got back to me a day later and said she was able to get even cheaper fares on same airlines with slightly different flight times but several hundred dollars cheaper. Now that was great service, as a result I have directed many people to their agency.

    I think it all depends on who you go to and how good they are at their job…unfortunately for you it seems you have ended up with someone who is not very good at theirs and as a result you didn't get the best deal. Personally I don't think you are being unreasonable however if it was me I would either cut my loses and go elsewhere or see what "customer service" can do to help and if nothing let it go because you don't want a continuing issue with your travel agent to ruin your trip. Hope you have a great time OS.

    • Firejelly on 03/04/2013 - 13:14

      Thanks for the well wishes! We are very excited about the trip and are definitely looking forward to it. We will try our best to be get compensated for what we think is fair, not because we are not letting it go. We are biting the bullet and accept what's done is done. I just feel if I can make their customer service aware that these issues exists, hopefully it'll prevent the same thing happening to other customers in the future. And I'm sure their service will only improve as a result.

  • geek001 on 03/04/2013 - 10:01

    I stopped using travel agents a long time ago. The last time I used a travel agent, he failed to book my flight during the promotion period which meant that I had a pay $400 extra. The trouble is all our conversations were verbal so I didn't have a leg to stand on. I complained through their corporate feedback system and got no response.

    Also, by the time you wait for their office to open and bring the quote to them, all the cheap flights might have gone and their response would be, they cannot find fares for that price anymore. I think it is safer to just book online on the spot when you find it rather than go through a travel agent and risk missing out. Their price beat will almost certainly be $1 anyway.

  • ChmpgneTasteBeerBdgt on 03/04/2013 - 10:09
    +2

    Flight Centre suck. A few years ago I went to the Flight Centre at Westfield Bondi Junction with knowledge that there was a flight for a certain price on a website. I had all details written down and it had been less than 3hours since I saw the details before I stepped into the store.

    I told one of the guys and he advised the price had gone up and that this happens often. I thought nothing of it and booked. When I got back to work I discovered he was a lying bastard and that the lower price was still available.

    I went back and expressed my disgust that he purposely weaseled money out of me for the benefit of his commission and demanded that I receive my flights for free (maybe $1? I can't remember but that was their guarantee at the time).

    The rep was shocked and tried to deny his wrong doing but would not honour their guarantee but would refund the difference and give a $20 flight centre voucher. I told him to shove it as I'd never use Flight Centre again. Complaining to Flight Centres head office was useless too as they refused to believe their reps wrong doing. How convenient.

    Use budget airlines and expedia, ozbargain, budgetflights.com etc. I save so much more doing it myself.

    • macharmaine on 04/04/2013 - 23:49
      +1

      wow same thing happened to me!! about 2 years ago i got a fare in morning at work printed it out went to flight centre store at lunchtime, the guy said the $900 fare I got (to China, return) is now $1200! a whopping 30% more! in 3 hrs!! and then he said, even if it is still the same price, the price beat is $1!! with a $20 voucher! I said no thanks and walked out. wasted my lunchtime. back to office and booked online myself and got the $900 fare. i guess a travel agent is useful if you have a complicated routing & mix airline/mixed cabin etc.

      few months ago, I went to Flight Centre travel expo, i've already searched for the fare the night before, although did not have printout, i wrote them all down on notebook and took to expo, the girl quoted me fares thats higher than what i got, so i thought they've gone up in less than 12 hrs.. went back home, found all my fares are still valid online! she said she'd call me monday and she never called. her loss. I booked online even though its a multi stop but only one airline its manageable. the insurance she quoted was also higher, so again i just booked online. as long as it is a reputable website its fine.

      apart from jacking up prices, their knowledge is limited anyway.. 6 yrs ago, I wanted to go to Croatia, walked into flight centre at lunch time. asked the guy, he started searching for airfare to zagreb and told me only qantas does it, and the price was expensive! i told him, i have no interest to go to zagreb. he just stared at me.. and silence.. and finally I told him I want to see Split & Dubrovnik.. he told me no flights from australia goes there.. who says the customer must fly from australia to their one destination using the one airline thats it?!! i walked out. back to office and booked online flights to london and from london to split by british airways.

