Expedia help - flight change meant cancelling, waiting for refund & had to pay again!

LTA

Ok this is a very long story so I'll try and stay as brief as I can! I'm basically just after some thoughts and advice about to handle this.

A few weeks ago I booked a trip for some elderly relatives. I paid more to book a direct flight of 7 hours from a local airport and got a good price getting the hotel at the same time. I also got a better price because the trip isn't until 2012.

The other day I happened to log onto the airline site and found the direct flight had been cancelled and now was a 14 hour journey with a 3 hour layover. Not good for most people, let alone if you are in your seventies and only on a short trip!

Quite calmly I rang expedia and asked what they could do. They said it should be possible to be put onto a direct flight from another airport (5 hour drive each way) with the same airline, same date, same-ish times.

Then they said the airline said this wasn't possible and I would have to cancel if I didn't want that flight.

After much discussion/debate with expedia it was decided that I should cancel the flight and rebook with another airline who had a direct flight from my original airport.

Then they said actually you'll have to cancel the hotel too or you'll lose the ATOL protection.

So I agreed to cancel everything and rebook. They then said it would cost £150 more as prices had gone up and they wouldn't absorb this cost.

Then the best bit...they said they would have to refund my original payment (of a few thousand) and I would have to pay the full amount again (another few thousand plus £150 more). The refund could take up to 12 weeks.

Believe me, this is a very brief description of what has happened and it actually took about 7 hours of phone calls, an inept Bangalore call centre and being hung up on and told differing opinions!

And so it stands that to keep my trip which is exactly the same other than a different airline I have had to pay £150 more, wait for thousands to come back whilst paying out thousands to rebook. I could appreciate this if I had cancelled myself but even they admit it is a significant change hence why I can get a full refund.

As it would with most people this has pushed my finances to the limit ,as at this moment, I have effectively paid twice within a few weeks. Depending on how long the refund takes this will mean me incurring overdraft charges or credit card fees.

I have written an email of complaint but what do you reckon? I'm actually stunned by how bad it is!

chickenfriednice

My Wife is experiencing a similar issue with Expedia. They owe us over €600 as they cancelled our flight without telling us (we found out at the check in desk!) There only solution was for us to buy tickets for the next flight and that they would refund us the cost. (they promised within 7-10 days!)

We have been waiting for a refund for over 5 weeks now and all they do if lie to us on the phone!

Everyday we call them and they tell us they are sorry, they understand, but another department is dealing with it!

There customer service has no authority.

Does anyone know how to get further up the food chain with these people?

Our next stop is citizens advice I guess?

LTA

That sounds very familiar!

It has really put me off expedia. I'm stunned by the level of customer service, it is just the worst imagineable and I struggle to believe they continue to function as it is.

I'd be interested to know how to successfully bypass the Bengali call centre who say they can't put you through to a supervisor in the UK?

bagand96

Well the initial problem, the change of flights, is not Expedia's fault. The airline changed their timetable, Expedia have no control over that, they are just an agent. Furthermore, they can only offer you any alternative that the airline offer, which in this case seems to be take the change or cancel.

I guess what you would like to happen is for Expedia to book you some new flights now, and then shoulder the cost of the new booking until the original airline sends them the refund?

I agree this would be a good outcome, and good customer service, however many agents simply don't work like this anymore. Also, what is the £150 more for? Is it because the replacement flights are more? To be fair, I wouldn't expect Expedia to shoulder that cost... it is your airline's fault, not Expedia's.

I'd wait for your refund, and start again as they have suggested. Shop around a bit, you may be able to shave back that £150, you also have the benefit of time to play with.

Keep on for your refund though, as it seems that speed of refund with Expedia IS a problem.

LTA

Unfortunately it's a present for a special birthday so I have to rebook. I don't have the heart to say it's now cancelled and we'll have to wait up to 12 weeks to rebook. I've put it on my credit card and I'll just have to pay the fees for the first time ever.

It's just I've had this happen with another travel agent and they did just sort it all out in terms of covering the extra cost and not asking me to pay again and wait to be refunded. Lesson learnt definitely!