Mexico Destinations

Review: I walked into Mexico Destinations Inc./ Vuela Bonito y Barato with my wife to buy airplane tickets. I spoke with [redacted], Travel Consultant. While comparing airlines, I informed the travel agent that I would be flying with a dog. The agent assured me that the airline would transport my dog along with us. I purchased a non-refundable ticket from the airline the agent recommended. Later, I called the airline and discovered that it is a published policy not to transport dogs along with passengers, and that our destination would have required a separate procedure involving a pet broker. I had a reasonable expectation that a travel agent would inform me of the conditions of the ticket at the time of purchase. The travel agent failed to do so.Desired Settlement: Cancel the flight and refund the ticket price 888.00.

Business

Response:

From: [redacted]

[mailto:[redacted].com]

Sent: Monday, June 03, 2013 5:08 PM

To: [redacted]@sandiego.Revdex.com.org

Subject: ID [redacted]

On May 2, 2013, Mr.

And Mrs. [redacted] came to the office and inquired about a round-trip flight

to Mexico from Los Angeles. After checking for the cheapest flight, I

recommended [redacted] airlines. They mentioned they would also be traveling with a

dog, a xoloitzcuintli, to their destination. According to the description of

the pet given to me, I told them the dog would be allowed to travel in the

cargo area under the plane, with a fee to be paid to the airline. I told

them that I could not make arrangements for the dog, and I advised them to talk

to the airline directly in regards to that matter. Before their purchase,

I informed them that the tickets were non-refundable, had a 0 value after

departure, and had a fee for modifying it (a mandated fee from the airline, not

us). All this information was in their receipt, which I pointed out to

them. After all this, they decided to go ahead and buy the tickets without

talking to the airline first. At no time did I ever pressure them into buying

the tickets.

18 days later, they

called stating that I had lied to them, that [redacted] would charge them too much

and that they would need to hire a pet broker. When they asked for a refund, I

reminded them that they had purchased a non-refundable ticket. Trying to please

the customer, I told him that I would call the airline to see if something

could be done. After talking to [redacted] for several minutes, I was told there

was nothing they could do because it was a non-refundable ticket. I called the

customer back and explained what [redacted] had told me, at which time he became

irate, cursed me out and proceeded to hang up the phone. We listened to the

customer and did everything to help him out within the airlines policies. I

never lied to the customer. I clearly told him that his dog would not be able

to travel in the cabin with them.

Sincerely,

Mexico

Destinations, Inc.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The agent continues to lie. She did pressure us into buying the tickets, saying that reservations couldn't be made, and that we had to pay cash immediately. We wanted to fly [redacted] as we usually do, which allows dogs to travel as baggage, but the agent convinced us to switch to [redacted] Airlines because it was supposedly less expensive. When I called [redacted], I found out they make a very important distinction between traveling "in the cargo area" and traveling as cargo, which the agent failed to inform us when we were purchasing the tickets. The agent also failed to inform us of the very important condition that a pet broker is required when flying to Mexico with pets traveling as cargo, and that for this flight, we would need to return to the airport the next day to retrieve our pet. At no time did we say that we wanted our dog to travel in the cabin with us. The agent is lying again if she claims we said this.

The supervising customer service agent from [redacted] told me that the agent can request a refund in these cases. The agent has apparently refused to request this refund. I continue to be irate, and I did hang up on the agent when she became rude and refused to listen to what I was saying, but she is lying again when she says I "cursed her out".

I continue to claim that it is a travel agent's responsibility to honestly inform a client of the conditions of airline tickets at the time of purchase. This agent failed to do this, and I ask that the agency refund the price of the tickets.

Regards,