231 reviews for Expedia are not recommended
These reviews are not recommended because our content quality algorithms have determined them to be less useful for users researching this business. Our content quality algorithm makes decisions based on a number of proprietary evaluation factors, and is constantly updating and improving over time. Even though these reviews are not displayed by default, they still factor into the overall number of reviews and the average rating for the business.
Pennsylvania
4 reviews
31 helpful votes

Trip to Jamaica total disaster.
August 1, 2023

Expedia doesn't have any idea of what they sell!
Back in March of 2023 my wife & I were lining up a trip for my sons college graduation which would probably be the last trip we would all take together.
1st we tried Priceline that was a disaster because they booked the same trip flight hotel & all twice (2 times).
I guess they thought I was bring along a set of clones or something.
I went through hell getting my money back after emailing the CEO daily.
Okay back to Expedia:
1st they got my wife's last name wrong not once but twice. It didn't match her passport so she wouldn't be able to get through customs.
I ended up booking her flight myself with the airline.
2nd I requested a ground floor beach view (I paid extra for that because my wife is disabled) I verified it with Expedia & called the hotel to verify the same. The Royal Decameron Montego Beach.
Well we arrive at the hotel on said date which we were to stay for eight (8) days great.
We check in & are given a room on the fourth floor no elevator okay I will straighten it out later.
So we go up to the room & I go back to the front desk & explain that we paid for beach front 1st floor not 4th floor.
I am told they have no rooms like until tomorrow so I would have to check out prior to 1100 hrs (11:00 A.M CST) & they would have the room ready for us.
Next morning comes & we did as directed.
Problem no room ready as told
I am informed the room will be ready by 1200 hrs (12 noon cst)
Okay I can live with that so I thought
1200 hrs. Comes still no room (they were given more than enough notice)
We ended up falling asleep in the lobby until I got really pissed off & asked for the manager.
I got the manager & informed her that I have been waiting over 3 hrs for my room which I was promised & verified back in March (it's now June)
I informed it's going to be a little while longer
What
I informed her that they owe us over three (3) hrs of our time & I will go to the said room & clean it out myself & everything will go out the sliding glass door to the beach & I might forget to open the door.
Needless to say in less than ten (10) min. We had the room.
They room was twice the size of the one we were in & like twenty (20) feet from both pools.
Then we had the TV remote problem there was no remote in the room.
I went down to the front desk & informed them & was told they would get one there right away.
Guess who the remote was until 2030 Hrs (8:30 P.M. cst)?
ME (this is after a number of times requesting it)
The patio only had two (2) chairs so I decided it need some sprucing up to make it more homey esp. After the aggravation we went through.
I grew up on Long Island, N.Y. Where we stole anything nailed down or not so now it was time to revert back a few decades.
Night came & it was time to go on covert operations & put on the cami's to spruce up the place.
1st a couple of lounge chair disappeared & ended up in our patio & room along with a table & a large vase from the smoking area full of sand
Still didn't look right on the patio we need more shall I say obvionce so a few Palm trees with planters & Tie plants decided they wanted to move to the patio from around the Hotel.
Still wasn't the right look we were missing lighting for the patio so a bunch of their solar lights served the purpose.
Needless to say the next morning my wife & son got up & asked me were did all this stuff came from?
I Replied: what stuff?
They replied: all this stuff.
I replied: You weren't happy with the patio the way it was so I went night shopping, You have no idea how It was the dodging security guards with this stuff.
They are lucky I gave up drinking otherwise their kegs of Beer & liquor inventory would have come up short also just like we used to do breaking into bars when they were open & stealing their kegs or car dealer ships for tires & stereos, etc.
Needless to say my son confiscated my cami's the next night because I wanted some of their statues now for or patio.
Well so much for me scrounging anymore.
The Gym was no where near as advertised or the beach hardly any lounge chairs or cabanas as advertised.
The bathroom was a far cry as advertised all of which we took pictures of among other things of the place.
Then the women on the south shore of Long Island you would go to the beach & have a ton of eye candy.
Here you were surround like you were at Blivit Beach (Blivit is ten (10) ponds of crap in a five (5) pound bag) & these things are wearing two (2) piece thongs! Golo or Slim fast would make a fortune there!
This one kid about 10 years old was so fat he couldn't get out of the pool by the ladder without his mothers help!
This kid looked like a younger version of the Michelin Man or Mr. Stay Puff the marshmallow man.

