Expedia.co.uk FRAUD

Lucielou3

On 12/10 I tried to book a trip to Budapest via expedia.co.uk (02/11-06/11) totalling £459.12.

As I was booking, it asked if I wanted to register with Expedia, to make checking my itinerary etc. easier- I did, so I entered my email address.

My card was then rejected- “Sorry, we are having a problem processing your card”, so I tried it again. It was rejected again.
I checked my online banking and saw I was roughly £500 further in debit than I should be.

I called my card provider who noted that there were two transactions pending from “Travel Reservation” for £277.72 each (at the exact time my card had been “rejected” by Expedia- 16:04pm & 16:05pm.)

2 transactions of £277.72= £555.44. This is £96.32 more than the cost of the holiday I tried to book.

My card provider said they cannot cancel the charge as it is pending, but once it comes through they can dispute it
We called Expedia (from the number on their website) who tried to claim I don’t even have an account with them, despite my getting a confirmation email from them (from the registration when I tried to book).

We spoke to one person who told us that Expedia take a “holding amount” but could not explain why this would be two different transactions, totalling more than the cost of the trip. He then passed us to another person who asked for my card number, the dates of my trip, the hotel I had booked etc., and then claimed we had called the wrong number and that they couldn’t help and that I didn’t even have an account with Expedia.

I have not had any confirmation email from Expedia or anyone else.

So essentially I have been fraudulently charged £555.44 by Expedia.co.uk or through their website and then was refused assistance via the telephone.

I have screen prints of my card being rejected, my “welcome” email from Expedia and a shot from my account showing the trip as “unbooked”. I have screen prints of my online banking showing the amount on my account and of my internet history to confirm I was on Expedia at the time the charges were taken.


Has anyone had something like this happen before? Advice?

hcb42

ok, they are a reputable organisation so I am sure it will be ok - although you have clearly not got through to the right department.

What number did you call for assistance?

What were the terms of the booking had it gone through? I.e. flexible or non refundable?

Was it a debit card?

Lucielou3

It was a credit card.

I called both the numbers on their website:

Direct: 0330 123 1235
From abroad: +44 203 0248211

It didn't book. I didn't get any further than entering my details and being rejected!

real1314

It's not fraud. it's an error.

being overly dramatic about will just get people's backs up. Deal with it rationally.

Obviously_the_best

Those transactions shouldn't actually come off of your card, they should simply vanish after (I think) 5 days?

jpsartre

Exactly, it's almost certainly what you were told be Expedia. They've put a hold on the money and the money will never actually be taken from your card. The charges will disappear from the pending section of your card in a few days.

Armorica

It sounds more like incompetence than fraud.

Give them a call during the day tomorrow - you'll probably get someone who does understand what you are trying to say and if their systems are poor, IT/data etc. may have required an overnight update.

agrinnall

Lucielou3 wrote: »

My card was then rejected- “Sorry, we are having a problem processing your card”, so I tried it again. It was rejected again.

*******************************************

We spoke to one person who told us that Expedia take a “holding amount” but could not explain why this would be two different transactions, totalling more than the cost of the trip.

The first part of the quote explains the second part: if you hadn't tried again after the first failure then only one hold would have been placed. My recommendation following a failed transaction is to call your card issuer before trying again.

And yet again we have a thread title that tries to make a big drama out of a minor error, and as usual completely fails.