Issues with Expedia car hire

student_84

Dear MSE's,

I have had an ongoing issue with Expedia regarding a car hire. This is going to be a long post as there has been a lot of correspondence. I simply do not know where to turn after their refusal to accept that they booked me the wrong car at Christmas. I would appreciate any advice after reading the correspondence below.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have dealt with dozens of companies over the years and I have to say that I have found Expedia to be one of the worst to deal with when there is an issue. Your customer service teams who are front facing do not follow through on what they promise and takes no ownership and responsibility for resolving customer complaints.

My issues began on the 18th October 2014 when I booked an 'Economy Car 4-5 door Vauxhall Astra or Similar'. I booked this through the UK website as I was going to the UK for Christmas to see my family. I had used a number of different websites to compare the prices of a four door car as I planned on driving my family around at Christmas rather than sharing cars and used Quidco to track the purchase to get cashback on the car hire. I had hired a 'Compact Car' before with Expedia in June (Itinerary: **************************) which I had found suitable and I had also hired an Astra direct from Enterprise in August as the car suited us. When I completed my order I received an e-mail confirming what I had booked (below) which I checked and knowing that everything for Christmas was organised I was satisfied. The confirmation e-mail that has been sent I take to being a true representation of the binding contract between myself and Budget with Expedia acting as an agent of theirs.

On 18 Oct 2014 19:34, "Expedia Travel Confirmation" > wrote:

[https://media.expedia.com/media/content/shared/images/navigation/expedia.co.uk.png]



Thank you for booking with Expedia!

Please review your trip details below. You can also view your itinerary online for the most up-to-date information.


[https://media.expedia.com/ads/Itinerary/suitcase.png] Access your itinerary anywhere. GET THE FREE APP [https://media.expedia.com/ads/Itinerary/arrow.png]

Car hire in Manchester
21 Dec 2014 - 2 Jan 2015 | Itinerary # **************




Budget
21 Dec 2014 - 2 Jan 2015, Economy 4 or 5-Door Car

Confirmed
Confirmation # ***************

Your reservation is booked and confirmed. No need to call us to reconfirm this reservation.
Pick up
07:30
21 Dec 2014
Manchester ()
Shuttle to counter and car
Open 06:00 - 23:00

Drop off
12:00
2 Jan 2015
Manchester ()
Open 06:00 - 23:00


[https://media.expedia.com/cars/logos/ZD.png]
Economy 4 or 5-Door Car
Vauxhall Astra or similar
Includes air conditioning, manual transmission, 2-wheel drive


Reserved for
**************************

For specific rental questions, contact the car agency at 1-800-472-3325 (reservation), 44 844 544 4603 (direct)
Rules and restrictions

* The following rules and restrictions are provided by the car hire company.
* The driver must present a valid driver's license and credit card in their name upon pick-up. The credit card is required as a deposit when renting any vehicle. The deposit amount is held by the car hire company. Please ensure sufficient funds are available on the card.
* International rentals may have different driver license requirements. An international driving license is required if the drivers' license is non-roman alphabet.
* Additional charges or restrictions may apply for drivers under 25 or over 65.
* Charges for refueling , additional drivers, etc. are not included in the total price.
* Some car hire companies may require you to prepay for a tank of fuel when you pick up the vehicle.
* Special equipment , such as child seats and GPS, can be purchased upon pick-up (if available).
* Geographical restrictions may apply, even for rental contracts that feature unlimited mileage. Some car hire companies do not allow you to take their vehicles across certain domestic or international borders, or may apply an additional charge to do so.
* An excess may be applicable if hire car is damaged or stolen. Optional insurance can be purchased locally to reduce this excess. Expedia is not liable for such excess or additional insurance provision.
* Cancellations can be made free of charge up to and including the day prior to your pickup date, and your card will be refunded in full.
* No refunds will be offered on unused rental days.
* The total price includes all mandatory taxes and fees and insurance.



Price Summary
Taxes & Fees £59.93
Total Price £434.93
All prices quoted in GBP. Your card will be charged the total price upon booking.


Additional Car Services
Mileage rules: Unlimited mileage
Weekly rates often reflect a savings over daily rates; returning a weekly rental early may not result in a proportionate refund. Additional days beyond the weekly rate plan periods may be charged at the extra day rate.



Need help with your reservation?

* Visit our Customer Support page.
* Call us at 0330 123 1235
* For faster service, mention itinerary # *****************




Please note - if you added your Nectar number to this booking, your points will be awarded 30 days after you return from your trip.


