This week’s Compensation Clinic is about a case I handled through Orbitz as my account had technical problems, and I wasn’t able to get either my Orbucks or my annual Orbucks Platinum reimbursement to work.
Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook or use Twitter and include photos too. We’ll try to cover a Compensation Clinic case here regularly.
Whenever I need an independent hotel that isn’t part of a chain or major loyalty program, I tend to complete the bookings with Orbitz as my OTA of choice as, over the years, they always had the best prices and a very fair rewards system, paired with somewhat of an elite program depending on the amount of night you book per year.
This week I had to book a hotel in Montreux, Switzerland, and the only local chain hotel that would be somewhat suitable was a Marriott for $300 next to the train station. I found an independent hotel next to the Casino where we had a graduation event on Friday and booked it through Orbitz.
The downside was that it was impossible to apply my $30 Orbucks, and the form for the reimbursement of airline fees as Orbitz Platinum didn’t work either. Ever since Orbitz extended the status of the account during the pandemic, something happened on the IT side that messed up my account; no idea what.
Here are the Orbucks in my account:
And the Platinum Perks:
And the ever-reoccurring error message when I try to use the reimbursement form:
I tried to deal with the online chat option and even called customer service to no avail. I could just as well talk to a brick, these people didn’t seem to grasp at all what the problem was.
I emailed Exepdia’s Executive Customer Care as they are the owner of Orbitz and asked them to rectify this problem:
To whom it may concern,
I’m contacting you regarding a problem with ORBITZ.com whose surface I’ve been using for over ten years and which has developed into a complete disaster as far as functionality is concerned.
Just today, I was about to book a hotel for an upcoming trip to Switzerland, and once again, it’s impossible to use the Orbucks currency as the button has vanished from my account entirely. Instead, it shows me a sign-up button that leads to an error message.
Ever since Expedia/Orbitz did something with all the accounts during the pandemic, the functionality went out the window. Suddenly status and currency are no longer available and especially accessible.
Likewise, the attempt to apply for my Orbitz Platinum benefit reimbursements. Once click on the form results in an error that I didn’t have any itineraries in the current calendar year, which is ridiculous, I obviously had several.
There is no public customer care contact for Orbitz. The online chat option of which I have attached a protocol, has people replying who don’t understand even the most basic problems. The Platinum hotline requests an itinerary number or will kick you out of the hotline.
What in the world is going on with this company??
I expect these issues to be fixed, or as I previously warned, I will escalate the matter further in order to retrieve my benefits and then move on. This is ridiculous!
Regards,
I believe at some point, it’s always best to escalate such matters up the chain because once you feel it’s hopeless to talk to the regular customer service folks, it’s best not to waste any time anymore.
The reply came relatively quickly:
Hi Sebastian,
Thank you for your email. I am sorry for the hassle caused to you.
My name is Mohita, and I am contacting you from Global Traveler Service Resolutions team of Orbitz regarding the issues that you are facing in applying orbucks. I understand that you are unable to apply the Orbucks in your upcoming hotel reservation with J5 Hotels Helvetie Montreux.
Since you are unable to apply 30.00 Orbucks, I have processed the refund of 30.00 USD (the equivalent amount) in the same form of payment. The refund will reflect in 5 to 7 working days.
I have also shared the feedback with our technical team to fix this issue. Since we value you as a loyal customer, I have also added a coupon of 25.00 USD due to inconvenience caused to you which can be use on prepaid hotel reservation. I request you to kindly check the terms and conditions of the coupon before using it.
As you mentioned in your previous email that you are unable to contact our support team via call. I am sharing the contact number for our team for the future. You may contact the support team on (312) 279-7740 or (844) 803-5576.
If you have any questions, you can reach me directly by replying to this email.
Thanks
Mohita B.
Global Traveler Service Resolutions
The associate has now added a $75 voucher to my account, which I can use for a future booking which is fine with me as I’ll definitely be able to use it, most likely in Tokyo.
I was able to secure my hotel booking before all this as I was concerned the price would go up again. Orbitz refunded me the $30 to my Amex card, and to my surprise, I got another $20 off from American Express itself using an Amex Offer I had signed up for, placing an Expedia booking over $100 value.
I guess getting a hotel in Montreux for a total of $100/night was pretty much a jackpot considering the $330 the Marriott would have charged (or god forbid the $600 for the Fairmont).
Conclusion
I had a problem with Orbitz utilizing the discounts that were attached to my Orbitz Platinum account, both an Orbucks balance and a reimbursement for associated fees attached to a flight booked via Orbitz in February (on Thai Smile). After some futile attempts to resolve it with customer care, I contacted the Executive Offices and filed an official complaint. Someone contacted me promptly and resolved the case to my satisfaction.
I’m still not sure what causes these technical issues. The Orbucks still appear in my account, and nobody knows how to fix it. I might just have to open a new Orbitz account.
