April 07, 2011

do not book with www.gotmyfare.com - UPDATED!!

****UPDATE!!****

after 200 calls/emails/you name it, i eventually called an AFFILIATED travel agency that we learned does the actual bookings for gotmyfare (or.. something along those lines?) and i complained to them. she said she'd call the agency directly and get them to call me back.

VOILA, 2 hours later, my agent at gotmyfare.com miraculously called me AND sent confirmation of my ticket numbers, along with an extra-shady "excuse" / reason why she didn't reply to my emails yesterday (uhh.. how about the fact that you were supposed to send me this info 2 weeks ago WITHOUT 15 vms from me..?) but WHATEVER, the end result is i DO have tickets and - hopefully / theoretically - WILL be flying to south america on monday praise the baby jeebus OH MY GOODNESS. incidentally, i still wouldn't exactly recommend this company.

*********

today's post was supposed to be about how i was going to be MIA for the next few weeks, since i'm leaving for williamsburg tonight to host a baby shower on saturday, then monday i leave for that amazing 2 week trip in south america.

well, i THOUGHT i was leaving monday for south america.

i've been unreasonably busy the past few weeks. i haven't had a chance to write about it here, but in addition to moving in with chris this month, i also got an unexpected job opportunity, so i ended up interviewing extensively with a new company, accepting that offer, and giving notice at my current job, WHILE devoting a ton of time to the scavenger hunt and also planning a baby shower remotely for a friend in a different city. so it just occurred to me the other day that i was supposed to have received my travel vouchers & confirmations from the tour operator two weeks before my departure date, which... had passed.

since i didn't have anything (checked my junk/spam boxes, yes) i thought maybe they'd real-mailed the docs, and they'd gone to my old house. so i emailed my travel agent lady asking if maybe that was what happened, since i hadn't received any documents yet.

another agent wrote back with "Hello Alice, you're going to receive the vouchers by e-mail."

i replied "yes, but i leave in 6 days! i was supposed to receive them 2 weeks before my departure!"

... no answer.

i called the main line for the agency and was sent immediately to hold music. after 10 minutes, i got a message saying "all of our agents are busy helping other customers. please leave a message! *beep*" and then you have no choice but to leave a vm and disconnect.

i called about 5 times yesterday. i left messages on the vm of the main line, and on the personal extension of my rep.

i emailed my rep 2 more times, increasingly agitated. i emailed the main "info" email alias twice as well.

i found the twitter for the company, and sent several upset tweets.

no reply. to ANYTHING.

this morning, i checked on my flight info. i had record locaters for each flight, so that seemed fine. but when i pulled the itinerary up, it had a big warning note that the flight was not ticketed. that means i have a reservation, but no ticket, because NO ONE HAS PAID FOR IT YET.

did i mention we prepaid this trip? in full? in december?

i researched the company before putting money down, since i'd never heard of the site, gotmyfare.com. there were a few complaints about not getting travel documents until the last minute (O IRONY) but i figured that was from people who didn't read the fine print saying they wouldn't get their documents until 2 weeks prior to travel. they're listed in the BBB, with an A- rating. they're supposedly legit.

i suppose it's still possible that someone will mail me my confirmation info today, with ONE BUSINESS DAY LEFT before we're scheduled to leave. but considering the business may not exist anymore from the amount of response over the past few days, i'm not counting on it. i guess i need to contact my credit card now and dispute the charges.

the worst part is that i really, really, really wanted to go on this trip. it was going to be a super amazing vacation, to a continent i've never been to, to see new places and to be able to take a real vacation away with chris.

folks, please DO NOT ever use www.gotmyfare.com. do not give them your money and do not believe their reps.

(and if anyone miraculously has contact info for this company that DOESN'T go straight to vm, pleeeease share.)

28 comments:

  1. Can you go the devious route and call asking to BOOK a fair and then go all crazy traveler with no tickets on them if they answer?

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  2. There's a local number on their facebook page.

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  3. Man, that sucks so hard. Superfuck those guys. Sorry :(

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  4. Amanda - totally great ideas, and I tried both already. All listed #s (including through routes like prospecting companies who provide contact data for $$) go to the hold music line that no one answers. No call back from when I called pretending I wanted to buy a new package either. I hate these people so hard.

