Travelocity.com - received error message when attempting to make online reservation - card not charged, but a hold was placed on debit card for twice the attempted purchase amount - unable to get this hold removed in a timely manner

# 6 for August 26, 2003

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on August 25, 2003:

From:

RE: Travelocity.com - received error message when attempting to make online reservation - card not charged, but a hold was placed on debit card for twice the attempted purchase amount - unable to get this hold removed in a timely manner

I attempted to reserve a hotel on-line at Travelocity on Friday, August 22nd. The only item that I had with me was my debit card. I received an error message and it assured me that my card was not charged. I tried again, and received the same message. Unfortunately while it didn't charge my card, it placed a hold on the card for the amount of the hotel charge twice. I tried to call their "customer service" line to get some assistance to reverse the hold. I called 4 separate occasions on Friday, August 22nd.

Each time, I was asked for my trip ID number. As the reservation didn't go through, there was no trip ID number. I was informed by each agent that they couldn't help me without the Trip ID number. Their customer service representatives displayed an incredible lack of understanding of their business and were at best incompetent and at worst intentionally lying to me to get me off the phone.

The first guy said it was my bank that wouldn't release the hold -- they had tried by my bank refused. I called my bank and they indicated Travelocity or their Merchant Card Service Needed to send them a refund application and it would be taken care of instantly. The next guy found an old reservation and passed me along to the hotel indicating that the reservation was actually made. The reservation was July of the previous year. The next lady, with someone who I was able to coax past the company "without a trip id number we can't do anything" line.

The final person after being on hold and waiting for over an hour, told me that it was again my bank's fault but after I had explained what the bank told me she spoke to her supervisor, Nita Hernandez. Ms. Herndanez put through a request to accounting to reverse or release the hold but she could not let me know when it happened because it was out of her hands.

She was a completely unsympathetic woman who told me that it was too late in the day to do anything about it. I had tried to resolve this 3 hours earlier. The following Monday, I began calling early. It took nearly an hour before I was able to speak to someone in customer service. Cynthia