HELP: Booking with Expedia - They've made a mistake and 'I'm liable'

tomrw

I booked a hotel in New York in September 2012 for two people, in January 2013 I upgraded this double room 'two occupancy' to a room for four occupancy because two of my friends decided to tag along. (I also paid a fee for this)

I emailed the hotel last week just to make sure that everything was all above board.

They confirmed that the room upgrade had been received but that only two occupants would be staying in the room (not the 4 that I had upgraded for) and they would require $518 for the trip to let my friends stay in the room (despite it being a four occupancy)


I contacted Expedia who escalated my complaint for an investigation and it has come back as 'decline' and they have stated they are not liable anymore because this happened more than 28 days ago and they only hold phone records for 28 days.

I escalated to a manager who 'can see my problem' (whatever that means) and he is going to call me back within the next 4 hours.

But as for now they are saying I must pay the hotel the $518 despite me already paying (and they have a record of the room upgrade / payment in January)

Can anyone please advise what I can do about this?

I paid with a Visa Debit for the original booking in September and the upgrade in Janury.

phatbear

tomrw wrote: »

I escalated to a manager who 'can see my problem' (whatever that means) and he is going to call me back within the next 4 hours.


Can anyone please advise what I can do about this?

.

You can wait 4 hours.

Whats the point of advising you if it gets sorted by expedia?

Dogger69

Did you receive confirmation when you upgraded to a four person room?

tomrw

phatbear wrote: »

You can wait 4 hours.

Whats the point of advising you if it gets sorted by expedia?

Thanks for the kind response.

Not the attitude I really expected, but yeah, thanks I guess.

I wanted advise on what to say to them again incase they decline it again, but thanks for your input.

tomrw

Dogger69 wrote: »

Did you receive confirmation when you upgraded to a four person room?

I received verbal confirmation and my room now states 'two double beds' but apparently this is still only for two people because this is what the hotel has received.

Dogger69

tomrw wrote: »

I received verbal confirmation and my room now states 'two double beds' but apparently this is still only for two people because this is what the hotel has received.

Two double beds often constitutes a twin in the US, so not necessarily allowing four people.

If you get nowhere when they call back (Expedia do tend to be very stubborn) you can contact your bank and ask for a charge back - they are not providing you with what you booked (assuming you made it clear that you wanted a room for four people). I would expect them to look on your claim favourably, it would be rare that a couple would request separate beds. Be aware that the charge back means the whole thing will be refunded, you'll have to find another hotel.

tomrw

Dogger69 wrote: »

Two double beds often constitutes a twin in the US, so not necessarily allowing four people.

If you get nowhere when they call back (Expedia do tend to be very stubborn) you can contact your bank and ask for a charge back - they are not providing you with what you booked (assuming you made it clear that you wanted a room for four people). I would expect them to look on your claim favourably, it would be rare that a couple would request separate beds. Be aware that the charge back means the whole thing will be refunded, you'll have to find another hotel.

The same room on the hotels website (and Expedia) shows an occupancy maximum of four which is what confuses me because even If I did have it for two people I'm sure I would have paid an under-occupancy fee.

I cant really do a chargeback because my flights were booked with it also and I can't cancel them. The only thing I think I could do if they don't hold themselves liable is to pay under protest and then claim it back when I come home?:(

jpsartre

Unless you've got some sort of proof that you upgraded the number of people staying and not just the room I don't know that there's anything you can do. This is the haazrd of doing things over the phone without written confirmation. But as phatbear says, I don't know you wouldn't at least wait to hear what Expedia says before asking for advice. If they offer to cover the cost as a goodwill gesture there's no point in people racking their brains about what your options are.

phatbear

this may be an issue of hotel occupancy tax.

you may find that expedia dont pay this for you anyway, and if memory serves, a lot of the times on booking hotels in NY the booking is then subject to this occupancy tax when you arrive.

heres a link:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/business/hotel.shtml

in simple terms its irrelevant how many people could potentially sleep in the room, for example me and mrs pb have stayed in hotel rooms with two doubles in but we have been taxed on actual occupancy, i.e the two of us.

therefore anyone over 18 is subject to this tax, the way this is calculated is on the link i sent you.

phatbear

in fact i just done a dummy booking on expedia and look whats under the prices:

* Prices are per room/unit and do not include taxes and service fees or any extra guest charges.

tomrw

phatbear wrote: »

this may be an issue of hotel occupancy tax.

you may find that expedia dont pay this for you anyway, and if memory serves, a lot of the times on booking hotels in NY the booking is then subject to this occupancy tax when you arrive.

heres a link:


in simple terms its irrelevant how many people could potentially sleep in the room, for example me and mrs pb have stayed in hotel rooms with two doubles in but we have been taxed on actual occupancy, i.e the two of us.

therefore anyone over 18 is subject to this tax, the way this is calculated is on the link i sent you.

Thanks for that info,

However, when I paid for the upgrade I was made aware that is all I would have to pay, there were no extra guest fees I was told that I would be able to have my friends in the room if I paid the upgrade fee I was quoted.

The amount is a lot more than tax would be and it seems the hotel are wanting an 'extra guest' fee, which would seem to solve it, but I was told by Expedia my friends could come for JUST what I'd paid for the upgraded room.

Last time I was in New York we had a room with two double beds and a friend of mine who lives in the states came and stayed with us for a week even though we'd only paid for two people and we were told that was fine and they didnt have to pay.