There was one (1) thing they didn't advertise & that was Cockroaches.
Thank God I put a wet towel at the bottom of our door so the couldn't enter.
We must have counted at least 12 of the guys averaging three (3) inches in length.
After all of this & a few other things we had enough of this place & I booked a flight home only 4 days into the trip as we were supposed to stay 8 days.
So the evening before we are leaving at around 2200 Hrs. (10:00 P.M. CST) I can across I think it was Cockroach #15. I have to say it was nice enough to stay & pose for the camera for a couple of photos.
So after the Cockroach photoshoot I caught it by the leg in front of a few ladies to their horror & proceede to the front desk with my prize.
As I am getting to the area of the front desk you have the bar & a large room that all these people are partying in at the time.
I figured I might as well have some fun on my final night there & show over 40 plus people to witness my find of the night.
I walked into the middle of the crowd (Cockroach in hand by it's leg) & yelled out: "May I have everyone's attention please?"
Everyone quilted down & looked at me.
I then asked: "Has anyone misplaced or lost this marvelous specimen of a Cockroach?" (As I said that I held it up so all the people could see it was very much alive dangling by my fingers trying to get away.)
I made sure I didn't say Roach because everyone there would have pulled out a clip thinking they could smoke it.
Needless to say all the people scattered away from me & ladies screamed.
Then I asked If anyone wanted to bid for it & we will open the bid at 50 cents?
No bidders.
Next morning it was time to check out & I asked for a complaint form & a bill.
The manager was there as I reviewed the bill & aske Me: "Is there a problem with the bill?"
I replied: I was checking to make sure I wasn't being charged extra for the Cockroaches so I guess they were included free of charge."
A bunch of people heard me say it loudly.
I requested a refund for the time that we were not staying & was told I had to deal with Expedia for a refund.
So I got home downloaded my pictures & their that they advertise attached them to a more indepth letter with proof of check out (Plane tickets etc.) and emails exhibits "A" - "N" Their photos & actuals to the CEO in Seattle WA Requesting a refund & a copy of such to my credit card company.
Still waiting on a reply from Expedia.

BOOK YOU TRIPS & FLIGHTS YOURSELF LESS AGGRAVATION.

Date of experience: August 1, 2023
KR
1 review
0 helpful votes

They screw the military
July 28, 2023

Oh they are pleased to refund me? After they closed early and left my wife a stranded at 11pm (She was there before the rental car were supposed to close and the other agencies said they went home early). So what is the POINT of making a reservation through Expedia with accurate flight info just to have these people roll out early from work? Do they not treat Expedia reservations as real? This is the second time we've been stranded. Do your third party reservations might nothing? Then why use you?

How many of you can say this: my wife arrived 3 hours early as directed to Osan Air Base in Korea, had a layover in Japan to gas and get more people, got to SEATAC 10 Hours later, checked into a New airlines with bags and two pets, 4 hour layover, 5 hour flight to DC, just to get bags and pets, find out your Expedia reservation was bull$#*!, no other car agency would even call her a cab or Uber ( they live there and acted Like they didn't know a $#*!ing number at 11 pm), ONLY when my wife, on military orders, crossed the median outside, spilling luggage into the street and almost the cats, did a great AMERICAN taxi guy come to help here and get here to her hotel. Cost that your company cost me: a taxi ride, there were no cars available the next day, so another night in the hotel, and then, a REAL BOOKING, through a real car site directly, the following day. And the reservation at the hotel she was supposed to drive too on time. $$$$$ the customer gets D#_%€ on and you expect to roll out Expedia One Way when you can't book and promise a rental car when needed? We've been using your service for 15 years. NEVER AGAIN. I've been traveling for work for 25 years, never again. I'll directly tell you the pain and failure your company caused (this isn't the first time). I will never recommend your service to anyone again. Especially since you like to leave military spouses who traveled for 30 hours completely F?$)& with no concern, traveling overseas, bags n pets in hand, with a closed down counter, no car, no help from any $#*!birds in the rental facility to help call a cab….only a True American saw her struggles and came to her rescue to get her to hotel….and this DCA, our nation's capital….after serving 25 years I served the military, mostly forward in front/overseas locations (so you people don't have to), this is what we get when we finally come home too. It's an absolute disgrace and people should be warned your company CANNOT and WILL NOT DELIVER what you put in your companies Mission Statement.

