Traveler HelpDesk
Reviews and Complaints

This is a complaint regarding Qantas handling agent TravelerHelpDesk.com

I made a booking on my credit card using my email address for my daughter. On the return leg, she enquired about changing the ticket date. The enquiry was processed at a cost of $500 USD without my authorisation. No email, phone call or other was made to me.

I have contacted Visa to dispute and charge-back the fee and will contact the regulatory body that oversees Qantas.

On 11/17/2016, after searching for the best flight-and-hotel package I could find to visit my daughter at Brandeis in Waltham, MA, during her Spring break on the dates 2/18 through 2/21, I contacted Traveler Help Desk, asked what their rates would be for a flight to Boston and a hotel near Waltham, MA, and let them know the cost of the deal they needed to beat for the flight I found to Boston and a hotel stay at Quality Inn and Suites in Lexington, MA, 5.9 miles from my daughter's location in Waltham, MA. Neal told me he could beat the deal for that hotel and flight using the same flight and hotel. I accepted. On Saturday night, when my daughter got ready to take me to the hotel, she said her GPS couldn't find it. Turns out Traveler Help Desk booked the flight to Boston and a Quality Inn in Lexington, KY. I contacted Traveler Help Desk, thinking they would make it right. The first person I spoke with told me he would do his very best to help. He would contact the hotel manager, ask for a refund, which he could not guarantee I would get, and take my credit card information so he could book a new hotel for me. After being put on hold multiple times, I was informed he had contacted the hotel in Kentucky at which the booking was made, was told a manager was not available, and let me know I might get part of the money back; it would be up to the hotel manager, who could choose to keep the one night's stay cancellation fee. He told me he contacted the hotel in Massachusetts where I thought they had booked my stay, and that hotel was now full. He admitted the person who made the booking made a mistake, and then told me later he never said that. He told me there was no recording to prove whether Neal was in error or I was. I called the hotel I was expecting to get to stay at, and the hotel told me they had rooms available. I called Traveler Help Desk back and told them the hotel said they still had rooms. Maybe multiple rooms opened up between the time he called and the time I called to check this part of their story. Traveler Help Desk put me on hold again, contacted the hotel at which I was expecting to stay, and then asked for my credit card information again so that they could book my stay, which would now be at a higher rate since I was booking last minute instead of three months in advance. I declined. They told me they were still doing their very best, which supposedly meant contacting the hotel in Kentucky at which they had booked my travel. They promised to call me back in 10 to 15 hours, no, 10 to 15 minutes, well on Saturday night, or maybe Sunday. I made other arrangements for my hotel stay, waited for their call, and eventually called them back Sunday night. They told me the hotel manager needed to charge me for one night's stay. I told them that solution was not acceptable. I spoke with Traveler Help Desk again on Tuesday morning, thinking I might get to speak to a manager (which I requested multiple times during multiple calls on Saturday and Sunday, but did not get to do--and I did not try on Monday, but because Monday was President's Day, a holiday). I was again told they would refund only the portion of my trip minus the one night's stay. They also said the recording didn't show they were in error (I don't know if they lied about not having or having a recording; I have been told both). I asked to hear the recording, because I know I asked for a hotel in the Boston area near Waltham, MA. They did not offer to let me hear the recording (if they have it). On Tuesday, I called again, got the same run around, and was not permitted to speak with a Traveler Help Desk manager. On Wednesday, today, I contacted the hotel in Kentucky. The hotel manager said Traveler Help Desk contacted him and told him I changed my mind about where I wanted to stay; they lied to the hotel about what I said. When I explained what happened, the hotel manager said it was clearly a booking error, that he would expect the full amount to be refunded to me, but that the payment was made to Traveler Help Desk, who pays the hotel at the end of the month--that Traveler Help Desk was holding my money, and that I needed to call Traveler Help Desk back (Traveler Help Desk lied to me when they told me the hotel would not refund the full amount). I then called Traveler Help Desk back and spoke with Neal, the person whose name is on the confirmation e-mail I have (which I have also reviewed, and which conveniently do not show the State where the hotel is located, even though one shows the city of Lexington and the country of the USA). He told me the recording showed I didn't ask for a hotel near Boston, that he did not book my travel and hotel, that I booked my travel and hotel separately and he only did the hotel part so there was no way to tell I was planning a hotel stay in the same State I was flying to. I asked to hear the recording. He told me he didn't have access to it. I let him know about two of the e-mails I have which show confirmations of flight and hotel 1 minute apart. In fact, I have 5 e-mails from Traveler Help Desk: 1 showing the flight information on 11/17/16 at 6:14 PM, 1 showing the hotel information at 11/17/16 at 6:14 PM, a hotel confirmation on 11/17/16 at 6:16 PM, and 2 copies of the flight confirmation on 11/17/16 at 6:17 PM. Neal's name is on the confirmation that includes the hotel confirmation code: THAP641792. He lied about the flight and travel not being booked together. He lied about not doing the booking. Their own records have this information. If the recording exists, it would confirm multiple lies on their part. I demanded to speak with the manager. I was put on hold. After a lengthy hold, a supervisor told me he had reviewed the request, saw that he had been told I made an error, and confirmed they would need to withhold the hotel's one night's stay cancellation fee. I summarized for him all the details listed above, citing the multiple lies--including that the hotel manager himself told me they would not charge for what was obviously a booking error. The Traveler Help Desk supervisor told me he would review this information, attempt to request a refund of the full amount of the hotel, would let me know within 24-48 hours, but for now is still withholding the one night's stay. I am not holding my breath. I will write a follow-up if they do refund the full amount. At the very minimum, I expect to receive a full refund of the $212.79 for the hotel stay that Traveler Help Desk booked in the wrong state. A more suitable resolution would include a substantial discount on the flight as well (confirmation code: 7YTY8Q; cost of flight $229.20) since I spent a significant amount of my precious vacation time trying to work with Traveler Help Desk to resolve this issue. I have included images from the hotel pre-confirmation and confirmation e-mails, showing the absence of the State and showing Neal's name. If you want to forward all five of the e-mails I received (including the flight information), let me know where to send them (or how to attach them). Thanks.
Tim Morris
[protected]@mchsi.com

