Expedia - refuses to refund hotel stay that hotel cancelled due to it being closed

ClaireMilhench

Hi, another case of Expedia failing to refund cost of a hotel (two rooms at almost 900 pounds) for a Warsaw hotel. The hotel itself has cancelled our May bank holiday stay as it is closed due to the pandemic. Expedia keeps claiming we have cancelled the holiday therefore no refund is due, even though the automated email it sent us states clearly the hotel cancelled as it is closed. I have flagged the case with the CMA via their online form, and opened a dispute claim via my credit card provider but just wondering how much longer Expedia thinks it is going to be able to get away with this illegal behaviour, and whether a class action lawsuit should be attempted? It won't provide evidence of the hotel's refusal to refund the money, and refers vaguely to terms and conditions that prevent it from refunding, but declines to provide these. I am on the shielded list so no idea when or if I will be able to fly again, so Expedia's offered coupons are useless to me. Any suggestions? Small claims court?
Best wishes, Claire M

casamia20

Expedia need naming and shaming on all sites referring to holiday cancellations.  You cannot get in touch with them - still waiting for refund for some KLM flights from the start of the lockdown - they say it is KLM and KLM say it is them who should refund us.  As usual, it is proving difficult to get money back that we have all paid out for something that didn't happen!  This was the first time I had used them but will be the last.

Life__Goes__On

ClaireMilhench said:

Hi, another case of Expedia failing to refund cost of a hotel (two rooms at almost 900 pounds) for a Warsaw hotel. The hotel itself has cancelled our May bank holiday stay as it is closed due to the pandemic. Expedia keeps claiming we have cancelled the holiday therefore no refund is due, even though the automated email it sent us states clearly the hotel cancelled as it is closed. I have flagged the case with the CMA via their online form, and opened a dispute claim via my credit card provider but just wondering how much longer Expedia thinks it is going to be able to get away with this illegal behaviour, and whether a class action lawsuit should be attempted? It won't provide evidence of the hotel's refusal to refund the money, and refers vaguely to terms and conditions that prevent it from refunding, but declines to provide these. I am on the shielded list so no idea when or if I will be able to fly again, so Expedia's offered coupons are useless to me. Any suggestions? Small claims court?
Best wishes, Claire M

A Chargeback on card with be my first go to,  then go though  the process of  court action.

Life__Goes__On

casamia20 said:

Expedia need naming and shaming on all sites referring to holiday cancellations.  You cannot get in touch with them - still waiting for refund for some KLM flights from the start of the lockdown - they say it is KLM and KLM say it is them who should refund us.  As usual, it is proving difficult to get money back that we have all paid out for something that didn't happen!  This was the first time I had used them but will be the last.

That seems fairly common atm  two parties blaming each other.
The company you paid should refund you, that's why sometimes easier just to go to card company.

ClaireMilhench

Many thanks - I will wait and see what my credit card bank comes back with but they warned me it could be 45 days or longer as Visa will be arbitrating. Just hope the CMA investigation ends up in a massive fine for Expedia and compensation all round. I will never use them again, and I imagine I am not alone in this!  

LiamEff

I've had something similar.

Booked a stay at a hotel in Manchester. The booking was cancelled, got an email saying my stay was getting refunded.
A few weeks pass by, I get another email saying I'm getting a voucher instead of a refund, so I emailed Expedia about it, and they said that i WILL be getting a refund, and it will be credited to my bank. I wait a couple of weeks and ring to chase up what is going on, to be told I'm not getting a refund, I'm only getting a voucher and that I need to contact the hotel if I want a refund. I call the hotel who tell me that they have not taken any payment from Expedia due to the pandemic, and that they should be refunding me. I ring Expedia back, and i'm told there's nothing they can do, as the voucher has already been initiated. I lodge a concern, as at this point it feels like they are just taking my money, and i'm told that they will give this to their "Tier 2 Team" to look at as a priority, and I should hear back in 7 days (usually it's faster, but with everything that's going on, it will take longer, hence the 7 days. I was also told this includes weekends, not just 7 working days).

2 weeks later I give them a call having not heard anything, to be told that all has been fixed, and that I am getting refunded, and my money should be in my account within 48hrs. Happy Days!

A week passes, and I get an email, stating that my voucher has arrived. So I contact again (at this point they have given me their high priority number, so wait time is not longer than 2 minutes) to be told that the refund was cancelled, and if I want my money back I have to wait 1 YEAR until the voucher expires, ring them again, and they'll see what they can do for me!

Life__Goes__On

LiamEff said:

I've had something similar.

Booked a stay at a hotel in Manchester. The booking was cancelled, got an email saying my stay was getting refunded.
A few weeks pass by, I get another email saying I'm getting a voucher instead of a refund, so I emailed Expedia about it, and they said that i WILL be getting a refund, and it will be credited to my bank. I wait a couple of weeks and ring to chase up what is going on, to be told I'm not getting a refund, I'm only getting a voucher and that I need to contact the hotel if I want a refund. I call the hotel who tell me that they have not taken any payment from Expedia due to the pandemic, and that they should be refunding me. I ring Expedia back, and i'm told there's nothing they can do, as the voucher has already been initiated. I lodge a concern, as at this point it feels like they are just taking my money, and i'm told that they will give this to their "Tier 2 Team" to look at as a priority, and I should hear back in 7 days (usually it's faster, but with everything that's going on, it will take longer, hence the 7 days. I was also told this includes weekends, not just 7 working days).

2 weeks later I give them a call having not heard anything, to be told that all has been fixed, and that I am getting refunded, and my money should be in my account within 48hrs. Happy Days!

A week passes, and I get an email, stating that my voucher has arrived. So I contact again (at this point they have given me their high priority number, so wait time is not longer than 2 minutes) to be told that the refund was cancelled, and if I want my money back I have to wait 1 YEAR until the voucher expires, ring them again, and they'll see what they can do for me!

And I thought Holidays Extras were the worst, that is just obscene,
Hope you are now either going though your card  or the courts. 

ClaireMilhench

Hmm, this is absolutely dreadful and reinforces my belief that Expedia has simply stolen the money and will string this out as long as it can get away with it. They claim the hotel won't permit a refund, but won't produce any documentation to this effect. Can't see a 4-star hotel taking money when they are closed to customers. The CMA needs to sort it out ASAP.  

Life__Goes__On

This site did   article on Holiday Extras, hopefully they will do one one Expedia,  plenty of horror stories to list.