Wholesale-Flights

Had to take WholeSale flights to court in order to get my money back! Scam!

I recently flew Sydney - London - North America and NY - Sydney. I should have been suspicious when I first booked the flights as I have to chase them the whole time to get things done but despite that I had good flights to the UK and Canada.

However having turned up to catch my flight to Chicago I found that the booking had been cancelled by United's fraud department leaving me stuck. I had to purchase an additional ticket at outrageous rates to continue my trip. No explanation from Wholesale flights on the subject and still (1 month later) waiting for a refund.

Despite booking the flight in June my return flights in December never good confirmed and it required constant emails (forget the phone they never talk to you). Finally I got a flight at the last minute and not even close to the flight I had paid for it was a 30 hour all stops.

NEVER use these guys if something goes wrong you have no comeback. Their customer service skills are non existent and it is impossible to call them.

I am still fighting to get my money back!

Come on, guys... 5 stars? I don't think so. Check out the profiles of all the "people" who reviewed the wholesale-flights.com site. They ALL have only made one review (for this one site) AND they ALL became members in June 2013. Plus, if you really read the reviews, they ALL mention someone's name at the company that they loved. "Kevin did great... Mark was awesome..." Yeah... okay. When's the last time you saw pages and pages of practically identical reviews? Only when they are fake... that's when.

Don't believe the many 5 star reviews... they are written by wholesale-flights.com (wf) themselves! I'm sure after I post this one, they will post a bunch of theirs to push mine to the bottom. After my wife got sick & we had to cancel our flights, Delta actually refunded our money with a letter from her Dr. They were non refundable tickets..."thanks, Delta". However, the refund was sent to the consolidator wf uses in Venezeula. They have a scam on converting US $ into Venezeula $ & make money on the conversion. And, we got NOTHING back! WF says the tickets are nonrefundable... even if Delta actually refunded the tickets to them! Avoid WF at all costs! They will steal your money if given the chance.

I was looking to get price quotes and the guy calling from this company (*******337 was the number that showed up) was so obnoxious and rude. And that was just price quotes! After answering all his questions, he still couldn't provide anything. I can't imagine anyone doing business with these people. It's a complete fraud.

Booked a Business Class reservation BNA-LIS ended up in coach
Arriving 12 hours late and all night layover in LHR. NO REFUND
Do Not even talk to these people.

Total scam. Somehow we became enrolled (possibly by failing to opt out of enrollment while purchasing a ticket) and we began receiving a credit card charge of 9.95 a month. Tried to call to find out what this was about and could not get through. When we finally got through found out that this monthly charge (apparently) gets us "coupons". Have filed fraud claim with our credit card and with FTC

I would never book with WholeSale-Flights EVER again! We have been trying to use some vouchers they gave us for already inconveniencing my husband and I on a flight they booked us on 8 months ago. Now that we are ready to use these vouchers, we have been trying to book a flight now for 3 weeks with them. We are continually getting put on hold, disconnected and if we are lucky to get through we are having to listen to excuse after excuse as to why no one has responded and after calling numerous times a day as well as emailing we are not getting any responses from anyone that actually allows us to go ahead and book. These people are dishonest, do not see their clients as customers with a right to be treated well and do not accept responsibility for anything. I have never in all my life been so frustrated with a company and the only thing I can think of that might help is to write this to warn others to not call this company even if its just to inquire. It is seriously not worth it. We are planning to fly in 2 weeks and still have not been able to actually go ahead and book the flights.

Logged on to their website looking for a good deal for flights to London. Found a good price and the website stated that I needed to call and talk with a rep. Website even states that the reps can find lower prices. So, I called. Twice I was disconnected, once told to call back later and the last time, I got a rep but when I gave him the info on the flight I needed, the price had jumped over $200 per person. I ask about the price showing on their website and was told that ticket probably had been sold (they sell only one ticket at the price shown on the website?). I smell scam? The rep stated that the only price available was as he had stated. A little angry, I told him to take the discount price off the website NOW! Then I hung up. Immediately, I emailed customer service. Still waiting for an answer.