I don't see a single board member willing to take that trip and deal with what my wife had to because companies like you don't care about people anymore, just profit, no matter how the trash panda service was or how the individual traveler had to rescue themselves….this company statement below is $#*!.

WE BELIEVE TRAVEL IS A FORCE FOR GOOD
When we power more travel, we unleash more opportunities to strengthen connections, broaden horizons and bridge divides.

Our mission is to power global travel for everyone, everywhere.

Products used:

Their travel service

Date of experience: July 28, 2023
GB
1 review
0 helpful votes

AVOID AT ALL COSTS
May 15, 2023

I have tried now for over 2 months to either move or get refunded for a trip I cannot go on. Its for the 4th July 2023 weekend in New Orleans with my family and four nights is £1700 - the hotel is full!. I initially started this cancellation on 9th March 2023 and it took over two weeks for them to respond - no refund available. I called the hotel again and was told that they would both refund and alter the booking if necessary - today while on the phone with Mr Shivay I was clearly told that my OMNI resorts and hotels 4 night hotel booking over 4th July weekend in New Orleans could not be cancelled or moved and that OMNI are refusing to make any changes to the booking. Sammy also confirmed that this was OMNI's decision not theirs. On speaking with Makeesha at OMNI hotels and resorts Mr Shivay was told that they refused to alter the reservation (£1700) despite my new proposed date being cheaper. Having spoken to Miranda K, Sue and Anika (in USA from UK) I am told by OMNI head office in Dallas it is down to EXPEDIA to change this booking not themselves - they were happy to do so. I asked whether Expedia was lying or themselves - they said Expedia. I asked them to call Expedia on my behalf - they refused saying they were not allowed to. So who is lying? Expedia or OMNI Hotels and Resorts. The only person not lying is me - the only person seriously out of pocket is me - they both blame each other and I have got nowhere despite sending many emails, talking to chat bots, talking to agents and spending hours on the phone to both companies. I will not use Expedia again - and I will not stay at Omni Hotels and Resorts ever! - they are both dishonest and neither will take any responsibility. Back to booking.com - they at least do what they say on the packet - outraged and disappointed - to not even change the booking to a cheaper dates is ridiculous.

Date of experience: May 15, 2023
Pennsylvania
1 review
0 helpful votes

Unable to use airline credit
December 12, 2022

We purchased plane tickets on Expedia and we chose British Airways. Unfortunately due to COVID related government issued travel restrictions we were forced to cancel our flight.

We ended up with two credits of $1966.05 each for a total value $3,932.00. I have been trying for weeks to re-book our flight and ran into several issues 1) the credits were not calculating properly resulting in a shortage of $902.00 per person of our credit that was not being applied. This resulted in a total of $1804.00 of our $3,932.00 not being applied. 2) I was finally able to reach an agent ( Melvin) who informed me:"As per British policy downgrade is not permitted and require to keep the same class of service. The new flight must be booked in business class"
Whereas the flights have doubled in cost, this would have resulted in us having to pay an additional four thousand dollars in order to use our original $4000 credit. I was not provided a copy of this policy and I have been unable to locate it elsewhere.

