Orbitz Suckz!!

“I may have mentioned in my trip report that the hotel I booked in Paris through Orbitz was a total dive. Nasty, stinky, scary 'hood, etc. Well, I tried to get my money back (about 150 bucks) from Orbitz, since they advertise it as a 3-star hotel, and use its self description, which includes words like "charming." Orbitz refused. But at least they said they'd forward my complaint so the hotel could modify its description. So I'm sure you can expect to see: "The Garden Opera Hotel: A 0-star hotel in one of the scariest, dirtiest neighborhoods in Paris. If that isn't enough, we have nasty, stinky, filthy rooms, too!"

Basically, if you use Orbitz and get ripped off, they won't help you out. So I won't be using them any more. What a ripoff!”

“thanks for telling me. i was going to use orbitz for a trip in december. i'll be using expedia now. they were both the same price anyway.”

“Excellent! I emailed them back and told them I would report my experience in "several on-line travel forums," and that would cost them a lot more than the 150 bucks of my hotel charge. From now on, whichever one I use, I will likely ask (when I book) what my options are if I get there and find out it's a dive.”

“Man, that is a real stinker. They say to not go overboard on the hotel because that's where you'll spend the least amount of time but still. It's nice to know your room won't stink.”

“The place we ended up was great. Spotless, great neighborhood, great staff, reasonably priced, no parasites in the bedding,....”

“I booked a nice hotel (so I thought) through hotels.com a few years back. I was really ticked off when I got there and it was a dump...needless to say, I left and went somewhere else.

Blah @ Orbitz and their "deals" !
LOL”

“Thanks for the tip.”

“Because the star system in France is regulated (don't know by whom. Some government thing I think.) So apparently they are incorrectly rated. I've stayed in really nice 2 stars in France. You know, clean, friendly, bedding and decor is older, but clean, etc. Your place definitely sounds like a 0 star!

Sorry for your bummed out experience.

I use hotwire.com a lot for hotels. I've gotten great deals and their descriptions and ratings have been dead on. And it's one of those where you don't know the name or exact location of the hotel until you pay. I've stayed at hotels with them twice in Vacouver B.C. and once in Chicago. Very very pleased.”

“Sorry to hear about your lack of confidence in Orbitz.

Thinkbubelz & I have used it quite often for airfares-- no problems there....haven't tried hotels, so I can't comment...

Orbitz is the one that pointed out the $340 RT airfare in August from Chicago to Anchorage (non-stop!) on Alaska Airlines. We decided to book directly through Alaska Air so that we wouldn't have to worry about other hassles... (plus that way we could get the proper frequent flier miles...)”

“I've often wondered about hotwire - I'll have to try them one of these days....

In a way, being forced to quickly find another hotel worked out great. We never would have gotten to stay in the great neighborhood we did.”

“Thanks for the tip BowlderMan. Word gets around so fast with the "net"....they should've just given you back your moola...or gave you some discount coupons.”

“Hee hee - looks like I really stirred things up over at Orbitz....”

“Bowlder... I'm sorry to hear that you're unhappy with Orbitz. I refuse to book with any website other than Orbitz because I have quite a bit of experience in the travel industry and understand how the company works. I originally became hooked on Orbitz because they sell live airline inventory rather than bulk tickets. I then continued to book all travel via Orbitz and have yet to hit any snags which are not resolved promptly either by Orbitz or with the hotel or car company directly. When you book on Orbitz, you are acting as your own travel agent and assume all responsibility for researching the trip. Orbitz does not control the content on their site, although they do sometimes ban a company from listing with them if enough complaints come in. It sounds to me like you are entitled to compensation, but it must come from the hotel and not from the system you used to book the room. Complaining to Orbitz makes as much sense as complaining to Microsoft because you booked the hotel on a Windows based machine. Orbitz didn't advertise the hotel any more than Internet Explorer did. The first step I ever take when complaining about accommodations is going to the hotel manager. If that's no good, check to see if the hotel has a central office. They typically are willing to step in and take some action if the hotel manager doesn't help. If the hotel is unwilling to help, either their customer service is lacking or they don't understand that the info on Orbitz was entered by their management directly.”

“BowlderMan, contact some place that resolves complaints IF, that is, the hotel doesn't pan out. Seems to me that maybe National Geographic Travel or maybe Budget Travel -- I dunno, but some magazine had some placed you could write in about problems like this. I'm sure they can't handle all of them, but you might be a lucky one. And I saw this maybe a couple years ago?? Worth checking.

Also, I don't know that it's quite true Orbit should be off the hook. I suppose it depends on the fine print.

BowlderMan, I'm a firm believer in the power of the press to right wrongs. Another option is contacting your local daily newspaper's travel editor. Maybe he/she has been compiling such complaints to do an article......”

“RedEye, that is complete bull#&%!$, and that's the first time I've ever typed profanity onto TT. As I wrote in my final email to Orbitz, it must be nice to not have to be accountable or responsible for anything. They will certainly gladly take credit for things that work out well, but as soon as something went wrong, "It wasn't MY fault!" Your Windows analogy is completely bogus. Also, your idea that I'm acting as my own travel agent would be true if I were using Orbitz to find the hotel's phone number, then calling them up myself, but that's not how it works, is it? You give Orbitz your info, then they contact the hotel (or airline or car rental company) and complete the transaction. What, do you work for Orbitz? Give me a #&%!$ing break!”

“GhoulderMan, I would expect Orbitz to do anything and everything possible to get your money back and review any past complaints about the hotel to determine if it's an isolated incident or if more serious action needs to be taken. If they failed to provide any help at all, then I understand where you're coming from. The trick isn't to demand money back from Orbitz, it's to demand it from the hotel and ask for help from your booking source. That stands true for any travel website. In the case of a prepaid reservation, Orbitz paid the hotel and I highly doubt that they would then refund you unless they collect it back from the property. No one from Orbitz was at the hotel, most likely. They can't testify as to the condition of the room or hotel in general. From what I understand, that's also the reasoning behind allowing the hotel to list their own description. I don't work for Orbitz but I have had plenty of experience with online travel from the inside and out. It doesn't seem to me like any of the travel websites are out to screw their customers over. They simply can't afford to start refunding without knowing that either it's their fault or that the company responsible will reimburse them. Good luck. I hope you get the refund and compensation for the headache, but I also hope it comes from the right place.”

“I use Orbitz for travel and Hotwire for hotels..I have scored big the 3 times I've used Hotwire..got a $300 room in San Fran for $65..whenever I book trips I buy trip insurance..saved my ass when I backed into one of those big, granite rocks in Yosemite..it cost me nothing and the trip insurance was only $65..”