If this is the way they do business, STAY AWAY!

WATCH OUT. SCAMMERS all the way. Wholesale Flights is more than a bait and switch operation. Their dishonesty goes beyond that. When you buy a ticket from them they ask you to fill in a "Security Release Form". The very very small very fine print on the bottom tells you that if you don't check the box at the bottom of the page they will start charging your credit card a $9.95 subscription monthly fee. If you don't track your credit cards carefully, you'll be paying them forever.
In addition - the way they saved me money on the one flight I bought from them was to buy two overlapping round trip tickets - and then only sent me information on the two legs of the trip I was flying on. I didn't realize what they'd done until I went to the airport on the first leg.
I'm trying to get my money back from the monthly subscription fee but they're wholly unhelpful. This group is deceptive and dishonest. WATCH OUT.

I requested a call back, gave them two email addresses and still get no response according to their site. If I hadn't felt uneasy about their privacy policy that states they can use your information in a different way then they state in the agreement then i may not have googled them and found this site. I'd say the only good reviews are probably those working for the company or something like that because i'm not getting a real professional feel from their behaviors thus far!

Misleading on prices. The price post on the site is $400 less than when you call to book the flight. BAD agent worst communication skills. They basically don't care what people think of them. I told them that they shouldn't misleading people to their site because people might give them bad reviews then she just hung up on me.

Wholesale Flights lied and cheated me when I was seriously ill and did so with full knowledge and shameless intent.
I contacted this company after having heart surgery and thinking I was well enough to travel and see SE asia. The main point I made with this company was that it was possible that I may have to cancle due to health reasons, I simply didn't know and wanted to be cautious. The "travel agent" I spoke to Lana and she sold me a one way ticket to Bang$#*! Thailand at what she assured me was a fantastic whole sale price of just under $1000. 00. She said to be able to retain this price considering my concern that I may have to cancel due to health problems she was going to send me a form to sign. When the form arrived I read it and it said that if I cancelled I would forfit the ticket price. I called Lana and asked what this ment, she knew that canceling was my main concern. She replied that she was well aware of my problem and informed me that this was a formality, that if I cancelled there would be an insignificant fee and not to worry. I signed the form, I suppose I simply couldn't conceive that someone would be so completely corrupt to steal from someone as ill as I was.
Shortly after I sent her that form I had severe chest pain, called an ambulance was admitted to the hospital and had 5 stents implanted. I was too ill to travel and called Lana and told her so. She told me to send information from my physician saying I could not travel and I did. Lana sent me another form saying that Wholesale Flights would reimburst me a sum just above $200.00 if I signed that form which cleared Wholesale Flights any further financial obligation to me. I refused, that was 3 years ago. I am finally well enough to try to recover my money plus damages.
So far I have discovered that I was charged appx. Twice the price of the flight. I also found that had I taken that flight to Bang$#*! Thailand without an exit, I wouldn't have been permitted in that country. So had I traveled I would have been harmed further. It is not hard to believe that Lana knew this. My opinion is that she wanted me in such a dilemma with the hope that she could, hopefully steal from me again.
I will give Wholesale Flights a chance to make me whole, but I'm not optimistic. I want my money back, damages for theft by deception and opportunity costs for the money that I was cheated, it would be nice to have the money for my medical expenses, which are extensive. However if it comes to it, I don't care if my attorneys get what I paid and more.
Preying on the sick and weak is disgusting and I am willing to expose Wholesale Flights and Lana who, in retrospect, I see as unbelieveabley cold and wicked and was intent on stealing my money. I am aware that I offered Lana way too much trust and if nothing else works I will post this, my true story with Wholesale Flights, everywhere that I can to warn others that this company, Lana and I assume a criminal culture bred by this company that offered me the likes of Lana.
I see that this site rates wholesale flights good overall. My story is true so I question why so many would bother to write a positive review. I contend that people would not, not so many. You may accept this insult and deal with these crooks of use common sense and assume that they are writing their own reviews.

