I admit that I use orbitz all the time for travel...typically beacuse when i search on Kayak or similar, Orbitz is always right there on price, yet, when the need calls for customer service, this seemingly brilliant marketing, technology, and service based company falls flat on their face.
I personally find their relationship with the airlines kluge at best. Case in point, when, because of weather, Delta re-arranged one of our return flights from New York, they left us with a 10min connection in Atlanta. This is impossible. To make it worse, they never notified us of the change via phone, fax, email, or SMS, and, they only changed 2 of our 3 tickets in the itinerary so our Nanny was on different flights than we were with the baby. In a mad scramble the night before we were to travel, I had to reach out to Orbitz Customer Service...
After 5 consecutive call attempts to orbitz, re-explaining the situation, re-explaining why i should not have to pay a change fee to get us back on the same flights with proper connections, and how it was Delta and Orbitz who changed some, not all of our tickets...5 times...all the way through convincing, hold, talk, hold, manager, hold, manager's manager, hold...okay sir, let me connect you to Delta to make that change...D I S C O N N E C T!
On call number 6 to orbitz, i was so angry that i told the person that i wanted their operator number, and that if i was going to be transferred, that i would personally find and destroy him. When i went through my problem for the 6th time he calmly said, "Sir, why dont you just call Delta directly." Err, what?? But the other operators said that Orbitz had to make my change because i booked my ticket through them. How can it be that operator 1-5 never made that suggestion...they all wanted to start with change fees, and how my plans had changed so it isnt THEIR fault. And even with all these peoples differeing stories, how is it that we still can't complete a transaction, regardless of how complex, in 5 consecutive tries? How come nobody calls you back after an incomplete customer service transaction? They know who we are, they have our mobile #'s for their mobile alert systems, why no call back??
And why have i been disconnected 5 times at the same point in the process???
Now, maybe its because their complex tele-infrastructure can only support 5 continent hops, or, maybe its just that their system doesn't work. I am not the one to analyze it, but what i wonder is why we need an Orbitz, or Expedia at all? How much longer will these companies exist? I mean, with a service like Kayak.com, TripAdvisor.com, or similar, who can aggregate travel across hundreds of websites...why can't i just find my deal, and book direct with these companies? Orbitz and Expedia would say that their value add is that they offer customer service, and en-route travel assistance. That's sweller than swell...IF it works. The reality is that if they simply take the call and then defer you to the airlines/hotels/etc., it removes their value from the equation and renders them useless. They are just a cash register brokering my travel transaction.
Now, i am not saying that i will never use Orbitz again, i probably will, their website works great. But I sometimes wonder if the writing isn't on the wall for the online travel services, much like it was for traditional travel agencies a few years back.
This is a rant. Time will tell...
WBV
