Because their website has a flaw that changed what i was ordering when i submitted my credit card payment — that’s why you should never use Vayama.com. The flight on my screen when i clicked to place the order is not what ended up on my receipt. And Vayama wants me to pay over $400 in fees to correct it.

Somewhere from the time i first entered my itinerary to the time i clicked the “Book” button at the bottom, the Vayama.com website changed the dates of my flight from July to August and also added the Trip Insurance fee which i had made a point to deselect. The total on the checkout screen was $345.45 USD for the ticket, taxes & fees; then i placed the order and the receipt on the next screen said $366.52 USD for the fare, taxes, fees, and Trip Insurance. I noticed the different total immediately, and fired off an email to their support (they submitted to process a refund of the insurance policy which would take up to 3 weeks). And because of that anomaly, i was distracted from the fact that the travel dates were also changed from July to the same dates in August. It wasn’t until two days later after a busy weekend that i had noticed the whole itinerary was incorrect — long after Vayama’s 24 hour grace period (wherein it still costs a $50 void fee and $12 vayama service fee to cancel an incorrect booking).

So what happened? The only theory i have is that while i was comparison shopping, another site popped up a second Vayama search in another window which changed my itinerary with their website. Regardless, the original screen i had open still had the correct dates and total without the insurance plan — that is what i was agreeing to purchasing — no matter what may have happened behind the scenes with their website. This could have been prevented if their site expired the page after a certain time or if there was a confirmation or verification as the final step before the purchase. But it doesn’t and there isn’t. “Accidents” like this and absence of those safeguards mean Vayama (and the dozens of other sites like it) can leech more cancellation and rebooking fees.

Speaking of fees, after being on hold for customer support, Slumdog Millionaire eventually explained that the only option was to pay $450 in fees to have my flight changed to the correct dates. That’s $100 more than the original fare. In fees. What other industry costs so much for decreasingly less service, and is non-refundable with such strict limitations and outrageous fees?

Adding insult to injury, Vayama’s price was only $7 better than booking directly with US Airways, and that was only after their summer special $30 discount. I probably would have been better off not bothering with Vayama at all in the first place.

I’ve spent hours on calls and emails and still have no favorable options. Even my credit card says it will be near impossible to dispute the charge because there is no evidence that it wasn’t simply my mistake. But it wasn’t. One mistake i definitely will not be making is using Vayama.com again.

Update:
Anyone interested in helping me track down and reproduce the checkout “switch” flaw i encountered on vayama.com? Unless i can come up with some kind of proof, i have pretty much no chance at getting a refund on these fees. Leave a comment or @miahz on Twitter.