I paid $4,000 for a round trip ticket to Tokyo October 09. When I arrived at LAX to check I had a reservation but the ticket was not paid for so I had to buy another ticket on the spot. No one retruned my calls until I got back to the USA. Then it was all a big mistake, never happened before promised to make it right by providing a ticket for my next trip for free. Guess what! Feb 11, they won't return my calls and they stonewall my e-mails and are switching or blocking their e-mail addresses. Naturally I am planning on going after them but it the meantime BEWARE

UPDATED directly from the BBB

Consumer's Original Complaint:
I have been trying to reach the Revenue Protection Department of Delta Airlines for over one month to report a company operating outside of Delta T&C.
On or about April 14th, 2015 I "purchased" what I thought was a discounted business class ticket from a company I found online, Wholesale-Flights out of Burlingame, CA. When I received a receipt (attached) indicating a charge of $129.30 was to my AMEX and a withdrawal of 245,000 points from Sky Miles account ending in xxxx363, I became very suspicious and began digging. My Sky Miles account does not end in 363, I do not nor have I ever had 245,000 Delta Sky Miles. I do not know anyone that travels Delta and certainly not anyone nice enough to give me 245,000 miles. I was able to ascertain the owner of that Sky Miles account is a female, so it further supports my suspicions on how this company operates. I then received a 2nd receipt from the company charging my AMEX for $5779. 20. Now, I'm not a math wizard, but when I buy a ticket, I don't ever think it is coming to me via an award travel ticket. That is not what their website says and furthermore they claim to have "exclusive contracts" with airlines that do not allow them to publish the fares or carrier online. So... somebody is lying big time, the question is WHO? My question #1: is Delta truly a partner with Wholesale Flights and does Delta have an "exclusive contract" with Wholesale Flights as their website claims to be? #2 Does Delta knowingly condone this unethical exchange of miles in their program, thereby creating a whole business of buying and selling airline miles? #3 Why hasn't Mr. Parker from the Revenue Protection department ever returned my phone calls and emails over the last month? #4 Why has an inhibitor been placed on MY Sky Miles account when I have done nothing wrong? If anything it should be placed on the 363 account any any accounts Wholesale Flights has. #5 The MOST Important question I have is who is the female who's account ends in xxx363? The ticket was purchased through her account using my AMEX that was NOT authorized to be used in that manner. I thought I was simply buying a ticket, not this complicated unethical shady award miles seat for nearly $6k. The profits this company is making are being taken away from Delta and putting passengers at risk of losing their trip and having it cancelled as I am sure you are aware. I have my suspicions, but I want a full detailed description on the origin of those 245,000 miles and how they ended up in my lap for $5779. 20. I was told by one representative that the ticket was purchased with AMEX points not through Delta, and another rep telling me it was legitimately purchased with miles on Delta. Which is it and which should I believe? Let me make it clear; I am not seeking anything other than information or courtesy of a response and explanation. This information is key in my quest to recover my money from AMEX. Please provide this information so that I can put this issue to rest and move on with things.

Sincerely,

ME

Consumer's Desired Resolution:

I want to know the origin and detailed tracking flow of the 245,000 points that were used to purchase the above ticket ************** on April 14,2015 along with the ip addresses of the origin of booking. I also want to know specifically if Delta has an "exclusive contract" with Wholesale Flights, Inc. from Burlingame, CA and if so, what the details/terms are of that contract. I also want to know why nobody from Delta seems to be overly concerned about it and instead put an inhibitor on my account and essentially punished me for alerting them to fraudulent use of your Sky Miles. Yes I know these are a lot of demands in here, but I do not think they are unreasonable and I certainly am in dire need of this information as soon as possible. Thank you for your help and I am disappointed I had to go to the BBB to get a legitimate response.

