Some “legitimate online travel agencies (OTAs)”, besides running their legitimate business, are running a scam.

I’ll explain the scam using as example: TRAVEL.SCAM (a ficticious OTA). For a real case read this: 

http://www.victimsofexpedia.com/mycase.htm

How does it work? The mechanism of the scam is complex, involving poor customer support, lies, ignoring customers complaints, use of “web based” e-mail system, use of “automated message”, “fine prints” and “term and conditions” and “separate terms and conditions”.
 

At a first glance there is nothing illegal but the way they use all that is to scam customers.
 

1)TRAVEL.SCAM will charge your credit card for whatever you book (hotel, flights, vacation package, trip insurance), then you are on your own. Is something happens, (canceled flights, loss of your ticket -even if they are responsible for the loss-) they don’t take responsibility. So, far this is legal. Where is the scam? In some cases, TRAVEL.SCAM will fail to provide the service you paid for but they will do anything to keep the money they charged in your credit card. They use a lot of tricks to do that:
 

2) Poor customer support: This is very typical. There are plenty of examples of customers that try to contact the customer support team but are put on hold for hours before talking to a real person. Once you are able to talk to someone, you have to give him/her a number (itinerary or booking number) and explain you case. They will tell you that they are going to solve your problem and they are going to contact you. Most of the time they never call you (lies) you will have to call again. Again you will have to spend time giving your number (itinerary or booking number) and explain you case.
 

3) Some OTA uses a “web based” e-mail system. This sounds great, once you are logged in your account you just need to “click” a button and a new window appears showing a box where you can write to TRAVEL.SCAM. It looks very friendly, you don’t need to type the e-mail address of the company, just write and submit your message. Where is the trick? You will not have a copy of the message you sent to them. Most of the time they will not answer you message (ignore customer) or will send you an “automated message” like this: ” Dear TRAVEL.SCAM customer We have forwarded your request to the appropriate department and you will receive a response from that department within 72 hours. If you have further questions, feel free to reply to this e-mail or contact TRAVEL.scam customer services at 1-800- WHO CARE -and reference case ID . You can also visit the TRAVEL.SCAM “Customer Support” page for more customer service information. Thank you for choosing TRAVEL.SCAM Sydney TRAVEL.SCAM Cuustomer Support Team Of course, most of the time nobody will take care of your case and you will have to call again and send new e-mails. Where is the trick? If you use a “web based” e-mail system to send a message to TRAVEL.SCAM they will later deny that. You will not have any proof that you were trying to contact them. Never use “web based” e-mail system.
 

4) Fine prints. This is typical, completely legal but abusive.
 

5) Terms and conditions. Again completely legal but abusive. Where is the trick? One of the most tricky point is something like this (called “governing law”) : “This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Alaska , USA (for TRAVEL.SCAM). You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of courts in Spring County, Alaska , USA, in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of this Web site”. This means that if you want to dispute your case against TRAVEL.SCAM in a court room you have to do it in Alaska. If you live in NY it will be pretty expensive to do that. In most of the cases, you will decline and travel.SCAM will your money (in a tricky or fraudulent way).

All these tricks give online travel agencies the freedom to lie and scam people. They have the freedom to deny a service you paid for, they have the freedom to give you a room completely different from what you booked. They have the freedom to lose your ticket or not to arrange your trip. They will simply blame the hotel, the airline or someone else. They have to freedom to charge your credit card with fees. Believe me, they are using them. Even if you have proof that TRAVEL.SCAM failed to provide the service they will deny and try to keep your money unless you sue them in Alaska If you bought a “trip insurance” and you want to cancel your trip they will tell you that your insurance does not cover that. Even if they told you before by phone that it will. But you didn’t read the “fine prints” (more lies and “fine prints”. Even if you are right they will tell you the opposite. In this example, the TRAVEL.SCAM makes money by selling “trip insurances” that are useless because they will refuse to honor (even if you are right). Again, if you want to dispute in a court room be prepared to travel to Alaska (abusive “terms and conditions”). By using all these tricks they can charge “fees” for whatever they want, then is going to be difficult for you to recover the money they charged in your credit card. You will have to provide proof to your credit card company that it was TRAVEL.SCAM ’s fault and not yours to be reimbursed. In summary, TRAVEL.SCAM makes money in a legitimate way (as expected if you are lucky) and in a fraudulent way (by not providing the service you paid for) and by using all the tricks mentioned above to keep your money.

