This past weekend I blogged about a $200 off coupon at Travelocity for air and hotel vacation packages of at least three days. You could book the hotel in a separate city from the air travel meaning that there were amazing deals to be had. Some folks found hotels in South or Central Asia that were about $10 a night, yielding $170 off airfare using the coupon.
The deal had been around for several weeks and was in its last days when it became publicly known.
The terms and conditions said:
The promotional code (the Promo Code) for $200 is valid between 12:01 a.m. Central Time on July 2, 2012 and 11:59 p.m. Central Time on August 4, 2012 (the Promotion Period) or until it reaches the redemption limit of 3,500 redemptions.
Your use of the Promo Code on the www.travelocity.com Web site (the Site) is subject to the Travelocity User Agreement and Privacy Policy.
The Promo Code is valid only for qualifying purchases made on the Site. A qualifying purchase means a three-night or longer Hotel+Flight Vacation Package which is offered on the Site during the Promotion Period. Travel dates must be between July 2,2012 and December 31, 2012.
Qualifying Hotel+Flight Vacation Package purchase requires a minimum spend of $200 and should be booked immediately following your qualifying air booking.
To redeem the Promo Code, you simply type NFB2012 into the Promotional Code field on the Checkout Review Page of the Site, and $200 will be automatically deducted from the final price of your qualifying Hotel+Flight Vacation Package .
You may only redeem the Promo Code once and only during the Promotion Period.
You may not redeem or exchange the Promo Code for cash. You may not use or combine the Promo Code with any other promotional codes. If lost or stolen, the Promo Code will not be replaced.
Travelocity prohibits posting the Promo Code on the Internet or any public forum, or forwarding the Promo Code to any other person.
In the event of any violation of these Terms & Conditions, Travelocity reserves all of the rights and remedies available to Travelocity including charging your credit card for the amount of the Promo Code not to exceed $200, canceling your reservation without a refund to you, and all other remedies available to Travelocity.
TRAVELOCITY MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO PROMOTIONAL CODES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN THE EVENT A PROMO CODE IS NOT FUNCTIONAL, YOUR SOLE REMEDY, AND THE SOLE LIABILITY OF TRAVELOCITY SHALL BE THE REPLACEMENT OF THE NON-FUNCTIONING PROMO CODE.
Travelocity reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions from time to time in its sole discretion.
The terms said they reserved the right to cancel reservations that were booked outside of these terms and conditions. But as far as I can tell, everyone with a successful booking complied with the terms and conditions.
Commenter Mad Mad Mad shares the text of Travelocity’s cancellation email:
Recently you booked a vacation package at http://www.travelocity.com using the promo code NFB2012. Based on our review of the details of your reservation, we have determined that you were not eligible to use the promo code and, therefore, we have cancelled your reservation.
If you received the promo code when you attended the 2012 National Federation of the Blind National Convention in Dallas, and feel you have received this message in error, please contact us at 1-866-211-1731.
Sincerely,
Travelocity Customer Care Team
Except that nowhere in the terms and conditions does it say that one would have to have received the promo code by attending a Dallas event.
And in fact, that wasn’t Travelocity’s position when the coupon was introduced. They even tweeted publicly about it! Here’s a Google cache of their tweet:
(And while it was clearly intended for members of the National Federation of the Blind, the terms and conditions did not so limit it,and many folks who read about the deal here joined the NFB concomitantly.)
Reports in the comments of my original post suggest that reservations are actually still intact, though Travelocity has indicated their intention to cancel them.
It will be interesting indeed to see how this plays out.
Update: Here’s the link to the original Tweet above from NFB_Voice, which the graphic suggests to me was re-tweeted by Travelocity.
Update 2: It just gets stranger and stranger. Travelocity seems to be sending out cancelling emails indicating that they aren’t providing full refunds, but rather imposing a cancellation fee. That has to be an error on their end. I wouldn’t get too worked up about those emails just yet!
