Travelocity Torture

Message left today at the Travelocity Customer Service web site:

Quote:

Today I had the opportunity to remain on hold for the Travelocity Customer Service phone line for almost three and one-half hours during three separate calls while trying to cancel an imminent reservation. The time spent actually speaking to representatives during these calls was approximately ten minutes; the rest was time on hold.

I have three comments based on this experience.

First, I understand that your call center can become overwhelmed in a storm situation. Three and one-half hours, though, is unacceptable. You _must_ implement a faster mechanism to cancel flights and hotel reservations. Refunds and fee discussions can wait until after the emergency ends, but the actual cancellations need to be processed much faster. I was lucky to be in an environment where I could wait on hold that long; that is not usually the case, nor is it for most people.

Second, the first representative I spoke with (Cassandra) told me that because I was booked through JetBlue, I would have to call the airline myself to cancel, then call back to Travelocity to cancel the hotel. Calling back to Travelocity when hold times are so long is impractical. I convinced her to cancel the hotel first; this should have been her first suggestion. The second representative I spoke with (Shawn) also asked me to call back later, then agreed to have an associate call me back the next day after I described the hold time problem. Again, this should have been his first suggestion.

Third, and this may seem minor, you yourselves should try listening to your hold music for extended periods. It does not consist of complete songs; instead, you play the same eight bars of cheery guitar music over and over and over and over again. After a few minutes, it began to bore itself into my brain. After an hour, it was like fingernails on a blackboard. As I approached the third hour, shoulder cramped from holding my phone on my shoulder, it was sheer torture. I never want to hear that musical phrase again, and I can avoid it by never putting myself in a position to call Travelocity again. Do yourselves and your customer service reps a favor and play either real music or none at all.

Unquote.