  • tendliya on 03/04/2013 - 12:24
    +1

    I guess it all depends on who you get. I took a quote once from jetaborad.com.au to a flight centre rep and she happily beat the price. It was from Melbourne to Helsinki return with mixed cabin classes. From Melbourne to Hong Kong was business class and Hong Kong to Helsinki was economy. I checked the fares the night before we went to flight centre and I checked again the next morning. The fare has already gone up by quite a bit. But I thought I will give it a go anyway.

    We first went in to the flight centre to enquire their fares. She said the fare was around $4,000 for each person for a return fare as it was during Christmas break. Then I showed her the print out with business and economy class fare for around $2,450.00 per person. She took her time but she beat the fare but $20. I am not sure if the website was wrong or the lady at flight centre was dumb.

    However, if she said that she couldnt honour the fare, then I wouldnt have booked with her before checking other options.

    • Firejelly on 03/04/2013 - 12:59

      I totally agree with everything you said. That's why I have not recommended or not recommended their service, as I know it would be a person to person basis on who served you. And from hindsight, I definitely should have not booked and took her word for it. But I guess I went into the service trusting their professionalism.

      To really give an opinion on a quality of a company. It probably is mostly reflected on the customer service they provide and their response to the complaints. And so far I haven't really gotten a satisfying solution after two weeks.I guess an apology would be nice too. All customer service wanted was to prove they were not on the wrong, did not really put any emphasis on the quality of service I received.

  • Kleos on 03/04/2013 - 17:26
    +13

    Can I make a suggestion?

    It's simple and easy.

    I work for FC not in sales, They hate any form of bad publicity, Even when someone is sacked for stealing money from the company and I have seen 60 and 70k go missing, They do not take the thief to court because of the bad publicity, I would be posting this on the Flight centre facebook page and hoping it goes viral, Then you will win you're case, You have been treated poorly by either a dodgy consultant or a useless one.

    https://www.facebook.com/flightcentreAU
    ha
    Grahame Skroo Turner is the CEO of this company and I know for a fact that he reads every comment on that page and he reviews every bad piece of publicity and wants it resolved.

    Cheers.

    If you want, I will try and get you some numbers for the high ranking staff in the company

    • m0nkeycheese on 03/04/2013 - 20:16
      +3

      Aren't you worried they will find out who you are?

    • Firejelly on 03/04/2013 - 23:41
      +2

      Thanks! Will definitely try posting on their facebook page first, it's a brilliant idea!

  • Candour on 03/04/2013 - 19:20

    most staff only do routine things and may not be as thorough as you as they need to work fast to get a buck.
    so carelessness is not professional.
    I would take it up with their complaint process and ask for the maximum refund for your trouble.

  • Kleos on 04/04/2013 - 00:52
    +3

    Hi m0nkeycheese,

    I am not one bit worried, 600 employees in my office, Sales, Wholesales, Corporate, I'll be just fine, It's not the first time I have done some inside work to try and help someone off the web mate.

    Cheers.

    • Firejelly on 04/04/2013 - 12:35
      +1

      Thanks again Kleos for your advice! I am trying the facebook method first. Though I doubt it'll become viral, seems like there's a wave of complaints on the site already. If there's no progress, I've managed to find some of the high ranking staff contact (even Grahame Skroo Turner) on LinkedIn. So I'll see if I can contact them through that. Thanks again for offering to help a mate!

      ps. Also realised I didn't clarify with everyone, it was with student flight centre, which is owned by flight centre. The customer service e-mail I have been corresponding with ends with @flightcentre.com, so I just said yes to flight centre

      • neil on 04/04/2013 - 12:37
        +11

        We've just posted it on the OzBargain Facebook page (as well as our other social media outlets), so maybe that will give you some traction. ;)

        • Firejelly on 05/04/2013 - 00:20
          +1

          Thank you so much for everyone's support. It has been amazing! I have sent my contact details to them, and hopefully I will have some answers soon. Will definitely update when I know.

