RANT: EXPEDIA!

[beachdrivegirl]

I have used Expedia numerous times throughout the past few years to book trips. I have used them for everything from flights & hotels to car rentals. However, I will no longer be using them due to their poor customer service. We booked a trip a few months ago though Expedia. The trip included hotel, airport transportation, and our flight. One month ago, we received a generic email that our return flight was canceled. This was a generic email with NO recommendation as to how to find a new flight. We called their customer service line after being on hold for over an hour, and then on the phone with them for 45 minutes we resolved the issue and booked a new flight. Then last Friday we received another generic email that our return flight was canceled. (Our trip is for next week. So it is cutting it beyond close). We emailed back on Friday asking for suggestions. We received no response & no confirmation that they even received our email. We then decided to cancel our trip through Expedia and book the trip on our own. When going through the Alaska Airlines flight, we found that the flight Expedia claimed was canceled, was indeed not canceled. We have contacted Expedia. I urge everyone not to use Expedia. Here is the letter my husband sent to Expedia:

“To confirm- after spending 45 minutes this morning on the phone with your absolutely awful customer support process- I did get a cancellation confirmation code XXXX256 and a promise of a refund for all charges with absolutely no fees. Any fees charges will be disputed through American Express. The previous fees charged for the fraudulent trip that was never provided have been filed as fraud with American Express. I am putting in a complaint to the better business bureau this afternoon- and contacting an attorney to see if I have grounds to bill Expedia.com for the difference in cost between my trip booked this morning- and the trip that was previously booked- which you failed to provide- and lied directly to me about the cancellation of a flight that was never cancelled.

I will be telling this story to absolutely everyone I possibly can- and hope that your business goes to great lengths- to improve what is just absolutely terrible customer service- and fraudulent business practices.

As a helpful tip- just offering a flight to replace the “cancelled” (whether true or not) flight- would have solved everything- but your policy of insisting on making the problems 100% the duty of the customer to fix- and not offering any sort of acceptable options caused the most appalling customer service and support I have ever experienced from a company.

Regards,

XXXX”

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[livingonthebeach]

I used to work at Expedia and have always found them great at customer service…I am sorry your situation wasn’t the same. The are using some out of the country call centers which can always be confusing at best.

Expedia doesn’t own the airline reservation (at least from my past experience). Usually when you book a airline ticket the inventory is pulled from the airline and your credit card is charged directly from the air carrier. Expedia will charge your card only for the booking fee. So, I am surprised you got a cancellation notice on a flight not actually cancelled.

For hotels it is different. They pre-book and guarantee hotels a certain number of rooms sold per year, and for that they received discounted pricing. Expedia marks up the hotels and sells them to you directly, so your credit card charge is through Expedia not the hotel. I have found that when you book a hotel through Expedia, typically the hotel looks at you as lost revenue and you typically don’t get upgrades and stellar service. However, Expedia instituted a new policy where they physically call every hotel booking and confirm prior to your arrival (Ithink they still do this).

All in all, your experience was horrible and can’t be changed now. But Expedia typically has a pretty good esculation procedure that will help get things resolved. Unfortunately it requires a little more effort on the travels part (squeekey wheel gets the oil).

Best of luck, and hope your travelers were completely ruined.

Cheers

LOTB

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[flowerpetal]

I have used Expedia, Travelocity, and Priceline on numerous ocassions. Rarely have I been offered a better deal than I could get on my own. I have sometimes opened a second window when I had Expedia’s offer in front of me and got less expenisive options on the same flight.

I like the concept of Expedia et al, but it hasn’t very often worked to the benefit of my wallet.

Sorry you had such a bad experience.

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[add]

I often use Expedia to see what my options are, then go directly to the carriers to actually book the flight and save 5 bucks (the booking fee they used to charge). Expedia has recently gotten rid of all booking fees so it probably doesn’t matter as much, but I still find it easier to use the airline’s own website for booking and keeping track of my trips.

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[changingtimes]

hey livingonthebeach! i used to work at expedia 2! did you work at the bellevue or tacoma office? i have to agree there customer service was alot better then alot of other travel agencies…

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[JoB]

i have used them for years… our most recent experience was last week… and have always been pleased with their service…

i get decent rooms and great service… we have even been upgraded for special occasions…

i have equal luck with hotwire.. but sometimes prefer knowing where i am going…

we did have one less than stellar experience with an expedia booking… the hotel was not as advertised…and they not only resolved it within the hour.. they put us in a much better hotel for the same price… not bad for a southern california beach town during high tourist season.

I was impressed.

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[Kimberley]

Thanks for posting beachdrivegirl, I may have to steer clear from them in the future. I’ve had one bad experience and have yet to go back, but I tend to hold a grudge (refuse to use American Airlines on the grounds an air hostess foreced me to eat some dreadful chocolate pudding when I was five and flying alone), your issue cements my never using them again. By the way, your husband’s frequent use of the word “absolutely” suggests (to me at least) that he’s from a Commonwealth country.

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[lil mo]

I could go on for hours about my last experience with Expedia. For some reason their system kept ringing half of the price of my trip through to my card, and then declining my purchace. I spoke with my bank, (US Bank, which I have to say had EXCELLENT customer service) and they confirmed what I already knew-that I had $ and was not over any set spending limit. I then called Expedia back, and we tried the whole precess again. With the same result. Five times. Between Expedia and my bank, I spent 3 hours on the phone with no resolution. I never had this problem before, but I can definetly say that the people at Expedia were not helpful at ALL, and were extremely difficult to communicate with. I will not be using Expedia for travel plans again.

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[beachdrivegirl]

Just a quick update: We still have not received our refund or a response to the letter (email) above from Expedia. I work in a service industry and this is just plain lousy customer service. It is really disappointing that I can’t spend my dollar locally.

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[hopey]

FYI, sounds like this may apply to some of you…

Expedia ordered to pay $184 million in lawsuit over hotel taxes, fee

“Superior Court Judge Monica Benton ruled that Expedia should return $184 million in service fees to customers who booked a hotel stay from mid-February 2003 to mid-December 2006.”

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009286951_webexpedia01.html

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[Lex]

Travelocity all the way! Can’t stand Expedia I REFUSE to use them.

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[beachdrivegirl]

Thanks for the link Hopey. i hadnt heard about that lawsuit but was imperssed with what I read. Thanks!

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