Help Me Please - I Have A Billing Problem and Nobody Can Help Me

[SolidCactus]

Ok, I redeemed mileage for two tickets, which were supposed to be $5 each. I got billed $636 twice. I called the chairmans desk. They looked up my record and said, I see you were charged $5. It is wonderful that US system says I was charged $5, but I got my Bank of America statement, and I was charged $636 per ticket. I have now been trying to resolve this for three days and I have yet to speak to someone who can help me. I have talked to two chairmans reps, both of which took a lot of time looking up my record and helping me the best that they could, and I'm so appreciative... One transferred me to "International Reservations" in Tempe, I spoke to a nice lady there but she too could not help me. Do any HUMANS work in REVENUE? Or is this just an unattended computer that keeps asking for you to enter a ticket number.

I do not want this to be a forum issue, someone PLEASE email me or private message me with a contact person or a fax number where I can send my statement and copies of my reservation. I don't have time to keep speaking to someone new everyday who eventually transfers me to a recorded message.

Thank you in advance for anyone here who can help me.

 

[JS]

I agree. I would have called the bank to dispute the charge after the first failed call with US.

One time, National Car Rental didn't give me a receipt. I called the main number and they said they would send it to me, but they didn't. I don't waste my time dealing with morons more than once, so I called American Express, and they dealt with National. Miracles of miracles, they were able to produce a receipt and mail it to me, rather than watch American Express refund to me $550 from National's account.

 

[SolidCactus]

I dont like causing problems for anyone. When people file chargebacks against my company I get livid. It causes our accounting department so much extra work... I dont like being a lousy customer to any company, because my company has enough lousy customers that I really appreciate good customers.

If there is any way to solve it first, one on one - I'd rather just do it that way. Bank of America is no piece of cake either. It took me three transfers among Indian reps just to get to an American, and I explained the situation to her, and she said she too would rather me try to rectify it with US first before filing the chargeback.

 

[US1YFARE]

I dont like being a lousy customer to any company,

You can't be serious. :blink: THEY ARE A LOUSY COMPANY!!!! They just screwed you and you are worried about them thinking you are a bad customer? Geez Louise they are lucky you still fly them.

 

[JS]

I dont like causing problems for anyone. When people file chargebacks against my company I get livid. It causes our accounting department so much extra work... I dont like being a lousy customer to any company, because my company has enough lousy customers that I really appreciate good customers.

If there is any way to solve it first, one on one - I'd rather just do it that way. Bank of America is no piece of cake either. It took me three transfers among Indian reps just to get to an American, and I explained the situation to her, and she said she too would rather me try to rectify it with US first before filing the chargeback.

The easiest way to avoid all chargebacks, whether they're legit or not, is to stop accepting credit cards. Otherwise quit whining; it's part of the cost of doing business with plastic.

 

[SolidCactus]

The easiest way to avoid all chargebacks, whether they're legit or not, is to stop accepting credit cards. Otherwise quit whining; it's part of the cost of doing business with plastic.

Yeah yeah yeah... Point well taken. It is just a shame though how much money it costs a company to accept credit cards, and yet there is such bad service from Visa/MC and the issuing banks. For what everyone pays, the least they could do is put people who speak English well on the phones and let us talk to people who can get things done....

 

[hp_fa]

The company could always opt to not accept credit cards..... Think how much they would save!

 

[luvn737s]

deleted

 

[JS]

Yeah yeah yeah... Point well taken. It is just a shame though how much money it costs a company to accept credit cards, and yet there is such bad service from Visa/MC and the issuing banks. For what everyone pays, the least they could do is put people who speak English well on the phones and let us talk to people who can get things done....

good luck, and keep us informed on getting your money back

 

[US Oringinal]

Make sure you contact your credit card company quickly to challenge the charges. If the Tempe BrainTrust "ala cartes" us into bankruptcy again, there may not be anything you can do...so act fast....

 

[lildutchgrl]

When that happened to me I filed all the paperwork through my bank. It was fairly quick to get reversed once the paperwork for a Fraudulent charge was filed through my bank.

 

[SolidCactus]

I hate to do this because I like you and you've been a welcome addition to this and other boards. I have a contact that could help you in a heartbeat. Sadly I'm not giving it to you and here is the reason why.

1. I'm tired of doing Tempe's heavy lifting behind the scenes to help colleagues here and on other boards get things done. With all of the cuts What's In It For Me?? NOTHING is W.I.I.F.M.

2. When they stop managing via fear and intimidation I'll reconsider.

3. It's long past time for each and every customer to hold Tempe accountable for their incompetence.

If Tempe has enough time to read what is posted here and elsewhere then they have enough time to address your issues. I'm very sorry, but for me the Big Bad Bobby Isom and his Waffen SS reading posts was the last straw. They want a war with their customers I'll oblige them.