I then sent an email to an executive of Expedia. I received an email from Traveler Resolutions.
Mr. Manish Singhal informed me that the previous agent was incorrect and I could book outside of business class. After this email, I again reached out to an agent from Expedia. I was connected with Jonica. She ultimately informed me "I tried processing the credit redemption but I always encounter tool error. Please reach British Airways directly to process the request you may reach them at *******297" British Airways will not process a credit through Expedia.

I sent an email to Mr. Singhal. He stated he would book the fight himself. I provided the details of the flight. Ultimately I was informed by Mr. Singhal on 12/11/22 that "I tried to rebook the tickets for your requested flights however, we are unable to get any availability for your requested outbound flight i.e BA flight 176 Departing JFK 6/1/22@7:35pm and arrives in Barcelona on 6/2/22@ 12:50 pm.
The other flights that we are getting have higher fares, above USD 6000 for two travelers.
Please let us know if we can suggest you these flights? "
That exact flight was still available for a total cost of $4678.50. When the credits are subtracted the balance we would owe would be 746.50. Mr Singhal was trying to get me to pay an additional $1321.50.

Products used:

Airline tickets

Date of experience: December 12, 2022
Alabama
1 review
0 helpful votes

Expedia is a RIP OFF
September 8, 2022

Itinerary # **************: This is such a lie, "As indicated on our initial email, we attempted multiple times to obtain the penalty waiver as courtesy to our partner. Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to secure a waiver for your request for this booking."! Expedia did nothing of the sort but obfuscate, procrastinate and lie. I requested a change in reservation prior to arriving at the hotel destination. Specifically, I requested a change on September 24. I arrived on September 25 and no such "multiple times" had even been initiated. I contacted Expedia again on September 26 only to be told "We attempted to contact the hotel but with no success." What a lie! I was literally standing at the front desk speaking with Expedia as they were supposedly "dialing" the hotel to secure a waiver only to report to me they could not contact the hotel. Seriously? I'm standing at the front desk with the hotel manager and there was no such contact. Expedia then adds insult to injury sending an email on Sunday, September 29 stating "We're currently chasing Comfort Inn & Suites on your change request. We will send you a follow up email within the next 48 hours. " WHAT? I've already left the hotel September 28. Told Expedia I had a family emergency to return to and they're sending me a Sunday morning note on the last day of the reservation stating they are still trying to chasing Comfort Inn & Suites? Extremely poor customer service. To add further insult to injury, an August 31 email from Expedia states, "We apologize for the delay in responding due to the high volume of requests that we handle at this time. We have checked the reservation and found that your booking is already in completed status." DUH? I left the hotel a day early and they can't do anything now because when they finally did get around to it, the booking status was complete. Let's talk about Expedia corporate obfuscation, procrastination and in competence. Furthermore, Expedia sends another August 31 email stating, "We're currently chasing for the vendor's response, and we will send you a follow up email within the next 48 hours." So what is the correct automated response? Are you still chasing? As of today, September 1,2022, you would think Expedia would send an original email buutttt nooooo, they send yet another automated email, "As indicated on our initial email, we attempted multiple times to obtain the penalty waiver as courtesy to our partner. Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to secure a waiver for your request for this booking." Expedia should be avoided at all costs. Their attraction for finding the best hotels at the best locations at the best costs is a corporate front for simply ripping off the customer.

Tip for consumers:

Use a different travel app.

Products used:

