ORBITZ ALERT
 

I have some friends who were travelling in Mexico over New Years. They made a hotel reservation through Orbitz, had their confirmation number with them but when they arrived at the hotel were told they had no reservation and they didnt even have a contract with Orbitz. All the hotels in town were filled because it was New Years Eve but after a bit of scrambling they contacted an old friend who lived there and were offered accomadations.
They wrote a letter of complaint to Orbitz on return to US and were given a $25 coupon to use on their next booking through Orbitz and that was it.
Doesnt inspire confidence in Orbitz does it?

That wouldn't be a fun way to start a vacation for sure.

I usually confirm reservations with the hotel directly when I book through priceline, orbitz, expedia, or travelocity. Having a confirmation from the middleman doesn't really mean much to the hotel it seems.

Orbitz (and others) take reservations and fax them to hotels. Yes, FAX. I was shocked to hear this from Expedia - they FAXED my reservation to Vegas, and this is where it got screwed up.

All it took is ONE phone call to Expedia to fix the problem. Always, always double-check reservations!

I agree its wise to confirm reservations directly with hotel - however I do think Orbitz could have compensated them a little better after messing up their vacation-
They were fortunate they knew someone in the village or U dont know where they would have ended up sleeping

Several years ago, I called the 800 number for a hotel in New Orleans to make a 5-night reservation for a business meeting. My dates were confirmed by the woman I talked to. (I think it was a Marriott, but I'm not sure anymore.) So I arrived at the hotel and was told that I had reservations for only 3 nights. I said that the 800 number had assured me that I was OK for 5 nights. The hotel manager said that I couldn't depend on the 800 number because it was handled by an independent conractor unaffiliated with the chain. All other NO hotels were full; I told the manager that I wasn't going to leave my room. It got ugly -- he threatened to have the police evict me. As it turned o ut, tthere was a cancellation and I was "allowed" to stay. Now it's sorta funny -- I can't imagine being evicted, and taken away by the police!!!! Oh, well, maybe they'd have let me stay in a jail cell for the night.

Marigold, as a p/t clerk I can tell you that sometimes police DO get called for an eviction. If the guest leaves without incident then there's no charges and no police record either, other than he stopped at hotel X to prevent a disturbance. If the room gets trashed or guest refuses to comply then things can heat up. Some states prohibit evictions, but one must remember who owns the hotel ... NOT the guests.

Yes, always check with the hotel on reservations made by third parties, and double check if you are pre-paid with the third party, because if we don't have payment then YOU will be paying.

Also check directly with hotel because often we will do our best to honor requests like non-smoking or 2 queens vs 1 king, etc. that the booking agent won't. We do our best to accomodate.

I do agree that more compensation would be in order, but that's your friend's responsibility to negotiate with Orbitz to get something more satisfactory. Just because that's what they offered doesn't mean that's all they'll give.

My experience with orbitz involved flight arrangements during spring break... when my airlines cancelled a flight to Florida, the orbitz employee placed us on an alternative flight... the problem was that the alternate flight was a month later.... a full two weeks AFTER our return... we now had a trip home before our trip there!

When I called orbitz, the clerk blamed the airlines for the error and a four hour dispute call resulted in a conference call with Orbitz and the Airlines.... once challenged by the Airlines, Orbitz backed down and admitted their error and subsequent LYING about it.... Thanks to the Airline(United) and with no help from Orbitz, we were able to get alternate flights.....

After letters and negotiation we were able to get a $75 voucher for each ticket ($300) for our next trip... my fingers are crossed... the trip is scheduled for April....

jlm mi- my friends just decided to cut their losses and NEVER book through Orbitz again. They are pretty seasoned travellers and understand that mistakes happen - they were more upset at Orbitz attitude when confronted with the mistake and no effort to make things right.

I'm anal and obsessive about nothing going wrong with our trips. As a result I check and doublecheck my reservations regardless of where I did the booking. Even if I book directly with the hotel I call them before our trip to confirm rate and dates.

I would second always checking with the hotel directly. I once made a reservation via 1-800 # for the Comfort Suites on Paradise Island and then found a cheaper internet rate. I cancelled the first reservations and then made them on the internet. But when we arrived (after getting up at 3 am for a 6 am flight and taking 3 planes to get there with our 3 kids) I was told my reservation had been cancelled and they "have no rooms."

I wanted to cry and my confirmation numbers meant nothing. They found us a room, thankfully, but I learned - check directly with the hotel, maybe a couple times. And bring copies of your emails!

While you certainly have every right to be angry--I certainly would be--I just hope that you and everyone else who has had difficulties like these has the charges reversed with the credit card companies. I know AMEX is very good about this and I would expect the other companies to be as well.

Thats a good point Artlover- I dont know if they thought about having the charges reversed - will tell them

Does Orbitz have a phone number to call for help? Just curious - Expedia provided me with a phone number to use in Mexico if I encountered any difficulties.

Did your friends bring all of their paperwork from Orbitz with them or did they just write down the confirmation number?

Something sound about their version of events sounds off to me.

Sorry that last sentence should have been - Something about their version of events sounds off to me.

BTW - I checked the Orbitz website and they offer a 24 hour number to call from outside the United States.

I'm not saying this stuff doesn't happen, but I think being assertive right away and getting on the phone makes a difference.