One word SCAM!
Dont do it dont beleive them a bunck of crooks. After msny calls got one that did not hang up. Sent us Air Canada fligth info with Air Canada fligth booking references that did not even exist. Cales Air Canada and the agent told us that theu nee this company because they are on there watch list.
Again dont beleive these incompentant criminals

This company is a scam. Please do not book with them. After your flight is confirmed they email you saying the airline went up in price and they need to pass the charge on. Upon calling the airline they tell me they do not have that ability and that your ticket is in "pending status" so the seat is held with them and unless you pay the price you lose your seat. However they wait until there are no seats left so you have no option,

Upon calling a few days later the tickets are not confirmed. When asking for the rep you spoke with to clear things up they say they don't work there and your tickets have been cancelled. When you call they hang up and put you on hold.

Do not work with them. They tell you can cancel tickets at any time which is also untrue.

Great start ! Booked low rate Qantas domestic flight from Sydney to Melbourne flying on 25th April 2016 for only $119 USD spoke to an agent named Hayden which was not a real name at first place then after booking my flight he sends me an e mail and asked me to click on link for acknowledgment which i did straightway.
To my shocker later that night i saw there were two charges of $119 USD processed from my account instead of only one and on top of that travel insurance with Global Allianz was also done on my ticket without my consent.

I called these guys few times and then finally get hold of the same agent Hayden after 2-3 days and he assures me that duplicate reservation has been cancelled and charges are refunded back and travel insurance is also refunded great i thought now everything is sorted out guess what.

Called them again just one day before my flight to confirm if everything is been done, nothing was done and to totally piss me off that unprofessional agent also cancelled my original booking with Quantas so finally i had no booking to fly from Sydney to Melbourne and money has already been taken from my account what a big scam company it is.

Then i spoke to another agent and he asked me to pay another money to book one more flight from Sydney to Melbourne. So, i already paid them more then $300 AUD and i don't have a flight yet.

Do you really call this a business, well may be a scam business but not helpful for Customers. It's a nightmare and i am still waiting for my refunds and finally ended up paying another $245 to Virgin direct for my flight for 25th

I used TravelerHelpDesk, because my husband used it and saved money on a ticket off published internet fares. Well the (offshore phone bank non-native speaking difficult-to-understand) employee saved me money from the fares I could find that night, but booked a ticket for a night later than I wanted to travel, a mistake I didn't notice because he read me days in numbers rather than days of the week, and I was booking late at night while tired, a mistake. When I noticed the mistake, however, and called back, the employee insisted that that the mistake was mine--as if I would have deliberately booked a flight for a day AFTER the event I wanted to attend, while booking my hotel and car rental on the correct date. Then he informed me that it would cost me so much to change the original ticket (more than $400 on top of the $397 i had paid) that I should just throw out the original ticket and book another one through him for the bargain price of $530, while meanwhile the internet was showing round trips for $410. I called the airline directly, who agreed I couldn't rebook for the night I wanted at a price that made sense, but who also t old me that the actual face value of the ticket in their system was $110 LESS than I paid TravelHelpDesk for it. What a complete screw up. So, I am arriving a day late, losing $175 on a hotel room and car rental, and I will NEVER EVER use this b******t service again. Buyer beware.

One March 8, 2016 I purchased round trip tickets through Travelers Help Desk from Pensacola, FL to Sydney, ACT for $1755.55. I hang up after an hour of speaking to a nice foreign gentleman, only to find out later that my sister and mother purchased the exact flights on the exact day at almost the exact time through Delta.com for $1379.36.

Needless to say, I am not a happy camper. I went to Delta.com myself that evening and the next day and the price was the same; $1369.36. I called
Travelers Help Desk to ask for a refund of the difference. I was disconnected three times. Stayed on the phone and when up the chain of command as they tried to explain to me that was the best price. I sent them a copied and pasted page of the current price today at 12:45 PM. They finally agreed to look at Delta's website. After staying on the phone for almost 45 min., the price jumped to $1900.00. That was their winning comeback! See, we gave you a discount.

I thought I was going to pull my hair out! Finally the top manager decided to refund me $75.00. I told them I would never do business with them again and I had definitely learned my lesson! They were scam artists. Do not waste your time and never expect a refund if they are at fault! Go straight to the airlines and book your own flights! You will save yourself a lot of money, time, and headache!

Beverly Jackson

On 2/12/2016, my wife purchased the ticket to fly to Europe. This company called back on 2/13/206 at 8:20 am to inform her that they can not sell this flight for agreed price. New returned flight has increased waiting time. If we want to keep original flight it would cost us more. We want it to cancel the flight but they refused and hang out. We were so disappointed and ended up canceling the charge on credit card.. Please be very careful with this it look like a scam.

Peter