Let me start by pointing out something I feel I must. If you are a reader of this blog, listen to me on the radio or have seen a show you know that I do not bite my tongue. I also do not give praise just because something benefits me. The following account is a rarity these days, a positive costumer service experience. Had my gripe been resolved but I still felt wronged I would say so and definitely not relent in slamming Cheaptickets.com. Know that. Also let me add that the reason this showed up on their radar was because of the emailing, tweeting, facebook updating and blogging that we all did. This goes to show that the pen is mightier than the sword… especially if the pen is shaved down to a fine point designed for stabbing. I’ll address and idea I have at the end of this blog but please, read the account of what happened and know that we can all come out on top in these type of situations.

Now that I’ve gotten the “don’t call me a bitch for back peddling” paragraph out of the way let’s begin. It will be nice to put this issue to bed so that I can get back to blogging about funny Internet findings and writing open letters to deserved doucher celebrities. Although, I’m not sure I should… I’ve received more emails and views from this than almost anything I’ve ever done (the Khloe Kardashian Open Letter still reigns supreme).

I’ll start with what happened yesterday. First thing in the morning I emailed customer service for Cheaptickets.com through the link on their website, then I conducted a live chat with one of their representatives, he was helpful but could not find an answer and instructed me to call the costumer service line, so I did. Now, this was frustrating because I spent around an hour and a half on the phone with the costumer support before being informed that it I needed to call Delta (the carrier that I was supposed to return from Atlanta on). If I still have one grievance with Cheaptickets it would be with the 50 minutes I waited on hold, although, now I understand why. The rep was talking to Delta trying to resolve the issue for me. I’m sure I was a little sensitive seeing as I still had steam billowing from my ears from the night before. Anyway, I called Delta and was helped right away by a guy named Holden. They were awesome, didn’t try to give me any runaround or pull the “non-refundable” shtick that so often happens when issues with airline tickets arise. He simply explained what he thought happened and told me he’d look into it and until I heard back I could mail their corporate office explaining the situation, he was sure they’d help me. I rolled my eyes and hung up the phone “MAIL a letter, does anyone even do that anymore”, I thought “there isn’t a way in hell I’m going to get any response from this”. I was wrong.

Last night I was in an editing session for my new DVD when the phone rang, I sent it to voicemail. When I woke up this morning I listened to the message it was a woman from Cheaptickets/Orbitz saying that they had seen the blog, read my tweets and received all the emails. She wanted me to call her and give her details as to my travel snafu. I also got an email from her and responded to that around 5:00 this morning, by 7:00 we’d been emailing back and forth. I explained my problem and she said that she was investigating it, then she asked me to send her the receipt from the one-way ticket I was forced to purchase to get home and guaranteed that somehow I would get reimbursed for the $518.40, whomever was found to be at fault. Shortly after I sent the receipt to the woman at Cheaptickets my phone rang with a 404 area code – Atlanta. I couldn’t answer because we were on the air, but as soon as we were done with the show I listened to the voicemail, same situation, but this time it was someone from Delta airlines themselves. Holden had obviously done his job. I called her back and much like Cheaptickets she asked me to explain the situation and I did. From what I can surmise I DID have a ticket and it WAS paid for, there was confusion on behalf of the Delta ticketing agent who informed me that I had no ticket. Had I pressed harder at the counter and made her investigate further the problem would’ve probably been rectified then and there. Unfortunately though, in the heat of the moment we don’t think to cover all our bases. The woman at Delta told me the same, “she’d look into it and call me back”. I think I’ve heard the phrase “I’ll look into it” enough for a whole year at this point, but look into it she did. The rep. for Delta called me back about 5 minutes later and said “look, we’re still figuring out what went wrong and who is at fault, but we want to take care of the money that you are out”. That’s right; Delta was willing to foot the bill even if it wasn’t their fault. I knew there was a reason that I’m a Skymiles member and carry a Delta Airlines American Express card! I thanked her and she apologized and promised to figure out how this unfortunate accident happened.

