Correct way to get ebookers/Expedia refund for non-refundable room when hotel is closed.

clivep

This refers to a non-refundable room when the hotel is closed. My experience has been with ebookers but Expedia bookings appear to operate the same.

1. Wait until you can confirm the hotel is closed for your stay so that it is the hotel that is cancelling. This is likely to be in the last few days before your stay. The hotel is then unable to fulfil the contract and you are entitled to a full refund despite it being a non-refundable room.

2. Do not reply to the text from ebookers offering a coupon.

3. Do not reply to the email from ebookers offering a coupon.

4. Do not use any of the automated solutions listed on the ebookers Covid-19 FAQ at https://www.ebookers.com/service/#/myTrips/25710 as you'll get a coupon.

5. Do phone them or use online chat to let them know the hotel has cancelled and you require a refund not a coupon.

 

My experience:

We had a non-refundable room  in a Scottish hotel for 2nd May booked through ebookers (part of Expedia).

On 21st April the hotel advised us that they were closed to visitors and offered to reschedule or give a full refund. They said if I wanted a refund then I needed to do that through Expedia and to let the hotel  know if I experience any problems. I replied that I would request the refund through ebookers but at that time the option to cancel on the ebookers site was only for travel up to 30th April but I expected that to change in the next few days.

Sure enough, the option to cancel on the ebookers Covid-19 FAQ page https://www.ebookers.com/service/#/myTrips/25710 changed to bookings up to 31st May. On this page it states "you can cancel your upcoming hotel stay at no penalty if it is scheduled to begin on or before 31 May 2020, and was booked on or prior to 19 March 2020" and "You will be eligible for a full refund or, in some cases, a voucher allowing you to rebook the original property at later dates".

As the hotel had already cancelled on me and confirmed I was eligible for a refund I tried to proceed. None of the automated solutions worked but at the time an option was given (not now shown) of filling in a cancel request form. It didn't ask on the form whether you wanted a refund or a coupon and I never received the promised email notifying me the form had been processed.

I had made sure not to reply to the email and text messages offering to cancel for a coupon as I wanted a refund not a coupon.

The next day I saw that the booking in My Trips had been marked as cancelled and the price I paid shown as refunded.

I haven't received the refund yet but was aware that it can take up to 4 weeks or so. However, I looked in my ebookers account and saw there was a coupon there. I have never accepted a coupon. I would not use it and issuing it instead of a refund  would not have been at "no penalty" to me as stated on the cancellation webpage.

I spent a long time on online chat with ebookers yesterday and they tried contacting the hotel to get them to agree a refund (even though I'd pasted in the text from the hotel's email offering a refund). No one was available at the hotel with the authority to instruct ebookers to give the refund so ebookers will be trying again at a later date and let me know the result in the next 28 days.

I asked how I could have avoided getting a coupon instead of a refund and was told that one needs to contact them by phone or online chat. I was further told that using any automated method of cancelling a non-refundable booking will result in a coupon being issued.  This is not what is stated on the Covid-19 FAQ page but she confirmed that this is indeed the case.