I’m not alone. Most of these people feel they were cheated by EXPEDIA in one way or another:

http://www.expedianews.com

 Be careful, you (or your friends and/or relatives) might be the next victim and/or lose thousand of dollars due to their unethical business practice.

Expedia was accused in the 2005 lawsuit filed on behalf of customers of paying taxes based on wholesale prices while calculating fees using higher retail prices and pocketing the difference, according to a statement from Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, the Seattle-based law firm that represented the consumers.

Read the original article: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/06/02/expedia_to_appeal_1845m_fee_ruling/

Thanks to EXPEDIA. ….they used to tried to scam me

Here are some letter you can use as models if you want to lie to a customer that is complaining about something that your company was never delivered to him/her or about poor customer support or if she/he is asking for some information. They are real letters EXPEDIA sent to me. They are pretty neat, well written and your the customer will believe that you are a honest company with a great customer support team. Of course they only work for a while but it will give you time to steal money or attempt to steal money for several months. You can replace anything highlighted in yellow for you convenience. Sentences highlighted in pink makes the letters really believable.

November 8, 2005

Re: case number 21826350

Dear Mr.XXXXX,

Your case has been forwarded to me for further research I understand that there were some issues with regards to the delivery of your paper tickets. I am researching all the documentation and the fax that was sent to my department. I will contact you directly after completing my investigation. If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to reply to this e-mail.

Sincerely,zzzzzzzzzz

Sr. Research Specialist

Customer Advisory Department

Expedia, Inc.————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-Comment: after this letter you can ignore the customer for several weeks then you can write others like this:Comment: after this letter you can ignore the customer for several weeks then you can write others like this:Date: Apr 19, 2006 5:59 PM

Use small variation of this letters:Date: Apr 19, 2006 6:21 PM

Use small variation of this letters:Dear Expedia Customer,

Thank you for contacting us about your flight tickets.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

We have checked on the documentations of your record and verified that your concern has been escalated to the appropriate department for review.

You will be updated with the details either via email or through a phone call. Expedia Customer Support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-800-EXPEDIA (1-800-397-3342) or 1-404-728-8787. Kindly have your itinerary number 114034295485 and Case ID 21826350 ready when you call us.

If you have further questions regarding this issue, feel free to reply to this e-mail or contact Expedia customer services at 1-800-397-3342 and reference Case ID 25403497. You can also visit the Expedia.com “Customer Support” page (http://www.expedia.com/daily/service/default.asp) for more Customer Service information.Thank you for choosing Expedia.com.Cindy

Expedia.com Customer Support Team————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-Date: Apr 20, 2006 5:11 AM

Of course, after all this letters your company can simply ignore the customer and keep all the money you can take from him/her and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER reimburse a penny as compensation.Did you hear something similar from other travel sites (ORBITZ, Priceline, travelocity) ? I’m sure EXPEDIA is unique.

Of course, after all this letters your company can simply ignore the customer and keep all the money you can take from him/her and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER reimburse a penny as compensation.Did you hear something similar from other travel sites (ORBITZ, Priceline, travelocity) ? I’m sure EXPEDIA is unique.

Of course, after all this letters your company can simply ignore the customer and keep all the money you can take from him/her and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER reimburse a penny as compensation.Did you hear something similar from other travel sites (ORBITZ, Priceline, travelocity) ? I’m sure EXPEDIA is unique.

Of course, after all this letters your company can simply ignore the customer and keep all the money you can take from him/her and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER reimburse a penny as compensation.Did you hear something similar from other travel sites (ORBITZ, Priceline, travelocity) ? I’m sure EXPEDIA is unique.