The Bad Web Design cardio workout.

[rivka]

My mother e-mailed to ask precisely when we'll be arriving in Colorado for the family vacation next month. I didn't know offhand, so I pulled up Travelocity to check the reservation I made last May.

There it was, under "saved itineraries" - BWI to DEN. I clicked "select this itinerary" and my eyes immediately jumped to this terrifying sentence: "price not guaranteed until tickets are purchased."

Price not guaranteed? For the vacation I'm taking in less than three weeks? The one I thought I'd bought tickets for months ago? My heart leapt into my throat.

I clicked on a button that offered to update the pricing for me... to well over a thousand dollars. My rental car reservation was nowhere to be found, and I'd made that at a special discount rate as well. Now my heart was pounding.

I clicked back over to the "My Stuff" section of Travelocity in the dumb hope that it would say something about "what to do if you have somehow completely screwed up your travel plans." And there was another section I'd missed before: "Purchased trip/reservation." Listing my purchased trip to Denver, CO.

It turns out that when you book a trip, they add it to the "reservations" section without removing it from "saved itineraries." They simultaneously keep a record of the trip as hypothetical and unpaid-for, and as booked and paid-for. Because sending customers' heart rates through the roof is so good for cardiovascular health.

Comments

[geekymary.livejournal.com]

That is so wrong. I thought Travelocity would have had better User Experience people.

[pameladean]

Orbitz is not perfect, but they sure don't do THAT.

Also, they list their processing fees as part of the quoted airfare. This makes them look six dollars more expensive than the other sites, but in the end there's not any difference. I like this small bow towards honesty.

They did once completely confuse me by sending an email saying there had been important changes to my itinerary, and then listing the exact same arrangements I had originally made.

P.

[timill]

Presumably, under "saved itineraries", you could change the dates and book again? Maybe?

[baratron.livejournal.com]

That needs an email to be sent, if you have the energy. Someone less unflappable than you (i.e. almost anyone) could get completely stressed out. In fact, I can imagine someone with an anxiety disorder having a minor breakdown over it, until a calmer friend, relative or therapist noticed the rest of it.

You could even put in your psych credentials to make it more official.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Oh, believe me, I was flappable. I almost paid for the tickets again.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Heh, I realised that you had been upset by your wording. But, nonetheless, you recovered from it by the sounds of things fairly quickly. I know people, some of whom are not particularly unstable normally, who would've had a complete meltdown.

[eeyorerin]

Oy.

*files in "Bad Examples" list for Web Writing class this fall*

[thatwordgrrl.livejournal.com]

Oi!

Sounds similar to the *headdesky* experience I had trying to book tickets for the Fringe Festival shows.

OK, so you add a show to your wishlist. Which can then ONLY go to the calendar. You can't then remove it from the calendar. You can send it back to your wishlist, but you cannot make it go *poof* and vanish from both. Even if you click the Remove from Wishlist/Remove from Calendar button.

I finally gave up and requested a paper catalogue, which took 10 days arriving from Scotland.

[beaq.livejournal.com]

Meeeeps!

I hope the rest of your horrible experiences this year have a similar outcome. Or, er, something. With less adrenaline.

[lcohen]

good gravy!

well it's good to know this.