Update 3: Funniest thing of all? It looks like the promotion code is working again! Perhaps after cancelling reservations they are back below the maximum usage cap for the discount. And it was supposed to be valid through August 5, after all…
I also received the cancellation email. I called in and said I’m a member of NFB and that I use a pen name for it (to explain why my name used with travelocity is different). Travelocity says if I can provide a membership # and name for NFB then they will honor the promotion. Anybody got one for me?! Enormous thanks if you can provide this :). My email is duque.jay at gmail. Can’t wait to get this discount and read all your hate mail!
@ duque – Your comments have to be parody or satire. I refuse to believe Gary’s readers are this desperate to save a few bucks by pretending to be blind.
Now that everyone has crossed the bridge,the trolls come out and tell everyone how wrong they were to begin with.
People who have no dog in the fight are very quick to judge everyone but themselves.
A troll is a troll is a troll.
You know who you are.
How does Travelocity know if we attended the conference or not? Travelocity does not have the right to share your transaction data with a third party without your explicit consent. I did not authorize any sharing of my booking information with a third-party (NFB). If Travelocity shared our booking information with a third party (other than the hotel and airline), we may have a bigger issue here. Correct me if I’m wrong.
I think you are wrong Jason. I think it is the other way around. NFB shared a list of attendies with Travelocity.
Someone out will have a issue with that. If our privacy or people attended the conference privacy was violated, more problems will be started.
I didn’t book for myself, but for a family member, and filed a complaint with the US DOT yesterday. http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/escomplaint/es.cfm
If you read their facebook page, and the forums, people are claiming that they were told they will only be refund ed the hotel portion of the trip and that you will get a **credit** for the airline portion.
In the forum links above, someone posted an exchange of emails they sent to travelocity to show people were abusing the code.
Please join group NFB2012: Travelocity Cancelled My Trip: http://www.facebook.com/groups/474672299219401/. Please invite all your friends and family and spread the word!
Travelocity unilaterally canceled confirmed reservation using the NFB2012 code. In the past Expedia.ca honored such deals. The Expedia deal occurred before new DoT regulations which added new consumer protection. I you have a ticket number issued (which almost everyone has) and your credit card was charged. You could file a DoT complaint. Use 399.88 as guidance
(“Therefore, if a consumer purchases a fare and that consumer receives confirmation (such as a confirmation email and/or the purchase appears on their credit card statement or online account summary) of their purchase, then the seller of air transportation cannot increase the price of that air transportation to that consumer, even when the fare is a “mistake.”)
Travelocity recently had a nice 200K fine for not disclosing prices correctly. Please visit this site: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/escomplaint/es.cfm if you want to file a complaint.
DISCLOSURE: I’ve been involved in various past deals,4 Mile HKG F tickets, RGN/Burma and Expedia. I don’t plan to file a DoT complaint on this one, but wanted to share the steps that people COULD take if they want to do. Again, the rules favor consumers nicely on this one, its just up to people if they want to use the rules. I’m staying on the sidelines on this one. But wanted to share the procedures/steps.
Here is what I sent to Travelocity’s CEO and 2 other executives and published on its Facebook page:
Dear Mr. Sparks:
You, no doubt by now are familiar with your company’s action on Friday canceling thousands of reservations for possible abuse of a $200 discount code for vacation packages. The code was provided to The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) attendees during a Dallas conference in July.
