Out in the orbit of Orbitz

Unmentioned in our story on the Detroit Auto Show was getting to Detroit and back. Going was uneventful; returning was not.

On returning from Detroit, I called Avistar at LaGuardia after picking up my bags; I was told to walk outside. I did, and waited a while, then called again to make sure they knew where I was – I was asked which flight I had taken, and I said Northwest but that I was at the Delta terminal. While I was on the phone, the shuttle flew by, without slowing or stopping. I was told another was following, and would be by in a couple of minutes.

Ten minutes later, I called again, and was told to wait another couple of minutes. I asked if I should just get a cab and go to the parking lot, and the woman said no and hung up.

The next time I called, she just hung up as soon as I said who I was.

I had to wait for nearly an hour outside in the freezing wind with two heavy bags, waiting for a shuttle. I finally took a cab, at $5 plus a $5 tip (to help compensate for losing his spot in line), and found that the shuttle was sitting right in the parking lot, and four people were waiting in the warm booth.

Had they been honest in the first place I could have been home at a reasonable time. The plane was only delayed a few minutes, but their complete incompetence and lack of caring left me outside in a cold wind, with two heavy bags, walking back and forth until I was sensible enough to ignore their promises and take a taxi.

Hanging up on me was also anger-provoking but at least it finally got me into a taxi.

The irony here is that I used Avistar - which owns other airport parking services, by the way - largely to avoid standing outside in the cold for an hour, which is what invariably happens when I hire a car service. (New York area airports were all set up without any thought of linking to mass transit systems - especially ironic in Newark, by the way, since the airport is so close to the PATH rail system and the Northeast Corridor line used by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit; the Port Authority operates both PATH and Newark Airport but didn’t think to hook the two up!). With car services, I’ve found the routine to be calling from the airport, being told to wait outside for two minutes, and then getting picked up an hour later. The theft rate from the airports was a disincentive for driving and parking myself, then walking; that and the knowledge that I’d be festooned with heavy auto-show-covering gear.

Thanks to Avistar, Orbitz’s chosen provider of parking services, I ended up with heavy equipment slung over my back in the freezing wind for an hour anyway.

I did try complaining to Avistar; they said I hadn’t been there. Then I tried writing to their head office, but got no response. Then I tried Orbitz, which gives an e-mail address to send complaints to; they responded after a day telling me to call. I called and got passed off four times (each time they had to verify my record number, name, and address, of course), to someone who called Avistar, couldn’t get through, and told me to call back. When I did…you might have guessed…they wouldn’t put me through to the right department without demanding my record number. By then, of course, they couldn’t find me. Suddenly my record number was invalid. Yes, the same one I had used the day before. Oh, and my name and phone number apparently were gone, too.

Orbitz is supposed to send out a satisfaction survey to all customers within two weeks of their trip. I’m still waiting for mine, without optimism.

Well, a long time ago, a company named TARP did some research and found people who were angry at bad service told ten friends about it. I hope I’ve reached at least ten people today. As for the money I laid out, I have left it in VISA’s hands. We’ll see if I end up paying for services not rendered.