Expedia nightmare

Bod_1234

Decided to book a package holiday, whilst we still can.   Found what looked like a deal on Expedia, flight and hotel package.    They pulled the age old stunt of telling me the price had increased over £120 during booking.   I therefore didn't continue, and just cancelled.     Checked my email, and lo and behold, they still booked 2x BA flights (but no hotel).

I now have half a package, there is nothing listed on my Expedia account, my credit card has been charged (without my authorisation), and Expedia have no record of any of this.

Avoid these clowns.     I am 3 hours into a support chat with them...

Westin

That’s very strange. Assume you did this online? Normally any price change would feed through at the stage when flights are selected and prior to payment card details being added. 

Bod_1234

Westin said:

That’s very strange. Assume you did this online? Normally any price change would feed through at the stage when flights are selected and prior to payment card details being added. 

Not this time, it was after card details were entered, after the buy button was pressed.   It was something like "Oops, it's is embarrassing, the cost of the package has risen since the booking started, it's now an additional £120, do you want to continue".  I selected no, and got half the package anyway.

I have so far spent 6 hours (in 2 separate calls), trying to sort this out, with no resolution so far.   The call centre they have is totally unequipped to deal with these sort of issues, I have fallen off the bottom of their script they are clearly following.

The email address that their support team gave me for email complaints, that doesn't work, jut bounces back saying it's no longer in use, and to use a web form (which has a mandatory field for an Expedia itinerary number, which I don't have, as my booking never got that far, just past the bit that booked flights, via them, using my credit-card details).

I'm on the verge of raising a Section 75 claim, as I believe this is unauthorised charge on my card made by Expedia.  Although it's going to be a PITA to explain, as to a casual skimmer of the derails, it looks like I did approve the purchase (and had the price not increased, that would be true, however the price did increase, and the product changed too, (flight only, from package).

Anyone know a reliable way to contact Expedia that doesn't send me to a helpdesk in India where I need to start from scratch every time, and spend upwards of 3 hours each time going round in endless circles trying to explain what happened..

Westin

Are you sure it is not just a pre-authorisation charge? That should drop off in a few days if you did not complete the transaction.

Bod_1234

Westin said:

Are you sure it is not just a pre-authorisation charge? That should drop off in a few days if you did not complete the transaction.

Pretty sure it's not, for 2 reasons.

1/ I actually have e-tickets, and can see them on the BA website.
2/ It's now appeared on my full statement that I need to pay.

I'm going to try and phone Expedia today, i'm not holding out much hope, so likely have to go the Section 75 route.   I want to get this all cancelled before trying to book again (with someone more reputable than Expedia).  What I don't want to do is confuse the issue further by trying to book the same package via someone else, and being booked on the same flight twice, and all the chaos than may involve.

Bod_1234

As predicted, that was 45 minutes of my life that i'm never getting back.  Went through the same script via an agent on the phone, as you do on the chat, and at the end, still no resolution, they have no record of my booking, and tell me I must have booked it via BA website, which is totally untrue.     This guy doesn't appear to know how a travel agent works, and actually told me that my flight tickets would come from Expedia if I had booked via Expedia. (which is of course total BS, e-tickets always come from the airline).

Now back to the choices.

1/ Raise a section 75 although unsure If I am raising it against Expedia (who initiated the purchase, or BA who charged me)
2/ Keep the flights, and get a hotel and accept the cost difference and learn to never use Expedia ever again.
3/ Speak to BA and see if they can sort something out.

I'm thinking 2 or 3 at the moment.

tightauldgit

I have no idea how any of this could have happened but it does seem like you've fallen into a weird hole. To be honest I am thinking you do 1 AND 2. 

Raise a section 75 against Expedia (who charged your card I assume?) to get your money back. But if Expedia genuinely have no record of the transaction then they won't be able to cancel the tickets so presumably you can still use them?

If you have more scruples than me and think the above seems a bit iffy then I think you might have to start by contacting BA and seeing if they can provide some info that can help expedia trace the booking. In my experience BA are the worst company in the world though so I wouldn't hold my breath for much help. 

Actually in this case it may be that Section 75 isn't the right process. If you've been charged without authorisation and Expedia are saying they have no record of it and won't refund it then isn't that fraud? I'd give the card company a call and say you have a mysterious unauthorised transaction on your card from expedia and see what they can do.

Westin

Bod_1234 said:

Westin said:

Are you sure it is not just a pre-authorisation charge? That should drop off in a few days if you did not complete the transaction.

Pretty sure it's not, for 2 reasons.

1/ I actually have e-tickets, and can see them on the BA website.
2/ It's now appeared on my full statement that I need to pay.

I'm going to try and phone Expedia today, i'm not holding out much hope, so likely have to go the Section 75 route.   I want to get this all cancelled before trying to book again (with someone more reputable than Expedia).  What I don't want to do is confuse the issue further by trying to book the same package via someone else, and being booked on the same flight twice, and all the chaos than may involve.

With that new and previously not mentioned info - I would agree, it sounds like you have a flight booking.

When using the expedia.co.uk site did you work through "flights" then add a hotel or did you start from the "packages" tab? 

With the package option on Expedia you normally select your accommodation first, then the flight.  Whilst some airfares may have cached data, once you click on "Next Step:Final Details" the actual pricing should pull through. 

If the flight charge is from BA then I can't see how a S75 will work against them. They have not breached any agreement.

It might be worth trying to call Expedia again. They are off-shore call centres, frustrating to deal with but what one call handler tells you may differ from the next call handler.

Regarding options - for ease of life I would probably opt for #2 if another call to Expedia is equally fruitless. 

Bod_1234

It was booked as a package, as you described, pick a hotel, pick some flights in a package holiday wizard.

Came to pay for the package, put my CC details on, and got a progress bar, then a message saying that the price had increased £120 during checkout, and did I want to continue.  I select to cancel at this point, and closed the browser, 5 minutes later e-tickets arrived from BA via email 

Expedia don't have any record of it, and my card is charged by British Airways.  Neither of them want to own the problem, and like you said, it's not really BAs problem, they did as asked (although negated on their cancel within 24hrs refund promise by refusing to refund).  It's 100% Expedia at fault.

This is going to be such a pain to try and claw back, I have put it down to bad experience, never use Expedia ever again, and have booked the hotel we originally selected as a standalone.

I went to the hotel directly and found their best rate, which was if I signed up for a free Nordic hotels card, and  net result is we are only about £30 put of pocket at the end of the day.  I wasted far more time that that trying to sort this Expedia mess out 

I can't believe I am the only person to have this happen to..