Wrong destination mistake
 

One for the panel....

A friend of the family has booked a return ticket to Melbourne (AUS) and has been issued with, wait for it....... Melbourne (FL, USA) :hmm: I know not which airline or booking agent etc, but apparently the 'Melbourne' wasn't distinguishable from the less famous version. After explaining this they were told that "no dice, a booking is a booking" which might be caveat emptor, but strangely the website now clearly displays Melbourne (AUS) and Melbourne (FL).

Is there any recourse in such a situation, said people are not well off and it was to visit a newborn grandchild ? I promised that I'd ask more knowledgeable minds, so if anyone has any thoughts that I might pass on, please could they oblige ?

This has happened many times before and has been discussed in here before - although not for some time, I think.

As far as I recall (notice the deep caution!) the agent has to verify the destination. For example, whilst many people asking for a ticket to 'Sydney' would mean the big city in New South Wales, others might mean the town of Sydney in Nova Scotia.

If the agent did not notice that there was more than one Melbourne on the system, it is likely to be their fault. For example, Wikipedia lists 5 Melbournes is the USA alone Melbourne (disambiguation) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, so why did they not check which of THOSE five it was??? The link also mentions three Melbourne's in England and two in Canada. Since the New World, Oz and NZ were all populated by Europeans, it might have occurred to this travel agent that there is a good reason why a certain town was first called New Amsterdam and then renamed to New York. :rolleyes:

Interesting
 

From where to destination.????

If an agent then different problem.

If on line then no potentally no comeback.

I would think the fare/routing might have give the game away if on line or agent.

Good luck resolving.

As far as I'm aware it was booked online, but am unsure if it was direct with an airline or through a (UK) long-haul specialist. Would that fact change anything for them ? As pointed out there are many duplicate cities around the globe, but you would've hoped that the most popular or 'trended' (to be groovy) of those would be the first shown ?

From London (LHR) to Melbourne. As to the fare, I think it was in the ball-park of what a return to AUS costs these days!

The famous pax from London (England) who actually travelled, by Air Canada and changing in Toronto, to arrive there before they found they were in the wrong Sydney, were not as silly as you may imagine.

Their booking website (don't know if agent or AC) listed, on consecutive lines, Sydney NS and Sydney NSW for these two, with no further guidance as to which was which. In fact, looking at the Star Alliance (Air Canada) timetable PDF just now I see they are now shown as Sydney NS AU and Sydney NS CA, which is ludicrous given the likelihood for confusion. Air Canada serves both and offers through ticketing from London to both.

How did they pay? If it was by credit card they might find some help through that route. It's arguable that the service they paid for hasn't been provided.

I agree...

If the fare(s) were paid for by credit card, as would have been the case booking on the internet, if the other avenues fail to get your money back, the card company would be the next one to chat to!

Cheers :)

Here's an article on the BBC which includes the Sydney/Sydney mistake and some others.

I've heard of people trying to get to Vancouver Washington State (across the river from Portland) arriving in Vancouver BC. However in these days of Passport requirements that, fortunately is unlikely to happen again.

The credit card idea is worth trying, although the agent will presumably respond that they have in fact provided the item that the client actually ordered (albeit in error).

But I think it would be worthwhile trying again with the agent directly, if possible with someone more senior than the "front line" customer service people (whose primary mission is probably to make problems go away). I'm assuming that the fare from UK to Melbourne (USA) is less than the fare to Melbourne (Aust). So it would presumably be in the agent's interest to correct the booking and charge the higher fare. I mean, what car dealer would refuse to take back a Ford Fiesta when the customer realised he really wanted the BMW?

I'm sure that if the client ends up having to buy a new ticket to Melbourne (Aust), he/she will not buy it from that particular agent. So what is the advantage to the agent of not helping the customer in this instance?

If all this is explained politely to someone who understands the economics of the situation, it may be fixable.

Some less well known similar names exist. Mate of mine bought 4 tickets to visit his daughter in Norway, nearest airport Rygge. Having been told verbally the destination, he booked the flights to Riga. Needless to say he got no compensation from RYR for his mistake.

"His mistake". You said it.

I would have thought the itinerary indicating a change in planes in Altanta, Georgia or Charlotte, North Carolina (the only airports from which you can fly to Melbourne, FL) would have been a dead give-away.

It might be obvious to you but there are still may people who are not well travelled. Not everyone is a master at geography either.

I once checked in some honeymooners, and commented on their unusual choice of destination....Mauretania...of course, they thought they were heading for Mauritius..whoops!
Also had people heading for Naples, Italy, when it should have been Naples Florida...

I once encountered United loading up at two adjacent gates in Chicago, for Springfield and Springfield. One is in Illinois and one is in Missouri. I wonder just how many transposed bookings they get.

Had an agent once who booked LHR -FCO -DKR (Dakar in Senegal) for some poor guy who wanted to go to DAC in Bangladesh. The pax actually travelled and arrived in DKR and it was a hell of a job to get him back again.

From accounts of the recent Costa cruise ship sinking :

'People Falling Everywhere': Cruise Critic Member Shares Her Story Escaping From Stricken Cruise Ship - Costa Cruises

"Survivors of the disaster ..... the cruise line did pay for food, the hotel and their airfare home, Fleser said, although they booked them on a flight to Albany, Georgia, instead of Albany, New York -- a mistake the family discovered in the Atlanta airport."

A number of years ago a BA flight from Kingston Jamaica had two passengers who questioned why the Captain had given information about their destination, Gatwick, as they were going to Heathrow.

It transpired that as you board on foot in Kingston via the apron these two ,who were booked on Air Jamaica to Heathrow, had walked up the steps of the BA aircraft parked next door.


By chance their seat numbers were unoccupied and the crew did not notice two extras!


The CSD took the bizarre course of action by not telling the Captain and assuring the passengers that BA would provide transport for them from Gatwick to Heathrow. He ended up slinging trays at the back end of the aircraft after a disciplinary.

Credit card
 

Unless there's been fraud and the ticket was bought as sold the credit card co. Aren't interested.

In the 1980s an elderly couple drove from Birmingham to Plymouth to take the car ferry to Santander.

They carefully followed all the signs "To the Car Ferry" and drove on to the ferry when waved forward.

The ferry set off, and a few minutes later arrived at Torpoint, across the Tamar/Hamoaze. Slightly confused at not having had time for a good rest, but prepared to make the best of it, they drove off the ferry. As they did so, they stopped to ask a crew member the best way to Madrid.

They were returned on the same ferry, with some advice about how to get to the Santander ferry.