Travel Agents, Lastminutetravel.com trouble using site and service

Complaints.com received the following e-message on January 31, 2001:

From: A. Torkzadeh [Email User]

RE: complaint: travel site, packages - Lastminutetravel.com - MLT Vacations

Here's how poorly designed travel sites, cheap tricks and deceptive

practices can frustrate, waste time and send you scurrying back to your

good old brick&mortar travel agent: I found a Vegas vacation I wanted on LASTMINUTETRAVEL.COM:

It sounded great so I clicked for more detail. I was forwarded to

WORRYFREETRAVEL.COM operated by MLT VACATIONS. But all i

got was a general gateway to a complicated, poorly-designed site with

absolutely no mention of the SPECIFIC vacation

package I had selected on the lastminutetravel site. I called the toll-free number offered in the LASTMINUTETRAVEL.COM page.

An MLT employee who answered had no

clue about the package I was talking about. She also told me the

reference number stated on the website didn't mean anything to

her. "I've never even heard of this website," she said in a quarelsome

tone, as if I woke her up from a peaceful afternoon nap. She reluctantly went on the internet and after some fumbling around and

explanations by me, as well as frequent "I don't see any of what you're

talking about" protests from her, she finally found the package I was

after.

But although she saw the same numbers I saw, she wouldn't give me the

price advertised. She punched in the dates into her database and gave me

a higher price. The price was still relatively low so I spent the next 45 minutes with

this woman trying to get a package

similar to the one I saw, at about a 50% higher price. But as I was

getting ready to book, I got a shocker: Turns out the

3-night package was actually a 2-night package because the return flight

left at 12:05 am on the third night! (I was really lucky to notice that.

She made no effort to point this out to me.) Talk about being sneaky. "It is a 3-night package because the plane leaves at 5 minutes after

midnight," the MLT woman snapped at me when I

expressed shock. I spoke with my Dad, who was the one going on the trip, and decided to

book the package anyway, since we had invested so

much time with this disasterous venture into realm of cybertravel. But as she put the iteniary back into her computer, the price surged up

another $20. I couldn't believe my ears. "I never gave

you a lower price," she barked at me. By now I had learned not to

express any surprise or dismay with this woman. In her

mind, she was doing me a favor by merely speaking to me. My Dad had enough jerking around by now. I politely said my goodbyes and

hungup. All together I spent well over an hour

with a couple schmucks of the travel industry (lasminutetravel.com and

MLT), two companies I hope I never have to deal with again. I am angry, but even more, I am amazed how these people can survive with

such poor service, flawed technology design and

clearly deceptive vacation offers (2 nights package sold as 3-night

deals). Shame on you lastminutetravel.com and MLT. But rest assured, what goes

around, comes around. The market is always

smarter than your cheap tricks. Chris Torkzadeh

Atlanta, GA