Buyer Beware: RueLaLa travel Vouchers

We made a commitment when we started this website to send positive energy and write about the fabulous things in life, not the bad. However, a recent experience with the online, member’s only site, Rue La La compelled us to provide you with a consumer alert.

I recently purchased two vouchers for a stay at the W New York. There were many restrictions on the voucher. For example, it was only valid for a Thursday through Saturday stay and only valid for travel through March 28, 2010 with two black out weekends (February 14 and March 19). I read the fine print and new about the restrictions. Before purchasing the voucher, I called the W in order to ensure there was availability for the weekend I wanted. There was, so I purchased 2 vouchers, good for two nights stay.

I then called the W New York and made a reservation to stay Friday, February 26, 2010 and check out Sunday, February 28, 2010. The customer service I received when booking my reservation with the W New York was excellent.

On Friday, February 26, 2010, my flight to New York was cancelled due to the snow storm. There was no way to book another flight that day as flights were cancelled pretty much all day as a result of the inclement weather. I called the W New York and once again received excellent customer service. They cancelled my reservation without charging me the penalty for late cancellation. I then tried to reserve for another weekend, but there was no availability for any dates that the voucher would be valid. The W New York manager told me to call Rue La La and get a refund and then said he would work with me to book another stay at a great rate like the one I got. How’s that for customer service! I was thrilled.

I then called RueLaLa and explained the problem. The first customer service representative told me there were no refunds on these vouchers. I then asked to speak to a manager and he told me that he would have to send an inquiry to the W New York’s corporate sales office and it would take 3-5 business days to hear back from them. I explained to him that 3-5 business days was a long time to learn the fate of  an over $400 purchase and that I tried to reserve for another weekend, but there was no availability. I booked my flight suing miles, so I needed to have an answer very soon so I could re-book another flight and not incur a mileage penalty. While his demeanor was very nice, he passed responsibility onto the W corporate office and said there was nothing he could do to help me beyond sending an inquiry to them. However, when I asked for the contact info of the corporate sales office, he said he didn’t have it. How could he make an inquiry with them if he did not have their contact information?

I called the W New York and they were nice enough to give me the corporate sales office phone number. They said they would credit my account but the credit card charge went through Rue La La, so they did not have the power to do so. I cannot say enough about the kind people at the W New York.

I called again, today, Monday, March 1, 2010 and spoke with a Rue La La representative. Again, they were unable and unwilling to help me. I finally, called American Express and they have agreed to dispute the charge for me and credited my account.

I hate to be a negative nelly, but I highly recommend that you do not purchase any travel vouchers from Rue La La. I think purchasing tangible, returnable items is still fine as there is something physical you can return. However, it is clear that Rue La La doesn’t have an adequate policy to handle forced cancellations due to extreme weather.

We are particularly sad to bring you this consumer alert because we loved Rue La La so much we even named them as one of our ten best websites of 2009. So, as much as we hate to post anything negative about anyone or anything, we feel we owe it to you, our readers to provide you with this consumer alert.

It somehow doesn’t feel appropriate to end like this, but buyers beware and take note of this shortcut to fabulous consumer protection And if you know anyone who purchases from Rue La La, please forward them the link to this post.