Flighthub generates hundreds of complaints, Better Business Bureau warns

A consumer watchdog is warning the public to do their homework before hiring Flighthub, an online travel company based in Cornwall, Ont.

The Better Business Bureau has given Flighthub an "F" rating and revoked its BBB accreditation after receiving hundreds of complaints about the company, many of them unresolved, the watchdog told CBC News.

The bureau said on its website that it had been communicating with the company about the complaints since February 2014, and that while "Flighthub indicated a willingness to co-operate with the BBB, the company failed to eliminate the underlying cause of the pattern of complaints."

• Listen to Diane Iadeluca fromOttawa Morninghere.

"They did not collaborate with us," said Diane Iadeluca, CEO of the Better Business Bureau, in a recent interview with CBC News.

"They tried to resolve some of the complaints, but the same types of complaints are still coming in so obviously the pattern is still there."

Complaints range from customer service problems to unexplained price increases for tickets, Iadeluca said.

"The frustration with consumers mostly, I think, is that they can't get their issues resolved and ... some people call 10, 20, 25 times and they get conflicting messages or they get promises for refunds which never materialize," she added.

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario, which regulates travel in the province, said it's received complaints about Flighthub but that the council is bound by confidentiality and doesn't comment on specifics to media.

Flighthub, meanwhile, has not responded to multiple requests for comment made by CBC News made over several days.

For more on this story, including stories from Flighthub customers, watch the video in the player above.