It is commendable that Travelocity offered such a discount. However, what is amazing to me is that for a maximum loss of $700,000 (3,500 reservations x $200) Travelocity, a multimillion dollar corporation, would make a decision to cancel almost all the reservations using the code (including some NFB members) because a decision maker thought some folks may be abusing it. To further add “gas to the fire” they decided to penalize customers by not crediting back all their reservation costs (this was later said to be a mistake). These actions have not only alienated thousands of customers (some long-term customers) but it may eventually cost the company millions in staff time to deal with all the complaints (customers, BBB, DOT, credit card companies, hotels, airlines, etc). Whoever made the decision did not consider that (1) the code was disseminated in early July to NFB friends on Twitter without stating that use of the code was restricted to Dallas conference attendees (a restriction that was not in the Terms and Conditions (T & C) for use of the code or incorporated into the IT programing to restrict its use). The result was that at least 20 web sites/forums published the code weeks before it was maxed out; and (2) that the T & C’s did not set a minimum reservation dollar amount. As a result some folks may have gotten a “good deal” and Travelocity may have lost money on some reservations (but I am sure they made money on others (e.g. those made for more than 1 person)). As a long- term customer affected by these actions (and NFB member) I suggest that you/your company (1) apologize to all affected customers, (2) put controls in place (IT and otherwise) to reduce the recurrence of these type situations, (3) “deal” with the decision maker, and (4)restore all reservations and adjust credit card charges accordingly.
Thank you for your understanding and consideration.
I will no longer be a customer for travelocity! I will also pass along to my friends.
Has anyone gotten the credit/refund back? I have been checking my credit card and nothing yet. Wondering when should we expect this credit.
I haven’t gotten a refund back either. I hope we get it soon.
Just got this from Travelocity. Glad to see they care so much about my experience after cancelling my trip:
As we strive to provide the best possible customer service, we’d love to get your feedback on your recent experience with our Customer Care Center.
Please take a moment to complete this short survey to let us know how everything went! To take the survey, click here .
Don’t worry – your survey responses will only be used as research to improve our Customer Care Center. We promise not to use this information to market to you directly.
We truly appreciate your assistance in helping us improve.
Please join and promote the Facebook page dedicated to this fiasco. Surprisingly, Travelocity is allowing links to this page to be placed on its own Facebook page, which makes me think it wants to keep track of how many people will join. This would allow them to gauge the PR impact as they evaluate how this will resolve this issue. http://www.facebook.com/sneakygnome
I called a moment ago, and after many minutes on hold or talking to some overseas CS rep, I was told that I would be getting a full refund.
He said that the far was “accidentally published online” (Funny how a tweet directly from travelocity could be an accident) and that the terms stated it was only for conference attendees (although, somehow that was conveniently left out of the T&Cs).
He said that the refund should come in 7-10 business days. I have a friend who also got in on the “deal” and was hoping to not have to call directly to get the refund (because who doesn’t want to sit on the phone with an Indian customer support rep for 20 minutes in the middle of your day), and we’re hoping that everyone will just get an automatic refund
New email:
Important Follow-Up Information Regarding Your Recent Package Booking:
We wanted to set the record straight about the NFB2012 promo code. On July 4, 2012 Steve Dumaine, our senior vice president of global strategy and product innovation, addressed the attendees of the National Federation of the Blind’s National Convention. As a token of our goodwill, Mr. Dumaine offered those attending the conference a promo code. While he made it clear in his speech that only those NFB members attending the conference were eligible to use the promo code, it was shared beyond the NFB conference attendees by others without mentioning this important restriction and many ineligible people used the code. Those reservations have been cancelled.
Unfortunately, there has been some confusion among those of you whose bookings were cancelled regarding refunds and cancellation fees. We apologize for this. To be clear, if your booking has been cancelled, you will be fully refunded and not charged any cancel fees. If you attended the NFB conference and your reservation was cancelled, please call us at 1-866-211-1731 and we will confirm your attendance with our colleagues at the NFB and, if necessary, reschedule your booking.
Sincerely,
Travelocity Customer Care Team
Holy crap are they full of ….. What a joke. He made it clear in his speech? Oh, that’s ok then. No need to put it in the actual terms. And when Travelocit y themselves tweeted it to the public, well that was just a little joke I guess.What total bs from these guys.