    • ltwo on 04/04/2013 - 13:41

      Very noble. I hope OP's issues are resolved. How do you put a price on all the wasted time, stress etc etc though?

  • vietbargain on 04/04/2013 - 13:09

    I've heard/read so many stories about the "lowest airfare/price beat guarantee" from FC that people rarely are to be able to ever take advantage of. Hopefully this will make FC rethink their tagline. good luck OP.

  • uccoffee on 04/04/2013 - 13:57
    +2

    support by liking it?
    https://www.facebook.com/flightcentreAU/posts/10151381814365…

    • neil on 04/04/2013 - 14:12
      +4

      I like the post right above it.

      If this korean war starts will we get our money back for flights and accom in Thailand??

  • Qlander on 04/04/2013 - 16:23

    My flight center rep said they will beat singapore airlines quote by a $1 and I walked away!! It all depends on who you get. I always think, If you do enough research you can always beat their price because their price includes commission as well. Not sure how true is that.

    • partymix on 05/04/2013 - 00:26

      Yeah I had the same happen….I had quotes from STA travel, I took it to flight centre for their price beat guarantee and the agent said she could only beat it by $1…. Seems like a waste of time for customers to even bother.

  • webbj on 04/04/2013 - 18:22

    I'm not pro or anti ravel agents but it sounds like you had a bad experience all rounds.

    At the end of the day, the more middle-men involved (generally) means you will pay more. Some middlemen provide extra 'value' eg: expertise, advise etc. Others just aren't and will do whatever they can to make you think they are providing the best value and service.

    Whatever flight centre do, they made $200 million in profit last year alone (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-28/flight-centre-posts-pr…) - its hard to imagine they make that much profit and still give customers the best price!

    I expect your facebook post will get the most suitable resolution.

  • retiredfeline on 05/04/2013 - 01:14

    Look at the shelves of a typical travel agent. They are lined with brochures for packaged products: cruises, tours, etc. Like the chemists, a lot of their sales come from premium products. How much can they make on simple tickets in these days of Internet purchasing? So it stands to reason they they will either try to upsell you, fob you off with $1 price beat*, or as you found out, sneak something past you. If your needs are simple, you can do without a travel agent.

    * Sure you get a $1 price beat and a voucher, but remember that you have to pay up right away. The interest free days on a CC purchase might be worth more than $1. Not to mention the value of your time collecting and presenting evidence of the competing offer. And the voucher is just to make you go back to them next time.

  • cupcake on 05/04/2013 - 13:45

    Hi Firejelly, I hope all is resolved for you soon. FC consultants are all different and you ended up with a bad one! It's always cheaper to book it yourself online. I went with Flight Centre a couple of times back in 2008 and 2009 but the last few years, I have been booking it myself. No bad experiences at all. I really hope you enjoy your holiday. I know it's a bummer to pay $1000 more than you have to. That's a lot of money for an ozbargainer (and anyone) and you're not over-reacting at all. I'd want a refund right away!

  • akula on 05/04/2013 - 20:57

    This whole travel agent concept is going to go down because of poor service and lack of passion or enthusiasm. It's never their loss, they get paid by hr and little bit more in cruises and holiday package. Ripping off pensioners and not so tech savvy people is how they are surviving still. Skyscanner , travelocity, kayak and Expedia making travel a whole lot cheaper. Last week i went to flightcenter and asked for a quote for syd-la-sad with a stop over at any place in US. They quoted me 3296… finally i spent a whole saturday night..booked syd-la-gut-pty-ord-la-syd with qantas and AA for 1800$. I was so happy that i spent some time online. My journey is insured by Amex.

  • Firejelly on 06/04/2013 - 01:06
    +5

    Hi everyone, thank you so much for your support!!!
    Student flight customer service has finally given me some reply after the attention on facebook.

