Expedia refund problems

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: Expedia Refunds.

amtrakuk1975

Paid for an apartment for 1 month starting that day via expedia webite, paid via credit card for the whole period including that night. Turned up and no one was there. Was forced to find alternative accomodation.  Apartment owners called next day, said I was forced to find alternative accomodation as there was no one means of accessing the building last night, and said I want to cancel and claim a refund.   Was told by the owner the terms say need to give 24 hours notice.  No refunds.

Called expedia the next day and explained I wanted to cancel and claim a refund.  They seem to purely be an intermediary between the apartment owner and myself.  They said the owner refuses a refund.

I have approached my credit card company and claimed a refund under section 75 however they require specific written evidence from expedia regarding the trasaction, emails back and forth and cancellation/refund attempts.   Its almost as if Expedia now how to avoid leaving a paper trail as every email only results in a phone call, the only electronic replies I get are information I got already regarding the booking.

Last night for the 3rd time I got another call back from expedia (in answer to an email I sent earlier that day) as I was told again the appartment owner will not refund.  I said I hear what you say, but my credit card statement says Expedia claimed my funds, so as far as I'm conserned the transaction I want refunded is with Expedia, I paid for an apartment in good faith but it was not honored, forcing me into a situation where I had to find alternative accomodation.

I asked them to email me the terms of the booking, the transaction details and their reason why the paid contract was no fufilled.  I was advised to view the terms on the apartment, All I got was my travel itinary and a receipt for the amount.  All of which I got already when booking.

I'm going round and round in circles between the credit card asking for XYZ to process a refund from expedia and expedia basically relinquishing responsability saying the terms and on the website quote the apartment will not refund.

Any advise would be welcome

eskbanker

I think you'd struggle with a s75 claim, as Expedia are undoubtedly acting as the intermediary between you and the apartment owner here, which breaks the debtor-creditor-supplier chain needed to sustain a s75 claim, in that you need to be contracting directly with the actual service provider.

There is also the wider issue of your right to cancel the arrangement, in terms of whether an access issue on the first night of a month's rental (booked at very short notice if "starting that day") is significant enough to trigger cancellation rights for the entire month, i.e. yes, you had to find somewhere to stay that first night, but what prevented you from going to the original place thereafter?  This will indeed come down to the terms of the booking, which will presumably be published on the Expedia website?

P.S. You've posted this on an old Covid thread, so it probably ought to be moved to the main travel board....

tightauldgit

Probably the first and most important question - do the terms of the booking say that you need to give the apartment owner 24 hours notice? If so then I think you might struggle to make any kind of claim provided the owner made the apartment available to you after the 24 hour notice period.