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Orbitz: Customers
built 634 days ago
Even with Orbitz's notoriously inept customer service - behind that facade of campy commercials and flash games, there's...more facade - this is a new one. Reader Missdona booked a room at the Bellagio hotel last week. Yesterday, the price dropped $20. She tried to lock in the lower rate but was unable to online and the phone people consistently put her on long hold only to disconnect her or refused to help. She decides to cancel and book with the hotel direct. A phone rep tells her that cancelling will cost $25.
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Orbitz.com officially opened for business in June 2001. It claimed to have more web-only bargain fares than any other site. Orbitz ... boasted the ability to inform customers of flight cancellations and changes through their pagers and mobile phones. The site also made it easy to search nearby airports for better fares. Orbitz.com sold $3.3 million on its first full day; it signed up 5,000 new customers in a single Sunday.
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¿ Customer service: Many Orbitz customers have had to wait 15 minutes or longer for phone help. A few users have booked tickets at Orbitz that couldn't be issued. The problem: Some smaller carriers don't update their databases in real time, meaning bookings can be made on flights that have already sold out. On the few occasions this has happened, Orbitz has honored the original price quotes.
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"As a responsible global business within the tourism industry, Orbitz is working to provide its customers with more eco-friendly travel information and choices," said Heather Leisman, senior director of merchandising for Orbitz. "Orbitz encourages our customers increase their awareness and consideration of the planet -- whether sea kayaking in Alaska or cleaning up a beach in Key West."
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If you find a lower price elsewhere after you have purchased at Orbitz, you will receive a refund equating to the difference. You can ... call the Customer Service Center anytime, 24/7.
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Zoghlin and his co-workers asked themselves how Orbitz could differentiate itself. The answer was with technology. The group figured that the average online travel customer in 2000 visited more than three Web sites before buying a ticket. No one site displayed all available flights, and consumers wondered whether there might be a different, better deal elsewhere. "I lovingly call this 'commerce interruptus,'" says Zoghlin. "You search, but you pull out at the last second."
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