Normally this would go on a website I have that’s all about logic… simply because of its ‘raging’ nature. … however it’s not really against logic.. in fact it’s pretty smart… it just provides a bad customer experience.

So the story is, I was trying to book my flight back to China.  Here’s my little article about that.. my plan is to go to Hong Kong 1st, then to Shenzhen, then to Beijing and finally back to the Netherlands… so I obviously needed to buy a multi-city ticket.

I’ve used c-trip before.  It’s a Chinese flight booking company that offers some pretty decent prices, is mostly reliable for giving quality priced tickets and it includes tax within the ticket price, so you know exactly how much you’re going to pay as you’re perusing the tickets.. unlike American websites, or even elong.net  (c-trips competitor)

Also C-trip has a decent English language interface.   Now even though I understand Chinese… when you’re booking a flight and there are a bunch of legal things that you have to agree to before booking… then I always think it’s best to do it in a language that you’re most familiar with.

So … I used the English site.

Interestingly enough… the English site is slightly different from the Chinese website.  In the fact that there are less payment options, and also slightly less available flights.

Hmmm…

But anyway, after choosing the flight I wanted, for which was 5830… a decent price, and after filling in all the information, a little window came up to say “the ticket price has now changed to 6280”   (with zero reason given)… Alright… well I’ve come this far… and as far as I’ve seen this is still a pretty decent price as compared to the rest of the flights, so I’ll continue. 

(the above screen capture is after failing to book the flight several times, after which the price kept increasing)

But then while trying to pay, I found out that my Dutch credit card (MasterCard) wouldn’t allow me to complete the transaction.
This isn’t actually C-trip’s fault, it’s just that the Dutch don’t really like credit cards, so they all have monthly spending limits.  And as I was already at 500 euros, I couldn’t purchase a 900 euro flight.

After which you press the ‘back’ option, you’re not redirected to an alternative payment option page, but to the very beginning, where you have to choose your dates and flights again…whilst also fill in all your information again.

Some flights disappear, but you can usually find a similar flight at a slightly different time for a similar price.  Never cheaper… just similar enough for you not to care so much.

So… this time… Chinese option.
I tried to use my Chinese debit card.   But also no.
Why?  Because Chinese cards are very particular about the information on the card and the exact order for which you entered the information.
It doesn’t help that unlike Western bank cards…where your name is imprinted on the card… for Chinese cards, they are not.

So you have to try and remember exactly the order of the card…with or without spaces etc.

Apparently I tried it too many times, because when I finally got it correct it said ‘you have tried it too many times, we are unable to process the payment’

I contacted customer service , and he said ‘just wait a day, and you should be able to use the card then’

Come back to the site after a day… slightly, ever so slightly more expensive… but still… Nope.

Awesome, so now can’t use the credit card, nor the Chinese card, and the c-trip website doesn’t take Cirrus (normal European debit card), so now what?

I contacted my friend Louis, transferred him the equivalent money over WeChat (very convenient to transfer money if you have that Chinese application)  and asked him to book it for me.

He tried… at least 4 times.  And failed each time.

During this time, we were both contacting C-trip’s customer service, with the lady I was chatting with just saying ‘You should try VISA, VISA’   which doesn’t help because I don’t have a VISA card. (I do but my Australian bank account has depleted funds because I’m not earning there… and so I can’t just be always spending from there)

Here’s some screen shots of conversations.

 (Not showing the flight just booked)

I even tried using the Chinese language site, for which there are more payment options available, and even cheaper flights.  That is really suspicious for me.  Mate’s rates for Chinese, but foreigners pay more… 

So anyway tried that, as Wechat pay was available… but also no. FFuuuuaarrrrrgghhh!

In the end, I contacted one of my good friend Feaksie’s contacts; a friendly Chinese lady operating out of Chongqing that can book the flight straight with IATA (International Air Transport Association).

I chatted with her over Wechat in Chinese for a little bit about the exact flight I wanted, and where I could be flexible, and she booked the flight.

I transferred her the money with Wechat wallet, and voila.

It worked out to be slightly more expensive than the C-trip one (I think 200 元  more expensive, which isn’t so bad) but with absolutely none of the hassle.

Here’s a quick correspondence with the Customer service from my side, followed by email and suggestions.

