Watch out - Expedia scam

[Deleted User]

Needed to do a group booking of 11 people (10 doubles and a single), and the website only allows a max of 3 rooms (6 people), so we phoned them up.

They took all the details and then booked as two bookings (the same as we could have done online). After the 1st booking, the price of all the BA flights for the remaining 5 all shot up an extra £35pp, adding £175 onto the price of the group holiday.

Isn't this called bait and switch? Isn't it frowned upon...

It's bad enough losing out on my Quidco discount by booking over the phone, but to lump on a group "discount" of -£35pp is shocking to say the least.

callum9999

mgillespie wrote: »

Needed to do a group booking of 11 people (10 doubles and a single), and the website only allows a max of 3 rooms (6 people), so we phoned them up.

They took all the details and then booked as two bookings (the same as we could have done online). After the 1st booking, the price of all the BA flights for the remaining 5 all shot up an extra £35pp, adding £175 onto the price of the group holiday.

Isn't this called bait and switch? Isn't it frowned upon...

It's bad enough losing out on my Quidco discount by booking over the phone, but to lump on a group "discount" of -£35pp is shocking to say the least.

No it's not called a bait and switch as they haven't baited you with anything.

Flight prices aren't the same for every seat on the plane. I assume your first booking took all of the seats that were left at the original price, and the second booking then got the next cheapest seats which were £35 more. Annoying I agree, but not something that Expedia can really do anything about.

If it was getting split up into separate bookings anyway, then why couldn't you just do it yourself online?

[Deleted User]

Because there was no guarantee of being in the same hotel together and we (wrongly) assumed that phoning them they would be able to do more than we could via the web.

The seats went up in price, because demand went up... (us...)

Why is it not bait and switch? We were given a final price for the total trip for 11, they took the first payment (the bait), and then the second payment inflated by £175 (the switch). That by definition is bait and switch.

callum9999

mgillespie wrote: »

Because there was no guarantee of being in the same hotel together and we (wrongly) assumed that phoning them they would be able to do more than we could via the web.

The seats went up in price, because demand went up... (us...)

Why is it not bait and switch? We were given a final price for the total trip for 11, they took the first payment (the bait), and then the second payment inflated by £175 (the switch). That by definition is bait and switch.

I am not a mind reader... You said nothing about being given a "final price" for the 11 of you. If you actually were (i.e. the call center agent specifically said words along the lines of "the total amount IS £xx.xx) then complain and you will be refunded the difference.

cockaleekee

I'm confused also, are you saying you were charged £175 more than you were advised, or was the total payment simply taken in two amounts, one being £175 higher than the other?

Caz3121

you may not have been the only people booking.

BA allow you to book 9 on their site and this is often more expensive than booking in smaller groups as it will quote the lowest fare where there are 9 seats available

eg 2 seats left @ £100 return
next 5 seats @ £150 return
next fare £200 return

by trying to book in small groups this will cost £1,350
by asking for 9 seats on the web the quote will be £1,800

[Deleted User]

cockaleekee wrote: »

I'm confused also, are you saying you were charged £175 more than you were advised, or was the total payment simply taken in two amounts, one being £175 higher than the other?

The CS agent checked the hotel availability, and then said he needed to take it as two separate bookings, the total price was X (which we agreed to), he put the first card charge through, then informed us the remaining 5 would be £35 each higher...

Bait and switch by definition.

cockaleekee

mgillespie wrote: »

The CS agent checked the hotel availability, and then said he needed to take it as two separate bookings, the total price was X (which we agreed to), he put the first card charge through, then informed us the remaining 5 would be £35 each higher...

Bait and switch by definition.

Sounds more like a genuine error to me. Did you ask to cancel the booking when he said the additional places would be more expensive?

[Deleted User]

He didn't offer a cancellation option (but to be honest, the 40 minutes on the phone reading out names and spelling had long since worn us down and just accepted it), it's certainly left a sour taste in our mouths...

cockaleekee

mgillespie wrote: »

He didn't offer a cancellation option (but to be honest, the 40 minutes on the phone reading out names and spelling had long since worn us down and just accepted it), it's certainly left a sour taste in our mouths...

As a sales person, he would not actively offer a cancellation option. Did you not ask? If you didn't, then in continuing with the transaction you agreed to the higher price.

[Deleted User]

cockaleekee wrote: »

As a sales person, he would not actively offer a cancellation option. Did you not ask? If you didn't, then in continuing with the transaction you agreed to the higher price.

Well he had already taken half the payment, and the half the booking had come through on email.

I'm going to make a complaint anyway, as it seems out of order.