March 12, 2008
OMFG people! I just had a conversation with someone from Expedia who is without question the STUPIDEST person I’ve ever spoken with IN MY LIFE. No seriously. I’ve had more intelligent conversations with the DOGS. The woman was stupider than a bag of hammers and had this annoying, whiny voice and kept saying OK.
Me: Yeah, I just booked a flight and noticed in the confirmation that my children are listed as adults. I need them listed as children so I don’t have problems with checking in at the airport.
Expedia bag of hammers: Yes um, ok, so how old are you?
Me: Who me?
Expedia bag of hammers: Yes.
Me: (WTF?!?!) I’m 38, why?
Expedia bag of hammers: Ok. (no explanation) Can I have your confirmation number?
Me: XXXXXX
Expedia bag of hammers: So that’s XYXXXY?
Me: No. XXXXXX.
Expedia bag of hammers: So XYXXXY?
Me: No… still XXXXXX.
Expedia bag of hammers: Ok, so I see the reservation. How old are they?
Me: 7 and 10
Expedia bag of hammers: Just bring their ID to airport. Do they have ID?
Me: Do you mean, like, do they have a drivers license?
Expedia bag of hammers: Well, yeah, something like that, or an ID card?
Me: An ID card?!? Look, I travel ALL THE TIME and I’ve never had to show their ID at the airport when traveling domestically. (unsaid: You LAZY BIOTCH! JUST CHANGE IT!)
Expedia bag of hammers: Well I’ll make a notation here in the computer.
Me: That’s not going to help me at the airport.
Expedia bag of hammers: Ok so how old are they?
Me: 7 and 10.
Expedia bag of hammers: Ok so are you old enough to travel with them?
Me: Yes. I’m their mother. (THIRTY EIGHT, REMEMBER?!)
Expedia bag of hammers: Ok. So just go to the airport and bring their ID.
Me: No. I need it changed in the system. I’m going to have all kinds of problems if they’re listed as adults.
Expedia bag of hammers: Ok so how old are they?
Me: Still 7 and 10.
Expedia bag of hammers: Ok, so do you want to book your seats?
Me: NO! I WANT TO CHANGE THEIR AGES!
Expedia bag of hammers: How about the meals?
Me: I ALREADY TOOK CARE OF THAT!
Expedia bag of hammers: Ok, well just bring their IDs to the airport.
Me: I NEED you to get this changed. I’m not bringing their ID to the aiport. I NEED THEM LISTED AS CHILDREN.
Expedia bag of hammers: Ok, so I’m going to put you on hold and call the airlines. I’m also going to send them an email. I’ve noted it in your reservation.
(on hold for 15 minutes)
Expedia bag of hammers: They’ve already received my message and it’s all taken care of.
Me being the SKEPTICAL person that I am, decided to call the airlines JUST IN CASE.
Me: Hi, I just booked a flight on Expedia and noticed that my children are listed as adults. They’re 7 and 10. The lady at Expedia told me it was all taken care of but I don’t trust that she took care of it. She was an idiot. Told me to have my 7 and 10 year old bring their drivers licenses to the airport.
Continental Airlines: So many 7 and 10 year olds HAVE their licenses too. Ok what’s the confirmation number?
Me: XXXXXX
Continental Airlines: (silence) Uh. They’re still listed as adults.
Me: Sigh. There’s not even a notation is there?
Continental Airlines: …..No.
Me: Can YOU change it for me?
Continental Airlines: (laughs) Yes. Here we go. 7 and 10 you said?…..
March 12, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I used to work for Continental! their computer system is soo ancient its not funny…im talking green screen using dos commands…
i want a vacation so bad..this summer i am road tripping out to the pacific northwest!
March 12, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Jesse- The computer wasn’t the problem. That lady was so EFFIN stupid!
March 12, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I think a bag of hammers would be smarter than that, frankly…
March 12, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Fab- No kidding.
March 12, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Bag of hammers????? lol Thats a new one on me!
I uually say that she wasnt the sharpest crayon in the pack!
She does sound pretty thick though. I bloody hate call centres. The majority of then now in England are contracted out to india. Drives me crackers when your trying to explain something and they cant understand you because the answer you have given isnt the same as the one on the card in front of them and they dont speak much english
March 12, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Nemma- This woman was jaw droppingly stupid. I probably forgot some of the stuff she said, I was floored. I have a really hard time with accents. I grew up in Louisiana where there is no diversity. I never heard anything but a southern accent growing up. Consequently I have great difficulty understanding people. Sometimes Steve has to translate for me!
