Friday, February 20, 2009

You Had a Bad Day...

I hear the American Idol music. Yes, I am totally lame for associating that song only with American Idol. I know it had roots before that... but it's what comes into my mind.

Last night I got an email from my agency saying I needed to change my flight arrangements to return home a day later. The courier taking my papers to Moscow and back won't be "back in Vlad" until the morning after I leave. In my humble opinion, there is a LOT of down time in his schedule and it would have been MUCH easier to change 1 ticket than 3. But who am I...

So I checked with my travel agent - who has been a godsend, mind you. Her email last night was "no problem, basically $100 change fee for each and availability looks good". Got the official word from the agency this morning and I emailed the travel agent to pull the trigger on the date change. Small inconvenience to my dad & Sharon who were planning on driving up to Atlanta to see us as we landed - but no big deal, right? WRONG!

Lynn, the travel agent, emails back this morning that somehow overnight now the flight returning into Atlanta on 3/29 is FULL in our fare class. No availability. Huh? It's much easier (and cheaper) to only change dates vs. changing routing cities, but that's what we had to do. Here comes the fun.

I had used my points on NORTHWORST Air (sorry Danette, you know I have always been a fan til now) to upgrade to first class from Detroit to Chicago on my flight leg. Somehow when I did that, Northworst took control of my ticket - which means my travel agent can no longer make changes herself. HUH??? On top of that -- they want to charge me $1300 to make the change. Little T's fee would be $300 and Rhonda's would be a little over $230. But because they took control of my ticket - Lynn can't access it. She called Northworst and got the run around, so she asked me to call them. It got worse from there. The man was SO rude to me, basically yelled at me for using a travel agent and said "that's why you should have booked through us". Literally, and I mean LITERALLY, he had me bawling on the phone. Wow. That's some serious customer service, people.

He wanted to make my changes, but my tickets are tied to Little T and Rhonda. The whole point is that we are TOGETHER. And on top of it, I didn't know which flights we were being moved to because nothing had been confirmed yet.

Lynn ended up saving the day and getting the changes done on my ticket for $650 - so the total changes will only cost me around $1100 NOT $2000. But the BEST part is that if anything happens mid-trip (weather delays etc) Northworst has to make all my changes, Korean Air can't, Lynn can't etc. Mighty handy for when a girl's in Russia, eh? I am so fuming mad at Northworst I can't see straight. Please pray for no hiccups along the way!!!

I am going to start collecting soda cans on the street to pay for my changes now...

11 comments:

Heather said...

Customer service these days is unreal. And do people not have hearts anymore?!?! So here is the glass half full thought... at least the delay was on the end of the trip and not on getting you there to see T!!!

Nancy said...

That stinks!

Anonymous said...

oh man! I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this and stress about it! I'll keep my fingers crossed that nothing delays your flights so you don't have to try to deal with Northworst again!

Barb said...

How awful! I really hope that everything works out and there are no more problems with the flight arrangements!

Jeanette said...

Why can't anything be easy?!? So sorry to hear about the trouble and stress. And the money!!!! Good luck from here on out!

findingourdaughter said...

UGH! I just saw your post, been MIA sick and not online.....
NOTHING can be easy with this ride can it? I am so sorry to hear this. I guess that courier is costing more than you originally bargained.....ironic you could have gone to Moscow with your $1100. UGH....I hate this for you.
Big Hugs and prayers for no more trouble!

Joy said...

Email me the dates and I put them on my fridgerator and ever time I see them I will think good thoughts.
Joy

Roger and Joanne said...

Oh no...that sucks! Why do corporations have to make it so confusing? All because you used point sfor a portion of the trip??? I was hoping to do the same thing points...and an upgrade. Now I don't know because with adoptions in Russia things change constantly. I'm so sorry you had such a complete mess to deal with. Yea...all that hassle, money...why couldn't they have just things on their end for one day. Crazy!
I hope for nothing but things going like clock-work for you!

Troy and Rachel said...

Wow - what a mess. I hope no more changes come your way!

Rich and Jolynn said...

Wow, I am sorry the NW guy couldn't be a little nicer. When you are in a pickle you just need someone to work it out not lecture you.

Sarah said...

What a nightmare, Amy! So sorry!
Take courage though!
You're taking action and making things happen that wouldn't if you weren't there. It seems like whenever someone does this the obstacles spring up like weeds to test their strength. Part of living and growing I guess. It's a pity everyone can't be a little more helpful and understanding--especially when it is for such a worthwhile endeavor!

PS-Isabelle's scrapbook is digital.