LOS ANGELES - Well, that wasn’t very nice.
A California teacher recently did a double-take after getting an email from travel website Expedia.
Cara Viramontes logged in to check her itinerary and saw a message that said, “F*** you!” She then discovered her family’s travel reservation had been canceled.
“Everyone I show, they laugh and think it’s a joke,” she told Los Angeles' KCBS. “No one can believe a company as credible as Expedia would ever do something like this.”
Viramontes has sneaking suspicion that she knows why the comment was directed at her. She’d complained about being charged for travel insurance for her 8-month-old son even though he didn’t need an airline ticket and was going to sit on her lap.
She said the employee she talked to wasn’t helpful and wouldn’t let her speak to a supervisor when she asked to do so. Viramontes said she was “honest” when responding to a survey about her customer service experience.
Two days later, she learned her trip had been canceled. She also noticed the message containing an expletive. She contacted customer service and was told she was to blame for the canceled reservation.
Viramontes said the company hadn’t compensated her for the $600 she paid for the plane tickets and told her she’d have to pay $200 to book another flight.
She then sent the company a screenshot of the message to prove her point.
She didn’t receive a response about the foul message until the TV station intervened. In a statement, the company said it was taking the matter seriously and investigating the actions of its employees.
Expedia said it would rebook Viramontes’ flights, refund her money and give her a $500 voucher.
Viramontes shared her story on Facebook. She wrote:
"I need advice... We booked a flight for over New Years on EXPEDIA and had to pay travel insurance for 8 month old son whose ticket was free. I thought that wasn't fair so I called to inquire. Nothing was resolved so EXPEDIA sent me a survey and I answered honestly.
2 days later I received an email from EXPEDIA that our flight was cancelled. (NO I DID NOT CANCEL MY OWN FLIGHT)
I went to look online at my itinerary and saw the words F*** YOU from EXPEDIA (See attached pic below) and right below it said flight cancelled. I called and 2 hours on the phone later had a man from corporate tell me I was basically lying and I cancelled my own flight and never addressed the fact his company (EXPEDIA) wrote the words F*** YOU on my itinerary. He said I would have to pay $200 more dollars to get back on that flight.PLUS I was never credited back my money on my credit card for supposedly "Canceling" my flight. TOO MUCH COINCIDENCE THAT AFTER A BAD REVIEW I GET MY FLIGHT CANCELLED AND A F*** YOU ON MY ITINERARY EMAIL!
How should I proceed ?? I have never in my life experienced something like this. As a mom of an 8 month old this is not how I pictured our first family vacation."