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  5. Oh my gosh! I would be so fuming mad, and upset that my vacation wasn't going to happen. My fingers are crossed that a miracle happens and the tickets show up in your inbox today!

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  6. Holy crap I would be FURIOUS if I were you. I sure hope it miraculously works out!

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  7. That is awful!!! I am hoping you get this all straightened out today so you can still go on your trip.

    P.S. YAY! for your new job opportunity!

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  8. You could try posting on their facebook page to see if they respond that way. Don't know if it would help or not. Good luck.

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  9. I am so mad on your behalf! What the hell?? Are those ratings and reviews falsified? Can we believe anyone anymore? It's so depressing and aggravating!

    I'm so sorry this is happening.

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  10. This sucks so much I can hardly stand it. This is ENRAGING.

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  11. Oh, I'm so mad FOR you. And I'm so sorry. And I shared this all over Google Reader so no one else gets duped.

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  12. Oh Alice, I can't believe that!! I know how excited you were and how much research you do on traveling... So sorry to se this. I will be holding out hope for a miracle!!

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  13. I am so sorry for you. That sucks big time.

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  14. Any super positive updates in the last two hours?

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  15. this blows big time. i am so sorry you (or anyone) else, is having to deal with that.

    and fyi for the future... BBB ratings apparently don't mean squat nowadays. i saw some dateline special about it recently that the BBB had taken bribes in the form of 'annual membership fees' and handed out A+ ratings to those that paid upon demand, and gave bad ratings to those that either didn't pay or only paid the minimum. regardless of the history of the company.

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  16. Ugh, that SUCKS! May these people burn in hell. In the meantime, I hope it miraculously works out for you.

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  17. Oh my goodness Alice, I am so sorry for you!

    This blows BIG TIME! Keep us updated

    What if you took one of those last minute AA super saver flights that run on a week days? Some times you can head to Europe and Latin America for under $200 a flight.

    Thinking of you!

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  18. ASSHOLES. At this point I hope you get your money back OR somehow miraculously get your vouchers BEFORE sunday.

    Bastards.

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  19. What.

    The.

    Fuck?!

    I hope it all works out, because this really really sucks. You deserve a vacation after how busy you have been! :(

    Congrats on the new job :)

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  20. Oh. No. They. Did. Not.

    I wish I could help you!!!

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  21. I am so sorry that you're caught up in this mess. I'm holding out hope that by some miraculous turn of events, everything works out and you have a fabulous holiday.

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  22. Wow. What a trainwreck. SO GLAD you got it worked out and are going on your trip after all! I'll make a note never to use them.

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  23. God that sucks! Definitely call the credit card company to stop payment. And maybe 7 on Your Side?

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  24. Sweet monkeys, Alice. What a pain in the ass. Ugh. I hope you can shake off all this nonsense and really enjoy your vacation, now that you know you're actually going on one!

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  25. And congrats on all the things going right in your world!!

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  26. Hi Alicia,
    I read your blog whil I was searching for reviews of gotmyfare.com. Even we have booked our Peru trip on Aril 20th'11 with them and still we have received no documentation from them. Even we are worried. Can you pls share us to which affiliated agency you contacted who provided you with the documents. Any help would be highly appreciated.Also have started the tour with them? if so, wish you the very best of it. Enjoy.
    Antara

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  27. Hi Alice,

    I'm sorry to hear about the Gotmyfare disaster! Can you give me the contact info for the Affiliated travel agency that was able to help?

    My wife's parents are having a somewhat similar nightmare: They left this Monday morning. On Saturday night, Gotmyfare left them a message that they had changed their outbound flights, and now would arrive a day later after a hellish layover in Chile. When they finally arrived in Rio de Janiero a day late, the local hotel and touring company had cancelled their reservations because they had not been updated on the new arrival day/time. We've had multiple people calling/emailing/tweeting/BBB complaining since Saturday and have not been able to reach them or get any kind of reply. Currently, my wife's parents are chilling in Rio with no plans.

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  28. And congrats on all the things going right in your world!!

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