Itinerary # *******914182: This is such a lie, "As indicated on our initial email, we attempted multiple times to obtain the penalty waiver as courtesy to our partner. Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to secure a waiver for your request for this booking." !! Expedia did nothing of the sort but obfuscate, procrastinate and lie. I requested a change in reservation prior to arriving at the hotel destination. Specifically, I requested a change on September 24. I arrived on September 25 and no such "multiple times" had even been initiated. I contacted Expedia again on September 26 only to be told "We attempted to contact the hotel but with no success." What a lie!! I was literally standing at the front desk speaking with Expedia as they were supposedly "dialing" the hotel to secure a waiver only to report to me they could not contact the hotel. Seriously?? I'm standing at the front desk with the hotel manager and there was no such contact. Expedia then adds insult to injury sending an email on Sunday, September 29 stating "We’re currently chasing Comfort Inn & Suites on your change request. We will send you a follow up email within the next 48 hours. " WHAT?? I've already left the hotel September 28. Told Expedia I had a family emergency to return to and they're sending me a Sunday morning note on the last day of the reservation stating they are still trying to chasing Comfort Inn & Suites? Extremely poor customer service. To add further insult to injury, an August 31 email from Expedia states, "We apologize for the delay in responding due to the high volume of requests that we handle at this time. We have checked the reservation and found that your booking is already in completed status." DUH?? I left the hotel a day early and they can't do anything now because when they finally did get around to it, the booking status was complete. Let's talk about Expedia corporate obfuscation, procrastination and in competence. Furthermore, Expedia sends another August 31 email stating, "We’re currently chasing for the vendor's response, and we will send you a follow up email within the next 48 hours." So what is the correct automated response?? Are you still chasing?? As of today, September 1, 2022, you would think Expedia would send an original email buutttt nooooo, they send yet another automated email, "As indicated on our initial email, we attempted multiple times to obtain the penalty waiver as courtesy to our partner. Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to secure a waiver for your request for this booking." Expedia should be avoided at all costs. Their attraction for finding the best hotels at the best locations at the best costs is a corporate front for simply ripping off the customer.

Date of experience: September 8, 2022
California
8 reviews
2 helpful votes

Makes you dispute charges instead of just processing refunds as promised
April 24, 2022

I needed to cancel my hotel reservation because firstly I reserved a room with a bathtub which i need for a disability i have and they changed it to a room without a bathtub and then after that my flight was cancelled by the airline so i couldn't stay at the hotel anyway. Expedia kept giving me the runaround about the refund. They say it's up to the hotel to approve but i contacted the hotel weeks ago and their third party department said they approved the refund and contacted expedia to process it but that expedia would not reply to them and yet when i contacted expedia they kept claiming they never got any messages from the hotel despite all evidence to the contrary, multiple emails from the hotel department with contact info and everything. One day at 1 am i got another email from expedia again falsely claiming they didn't get the information from the hotel in order to refund it but that they would contact me in 8 hours at the latest with an update, but when i reminded them i had told them many times that the hotel did approve the refund and provided the emails proving it, they simply never replied, even 8 DAYS after they said they would. I had to dispute the charge with my card since expedia completely stopped acting in good faith and stopped all communication past their own deadline they set and wouldn't refund my reservation despite their own requirements they set being met. Then the real kicker, after my dispute was of course decided in my favor, I finally got a response about my refund from expedia which just said "Thank you for contacting Expedia with regards on your refund request with Bellagio. Due to your dispute on your bank we highly request you to contact your bank directly for your refund request." wow! I never heard such a thing! They just want customers to file disputes rather than they refunding it themselves! I'm guessing the company puts punitive action against the customer service agents when they process refunds, even if those refunds are legally required or meet expedia's own conditions for refund! This should not be. They need to get their house in order! Until then, do not book with them! Even if the prices are cheaper, it's not worth it, especially if you need to get your refund in a timely manner, because they will literally make you dispute it with your card rather than process it themselves!

Tip for consumers:

i guess just dispute it with your card since that's what expedia will tell you to do anyway. however before you can win the dispute you have to go through all the communication steps with expedia including proof they've ghosted you, lol. find the hotel company's 3rd party dispute department as they will be most likely to authorize a refund.

Products used:

none

Date of experience: April 24, 2022
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes

Nightmare at Expedia!
April 22, 2022

I have been an Expedia customer for over 20 years. I not only used them for my personal travels but also used them for my business. Except some glitches here and there, I was moderately happy with their service. That was until three weeks ago.

