I went on holiday this past weekend and had some trouble with the arrangements I made through Orbitz.

I purchased one type of room and got a different one. I called to demand a refund or some kind of concession. Of course I got connected to a call center in India. The guy said his name was "Bob". Yeah, right. I'm sure there are about 20 other letters behind "Bob". I could barely understand the guy. His strategy was to keep putting me off until I gave up.

Well, I wasn't about to let Bob ruin my trip so I told him fu*k off and went on. I don't know if how the other travel sites would have handled it but I will never book on Orbitz again.

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Jennifer
90 350sdl

I have given up of travel sites like Orbitz, Priceline, Travelocity and such. Most the major hotel chains are offering "lowest price guarantees" and it's much easier and as affordable to shop with them and simpler to resolve issues, make cancellations, changes without penalties.

In regards to telephone centers - if you want some real entertainment try XM radio - I couldn't even begin to guess what country this is located in. Maybe Lagos

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BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

I have actually had good luck with XM, never had anybody who was English-challenged.

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MB-less

My XM roady got stolen a while back and they hooked me up with a free one and 60 extra days on my contract because I had reported it to them two months after it was stolen. I give XM's telephone centers two thumbs up!

I have not had a problem but mostly use the web to take care of business (I have five XM's on account). Just over the holidays I bought a new radio, activated it and didn't like the radio and bought another. This transaction couldn't be done on the web page so off to customer service - maybe just some holiday overflow they farmed out to somewhere. The gal was nice but I could only understand every third word she was saying.

AND A TRAVEL RELATED TIDBIT

Rounding out the top five most-expensive major airports with average round-trip fares:No. 1 Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (CVG) $570 No. 2, San Francisco International Airport, $494; No. 3, Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., $448; No. 4 (tie), Newark International Airport in New Jersey and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, $448

I would have thought Charlotte would have made the top 5:fork_off:

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BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

tx is dead on about orbits, priceline, ect....all airlines and most hotels i deal with have low price guarantees. It is hard to do with priceline, but with the others you just start the booking process, get your low price and print it out or capture the page and email it to the hotel.

I had to call Linksys support a few weeks ago, and although the guy was Indian, his English was better than I expected.
Everytime I call spiritair, the people speak English (helped by the fact their call center is north of Detroit)

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

As far as airlines and car rentals, I agree dealing directly is your best bet. As far as hotels, I have saved a bundle in the last several years. I've had really good results with priceline, saving as mush as 50% over direct hotel booking. Make them an offer, it doesn't cost to try.

I've also used Expedia at least a dozen times in the last couple years, never a problem. Expedia works exceptionally well when looking for package deals, especially multiple destination international trips. You really have to work the dates and input multiple itineraries to zero in on the best cost's. It's a bit of work, but well worth the savings.

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Question Authority before it Questions you.

I use Priceline and Hotwire exclusively for hotels.

And, I'm positive that I beat any "lowest price" by at least 25%. I typically stay at three star hotels and I pay between $42 and $57 depending on location. I've never paid more than $65 (for a four star in Atlanta).

Nothing compares to these guys.

The worst call line I have ever used was Linksys for wireless router service. I gave up and switched to their instant messaging system which was much smoother-no accent to get in the way.

You know, I've dealt with Indian call centers lately on occassion. First let me say that I have absolutely no prejudice towards East Indians due mostly to limited experience. Most of those I have dealt with have been professionals in the US and always pleasant. I also love indian food. But, my god, when you call these people they almost act like you are interupting them from doing something else. I think they are taught in the training that americans are stupid and lazy because thats how they talk to you! I can imagine the class. "Most americans are so stupid they don't plug in new items that require electrical power, so always start there. Also, most americans believe pushing reset buttons will solve all their problems, so repeatedly tell them to reset the device. If this fails, transfer them to another person who actually has technical knowledge and knows what device the customer has screwed up for another round of resetting and plug in confirmation protocols." These people have atomic energy folks.

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1984 300D turbo, 250K
1971 MGBGT, 101K
2007 VW Jetta, 4K