Expidia and Covid

thebullsback

Booked a 3 night stay in uk hotel for June 2020 unfortunately  Covid came along and due to Government restrictions Hotel was forced to close to public and also travel restriction's in place so not able to use Hotel.
expidia took payment at time of booking and have since issued a voucher to me to use at same hotel before 2022.
Problem is my circumstances have changed and I no longer want to use the original booking and preferer my money back.
I have sent a couple of emails to Expidia asking for a refund but no reply I spoke to an online representative but was fobbed off tried to telephone but waits of two hours prevent this. Basically very easy to book but impossible to deal with when things go wrong. 
It did state that "This reservation is non refundable and cannot be changed or canceled " which I can understand BUT surely Covid has altered this .
Is there a way to get a refund or have I lost out?
Also any better ways of getting in touch with this outfit other than sending emails that do not get answered and two hour waits on telephone.
Thank you for reading. 

JamoLew

Non refundable does what it says on the tin.

They have offered you a voucher 

Or you could claim on your travel insurance (if you have any)

ThumbRemote

JamoLew said:

Non refundable does what it says on the tin.

They have offered you a voucher 

Or you could claim on your travel insurance (if you have any)

Rubbish. Non refundable means its not refundable if the customer changes their mind. It doesn't mean the company can fail to provide the service and still keep your money. 

The hotel was closed. This is a simple breach of contract on the part of the supplier, and thebullsback is entitled to a full refund. 

What complicates matters is if they agreed to a voucher instead of a refund previously. Also, I'm not sure who they chase, Expedia or the hotel. There may be better advice on this forum https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/travel-chaos-help-info 

CKhalvashi

JamoLew said:

Non refundable does what it says on the tin.

They have offered you a voucher 

Or you could claim on your travel insurance (if you have any)

Not in this case, as the hotel are in technical breach of contract (although there's no point pursuing it as they were under government orders).

OP, did you request or accept the voucher? If yes, you're stuck with it, as you have been refunded as agreed. You should have a right to give/sell it to someone else, which may be beneficial to both you and someone else if the price has increased, assuming it's a time voucher.

If no, you have a right to a full refund, and will need to pop an e-mail/letter/phone call to Expedia to request this is refunded to you.

thebullsback

Update and Good News
On Friday I contacted The Hotel I was meant to go too and they were very helpful but unable to help as Expedia still had my money and it had not been passed to the Hotel yet ( I guess this is because its in the form of a coupon until I use it)
On Saturday I decided to try again with Expidia and I made contact through there online web chat service.
The web chat is very much Ai based and only after I clicked on the "Change Location" option did I finally get a "Live Person" instead auto messages.
In short I said that I wanted a full refund due to original Date been unavailable due to Covid Restrictions.
I was asked for original booking itinerary  number and confirmation of Hotel and my email address after waiting for about 40 min I was given the glorious news that I will get a full refund. Just to be safe I asked for a email to be sent confirming this refund which I duly got and now am just waiting for cash to be returned (7 working days )

CKhalvashi

thebullsback said:

Update and Good News
On Friday I contacted The Hotel I was meant to go too and they were very helpful but unable to help as Expedia still had my money and it had not been passed to the Hotel yet ( I guess this is because its in the form of a coupon until I use it)
On Saturday I decided to try again with Expidia and I made contact through there online web chat service.
The web chat is very much Ai based and only after I clicked on the "Change Location" option did I finally get a "Live Person" instead auto messages.
In short I said that I wanted a full refund due to original Date been unavailable due to Covid Restrictions.
I was asked for original booking itinerary  number and confirmation of Hotel and my email address after waiting for about 40 min I was given the glorious news that I will get a full refund. Just to be safe I asked for a email to be sent confirming this refund which I duly got and now am just waiting for cash to be returned (7 working days )

Perfect, glad it's sorted for you.

In future, never accept a voucher (although it appears you didn't in this case), always ask for a refund straight away if this is what you want.