I agree that Mr. Steve Sedlak is the person at Orbitz that is helpful. He also had my claim for a refund processed when the prior Orbitz personnel didn't even give me details on where to send information about my claim! They said it would be researched & I would be contacted but didn't even give me their names or contact info.

Orbitz initially did try to give me the runaround, saying it was up to the airline when the airline (I also spoke to) said it was up to Orbitz as to whether to issue a refund or not.

TAs are useful when you have to have multiple airlines involved in your flights. I also prefer not to use TAs but sometimes it's what is needed. Tried local TAs, but they weren't interested since we were booking our own lodging (B&Bs), so it wasn't enough to interest any of them.

Persistence and documentation are key in working with these folks.

There's always the option of a credit card challenge also. I have the impression that AMEX is best for this, but I don't know for sure.

If Orbitz wasn't to blame, why don't you ask the editors to remove this thread? It's not a great idea to trash a reputable company on a travel forum unless you know what you're talking about.

Well, if Orbtiz had been able to do the job without thier customer having to find someone high in management, then maybe they wouldn't be "to blame", but.... They are getting trashed because their customer service did nothing to help the OP. Why use a TA unless you are going to get customer service?

Plus this is very helpful for anyone who might run into trouble in the future!

Everything is finally resolved on this issue. They got all of their money back. After they contacted Mr. Sedlak , he put one of his assistants in charge. Delta admitted it was Delta's mistake. Initially Delta said it would be a few weeks before they got their money back but it was about three months. Mr. Sedlak's assistant was very helpful and called Delta more than once to find out what the problem was- they said they were behind because of the volcanic ash problem. Then about a month ago they got ONE ticket refunded. Mr. Sedlak's assistant followed up again and the second ticket was refunded. So the service from Orbitz was good- the problem is finding Orbitz's customer service. If it hadn't been for this board I don't know if we would have ever found Mr. Sedlak. That is a real problem for customers who have a problem with Orbitz.

Patrick - glad it is all resolved. I was so thankful to this board as well for directing me to Mr. Sedlak - I doubt we would have had success either without direct contact.