Clark's beef with Orbitz

Clark has a personal experience of customer-no-service to relate that dovetails very nicely with all the talk of the ACSI results and the Business Week cover story. The penny-pinching guru was recently in Orlando with his associate producer Joel, marking his 10th anniversary of syndication at WDBO. The affiliate wanted Clark to book his own hotel because Clark usually thinks they overpay for his accommodations. Clark enlisted Christa's help, and she found rooms for $57/night on Orbitz. Being 24 years old and a lover of CouchSurfing.com, Joel does not have high standards when it comes to hotels. But even he thought the place was a dump! So Joel and Clark immediately checked out. Clark went on Hotwire and found a last-minute place that was great. Then he called Orbitz to get a refund of what he paid for the first hotel. He initially spoke to a lovely customer service rep in Mauritius, but was then bumped around 7 times to different people with no resolution. Each time he had to explain his situation anew. It was like Groundhog Day. Clark also tried e-mailing Orbitz but didn't get any response. He doesn't like to use his platform to air personal vendettas, but this just goes to show that even consumer advocates can get the short end of the customer-no-service stick.