Expedia booking problem - beware

Phil_Macclesfield

I recently triad to book a return journey through Expedia with two low cost airlines. Although Expedia took payment for both flights I only received confirmation for my return flight. When I contacted Expedia they told me that there had been a problem and my outbound flight had not been booked. I was asked to book the flight directly with the airline and the send a receipt and Expedia would refund so that I paid the lowest cost (either the original price or the second booking, which ever was the cheapest). I asked Expedia to sort this out as they had charged me for something that I hadn't recieved. Expedia said that they could not do this. Because I was worried about not getting a flight I booked another flight - big mistake! I sent a copy of the receipt and phoned to confirm they had received it, only to be told "who told me to do that as we can't give a refund". The customer service person also checked with the airline and said that I did have a flight with the airline and I didn't need to book another flight! What he'd actually found was the second flight that I'd paid for directly not the one Expedia failed to provide. This also begs the question as to how Ryanair were able to provide MY flight details to Expedia when it hadn't been booked with them. I've written to customer complaints at Expedia but with the level of competence shown so far I can't see this going smoothly.

eDicky

Ryanair flights should always be booked directly with Ryanair. Booking through anyone else provides no possible advantage and instead the likelihood of problems such as yours.

leylandsunaddict

The problem when third parties book Ryanair flights against (Ryanair website terms of use) they just go onto their website and book pretending to be you. Unless Expedia announced themselves to Ryanair as 'Expedia', Ryanair aren't going to know that they're not you. They aren't likely to do that given they shouldn't have booked the flights in the first place.

There is no point booking a Ryanair flight with anyone but Ryanair.

bagand96

You can access a Ryanair booking with the following information:

- Date of travel
- Route
- Email address

Given that Expedia would know all this from your booking request that's how they'd access the booking you made.

You can prove that the existing Ryanair booking was made and paid for by you. I would send this proof along with the details of your complaint to Expedia and give them a reasonable timescale by which you expect a refund.

If they don't, then take it up with your card issuer. Expedia have not provided the services which you paid them for.

Caz3121

what does your card statement show for the payment...payment to Ryanair? Payment to Expedia
As has been said, when booking a Ryanair flight through an agent they just log into the regular Ryanair website and pretend to be you. Usually they would enter your card details in and your statement would show payment to Ryanair.
You would then be able to show 2 x card payments to Ryanair for the same flights