Sincerely,

Me

BBB Processing

11/02/2015 web BBB Case Received by BBB
11/02/2015 ljc BBB Case Reviewed by BBB - AB EXT
11/02/2015 Otto EMAIL Send Acknowledgement to Consumer
11/02/2015 Otto EMAIL Notify Business of Dispute - AB
11/20/2015 WEB BBB RECEIVE BUSINESS RESPONSE:
Hello Darren,

We have received a copy of your complaint from the Better Business Bureau regarding the ticket purchased through Wholesale Flights. I appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns.

You purchased a ticket from an online ticket broker that buy and sell SkyMiles and are in no way affiliated with Delta. They advertise 50 - 70% off business class seats which should make the purchaser suspicious. You paid $5,700 for a business class ticket which should have been over $12,000. We get several of these a week and the only thing we can do is close the SkyMiles account that the award ticket was issued from and have the member file a police report. In almost all cases the member doesn't bother filing the police report since they usually travel on the award ticket.

The broker deposited 245,000 American Express Reward points into the account on April 14,2015 and your ticket was issued that same day. The broker usually deposits just enough into the account to cover the cost of the award ticket. Revenue Protection, Loyalty and Legal have tried several times in the past to close down the brokers but there are hundreds of them and thousands of customers willing to buy and sell their miles.

Below is a link to an article describing how the ticket brokers operate.

http://www.awardtraveler.com/articles.asp?articleno=27

I hope this has provided some clarification for you. Thank you again for sharing your concerns.

Regards,

Name Deleted...

*****STAY AWAY, STAY AWAY, STAY AWAY!***** I WILL MAKE THIS SIMPLE. This company operates at the risk of YOU losing your flight and ruining your vacation or trip. They win 90% of the time or more, but if you check BBB, you will see several "customers" have had that happen and the company refunds their money. Somehow, when I purchased what I thought was a "ticket," I received an email from Delta for $129.30 and 245,000 Sky Miles! I don't have Sky Miles so somebody else's account transferred those miles to me, charged my AMEX for the Delta fees, then a hefty nearly $6000 for 245,000 points by Wholesale Flights. People ask if they sell points, well, indirectly they have to since I have a receipt with somebody else's Sky Miles account and I set out to prove it. I demanded a refund and the owner/COO offered me $2000 IF, IF, IF and ONLY IF I removed any negative comments and left positive ones in their place... He also threatened to sue me for defamation of character for leaving my comments IF I took him to court. So not only have they taken my money, they are now trying to take my freedom of speech. I have not said a word that I can't back up with proof, so if that doesn't tell you everything you need to know about this company, then I don't know what does. IMO, it seems I'm being paid to remove negative comments and leave false positive ones int their place. I could be wrong, but it sure does feel that way to me. IF you're feeling lucky go ahead and book it with them, if you're not, then suck it up and just go in economy. At least you know you will get on the flight and not have your ticket cancelled. Side note, I tried resolving it directly with the company directly, now it is with the BBB and next will be court. Look elsewhere if you want quality customer service, a real ticket (not a hidden award ticket that they shuffle miles around and then charge you ridiculous amounts.) Not to mention unscrupulous representatives that lie to you. My so called "agent" promised me he wouldn't book the flight without my final consent... well, you know how that went and shame on me for giving my cc #. I just thought it was to hold the ticket since he said I had a time frame in which to lock that fare in. High pressure sales tactics, bait and switch fares and despite what their website claims, they DO NOT HAVE EXCLUSIVE CONTRACTS WITH ANY AIRLINES! That statement is a flat out lie and it baffles me how they can leave it up there. Also, simply by using their site, your are agreeing to what is called a browse wrap (check Terms and Conditions at the bottom of their site.) Furthermore, they claim they occasionally "gift" customers points/miles. Anyone knows you can't gift miles to strangers and a customer is still a stranger and you can't gift miles... Do your homework, check the BBB complaints, resolutions and do a general search on forums and other people's horrible experiences. Many are strikingly similar in their circumstances. IT'S NOT WORTH THE RISK! STAY FAR AWAY!