1st reply email from C-trip customer service:

Dear Valued Customer,
Regrading your feedback on the payment issue for the flight reservation under account E281628572, please refer to the following information.
Our IT department found that the reason why you could not pay is that the price selected had been sold out alreasdy. It was not your card issue, but there was no availability on the price selected.
Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

My reply:

Hello,
Thank you for the reply.  I did however try several times to book several slightly different flights.  
They can’t all have been sold out.
    Many times when I try to book through the c-trip website it says “the price has now been changed from 5780 to 6390”    However gives no reason for why this is. 
      Even when  try to book like that.. it still doesn’t allow me to.  For which i end up going back to the flight page and choosing one that is slightly more expensive.  
      From my perspective and many friends who use this website, it seems like this is a ploy to get use to invest time into making the cheap booking through c-trip and then having to pay more in the end because flights are ‘coincidentally’ not available. 

     Also the Chinese payment options seem to be only available on the Chinese language site.  VISA isn’t the only way to pay for flights, and many foreigners living in China have access to WeChat pay.  

     I would suggest you add this to the English version of the website too. 
    In the end I booked the flight with someone that books directly through IATA, because it was less stress to deal with.  
   Although I like c-trip because it offers cheaper than normal flights, and the customer service is decent… because of this experience and hassle of booking the actual flight that was stated, I will be recommending friends to book straight with an agent that can book directly with IATA. 
     If the flight is not available, then it shouldn’t be listed on the table of ‘available flights’   that should be reasonably obvious. 
   If it is listed, then customers will expect that it is available.  
C-trip’s 2nd reply:
With regards to your feedback below, the ticket prices are subject to change before ticket purchased and issued. Airlines update information on the Ctrip website periodically. As a result, information available on our website may not reflect current conditions.
Thanks for your suggestion for the payment method and we apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced.

In my cynical …but let’s say smart, mind.. this is clearly a ploy to get you to pay more money for the flight.

The “it has increased in price”  for no fucking reason… or at least not telling you the reason, is highly suspicious.

And every time you press ‘back’ it takes you back to the very start of the process where you have to re-choose your flights…with every options being slightly more expensive…. Is just a really shit customer experience.

It sounds like the same kind of shitty ploy that real estate agents use.  Post a whole bunch of housing adverts up that would suit you perfectly.  Then when you get there to take a look, it was ‘conveniently snatched up just before you arrived’   Uh huh… sure it was.  And then they proceed to take you on a tour of apartments that while are within your budget are absolute shit.

I’ve had so many experiences like this… and I swear I’ve nearly punched a few agents in the face.

But then they show you 1 that’s similar to the advertisement you saw originally which is pretty decent, but tell you its 30% above your budget, and when you tell them …’err no, that’s the reason I gave you a budget’.  They have the audacity to tell you that “if your budget wasn’t so limited, then there would be more options”.  For which you know full well is absolute bullshit, not all the apartments in your price range should look like a bomb has gone off, and no one has cleared the rubble yet… and just coincidentally 30% above… is amazing.

Sure… you absolute douchebag….likely story.

Anyway, I think it’s much like this.
-They (by which I mean C-trip) COULD have a button that just takes you back to the previous payment page… instead of bringing you all the way back.

-They COULD support Wechat pay, as many foreigners have Wechat wallet having lived in China.

-They don’t have to make it so obvious that the Chinese price is cheaper than the English language price.

-They COULD create a reserve function within their IT system where customers have a 30 minute window to finalise and pay for their flight, but until that time it is reserved under their name.
….but they don’t.

Why?   Literally as a lot of the answers in China goes  – No why.

In the entire time we were dealing with C-trip’s Customer service, we were told it was our fault, not the system’s.

That we should pay with VISA, while clearly other options WERE available.
That it’s the airlines that change the price, which even though this is true, they shouldn’t be listing flights that are not available.

A site like this is meant to make booking easier, to put control into the hands of the individual… to take away from the monopoly of agents ripping off clients.

But unfortunately, quite ironically this kind of system has taken cues from the housing agents trick book.

This is when that term Guanxi 关系 (that tricky little Chinese word that morons always go on about) actually comes into play.

Because of my friend being able to recommend this genuinely nice Chinese lady in Chongqing, that is NOT out to trick anyone, I was able to book the flight with significantly less trouble.

I will be using her services again, and be recommending her to all of my friends.

Contact me if you need her Wechat details.