I booked a hotel through them for a tenant at Stayable Suites, St. Augustine. When the tenant arrived, the hotel staff was so rude and insisted for a $100 deposit before they could get in to their room. With no money at hand, they called me and I in turn called Expedia. After so many hours of trying they were not able to help and I end up putting them in another hotel.

A week ago, I booked a room at TRYP by Wyndham Bogotá Embajada in Bogota, Colombia. By mistake, I booked for 29th of April instead of 27th of April. I went to the online chat and after many attempts it connected me to someone in India. The call center operator said that my reservation cannot be changed. When I pointed out that Expedia says it is up to the Hotel, he said he will call them. Then he came back and said the call doesn't go through. He suggested that he will send them and email and the response would take 72 hours and I agreed.

Next day I tried again on the online chat and I got a different person. His first name was Zaid. He had no clue about the previous conversations nor of any emails send to the hotel. I repeated again and he said he will call the hotel. Then he came back and said the calls are not going through. So, I called the hotel and without any problem I was connected to a reservation specialist.

I invited the Expedia rep to have a three way call so that I can prove that there is nothing wrong with the phone calls. However, he refused saying it is against the company rules. I asked for a supervisor and he said none is available. He again said that he is going to send them an email. He must have been frustrated, because he closed the text messages before I could finish and blocked me from using the text messages. Since then when I use the text message, the following message appears.

Virtual Agent
I can't help you with this yet, so let's get someone who can

No matter what I say, it will not connect me to an agent.

Then I called the hotel directly. They said they will be happy to change the reservation without any penalty, but it has to be done at the Expedia end, since they paid for the reservation. This time, I called Expedia on a phone.

The initial warning was about the penalty. Then they tried to call and said it is not going through. Can you imagine a company like Expedia can't have a phone line that works? I called the hotel again and the call went through. But the agent was not able to communicate because of the language. While they went to find someone who speaks English, the agent told me that she will call me back in an hour. This was the third day!

I called again this morning. The same routine, nobody has any idea what is going on even though I provided the entire reservation number before being connected to an agent. I again explained my situation and mentioned that I am going from airport to airport and do not have any time. I just wanted them to call the hotel and take care of this matter before I get to Bogota.

Again, the lecture about penalty, call problem, emails etc. and she said, if she will raise this issue again it will take another 72 hours for them to respond. In the end, I gave up!

I finally called the hotel and reached the reservation department. I spoke to a gentleman by the name Julian (spelling may be different). Without any hesitation in a polite manner, he said "ok, we will change your reservation dates and will send you a confirmation". I gave him my email address and everything was taken care.

I am still waiting for a response from Expedia! A company that is a prime example of what a business must never be!

Ps. I went to Expedia to post this review. Once I logged in, they won't let me post it.

Tip for consumers:

Customer service in a timely manner

Products used:

Hotels

Date of experience: April 22, 2022
Minnesota
1 review
0 helpful votes

The Convenience is not worth the Headache
March 8, 2022

Of the reasons that you may have heard to avoid booking your vacations through Expedia, let me give you one more, All in all, after 3 attempts to resolve this with Customer Service, I would suggest avoiding Expedia in any of your travel needs. Whatever ease you think you get from searching everything in one location, you will pay for 10 fold if something goes wrong.

