I knew they had a terrible online reputation (1.2 out of 5, with 1 being the lowest option), but I didn’t know they are, basically, thieves and can somehow think they can get away with something so obviously illegal.
They are a Singaporean company? Singapore protects them as they illegally take money from consumers?
Trip sent me the following message: "If you cancel the chargeback and contact us before the departure of the first flight segment, we will honor the TripFlex package and process the promised refund of USD 378.80 accordingly.
If you choose not to withdraw the chargeback, to prevent further losses, we will have to cancel your round-trip booking before departure. In this case, no refund will be issued to you, and any refundable amounts will be retained by us."
So, when I asked for a refund and Trip offered a very low sum (which seemed obviously in violation of their policy that I paid for), I asked PayPal to investigate and to either delay sending my payment or to withdraw it and investigate the deceptive practices behind Trip’s (fake) “Easy Cancellation” system (which is not easy and does not seem to lead to a cancellation or refund).
Trip is telling me that unless I withdraw a legitimate complaint to PayPal, it will cancel my entire round-trip booking and keep all my money.
This is outrageous. A company is threatening to steal money from customers to pressure them into abandoning a legitimate complaint.
I have to check on this but for now it looks like deceptive business practices and unlawful coercion.
I am a retired teacher. I worked hard for over 25 years in poorer neighborhoods to save up some money for my retirement. I paid for this trip in good faith.
I just have to say it - Trip seems like a criminal organization and I do not understand why hotels or airlines would partner with them.
I am sharing this publicly because other travelers deserve to know how Trip treats customers.
There are more ethical travel companies to choose from. Please do not support what amounts to a criminal organization operating out of Singapore to defraud Americans.
This is completely lawless behavior - I am sending this out into the world to let you know that there are more ethical travel sites to use. Please do not support a site that basically steals money - anyone could be next.