I Gripe, Orbitz Reacts. Sort of. Well, Not Really. But at Least They Noticed.
By Harry McCracken | Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 2:32 pm
A couple of days ago, I bought an airfare-and-hotel package for a business trip to Las Vegas, and was annoyed by the way the travel merchant tried to slip a $14 bus ticket and $19.50 travel insurance plan into my order even though I hadn’t asked for them. An Orbitz customer-serve representative (who asked not to be named) saw my complaints and gave me a call. She didn’t make me happy–because she couldn’t explain, really, why it’s appropriate to put unasked-for things in a customer’s shopping cart. But she did provide some background.
The automatic addition of a $14 bus fare, she told me, is a recent addition–and it’s one that Orbitz is only tacking on for Vegas and a few other destinations. She said that those locales have been singled out because most hotels don’t offer shuttle-bus service. (Which explains why you might offer bus pickup and dropoff…but not why you’d charge a customer for them unless that person specifically asked otherwise. After all, I don’t know of a single hotel anywhere that tacks a shuttle-bus fee onto your bill.)
“I can understand why you wouldn’t like that–‘hey, I didn’t even want this,’ said the rep sympathetically. But she told me that Orbitz has received very few complaints about the Las Vegas bus fee, and that some of the company’s competitors were similarly adding charges.
As for the travel insurance, the rep said that it’s mostly offered on highly restrictive plane tickets which are hard to make changes to without penalty–often international flights. The insurance allows travelers to get refunds even if the airline won’t oblige. Again, fair enough–except for the part about having to notice the fee and sidestep it if you’re not interested.
“I don’t like it myself,” she said of the automatic insurance. And she added that travelers should read the policy carefully, since it doesn’t cover some stuff she thinks it should, like airline bankruptcies.
I was irritated in part because the Orbitz site has fine print telling you that you can’t get a refund on the items you didn’t ask for in the first place. But the rep said that if you accidentally ended up paying for them and called right away, Orbitz would help you get a refund.
She also told me that she felt my pain, but that Orbitz wasn’t trying to scam anyone (note: I didn’t say it was) and that the policies I found so offensive weren’t going away. And then she backpedaled a little–she said that Orbitz appointed a new CEO in January (Barney Harford) and that he was a “high-tech” guy who wanted simplify the process of buying travel from the company. Who knows, she said–maybe he’ll change things.
We can only hope–but I still think that maybe it should be the FTC, not Web merchants, who get to decide what’s appropriate here.
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orbitz « Brenden Travels Says:
March 4th, 2009 at 8:04 pm[…] I Gripe, orbitz Reacts. Sort of. Well, Not Really. But at Least … orbitz Logo A couple of days ago, I bought an airfare-and-hotel package for a business trip to Las Vegas, and was annoyed by the way the travel merchant tried to slip a $14 bus ticket and $19.50 travel insurance plan into my order even … […]
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orbitz - Brenden Travels « Brenden Travels Says:
March 5th, 2009 at 9:46 pm[…] I Gripe, orbitz Reacts. Sort of. Well, Not Really. But at Least … orbitz Logo A couple of days ago, I bought an airfare-and-hotel package for a business trip to Las Vegas, and was annoyed by the way the travel merchant tried to slip a $14 bus ticket and $19.50 travel insurance plan into my order even … […]
March 6th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Be careful with EXPEDIA , they are worse than Orbitz. Click on my name to read how they tried to scam me 1254,95 USD.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I really don’t see what the big deal is with this stuff. We all now there are special offers when you buy stuff online. Just pay attention and you’re fine. I don’t think you can classify something like this as a scam. If you bought it and didn’t want it, it’s your fault, not Orbitz or Expedia.
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:23 am
They tried to pull the same thing with me just now. Luckily I was able to cancel the insurance because I booked my trip 5 days ago. I filed a report with the BBB and I suggest everyone who has had this experience do the same.
May 7th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
I am an investigator with the law firm of David P. Meyer & Associates. We are investigating a potential case against a major online travel site regarding alleged charges to consumers for travel insurance without their full knowledge. If you would be willing to assist in our investigation or would like more information about this case, please call me at 1-866-827-6537.
June 17th, 2011 at 2:10 am
Well, it's 2011, and Barney Harford made no such changes. Why? Clearly because the amount of people who don't see the Travel Insurance option and accidentally pay for it, is far greater than the amount of people who would actually choose to buy it. I just got charged over $200 for insurance on a trip to Egypt, and had to take 20 minutes out of my work day to make an int'l call to cancel it.
This can't be legal, but I guess that it's not explicitly illegal yet. I wish you luck Shelly. The travel sites, ever in revenue competition with one another, will continue doing this until it's outlawed. Despicable.
June 17th, 2011 at 10:43 am
I’ve stopped doing business with Orbitz because of this stuff. Sorry to hear it continues.
–Harry
August 9th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
I was charged $95.40 for travel insurance without my consent. Neither Orbitz nor Access is willing to withdraw the charge. My last recourse is to request a chargeback from my credit card issuer. Has anyone had luck with a chargeback?
To the dimwit above who can't "see what the big deal is with this stuff," the more intelligent among us would rather choose for ourselves what we should or should not buy. It is not the prerogative of any company that we purchase from to add additional services without our express consent.