So, all said and done Delta is paying me back the $518.40 PLUS a $100 travel voucher to book directly with them. Similarly, Cheaptickets.com has offered me a $100 voucher as well. All of that goes above and beyond what I would’ve expected… but then again all I expected was the “non-refundable, go jump off a bridge” approach that seems so popular in the customer service world these days. THIS is the way it should be! On Sunday night and all day Monday I would have never, ever, ever, ever (I could add more of those but in the interest of not taking up the entire Internet with “evers” I’ll decline), ever booked with either Cheaptickets.com or Delta again. I was sure that there was no way in hell either of those companies would get another dime from me. In light of the way they handled themselves though, I will definitely use them both again. Delta renewed my faith in my favorite airline and Cheaptickets.com convinced me that they were not the “frauds” and “crooks” that I so hastily labeled them before.

Let me clarify, in no way was the Cheaptickets.com booking fraudulent, that was a premature statement on my behalf, (I do a lot of things prematurely, just ask any girl I’ve ever been with in the biblical sense). Also, in my opinion Delta Airlines continues to have the best costumer service in their industry today. I’ll refrain from ripping up my AMX card, even though I should for financial reasons.

Here’s a rundown of what I learned from this experience:
1 – Booking through the actual airline themselves is the best way to avoid a problem.

2 – If you’re going to book through a third party like Cheaptickets.com or Orbitz spend the extra money and buy the travel insurance.

3 – When booking through a third party site ALWAYS put in the extra time before you leave to reconfirm your flight information . . . I’d do it by phone and keep a record.

4 – If something similar happens at the gate, let cooler heads prevail and press your ticket agent to ask more questions.

5 – If you legitimately feel wronged by a company don’t stop until you reach the right people who can help you. They exist, sometimes it just takes a little work to find them.

6 – Keep reaching for the stars (that just seemed appropriate).

Also, I want to apologize to Orbitz/Cheaptickets CEO, Barney Harford, by calling him out by name on Twitter. His company does not suck (which I’m sure was worrying him last night as he was sleeping on his diamond encrusted mattress filled with money)… what? I’m not ripping the guy, have you forgotten what I would do if I were rich by building my toilet mansion? Hey Barney, if you ever want to invest in the greatest rich person idea ever, holler at me.

Cheaptickets is not a fraud, just make sure you double check your booking because where there are humans involved, there will always be human error.

Delta is the shit. Hands down, I’ve never had a problem with them. That’s probably because they’re located in the south and there’s that whole “hospitality” code they have to live by.

Now, to address what I was talking about in the first paragraph of this post. Getting a hold of the right costumer service people couldn’t have happened without all of us putting a bug in the Internet’s ear. From now on I’d like to start helping everyone out with their costumer service grievances. I’m not trying to start a consumer advocacy website, I’m a comic, BUT everyone helping me was a really cool experience. Why can’t we (the teamjubal.com readers, twitter followers, facebook friends, fans of my comedy, fans of the Jackie and Bender show) create a network and stand up for one another. We ALL have these problems and more often than not the voice of a single person falls on deaf ears. Let’s unite and bring costumer service back! If you have an issue that needs attention paid to it, email me. I’ll post it on this site and we will all do our part to get you what you deserve (son of a bitch! I’m a consumer advocate now). Seriously, this isn’t a TV show where they select your story based on likeability and send a single reporter on the case. This will be a chance for you to use the voice of each and every person reading this. I encourage you to submit your story and I also ask you to help be an advocate for other people’s dilemmas. You too might want the help of thousands one day. I’m completely serious, I’m putting a section for consumer advocacy on this website and together we’re going to PWN any company trying to take advantage of us little people (isn’t midget the politically correct term?).

If you want to get started, email me. Let’s see if we can’t start a network of people who have each other’s back. TEAMJUBAL@GMAIL.COM

That’s all for now. I love you,

Jubal