NC woman's experience serves as warning when looking for cheap summer flights: 'Nonrefundable'
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A summer travel warning if you're looking for cheap airfare online, be careful what you click on as it could end up costing you.
When it comes to summer travel options, there are a lot out there, especially many deals online, but before you put in any payment information, you need to do your research. Connie Batchelor who lives in Raleigh learned the hard way on her quest to find the best airfare to attend her grandson's graduation in Shreveport. She said she first did a Google search for cheap airfare.
"There was a website (that) popped up that had about six or eight different sites that you could click on and look at their prices," Batchelor said.
Batchelor said she clicked on the website Bestticketfare.
"I went ahead and put our card on there and found the dates and everything. The ticket was very, sounded reasonable. I put submit and normally when you do that, the next page it shows up is a recap or a confirmation of everything and gives you all the details and we got none of that."
Her credit card was charged more than $800 for the flights. Right after the charge, a representative from Bestticketfare called her about her flight.
According to Batchelor, the representative said, "You're on standby and I said, 'We paid this much money to be on standby?' He said, 'Yes, if you want to do a real ticket, let me help you.'"
Batchelor said she was then told she could pay hundreds of dollars more to get a confirmed flight and shared with Troubleshooter Diane Wilson an email from the company that said the price tag is now more than $1,200 for the flights.
"I told him, 'I just want a refund.' He said, 'This is non-refundable,' and I said, 'You're kidding me.' You know, I'm not even sure it'd been 30 minutes and he said, 'No, this is nonrefundable,'" Batchelor explained. She also said the company tried to charge her credit card for the additional costs of the flights, but while she was on the phone with the representative, she had her husband cancel the credit card used for the original flight purchase.
Batchelor isn't the only one with this complaint. The Better Business Bureau issued an alert on Besticketfare. The agency said this alert is due to the pattern of complaints involving sales practices, specifically, customers claim that after purchasing a ticket through the website, they get a call saying they need to pay more fees and the purchase is non-refundable.
Wilson reached out to Bestticketfare.com, but no one got back to her. Batchelor did get a confirmation that they canceled her flight, but the email states since the ticket is non-refundable, they've requested a credit or voucher as a gesture of goodwill. Batchelor just wants her money back; she did dispute the charge with her bank. She ended up booking directly through the airline for the flights she needed.
This is a good reminder about third-party websites. While the deal may seem good, it's the hidden fees and extra costs that can add up. Always double-check what website you're on as a deal may not really be a deal.
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