Service Sucks and they are a total bait and switch operation. They will give you a really low fare on their website and ask you to call. I called them and the first thing I was asked if I was ready to buy tickets today! Apparently they would not spend time looking for tickets if I was not ready to buy today. I was ready. So I said yes. Next thing he asks is if I've checked any prices. I thought the job of the agent was to check prices for me and not ask me for prices. But anyway. I said I had. So he then asks me what was the price I was seeing and which airline. So I gave him the ballpark price I was seeing online. So he does some checking for a couple of minutes and says that he can't find anything for that price and says that the lowest price he can find is almost double of the price I saw. He then says. Can we go to the website where you saw the price and both look at it! I'm like. Hello I called you because you are the travel agent supposed to look for prices and not because I want you to tell me how to search online! I told him that. And he says he's trying to "help me"... and then he decides that he can't con me and asks me to call back when I want to buy tickets! DO NOT USE THIS AGENCY.

Difficult to contact, invariably get their answering machine.

They do not follow through, and ultimately had to take them to small claims court.

Tom had booked us in business class to China and return. Going there was fine. Return was horrible. We found out that he had booked our return on standby and coach. He did send us an email in Hong Kong assuring us that our flight was confirmed. The airline had no record of this Obviously this created a hellish situation with the luggage problems and having horrible seats on the return flight home. No response from the company once we contacted him from the USA. He scammed us into paying for two round trip business class tickets.

I was trying to book tickets from colorado springs to honolulu hawaii on the 1st of december and i get a price on there website for 150 dollars. So i call the 800 number and the "so called' travel agency tells me that "right now they don't have a good contract to hawaii from colorado" and i quote him the price online and he telss me with taxes and fees the ticket will cost around 500 dollers. So i ask to my surprise taxes and fees are gonna add up to 400 dollers? And he says yes approximately 400 dollars so i just told him that that is a bunch of bull and hung up!... big time scam be careful!

I booked two tickets to Dusseldorf, Germany, to attend my foreign exchange student's wedding in July of 2010. My husband accompanied me on this flight. First of all, the flights weren't as cheap as advertised on their web site. The agent that I talked to made everything sound wonderful and great. My husband and my flights were fine, but when we returned to our home in Indiana, I noticed a charge on my visa for several months of $9.95. When I called Wholesale Flights, Inc. to inquire about this charge, the agent said that I had agreed to join their travel club for this price per month. I told the agent that I did not agree to join any kind of travel club. He told me to e-mail the company, and that I no longer would be charged this fee. I have sent several e-mails, and I haven't received any response. When I have called the agency to complain about this charge, the agent refers me to his or her supervisor. Then, when the call is supposedly transfered to this supervisor, I am mysteriously disconnected each time. I will never ever travel with this company again. Their customer service is lousy, and they are not what they pretend to be. My advice is "buyer beware!"

Everyone should know that this company is very unprofessional and like an earlier review- it's a bait and switch operation! When they want your money, they are nice. As soon as something goes wrong, they don't accept the responsibility that you are their client. In fact, they give you the run around until you feel so helpless. Here's the case: The company supposedly booked us on a certain rate to leave on a certain day, when in fact there was nothing on the books until 4 days later! When we tried to call them the day the catastrophe happened and there was no one to assist us to even rebook anything or to fix the problem. The people really were apathetic and were rude. They had worked with a consolidator that tried to get a ticket on Friday but it didn't go through the system. Agency never caught it to rebook an actual flight. They do the hard sell and give you the run-around when things go wrong.

Thanks people - I was about to call them but now it is out of the question. Actually all these sites that advertise save 30-70% - still always found the cheapest is to book with the airline - Travelocity, Orbitz, all of them - I don't see where you save a dime.