Name of Complainant	Mislav Grabovac
Date of Complaint	November 10, 2023
Name(s) of companies complained against	Vueling Airlines
Category of complaint	Airlines
Permanent link of complaint	Right click to copy link
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This is the description of the situation I sent to them.
On Wednesday, March 8th I spent a couple of hours on your website in order to buy a ticket. I filled in my data wanting to purchase a return ticket from Dubrovnik to Barcelona on the 9th of March and Barcelona to Dubrovnik on the 12th of March.

I got stuck at the last step – payment as it would not go through. I use the biggest Croatian bank PBZ whose card I have used for countless online purchases and transactions including airline tickets from multiple airline companies. After not succeeding with none of the cards I called your customer service.
After struggling with the menu options (for 4 calls) which would not put me through to the agent when trying to talk about an existing booking, I managed to randomly guess if I would choose a new booking I would be put through to an agent. I then proceeded to talk with an agent for 40 minutes trying to purchase the ticket. I was told you were having some payment processor problems. She was filling in information for me. After the fourth time and thirty minutes of inputting my details, I was told that the payment was successful and that I will be receiving an email with the booking confirmation.
I received an email with a booking confirmation, after which I booked a car (30 Euro) to come from my hometown Zagreb to Dubrovnik (an 8-hour drive) on the 9th of March as well as a flight for 82 Euro from Dubrovnik to Zagreb on the 12th of March (after planned arrival from your returning flight).

I arrived in Dubrovnik. I waited for the shuttle for 2 hours and finally after a 10-hour drive I was at the airport, the Vueling counter at 7.45 PM. I gave the employee my ID and booking confirmation number. I was told there was no ticket in my name. I told them this is impossible since I have an email containing the confirmation number as well as a payment method and an oral confirmation from your employee that the purchase is successful.
It is important to mention I could not check in online when trying earlier that day. I have screenshots with the error message. I tried to call again but could not reach an agent. I asked my friend to try and so she did but was told it is not possible to check in online at this airport and that I just have to do it at the airport.

But let me continue the story – the woman at the counter called a supervisor who is I guess a Croatian representative for Vueling who was in contact with headquarters directly. It was said that the ticket was not after all purchased, or rather it was purchased but then the money was refunded.

However, here we come to the main problem. I never received an email or a phone call telling me this. Conveniently, you sent an email to my address at 20.26 PM on 9th of March after I finished the conversation with one of your agents (finally notifying me that I do not in fact have a ticket).

Due to this, I now – after purchasing 2 separate traveling tickets and taking time out of my job in order to see my family – had to find a cab (70 Euro) back to the center of Dubrovnik in order to find an apartment to spend the night in. There were no available apartments in that hour. Following I had to wait outside for 2 hours in order to book another bus ticket worth 40 Euros back to Zagreb.

Putting aside for a moment the money spent, more importantly, I spent my time and nerves and got emotionally drained with the handling of the situation by your company. I might as well mention that I have all the calls recorded. To make things worse, the phone was hung up on me in the middle of a sentence while trying to find a resolution to the situation while still at the Vueling counter.

I have been traveling for 10 years now excessively. From premium airlines to low-budget ones, I have flown with most of them. Never have I ever experienced such shambles of an airline. Such unwillingness to help and carelessness in informing your customers.

From having the worst Customer Service menu to the degree of difficulty in processing payment and purchasing the ticket. From not being able to let me know whether I do or do not have a ticket correctly to telling me wrongly that I cannot check-in online and once more disabling me from purchasing my ticket more than two hours before the flight.

Image Uploaded by Mislav Grabovac: