Expedia Refund

golgarus

Hello,
I was due to be going on holiday to California and las Vegas in early may. Obviously this has now all been cancelled. We booked the trip all ourselves separately, with a mix of flights with BA, Airbnb and expedia. BA and Airbnb have been great. We've received full cash refunds for everything we've paid. Unfortunately, expedia are not so great. The part we booked through expedia was quite an expensive hotel in Las Vegas. The Hotel's website has now pretty much confirmed they are going to be shut the dates we are travelling and are offering full refunds to anyone that booked directly with them. But because we booked through expedia, and the rate had no cancellation options all they will offer us is a voucher that can only be used at that hotel that is valid for one year only. Well this is a big family holiday, and there is no way we are going to be able to arrange it again within the timescales. And quite frankly without a vaccine, I really don't want to be travelling abroad anyway.

My question is are expedia in the right here? Even though the policy seems completely different from the hotel (when they say it's coming from the hotel). Is there anything that we can do or am I stuck with a very expensive voucher that i'm not going to be able to use?

Thanks

Westin

golgarus said:

Hello,
I was due to be going on holiday to California and las Vegas in early may. Obviously this has now all been cancelled. We booked the trip all ourselves separately, with a mix of flights with BA, Airbnb and expedia. BA and Airbnb have been great. We've received full cash refunds for everything we've paid. Unfortunately, expedia are not so great. The part we booked through expedia was quite an expensive hotel in Las Vegas. The Hotel's website has now pretty much confirmed they are going to be shut the dates we are travelling and are offering full refunds to anyone that booked directly with them. But because we booked through expedia, and the rate had no cancellation options all they will offer us is a voucher that can only be used at that hotel that is valid for one year only. Well this is a big family holiday, and there is no way we are going to be able to arrange it again within the timescales. And quite frankly without a vaccine, I really don't want to be travelling abroad anyway.

My question is are expedia in the right here? Even though the policy seems completely different from the hotel (when they say it's coming from the hotel). Is there anything that we can do or am I stuck with a very expensive voucher that i'm not going to be able to use?

Thanks

Yes, if you booked a non-refundable rate.

Your best bet will be to wait and see if travel restrictions are extended and hotel operations are suspended.  If the hotel subsequently closes or is not available for check-in, you have more options regarding pushing for a refund.  That said, be prepared for the offer of a credit.

Alan_Bowen

If Expedia's conditions indicated they were acting as an agent for the hotel rather than the Principal then they must follow the hotel's instructions and offer a refund. If they were selling in their own name then if it was clearly marked non-cancellable you may have an issue. You need to read the conditions that applied to the actual booking, I must admit having spent 5 hours on the phone to their call centre in India some years ago, I would never book with them under any circumstances

golgarus

Westin said:

golgarus said:

Hello,
I was due to be going on holiday to California and las Vegas in early may. Obviously this has now all been cancelled. We booked the trip all ourselves separately, with a mix of flights with BA, Airbnb and expedia. BA and Airbnb have been great. We've received full cash refunds for everything we've paid. Unfortunately, expedia are not so great. The part we booked through expedia was quite an expensive hotel in Las Vegas. The Hotel's website has now pretty much confirmed they are going to be shut the dates we are travelling and are offering full refunds to anyone that booked directly with them. But because we booked through expedia, and the rate had no cancellation options all they will offer us is a voucher that can only be used at that hotel that is valid for one year only. Well this is a big family holiday, and there is no way we are going to be able to arrange it again within the timescales. And quite frankly without a vaccine, I really don't want to be travelling abroad anyway.

My question is are expedia in the right here? Even though the policy seems completely different from the hotel (when they say it's coming from the hotel). Is there anything that we can do or am I stuck with a very expensive voucher that i'm not going to be able to use?

Thanks

Yes, if you booked a non-refundable rate.

Your best bet will be to wait and see if travel restrictions are extended and hotel operations are suspended.  If the hotel subsequently closes or is not available for check-in, you have more options regarding pushing for a refund.  That said, be prepared for the offer of a credit.

Thanks for the response. I'm pretty sure the hotel is going to be shut. They previously were taking bookings for May. Over the past couple of days they have updated that to say that they are now only taking bookings in June. And anyone that booked directly for May gets a full refund. Still, doesn't seem to sound particularly promising for me!

golgarus

Alan_Bowen said:

If Expedia's conditions indicated they were acting as an agent for the hotel rather than the Principal then they must follow the hotel's instructions and offer a refund. If they were selling in their own name then if it was clearly marked non-cancellable you may have an issue. You need to read the conditions that applied to the actual booking, I must admit having spent 5 hours on the phone to their call centre in India some years ago, I would never book with them under any circumstances

Not entirely sure, would have to check that. If one thing is for certain, I am never booking with Expedia again. On the phone they did seem very keen to push us in to taking the voucher though.

Firemunchkin

We had this with our trip to Costa Rica - BA cancelled the flight (still not been able to get through to request a refund, over a month later) and so we set about contacting the hotels in Costa Rica directly. All permitted cancellations due to Covid-19 and were going to be shut themselves anyway, with no cancellation fees - despite us having booked the non-refundable option. In all instances, the hotel cancelled the booking via Expedia - not us.

 

Expedia says they're processing all the refunds (it's viewable via the online itinerary) and we've had the big refund through already. However, and relevant to your query, they did contact us and ask if we wanted to accept a voucher worth 115% of the original cost. If not, do nothing and the refund would be processed. It did take several weeks to receive contact and then the refund came around a week after that.

 

Not sure if this is helpful but hopefully it is.

Life__Goes__On

golgarus

Did you pay for your flights on your credit card  ( I know it seems a strange question, but reverent)

golgarus

Firemunchkin said:

We had this with our trip to Costa Rica - BA cancelled the flight (still not been able to get through to request a refund, over a month later) and so we set about contacting the hotels in Costa Rica directly. All permitted cancellations due to Covid-19 and were going to be shut themselves anyway, with no cancellation fees - despite us having booked the non-refundable option. In all instances, the hotel cancelled the booking via Expedia - not us.

 

Expedia says they're processing all the refunds (it's viewable via the online itinerary) and we've had the big refund through already. However, and relevant to your query, they did contact us and ask if we wanted to accept a voucher worth 115% of the original cost. If not, do nothing and the refund would be processed. It did take several weeks to receive contact and then the refund came around a week after that.

 

Not sure if this is helpful but hopefully it is.

Afraid not but thanks anyway. They are flat out refusing to refund it. They are just pushing us to take the voucher or say we get nothing. I'll be curious as to what happens when it comes time to check in, and the hotel is closed though!

golgarus

Life__Goes__On said:

golgarus

Did you pay for your flights on your credit card  ( I know it seems a strange question, but reverent)

Yes I believe we did.

Life__Goes__On

"

golgarus said:

Yes I believe we did.

Good
Have a read of this thread  it might help
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6134882/refund-on-non-cancellation-room

golgarus

Life__Goes__On said:

"

golgarus said:

Yes I believe we did.

Good
Have a read of this thread  it might help
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6134882/refund-on-non-cancellation-room

Thanks, that might just do the trick if we don't accept the voucher and the hotel is closed and they still refuse to refund!