It's ok Bob. I respect you and I think it's great that you are passionate about what you believe in...

I'll be fine. Sooner or later, I will find a way to get it resolved. There have even been a few US employees that have PM'd me with suggestions. Thank you

 

[olivia]

cactus:

This time when you call back in to your special desk.......give them the actual ticket numbers that came on the receipt...or get them from the credit card company.

It is possible that your fare was incorrectly stored....and incorrectly fared. (QIK PROBLEMS!)..

or your credit card number was somehow attached to another record also a common error.

human error on that one.

Ask for a supervisor...sometimes some of the new people don't know what to look for or
where to look.

Ticket numbers definitely will bring the problem to light..and they can refund you fairly quickly!

 

[TheLarkAscending]

I dont like causing problems for anyone.

No one has seemed to mind causing you no amount of inconvenience. Wasting valuable time, energy and grief over this and you still don't want to cause them problems?

How much do you charge, an hour, for your services? If you aren't earning your hourly rate with the time you've spent on this issue, it is no longer a productive activity.

Seems to me you've already wasted far too much time being considerate to no avail. No matter the industry or specific company being discussed here, get the recompense you've rightly deserved in the most efficient and satisfactory method possible.

Time is money.

 

[SolidCactus]

Guys, a special thanks to all of you who helped me. I will explain how this happened, because some of you may be interested. It was mostly my fault... US was right, I was wrong.

A super special thank you to Ms. Walker from "Executive Offices" - she was incredible. She figured everything out and even called me three times today while she was working on it. This was truly customer service at it's best.

Ok, so there is a short version of this story, and a long version... So the shortened version of the story is...

A) It was all my fault.

B ) Ms. Walker at US Airways Executive Offices was incredible, and provided amazing customer care.

C ) If the website was a little bit easier to use, and had more information about previous flights, and showed flights that were booked via the phone, I wouldn't have had to ask for help.

Now for the long version, if anyone is interested...

Ok, so here is what happened. The whole senario was basically all my fault, but I would have been able to figure it out on my own if the "res system" was a bit better. Bank of America also put the wrong description on my statement.

An important piece to remember for this incident is... When you do a phone reservation with US Airways, for whatever reason, the itinerary does not show up online under your Divident Miles account.

Ok, so back to step one. I booked a round trip for me and another person for June 11 - June 12 via the Chairmans desk. This round trip was from AVP/PHL PHL/ORD. We both took the AVP/PHL leg. PHL/ORD was delayed by 4 hours. I hopped on Southwest. When I got to MDW, I called US and explained that I skipped a leg, but to please protect my reservation because I really was in Chicago, and I needed to get home tomorrow. Ok... that was done. So...

Now its June 12, and I'm getting ready to return home. I checked the flight status, and it was now delayed 2 hours. I had not yet gone to the airport. I checked the board at the hotel for Southwest, and they were not delayed. I bought the Southwest ticket 1 hour before the flight, via phone, and went to MDW. I called US, and told them again, that the flight I was on was delayed, and I just want to get home, so I'm jumping on Southwest. I asked if they would protect my PHL/AVP even though I was jumping again. They said they would, as long as I didnt mind that I had non refundables. I totally didnt care about a refund, I just wanted to get back home. (The delays were weather, and ORD blows. Once ORD backs up, forget it).

I also had award tickets for AVP/PHL roundtrip on June 13.

So my statement comes, and it says this...
6/12 US Airways
AVP/PHL Roundtrip $636.00

6/12 US Airways
AVP/PHL Roundtrip $636.00

I immediately think that it is because I was charged for the 6/13 award ticket, since that was the only time I flew AVP/PHL roundtrip. It turns out, since i never took the ORD flight, Bank of America used AVP/PHL Roundtrip as the descriptor. If it has said AVP/ORD Roundtrip, I would have known this is what it was.

So before I started blaming US for messing up my charge, I spent about an hour trying to figure out if this was somehow my fault (I am used to it usually being my fault, so I really try to give others the benefit of the doubt). Since phone reservations don't show up online in your Dividend Miles account, I totally forgot that I had even went to ORD. I had printed out my past trips, and the ORD tickets never showed up there, because I did a phone reservation... I just assumed I was billed for the AVP/PHL award.

I know, you're saying, how could you not remember? It was a month ago, and I fly every week. I really didnt even remember going to ORD, but when Ms. Walker asked me - "Did you do some kind of roundtrip to ORD and then not take certain legs", I was like, CRAP, yes...

So there you have it.

Thank you all again, for those of you who PM'd me and offered advice.
I really appreciate everything...