My wife and I decided to book a cruise for November of 2021 for the 2 of us and our stepson. We booked the airfare for the cruise through Expedia.com. After hearing of increased Covid restrictions and a change in flight time by Delta, we decided that this type of vacation wasn't a viable option for us. Expedia gave us airfare credits to be used in the future for the flights. In January of this year we decided to use those credits for a flight to Orlando leaving Minneapolis on March 17th and returning on March 20th. This past Friday (March 4th), we logged into Expedia.com and noticed we still had over a $300 credit per passenger that had to be used by August 9th. No where did it say that these credits were already being used for our Orlando trip. We decided to book a trip using these credits to Los Angeles in July. This is a trip we would have never booked if we didn't have the credits to do so. On Saturday we logged back into Expedia.com to find out that our Orlando trip no longer existed. This is a trip that we have already rented a house and car for. A trip that was supposed to happen 12 days from then. I called Customer Service and after getting the run around from Level 1 I was finally transferred to a supervisor (at least that is what I was told). The supervisor could do nothing to resolve this. I wanted my trip to LA cancelled and the original trip to Orlando back on my account at the original cost. I was audibly upset after 1 hour and 10 minutes and the supervisor I was speaking it told me it's obviously I don't want her help. I did want her help, however she was not able to help me. Her choice of words were poor at best. She also went on to say that they "Always suggest you call Expedia to use credits" She kept repeating this phrase as if it was some sort of protection for her and Expedia. The truth is, not once was I told that. Not by any representative, nor the website prior to me booking the unnecessary Los Angeles trip. This morning I began Customer Service chat with a representative Galal on Expedia's website. Her lack of understanding was unbelievable. She read the explanation that I concisely spelled out, and came up with my problem being that I no longer had a hotel. Her inability to determine the problem was exacerbating. When she finally understood my problem, her solution was to cancel all the flights with me receiving a refund for my newly purchased departure on Delta and for me to handle the return flights with Sun Country on my own. In addition to this, her solution would have cost me an additional $690.03 for just rebooking the Delta flight. Attached are screenshots of that conversation.

All in all, after 3 attempts to resolve this with Customer Service, I would suggest avoiding Expedia in any of your travel needs. Whatever ease you think you get from searching everything in one location, you will pay for 10 fold if something goes wrong.

Tip for consumers:

Search the flights on here, they are not discounted from the airlines at all, at least not that I have found. It is a good way to search most of the airlines, then go directly to the airlines to purchase, you will be much better off in case ANYTHING goes worng.

Products used:

I will have to use all of the flights considering that Expedia will offer no reasonable resolution.

Date of experience: March 8, 2022
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes

Partners in deception
February 26, 2022

I recently(Feb 20 2022)booked a trip to Honolulu from Montreal including flight and hotel. First of all I want to complain about Expedia's complicity in the deceptive practice of hotels in vacation spots like Hawaii, Florida and Las Vegas charging hidden "resort fees". These are non-discretionary fees, charged for things like towels, beach umbrellas or even the room safe. Yet they are not included in the quoted price of a trip when performing a search.The unwary vacationer may be attracted by the lower quoted price, and unpleasantly surprised by the unexpected fee. This is a deceptive and unconscionable business practice, especially for the budget traveller who may be more price sensitive because of limited means.
I had booked a hotel+flight package to the Kuhio Banyan Club in Waikiki, a budget hotel to be sure. They are always first on the list if you filter based on package price. Yet they get a not bad 3.4/5 review rating. They do charge a hefty, above-average $28.75 US per night resort fee which I knew about, but even with that it seemed like a good deal, and it was -16C in Montreal.It was declared on the booking page the room was non-refundable. A couple of hours later I was reading a review of this hotel by a customer who complained they refused to refund his $250 US deposit.He said the hotel blamed him for a stain in the carpet and he's sure it was there before. A $250 US deposit?!? I went back to the booking page and found this requirement at the very bottom of the page.Not like it's an insignificant detail or a mere formality, is it? So why bury it at the end of the list unless it's to make sure a good number don't notice it? In all my travels, having booked dozens of hotels all over the world I have never encountered such a condition, especially for a fully prepaid stay.And if they decide to pocket your deposit when you're back home 5000 miles away from Honolulu how are you going to challenge them? I imagined a week with the lingering fear this hotel would refuse to refund my deposit and decided it wasn't worth it. I called Expedia 18 hours after booking, they said the plane ticket was refundable because it was cancelled within 24 hours but the agent gave me a hard no about any chance of getting a refund on the hotel room. I did speak to one agent Mariam who at least would try to get the hotel to make an exception, but finally had to tell me no refund whatsoever after speaking to the hotel. Harsh outcome since I cancelled the reservation less than 24 hours after making it, and two days before the first night of occupancy. I could understand maybe forfeiting one night's charge for the lost opportunity, but pocketing the whole amount is just thievery. I feel I have been a victim of Expedia's collusion with hotel deceptive business practices and exploitation of the budget traveller, starting with the "resort fee" scam, and listing the large $250 deposit requirement out of sight at the very bottom of the page of terms and conditions. They catch you in the spider's web of a non-refundable discount and eat you alive with hidden charges. Incidentally, resort fees, or non-discretionary charges not included in a price quote, are completely illegal in many parts of of the world, including all over Europe and Australia. They are fairly recent in the US, I remember a trip to Kauai as recently as 2013 without them.

