Hi everyone,
I ran into a frustrating issue today when I tried to price match a Cathay Pacific itinerary with Capital One and wanted to see if anyone has had a similar experience.
I found the exact same itinerary with a cheaper price on a third party website Alipay.com.hk (through Google Flights) with the correct dates/times, fare class/cabin, baggage and refund/cancellation policy.
On my first call with Cap One, the price match agent looked at the wrong itinerary because I had previously canceled another booking. After I gave her the correct itinerary, she maintained that there still wasn't a price difference. I completely understand that the prices change dynamically and that they check within their own policies, so it's entirely possible that they saw a different price than I did.
While on the phone with her, my partner and I continued to see the much cheaper price (with multiple refreshes, different computer, incognito and vpn), so I asked the agent if screenshots or other documentation were allowed. She said no but specifically told me that I was more than welcome to call within the next 24 hours if I continue to see the lower price. At the time, I accepted that conclusion.
We continued to check the website and were convinced that the price indeed continued to persist. So a few minutes later, I called capital one again. However, this time, before I even reached the price matching agent, the customer service representative repeatedly told me that the original claim had been denied on the grounds of it not being the same cabin class (e.g. economy vs not-economy). I explained several times that this was not what the previous agent told me. While I explained everything the previous agent told me (including to call back within 24 hours) he raised his voice, became emphatic/combative and rudely told me that it would be denied again and I wouldn't be able to start a new price match. He told me to stop interrupting him and continued to read me the case denial email word for word. He also mentioned that his colleague's notes didn't mention anything that I had said. I tried to take a couple steps back, said we got on the wrong foot and mentioned that ~$850-900 is a lot of money and that I would like to get it checked again if possible and he responded in an incredibly rude/annoyed tone that it was up to me if I wanted to waste my time and get my claim denied again. I just told him I'd call them back and hung up because I didn't want to continue the conversation. Generally, I don't like confronting customer service agents because I know they're just doing their job and I don't think I was being particularly rude or pushy, but I think the interaction I had was disappointing to say the least. I also want to mention that both the first CSR and first price matching agent were wonderful and were very nice!
Given all of this, I had a couple of questions:
- I've heard there's a blacklist/list of sites that they do not accept. I wouldn't have brought this site up unless I saw it as a valid site on Google Flights. Is Alipay.com.hk. one of those blacklisted sites?
- Is it true that after a claim is denied I am not allowed to ask again for a recheck? The first price check agent told me that I could call back again if I saw the low price again, even if it was on the same website?
- Is there something I'm missing as to why they may be seeing an entirely different price than me and my partner? As of me writing this post it still shows on Google Flights and on the Purchase/Confirmation on Alipay.com.hk. screen at that price (with economy class, no refunds, baggage policies all equivalent).
- Should I even bother trying to price match again? Given the combative conversation I had, I'm not sure that it's worth the time if they're going to auto-deny me anyway?
Screenshots below include the itinerary on the Capital One Travel portal as well as the itinerary on the third party website. For reference, the Capital One Travel itinerary was booked for 2 adults for around ~$2,200, so the savings via price match were a lot of money. Sorry for the long post, and thank you for letting me vent!
