Description

On Thursday, July 24, 2025, I went on the cheapflights.com website looking for an inexpensive round trip airline ticket to Buffalo, New York. I followed a link on that website to another website named tarifasodeal.com. On that website, I booked a round trip ticket on Southwest Airlines to Buffalo from Albuquerque for October 17th returning on the 23rd. The website informed me that I would be charged $255.82 for the round trip ticket. I purchased the ticket and thought I was all set. A few minutes later, the company called me and informed me that the ticket was a “restricted ticket” and that it did not allow me to check any luggage or even bring a carry-on onto the plane. This was ridiculous on its face because no one flies without luggage, and if I attempted to do so, I would likely get flagged by TSA as a potential terrorist. I was told that I would need to upgrade my ticket in order to be able to check my baggage, and that the upgrade would bring the total amount for the ticket to $472.00! I refused to pay this additional amount, claiming that their website said nothing about the ticket not allowing baggage (which cannot be true of any airline ticket), and that the website indicated that the price I was given of $255.82 included the ticket as well as all taxes and fees. I asked for a refund, but they flatly refused, and continued to try to get me to pay more for a ticket I already paid for in full. I argued with the agent and later the supervisor but to no avail. The supervisor even tried to get me to change my trip dates to accommodate his attempt at extortion, and even went so far as to try to get me to arrive at the Rochester, New York airport which is a good hour and a quarter away from Buffalo! When I refused both his attempts to get me to change my plans, he acted as if I was being unreasonable! When I checked the Southwest Airlines app on my phone, it did not indicate that I had any pending flights scheduled. The website asked for a confirmation number, but the booking “confirmation” I received from Tarifasodeal did not have a confirmation number. I later called Southwest Airlines and they informed me that they could not check to see if I had a flight scheduled without a confirmation number. When I spoke with the Tarifasodeal supervisor, he told me that I could not get access to the flight without the confirmation number. I asked him what it was, but he refused to give it. I told him that he was holding my confirmation number hostage until I agreed to pay more for the ticket and he unashamedly said, “Yes.” The supervisor, who repeatedly refused to give me his name or the address of the business so I could have my lawyer contact him, was very rude and insulting. He said things such as, “Why can’t you understand a simple thing?” or that if I was smarter, I’d understand. When I asked if he was calling me stupid, he said, “Yes.” At that point, I had a few choice words for him and hung up. He called me back a few minutes later, and I told him that if he wasn’t going to make things right, I didn’t want to talk to him. He said he was going to make things right, spoke very fast, said something about “reservation” and Southwest Airlines” that I didn’t catch, and promptly hung up before I could ask any questions. At that point, I was unable to check to see if I even had a flight scheduled. I called my bank and told them that the charge was fraudulent because I did not receive the item I paid for, and they credited the charge to my account, provisionally, pending investigation. The following day, upon recommendation from my local police, I again called Southwest Airlines to try to get my confirmation number. This time, they used my name and telephone number to find the confirmation number, and I promptly cancelled the reservation. When I did, I was informed by the Southwest agent that the reservation was for a one-way ticket from Buffalo to Albuquerque on October 23, not the round trip ticket I paid for. The amount deducted from my checking account was $208.18, not the $255.82 I was supposed to have been charged. This was likely because Tarifasodeal, LLC made a one-way airline reservation for me, even though the booking confirmation clearly indicated that it was a round-trip ticket, yet another example of fraud. I later received a refund from Southwest Airlines, after which I contacted my bank to tell them to reverse the provisional refund. I called my lawyer and he advised me to file an IC3 complaint with the FBI internet crimes division, which I did. I filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. I filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney General’s Office as well, and also contacted the Plantation, Florida Police Department. They informed me that the address of the business was an apartment building, not a storefront or office building. They also told me that I would have to file the complaint locally and that my local police department could then reach out to the Plantation Police Department to have them investigate further. Based on this advice, I filed a criminal fraud complaint with my local police department. This company is obviously a scam. It is a clear bait and switch operation. They lure unsuspecting people in with a low airfare and then hold their confirmation number hostage until they agree to pay more. They refuse to refund the customer’s money after they add expenses and conditions to the ticket that the customer just purchased. The supervisor even threatened to cancel my reservation without issuing a refund! This is a criminal enterprise that needs to be avoided at all costs.