    Essentially the legal person from student flight centre said that unfortunately I do not have any evidence to proof that at that point in time, my agent did not price beat, as the price he looked at the time, may well have been higher than my quote. (I don't know then how anyone then can proof to student flight a travel agent failed to price beat, unless you had a computer with wireless with you and that you show it to the agent on the spot?) She also wrote
    "Student Flights acts as an agent; selling fares released by airlines. Airline pricing is very transient. Airlines release and withdraw fares constantly and with no advance notice. Further, prices paid are also related to seat availability. Once all seats at a current fare have been sold the price will increase as only seats at the next fare level will be available for sale. Alternatively, an airline may examine their advance sales and decide to release cheaper seats with no advance notice onto the market. The actual price a seat can be secured for is only relevant at the time of booking. Examining what price a seat could have been purchased for a few days before or what price it can be purchased for a few days later is irrelevant. "

    However they have offered me as "way of apology for the shortfall in their customer service $650.00 towards fare differences, being two thirds of the fare differences compared to the cheaper price that is now available to the exact same flight I have. In this way you will benefit from a lower fare than originally agreed to and will have avoided the risks associated with providing credit card details to an offshore business with which you would have had no recourse had their been problems with the booking."

    I have accepted that offer and will let the matter rest. Customer service actually asked me in the end 'just out of curiosity, why did you choose student flight then…'

    Thanks again for everyone's support.

    • voteoften on 12/04/2013 - 16:36

      Did you respond as to why you picked Student flight?

  • Kleos on 06/04/2013 - 08:24
    -2

    Better then nothing, Well done mate :)

    • Mikeologos on 25/04/2013 - 18:40

      Damn, Meant to +1

  • teknohead on 25/04/2013 - 18:08
    -1

    I work for <insert travel agency here> and have never had an issue with doing price beats for people, to ensure that I'm being transparent and the customer isn't making a price up I will check the price for them on the web competitors page and confirm it while they are with me. Sure it's a pain as I get paid much less but it's much quicker than doing backwards & forwards arguing over a price.

    I do believe that it makes a big difference about which store you visit as to whether or not you will get a good deal though. There are certain stores that are used to a less internet savvy client due to the demographic in their area and don't provide the best service for internet price beaters.

    If you do a lot of travel, find an agent you're happy with and stick with them.

    I think it's very important to understand an agents position though. A huge portion of our wage is made in commission so while we are happy to help people we certainly need to make sure we're helping ourselves as well. We can't spent all week backwards and forwards with someone for a simple flight booking.

    On a side note, I think you're the lowest form of scum there could possibly be Kleos. Undermining the company that is providing you with a living is just a disgraceful thing to do, especially to help a complete stranger on the internet.

    • neil on 25/04/2013 - 19:30

      If we need a successful price beat, can we send you our requests? Also is it possible to pay for price beats with a gift card?

      • teknohead on 26/04/2013 - 22:12

        While I'd certainly appreciate the sale, it's against company policy to get involved in these sort of conversations and I don't want to risk getting in any trouble. Unlike Kleos, I value my job :)

        There is absolutely no problem in booking a price beat using a gift card, in fact if you happen to have participated in the Captain's mission promos and got those $25 vouchers then you can even use those too, I think some people are flogging them on ebay for a few bucks each :)

        The price beat amount is also at the agents discretion if we can beat it by more than $1, in some cases I've found that I can beat an internet fare by more than $1 and still make a comfortable commission so I'm happy to pass that on to clients, it's certainly won a few people over who normally wouldn't book through an agent.

        Please don't write off all travel agents because of a few negative experiences from others, if you ever set foot in our store you'd be wondering if they were even true!

  • MITM on 25/04/2013 - 21:36

    Glad you're happy with the outcome firejelly and sticking to your guns.
    Price match for $1 - not worth the effort, but if I'd walked into FC and got a bad vibe from the agent, I'd walk down the road to the next (student)flight centre and try again. There's that many of them, I dont know how they stay in business. But every time I walk past the window, the chairs are always full of mums and dads and kids ooohing over brochures. Everyone seems comfortable with them - I'm sure they're good for some.

  • FCSUPERDEALS on 27/04/2013 - 16:25

    If you really want to save money.
    Find your flight. Go into a travel agent and just ask if they can take some cash off.

    I am a travel agent and give people discounts all the time. How I see it. Yeah i cut into my commission but then i just book on volume and referrals.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join