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When I arrived in Manchester on the 21st December after around 18 hours of traveling and an awful connection in Dubai where we had to run through the airport to make our connection we went to Budget in the Car Rental Village to pick up the car. When I presented my reservation at the counter she advised me that a 3 door Vauxhall Corsa had been reserved by yourselves and that the excess was 1000 instead of 750 in the event of any damage. I queried this with the lady and she looked through the e-mail and said it clearly shows an Astra, but that Expedia had booked a Corsa and that there was nothing that she could do about it, she could offer me an Astra for £110 extra which I would have to claim from expedia, but she advised that I would have to speak to yourselves to resolve this. After spending so much to get to the UK and to hire a car we simply couldn't afford to pay that so I took the Corsa to get us home and then I said I would sort it out when I got home. After I arrived back home in Yorkshire I called expedia to discuss what had happened, the agent advised me that there was a mistake, but that as Budgets customer service number was in America and it was closed he would have to call them and then get back to me. I wasn't happy with this, but I was too exhausted to argue so I agreed to to 48 hour callback. Low and behold, 48hours later I didn't receive a callback and so had to call again. This time I was told that a manager would deal with it and call me back, reluctantly I agreed although in the conversation it was initmated that I would have to drive back to Manchester to swap the car if they had one available which was irking, during this call i advised that I would have liked specific performance of the contract, but that as it would have been difficult over the Christmas period I would take compensation instead. The manager called back a few times to get more details from mysef and offered £110 as the difference between the cost of a Corsa and an Astra, but he was unwilling to offer compensation for the inconvenience of having a smaller car and having to call so many times. He advised that he could escalate this and it would take 45 days to be contacted again. Reluctantly I agreed to this knowing that it had been accepted that you had made a mistake and that it would be resolved at the end of the period. This leads us to now.
After calling on the 29/01/2015 I was told by Monica that the complaint had not been raised and that it would be 48 hours to resolve. 48 hours later no contact. On the 6/2/2015 I called and spoke to 'Abjit' who said it was with the write off team that I would be called back in 45 minutes. No callback but an e-mail:

Dear Mr. *************,

We are contacting you in regards to the car hire, itinerary ****************.

We have investigated the case and would like to inform you that you had booked Vauxhall Corsa or similar and the same
car type was provided. We have contacted Budget and they have also confirmed the same and have denied any error.

Since the correct car type was provided to you we will be unable to compensate or refund.

If you have received a confirmation from the vendor confirming the car type initially booked was Vauxhall Astra and were given Corsa then you can write your complaint to the below email address:

CUSTOMER.SERVICE@BUDGET.CO.UK

Please include ************* (rental agreement number on your subject line).

Kind regards,

Escalations Team

Expedia.co.uk

This was obviously not what had been agreed back in December that the car was incorrect and did not match the confirmation which I for the booking which I had made. I called expedia at 6:28 pm gmt +3 and spoke to a Manager in the Bangalore service center called 'Oro' who asked me to forward the e-mail showing the contract between us which he read while I was on the line. He agreed that it clearly shows a 4 door car and that he would raise this and call me back within 48 hours. Since I now had a named person willing to resolve this I felt a little happier, however he did not call back. Today at 5:11 pm gmt +3 I spoke to Charlie who tried to find the manager, but he wasn't there. She duly called me back asking to e-mail this inbox with all these details.
I think that you will agree that this has become unduly protracted. I have an e-mail showing the contract clearly between us, I know exactly what I booked as I have done this before. I wish to have this resolved quickly and to be paid the £110 for the difference in the cost of the two cars and compensation for having to spend several hours on this issue. I trust that this will be done so.

Many thanks

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

Their reply

Complaint Reference Number: *********

Dear Mr. **************,

We received your most recent correspondence regarding itinerary number ***************. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to further address this matter. It seems as though we have reached out to Budget and they have advised that there was no error in the type of vehicle that was provided to you. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide compensation on this occasion. I regret that my response cannot be more favourable.

As an offer of goodwill for the inconvenience you have experienced, we would like to offer a 25.00 voucher that can be redeemed toward a future purchase. The voucher is valid for one year from the date of issue and is immediately accessible within your Expedia account. We hope you will allow us the opportunity to improve upon your experience in the future.


Once again, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to address your concerns. If you have any further questions, please respond to this email or contact our Customer Relations Department at 0330-123-9093-UK. Our agents are available seven days a week between the hours of 12:00PM-9:00pm GMT.

andycris3107

Hi,
I'm sorry you had problems with your car hire. It can be a nightmare when things go wrong.

It is important to note that all cars offered in the UK are banded - that is that when booking you are effectively reserving a car type and not a precise model. I note from the Budget rental site that a Corsa is listed as band B whereas the Astra is band C. You can view these here:

http://www.budget.co.uk/budget-UK/en_GB/Car-Hire-Fleet/

Often agencies such as Expedia will refer to these as Mini (band A), Economy (B), Compact (C)

Your reservation states "Economy 4 or 5-Door Car, Vauxhall Astra or similar" However expedia lists economy as being a Vauxhall Corsa or similar. It does however list this as being a 4 door car. Only the mini cars are 3 door.

While the model is not guaranteed I would suggest that the number of doors IS (there is no suggestion that you may be given a vehicle with more or less doors).

My suggestion would be to respond with the wording "Notice before action" to indicate that you are now seeking resolution and will take legal steps if one is not received. You may wish to highlight that the CCR (Consumer Contract Regulations 2013) provide ample ammunition to substantiate your position. The Expedia site continues to display the economy band as being a 4 door vehicle, to supply anything less would be a breach of contract.

student_84

Dear andycris3107

Thank you for your reply. I have sent another e-mail to them spelling out what was wrong, although I don't believe that they can see the issue with what they have done, and cc'd this to the head of their customer service to see if this gains any traction.