A Real, Live Nightmare Before Christmas: Thanks to Priceline.com

You’ve seen the ads on TV and heard them on the radio…you know the ones…not the gnome, but with William Shatner telling you whole-heartedly that you can save a bunch of money when you buy your airline tickets on Priceline.com. What they fail to tell you is that just because you have your printed boarding passes in hand, you might not have a reservation on said flight.

And so here goes the nightmare:

Our faithful author Robyn booked a trip to Disney with her immediate and extended family as part (a large part) of their Christmas gifts. She, her husband, and their two children (ages 8 and 12) were thrilled beyond recognition at their first family trip to the most magical place on earth- DisneyWorld, Fl. They booked their trip months ago via Disney, but decided to go a different route when purchasing their airline tickets. Hoping to save a few bucks, they decided to shop online through Priceline.com. They were excited to be flying on Delta, as this airline has received several recognitions for customer service and overall good flights. Again, this trip was booked months ago.

So they packed their bags, got a few minutes of sleep, and headed to the airport at 3:00 am this morning, December 18, 2007, in order to be on time for their 6:30 am flight out of Manchester, NH and arrive in Disney for early-afternoon and evening Christmas adventures one or more of the exciting theme parks in Disney.

Their nighmare began when they arrived at the airport a bit after 4 am to find out that although they had their electronic boarding passes in hand, they had no reservation on their scheduled flight. The employee at the Delta terminal informed the family that there was nothing she could do besides book them on a flight at 5:31 pm (later that day), which would arrive in Orlando at 11:59 pm. Yes, midnight. She was also notified that the error was the fault of Priceline, as they failed to make the reservation, even though the service had been paid-in-full for months. A desperate mom attempting to give her kids the best Christmas ever accepted the offer of the later flight.

Robyn immediately contacted Priceline.com on the phone only to be completely discouraged by non-English speaking employees, probably located in another country, and their outright refusal to assist her. After communicating with supervisor after supervisor, she was old that the problem was rectified when she booked the late afternoon flight.

The family decided to return home opposed to waiting in the airport for over 12 hours. Robyn called me, hysterically I might add, when she got home. I immediately went to the priceline website and found not 1, but 7 different flights on different airlines, all through the same medium (priceline) that were leaving significantly earlier than 5:31 pm. I also took the opportunity to go through the process of booking seats on their newly scheduled flight, just to see what would happen.

I was brought to the insurance section of the process, which Robyn did in fact purchase due to their head start in the planning process. Plus, December in New England can bring many surprises when it comes to weather. Part of the plan they “selected” for me included “cancellation” and “trip interruption”. I understand that when referring to trip interruption, they are referring to “mid-way during the time away”, but if this doesn’t qualify for “trip interruption”, I don’t know what does.

In the words of Robyn, “William Shatner should be beaming them to Disney right now.”

On their trip, they paid for 7 days of Disney Park-Hopper passes (you can go to as many parks in 1 day as you want) as well as the meal plan, which includes 7 breakfasts, 7 quick service meals, 7 sit-down dinners, and 7 snacks…for each person on the trip. They will not be able to utilize 1 of each of the above, as they are trapped in their New Hampshire home for one of them, all because Priceline screwed up.

This has got to be the most ridiculous lack of customer service I have ever heard of. As a regular visitor to Disney myself, I know how the anticipation of this day was building inside them all, especially for the two kids who have never been there before. All I can think about is, if this were me, I’d probably be in jail right now because I would kill somebody. You don’t mess with a mom when it comes to her kids, especially at Christmas time, when it comes to anything, especially a trip to Disney.

I for one will never book a flight on Delta or use priceline.com again, ever.

As far as the people at Disney go, their hands are really tied. All they could do for this unfortunate family of four was to extend their check-in time and let them know that “when you get into Disney tonight at midnight, everything will be awesome!” Disney has the most amazing customer service of anyone, unlike some businesses that I know of.

As for the family…well, their sitting at home right now, probably deciding on how they will br cramming their 7 day adventure into 6…and I know from experience, you can’t possibly see all of what Disney offers in just 6 days.

I wish them the best family vacation ever…I love you guys….