On February 6, 2009, we purchased two tickets from Los Angeles to London for $1334 each ($2668 total). This purchase was made on the Cheap International Flights Network website (www.cheapinternationalflights.net). The booking code for these tickets was 23GPZD. Prior to purchasing these tickets, we knew that there was a very good chance that at a later time we would need to reschedule the flight for different dates. As such, prior to the purchase, we conducted an in-depth inquiry with Cheap International Flights Network about their cancellation and re-booking policy. The agent we spoke to assured us repeatedly that any itinerary changes must occur through the airline (United), and that United’s penalty fee would be the only additional charges applied to any reservation changes. We then contacted United Airlines, learned their re-booking penalty fee for the flight in question, and were comfortable with this fee. Having conducted our due diligence in this way, we proceeded to purchase the two tickets from Cheap International Flights Network in the amount of $2668.
Three weeks later, we learned that we would, in fact, need to change our flight reservations to different dates. We followed the previous instructions given to us by Cheap International Flights Network and contacted United Airlines to make the change and pay their penalty fee. However, United Airlines informed us that the information we had been given from Cheap International Flights Network was inaccurate and that only Cheap International Flights Network could reschedule our flight and assess a penalty fee. We then contacted Cheap International Flights Network for clarification and were now told that in order to reschedule the flight, a $325 fee would apply to each ticket ($650 total). This information was in direct contradiction to the information we initially received from Cheap International Flights Network. Furthermore, the flight we wanted to re-book on was $300 less per ticket than our original flight. However, the supervisor (Richard) insisted that this $300 per ticket reduction was irrelevant and that we would be charged the original, higher fare rate on the new flight in addition to the $325 per ticket change fee. This fare assessment brought the total flight change penalty to $1250 ($625 per ticket). We tried on three occasions to explain our position to Richard and work out a just resolution, but he dogmatically and dismissively refused to hear our claim. In our final attempt to resolve the dispute, Richard indicated that he was unilaterally canceling our reservation altogether and keeping the $2668. His final words to us were, “work it out with your credit card company.” The tickets have, in fact, been cancelled by Richard and they have kept the $2668. According to a United Airlines representative, United’s database shows that Cheap Flights International indicated to them (United) that our money has been refunded, which is simply a lie. This final, brashly fraudulent act on the part of Cheap International Flights Network compels us to seek a just resolution from a third party.
Clearly a classic “bait and switch” scheme was executed upon us by Cheap International Flights Network. They quoted us one cancellation policy prior to our purchase and then enforced an entirely different one after our purchase. The company then took an even more fraudulent measure when we complained by completely canceling our reservation, keeping our funds, and claiming to have refunded the money to us. The result of these business practices has resulted in a $2668 profit for their company—a profit taken at the expense of consumers who conducted their due diligence prior to purchase. Furthermore, we have already spent many hours attempting to resolve this problem, experienced immense frustration, and endured blatant disrespect, unprofessionalism, and ethical breaches from the Cheap International Flights Network.
The only acceptable resolution at this time is a complete cancellation of the tickets in question and a full reimbursement of $2668. We do not seek additional compensation from Cheap International Flights Network, though additional resistance from the company will compel us to do so.
This post was submitted by David Tokaji.
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