Help Me Hank: Paying Double

It's such a sweet occasion, this time we just can't resist showing you the happy ending first!

Frances, Kristy and little Victoria all arrived in Boston from Memphis to celebrate Angie's wedding! But this family reunion was almost a financial disaster.

Now let us go back to the beginning. The bride's mom, Barbara, went online to purchase airplane tickets for her family to come to Boston. She clicked and selected and finally purchased tickets and here is the important part.

Hank
"How many tickets did you want to buy?"

Barbara
"I was going to buy three tickets."

One for Frances, one for Kristy, and one for Victoria, makes sense.

Barbara
"I thought everything was done, I had three tickets and I was happy with my purchase."

But when Barbara got her e-mail purchase confirmations, they showed she had purchased six tickets!

Hank
"Would you have bought six tickets?"

Barbara
"No, I was only purchasing for three people."

Hank
"Did you want six?"

Barbara
"No, no way. I wanted three."

Big computer error, Barbara thought! And easy to fix. But when she called customer service, the company said they would cancel the three extra tickets, but she would owe them $225 in cancellation fees!

Hank
"So you'd have to pay to cancel tickets you hadn't bought?"

Barbara
"Correct."

Hank
"What did you think?"

Barbara
"I was very angry."

That's why she called "Help Me Hank." We called the company and explained again, Frances, Kristy and Victoria needed only one ticket each for their flight from Memphis to Boston. She would not have purchased two tickets for each person. What's more you shouldn't have to pay to cancel tickets you didn't buy! The cancellation policy was clearly misapplied in this case." Now look at Barbara's latest e-mail, a letter from the company giving her a full refund of the cancellation fee!

Barbara
"Oh, I am so happy. Because at one point I felt I was going to be stuck with the tickets."

And now back to the airport where hugging and smiles make for a happy ending.

So print a copy of every online transaction if there's a problem, it's time to talk to a real person. What battle are you fighting? Maybe I can help. Send it to helpmehank@whdh.com