Travelocity staff have admitted that people’s trips aren’t being canceled because of the original terms being violated but rather they acknowledged that Travelocity added a new term after the fact. That’s it.As to the real reason all this has happened, I can guess. I’ve worked in companies like this before and imho this promo was done outside of normal channels likely as some higher ups pet project. It didn’t go through the usual vetting or building process (a lot of staff seemed to have never even heard of it until just recently) so a lot of defects were built in and was either underfunded or the total users cap was not done right or both. Once the number of users took off the exposure became too great and they took drastic action. They likely thought they could get away with it without too much negative pr because the company can position their actions well, like they were just trying to help the blind and the evil internet hordes abused them. Normally once a promo like this is released they would not give a crap about who used it and would actually want it disseminated as widely as possible for pr reasons or at the most extreme just end it. Hence my guess about it’s origins.
They are trying to get people to not dispute the charges on their credit cards, hence avoid the fee’s and negative rating that goes along with a chargeback.
A little late to the game…..
Can I say something here?
When we booked the tickets on their website with the promo code and received the reservation, that is a contract. They are not allowed to back out of the contract because they changed their mind, or that they meant to add terms that they didn’t have before. So, technically, they are breaching the contract. If we buy tickets to replace the cancelled one’s, we are within our rights to sue them for the price we paid for the replacements to make us whole. However, Travelocity and big companies like this know it’s likely that very few will sue, so they make a business decision to breach, and see who comes after them. All the other garbage they are saying now is just damage control.
@Ren, you hit the nail on the head. Even as a lawyer, it’s just not worth it to me to sue Travelocity in small claims court for $100 – $200.
“…it was shared beyond the NFB conference attendees by others without mentioning this important restriction and many ineligible people used the code. Those reservations have been cancelled.”
In the snippet above lies the problem. Could have been handled much differently and much more professionally.
Email blast could have made clear to PAY the $200 in 24 hours (or 48 hours) OR THEN reservation will be cancelled. Customers could have also had the option to call for refund in 24/48. They handled this calamity in a most stupid fashion, IMHO. Maybe they need a new executive vice president or something, in order to make these real tough decisions that affect future sales. He should have a bunch of college degrees and have attended business school in order to handle this kind of real hard stuff. A change of leadership should be forthcoming! hERE hERE!!
Just talked to a representative. The told me that the hotel portion would be refunded within the next 7 business days. However, the flight redound would take 2 billing cycles which is completely unacceptable. So I was wondering what’s the process of reverting my credit card payment?
Not a lawyer, but my advice would be to call your credit card company, explain exactly what happened, and how they cancelled your ticket without your willingness to do so. Maybe it will qualify as a dispute – maybe not. Take this advice with a grain of salt cause like I say – I’m not a lawyer.
If the charge is put in dispute it would generally take 1 – 2 months for the credit card company to come up with a determination, at which time the travel agent say it would be refunded anyway….
??
??
On hold with them AGAIN to demand a refund, they can charge the credit cards immediately so they can refund it immediately.
Please let us know how it goes and in the meantime keep up the pressure by promoting http://www.facebook.com/sneakygnome
I got the initial e-mail from Proactive Care, but my trips are all still there and not csncelled. Travel is in 10 days. Anyone else in this situation and still have tickets that haven’t been cancelled?
El Al yesterday honored their mistake fare.. 300 to 400 bucks RT to TLV from BOS/ORD/JFK… They issued ticket numbers so that’s why they probably decided to avoid troubles (DoT complaints)… I’ve been on the fence as to whether to file a DoT complaint… but it should be done if you had a real package (same city for hotel and airfare)
Told me I can expect a refund for the airfare within 30 to 60 days. Told them I am not waiting for them to receive their refund from the airline that they can refund me now. The supervisor I spoke to told me her hands are tied, I will have to get a call back from her boss…..which will come in the next 24 hours. They have 12 hours left….doubt I will get that return call! Will fight till I get my credit.
I received a portion of my refund, but was told that I can’t receive the airfare portion until the airline refunds travelocity. Am I the only one who thinks that travelocity, not the airlines, should be taking the fall for this? I have a feeling that Air Canada will feel the same way and refuse to compensate, and therefore i will not be refunded my money. Trying to get any answer out of this company is impossible, and I’ve read numerous articles about Travelocity’s inability to refund customers. Great. HATE Travelocity. On a related note, is anyone here a lawyer, or do they know a good class action lawyer?
