Expedia - Free Cancelation policy...Not Free!

ap167

Hi all,
Appreciate some advice from any consumer protection experts out there...

I recently booked a hotel with Expedia, as I often do. The hotel I chose had a special feature of Free cancelation advertised before a certain date. It also said 'Pay at Hotel' & credit card details only needed for confirmation purposes.

I'm fairly used to these terms and have done so many times before, however on this occasion, I noticed my credit card had already been charged a few days after booking (by the hotel). I queried this with Expedia who said it was an 'Advanced Purchase Hotel'. I asked about the cancelation policy & they repeated the same as the website - fine I thought.

A few months down the line, I need to cancel & now Expedia are saying - nothing they can do, hotel have taken the money & they can't refund.

I've gone back & checked my booking confirmation & all the small print & there is no mention of this advance purchase policy, the website heavily advertises the free cancelation in the T&Cs. Even today, I've checked the website with dummy bookings to check I haven't missed something & at no point in the booking process does it ever mention about not being able to cancel, or advance payment.

In my mind, this is miss-selling of a service & any would-be buyer is not told up-front of the T&Cs, surely this is Expedia's responsibility as the selling agent? But having got nowhere with Expedia Customer Services, what are my alternate options (if any)?

agrinnall

Raise it with your credit card issuer would be my suggestion.