For a complaint to be heard, don’t yell louder, get smarter

AT a time when computers, not humans, are making bookings and fielding complaints, the old-fashioned ways of griping often don’t work.

Getting past digital gatekeepers, customer service reps based in foreign lands and refund-resistant bean counters demands new skills, strategies and persistence.

Here’s advice for getting satisfaction in a new era:

Information is power. It takes data, not drama, to win the complaining game. Brett Snyder, a former airline employee, discovered that recently when he was bumped by an airline’s kiosk.

The kiosk cutoff time was 45 minutes before departure, and the airline said he checked in too late and wouldn’t let him board.

Other travelers might have been flummoxed. But Snyder, director of Pricegrabber Travel, www.pricegrabber.com, an online booking engine, consulted the carrier’s contract of carriage after he got home. (For a list of contracts of carriage for domestic airlines, go to latimes.com/contracts.)

“Nowhere did it say I’d be shut out for checking in at a kiosk less than 45 minutes [before a flight],” he said. Snyder later discovered he wasn’t late either; his check-in request was denied two minutes earlier than the so-called cutoff time.

Armed with this information, he presented his case to the airline and received $250 in denied-boarding compensation.

“Knowing the contracts of carriage is the way to get things done,” Snyder said.

Indeed, supplier contracts are gold mines of information. But they’re not something you can rattle off when trying to reason with a gate agent or a kiosk.

To be sure, carry a copy on your trip. Better yet, download it to your cellphone or wireless device for on-the-spot reference.

Most cruise lines and tour operators also publish contracts online. If they don’t, ask your travel agent or supplier for a copy in advance of the trip; don’t wait until they give it to you.

Also, keep handy a copy of “The Frequent Traveler’s Guide,” by Alexander Anolik and John Hawks. It’s an excellent source on travelers’ rights and it’s written in plain English. Excerpts are also available at www.mytravelrights.com.

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Complain immediately. Your chances of getting a problem solved are greatest if you tackle it on-site. But you have to work several angles at once.

Don’t be cowed if a travel staffer recommends writing a letter when you get home. Persist politely. Travel companies increasingly have empowered staffers to fix problems on the spot with cash or credit vouchers. They won’t tell you this; you have to ask.

But the refund they’re authorized to give out may be less than what you might get by going up the chain of command.

Joining the company’s loyalty program before you travel also helps grease the wheels, even if you never plan to use it again. Membership offers clout.

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Send an SOS to your travel agency. Let the experts work on your problem behind the scenes while you’re tackling it on-site. The big online travel agencies now offer customer-service guarantees. Hold them to their promises.

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Get past voice mail. If you’ve failed to get resolution at the scene, call the company as soon as you get home.

But to avoid getting trapped in voice-mail jail, consult Paul English’s cheat sheet at gethuman.com. The website, which English developed after failing to reach a human at his phone company and bank, lists unpublished phone numbers for live representatives at more than 100 companies, including 22 U.S. travel suppliers.

Get Human also offers common ways to bypass a recording.

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Register your gripe. Send a short letter to the supplier, your travel agent and relevant government agencies while on your trip or as soon as you return home.

Although the chances of getting responses are slim, keep a paper trail anyway. It also may help other travelers in the future.

That’s because every gripe usually goes into a database. When it reaches critical mass, the organization may take action on behalf of all complainants.

Here is a list of places to file your gripes:

* Travel Consumer Restitution Corp. California consumers may be eligible for refunds for losses from undelivered travel services through this nonprofit organization. File complaints and search the database of registered sellers at www.ag.ca.gov/travel/consumer.htm.

* Better Business Bureau. The agency investigates and resolves complaints. It also maintains a searchable database of companies. To file a complaint or read current reports on companies, go to the BBB homepage, www.bbb.org.

* Trade associations. The American Society of Travel Agents (www.astanet.com, [703] 739-2782) will resolve disputes but only those involving member companies. The U.S. Tour Operators Assn. (www.ustoa.com, [212] 599-6599) won’t mediate disputes, but will forward complaints to member companies.

* Federal agencies. Although it doesn’t handle individual complaints, the Department of Transportation’s monthly airline performance reports (airconsumer.ost.dot.gov) have triggered investigations, enforce- ment actions and even legislative measures. Its website also has links to the airlines’ customer service agreements (airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/customerservice.htm). To read more about your rights in plain English, download the agency’s Fly-Rights publication at www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/travel/flyrights/flyrghts.htm.

* Small Claims Court. Tried everything and still having no luck? File a complaint with Small Claims Court. In California, you can sue for up to $5,000 per person. Cruise lines may force you to refile your case in the city stated in their contracts, but it’s worth a try.

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Travel Insider welcomes your questions, complaints and success stories, but cannot respond to all of them. Send e-mail to [email protected] or write to Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.