I keep checking this thread for new posts…is this it? My trips are still active for next week. Have tehy stopped cancelling?
@Ren,
Make sure you check your flights, mine was canceled(found out try to change seats). so i called back and got my fights back with no new charges.
Anyone tried to call Airline to reinstate flight ?
It was only a matter of time before it hit the press. Hope this spreads… http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/short_sighted_web_site_nSXz20nYDiJAM601CNDGzN
My friend and I each booked separately. Both received cancellation emails from travelocity and no booking is showing on our account pages. However, one itin is showing up when I look up trip when not signed in through confirmation number on travelocity site and that flight is also showing up on delta’s page. The other itin is cancelled. BUT.. i called delta and they reinstated the ‘cancelled’ flight.
Does anyone know if they’re still cancelling? Should I call travelocity to make sure they cancel the second itin for good and call delta to reinstate?
Another press report with an “official” response from Travelocity exec. http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/consuming-interests-blog/bs-tr-travelocity-nfb-20120809,0,989834.story
Man the Travelocity spokespeople in that Baltimore Sun article are really full of it. Great that they tried to help the NFB but they messed up this whole thing from start to finish. All this pr spin from them is sickening.
The reply from USDOT:
“U.S. Department of Transportation
Office of General Counsel
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20590
Office of the Secretary of Transportation
August 9, 2012
Dear boxo:
This email concerns the complaint you submitted to our office against Travelocity regarding the cancellation of your travel arrangements. We are currently investigating this matter. When we are finished with our investigation, we will pursue enforcement action if we decide it is warranted.
I have entered your complaint in our computerized industry monitoring system, and it will be charged to the company in our monthly Air Travel Consumer Report. This report is widely distributed and made available to the news media and the general public so that both consumers and air travel companies can compare the complaint records of individual airlines and tour operators. This system also serves as a basis for rulemaking, legislation and research. These complaints are also routinely reviewed to track trends or spot areas of concern which we feel may warrant further action in the future.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact us.
Sincerely,
xxxx x. xxxxx
Aviation Consumer Protection Division
Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings”
==============================================
If you haven’t already, please file a complaint here: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/escomplaint/es.cfm
Anyone actually get a refund yet? The wife and I are still waiting for ours
not yet for me
Also, did anyone get an official email saying they would get a full refund?
I had to call up, and some dude in india told me i would be getting my money back, but i never got any sort of official confirmation that the email with a “cancellation penalty” was a mistake, and we would in fact get our money
Did anyone called their credit card company to reverse the payment?
Still waiting for refund but I have a feeling it will not come.
I’m calling to reverse the charge tomorrow. Only thing I have from them in writing says they are not giving me a refund and everything they tell me on the phone has been a lie. So am definitely going to reverse the payment.
I was about to jump on this and then when I noticed the posts commenting that it was for a NFB promotion, my gutt said this isn’t right. So, even though there were loopholes in the t & c’s, I couldn’t with any conscience continue to persue a booking.
And the fact is this would have been my first time using travelocity, and I feel this is true for many of the posters on here.
Travelocity’s execution of the cancellation processwas poorly done, I’m hoping they come through with full refunds for everyone, but that’s about all they owe you.
(8/14)They just cancelled my trip that was due to fly three days from now. What a bunch of assholes. We had other things going on this weekend so we decided not to fight it now. They really want to alienate customers for $200 that was their mistake in the first place? Baffling.
I received this email today:
We want to let you know that your refund request has been submitted to our Finance department and is scheduled to be processed within 7 to 10 business days. Once the credit has been submitted to your credit card company, you will again receive notification from Travelocity.
Thank you for using Travelocity. Only Travelocity guarantees your entire travel experience on top of having a low price guarantee. We’ll be in touch soon!
Very Sincerely,
Travelocity Service Team