Products used:

Cancelled the booking

Date of experience: February 26, 2022
California
1 review
0 helpful votes

EXPEDIA MADE A MISTAKE AND WON'T ISSUE ME A NEW TICKET!
December 28, 2021

DON'T BOOK WITH EXPEDIA! Horror story! Details below!

March 28:
We booked business class ticket for 2 people (my husband and I) SF- Jakarta on 18th Dec using my husband expedia account (we are gold member)

July 18:
We changed our ticket to 28th Dec, got the email confirmation for BOTH ticket changed

Dec 27 morning
Japan Airlines send email to my husband letting him know that my ticket has not been changed from 18th to 28th Dec. Only my husband's ticket been changed.

We called Expedia IMMEDIATELY and got on the phone with an agent, after almost 1 hour, she said my ticket has been reissued. (My husband got some email confirmation about flight change, so we thought this issue has been resolved)

Dec 27 afternoon
Japan Airlines send ANOTHER email to my husband letting him know that my ticket STILL has not been changed from 18th to 28th Dec.

We called expedia again and got connected to another agent and said they are still waiting confirmation from the ticketing agent. And told us to be RELAX, they got this!

Dec 27 night around 9 pm
I got a miscall from Expedia, I called them back and I thought they just want to confirm my ticket, but NOPE! I talked to ANOTHER agent again and have to explain the whole thing. She told me similat thing, that they need to confirm with the ticketing agent and my ticket is still queing and I will get my ticket reissued in 3 hours.

Dec 28 morning 6 am
We wake up and checked our email - still no ticket reisued by Expedia. We emailed Japan Airlined and asked if my ticket has been reissued. They said NO! Still no change.

We called Expedia again and talked to ANOTHER agent again! Same thing, they said they just need to confirm with the ticket again and the airlines

28th morning 9 am
We arrived at the AIRPORT -by this time my husband has been on the call with them for 3 plus hours.

10 am
EXPEDIA told me THEIR AGENT MADE A MISTAKE and will refund us the money!

Like what the heck?!?!
I don't ask for a refund, I want the ticket to be reissued or just give me a new ticket. Japan Airlines told me that the booking is there, Expedia just need to issue the ticket.

BOTTOM LINE:
EXPEDIA MADE A MISTAKE, THEY REFUSED TO ISSUE NEW TICKET FOR ME! (My guess because: It's a business class ticket and the price difference to buy the new ticket is $5,000)

THEY ALSO REFUSED TO BOOK NEW TICKET FOR THE NEXT DAY!

We demanded Expedia to pay us the difference for new tickets, but agent on the phone said that corporate will check the recording and send us email.

Like what? What recording do you need to hear? We have the email CONFIRMATION from Expedia that our flight has changed to Dec 28th. It's clearly EXPEDIA MISTAKE and EXPEDIA TRYING TO WASH THEIR HANDS OFF IT!

We are tired, physically and emotionally!
We are supposed to travel together with my mom and got quarantine togeher. Now she has to travel alone and got quarantined alone. We have to book a hotel to stay for 1 night and also changed all the arrangement for quarantine.

We booked the next day ticket and the price difference is $3K plus! So the least Expedia should do is reimburse us the price difference!

We have been loyal Expedia customer for so many years, but now is time to say goodbye. We feel cheated and scammed by Expedia!

Date of experience: December 28, 2021
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231 reviews for Expedia are not recommended