March 12, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Oh my gosh, I’m about to fall out of my chair, that is so funny. I think I have one of those conversations about once a week, with some crazy call center person. It is so bad that when I get someone half intelligent and helpful, I’ve started calling back and letting their boss know.
What happened to “Customer Service?”
March 12, 2008 at 9:07 pm
So.. you have kids?
March 12, 2008 at 10:05 pm
amommystory- apparently it got farmed out to some foreign country. ;D
Fig- Who me? No. ;D
March 13, 2008 at 6:50 am
O.
M.
G.
Helen I FEEL for you. Been there, done that THOUSANDS of times. I cannot tell you how many stupid people I’ve encountered over the years.
Actually I didn’t know if I should stress out or bust out laughing when I read your post. I think I was THIS close to reaching out and slapping the stupid woman in the back of the head to see if I can knock some sense into her.
March 13, 2008 at 7:04 am
That was truly hilarious, although I’m sure you felt like bombing the Expedia site after that! Sometimes I think the automated phone calls have more sense than the living, breathing humans who answer the phone.
March 13, 2008 at 8:39 am
Zee- I didn’t know whether to laugh or scream at her either. I was dumbfounded.
Pandemonic- I tend to shut down in times like this now. I used to just start yelling at the moron on the other end of the phone. I’ve learned two things about that 1. it causes me needless stress to do that and 2. by yelling, things often get more messed up. My tone let her know I was unhappy but I did not raise my voice.
March 13, 2008 at 8:40 am
EXPEDIA’s people might not be stupid but trained to lie to customers. EXPEDIA is a huge scam. I was a victim, they tried t scame me (1254.95 U$D) and failed miserably. Read hundreds of complaints at: http://www.expedianews.com
March 13, 2008 at 8:57 am
John- Wow. You know I saw on there that expedia owns hotels.com. Years ago we booked on there and when we got to Rome, they had no reservation for us and no rooms. I had the receipts and HAD PAID IN FULL. The hotel ended up booking us a suite in another hotel. It was very stressful.
March 13, 2008 at 9:59 am
I can so totally identify with your recent problem! Expedia gives me the worst case of acid reflux, so I don’t deal with them anymore.
On a related note, my Hubby works for Continental and he absolutely hates Expedia; they evidently do NOT submit any changes to the airline, for he deals with scenarios similar to yours several times a week.
And yes, as Jesse noted above, Continental’s computer system (at least here in Gulfport) is the antiquated DOS system. How’s that for 21st Century efficiency…?
March 13, 2008 at 10:15 am
They also own Hotwire.com and are parteners with several other online business (like Match.com, ticketmaster.com etc.)
Your case is so funny. Can I have your permission to copy in several webpages of http://www.victimsofexpedia.com ?
Of course, I’ll refer to your blog to let people know the original source.
March 13, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Roux-Yeah. She clearly LIED to me.
John- GAH! I was just about to rent a car on Hotwire. As long as you link it to me, you’re welcome to repost where ever you want.
March 13, 2008 at 2:44 pm
[...] I was talking to a bag of hammers…. [...]
March 14, 2008 at 12:01 am
Okay, THAT is why I NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER EVER go through third parties or vendors. That and because I worked in customer service for almost 5 years and I can say from PERSONAL experience that there are only two kinds of people who work in third party or outsourced companies:
Those who are extremely smart, but unfortunately do not speak ENGLISH.
Those who couldn’t find their butts with two hands and a map.
March 14, 2008 at 11:48 am
I feel your pain. This is the kind of stuff I deal with on a DAILY basis.
If there’s a moron tree out there, and I’m sure there is, I’ve had to deal with all the ones who fall out of it.
Thank goodness stupidity isn’t contagious!!
http://petpeeves.getpaidfrom.us/
March 14, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Person- This woman truly must have had an IQ of 4.
Tvjunkie- GAH! LOL @ moron tree.
March 17, 2008 at 11:19 am
So, um, you might have already said but humor me cuz I’m a nimrod like the bag o’ hammers…where ya going? I only ask cuz we’re off to NOLA tomorrow for a week with the fam over Easter. No chance y’all will be there too?
March 17, 2008 at 12:54 pm
HA! Bring your shorts! It’s hot there!