Problems with Expedia

Helldog · 27 February 2018 at 10:43PM

Hello All

I'd like some advice please. Earlier this evening I booked what i thought were 14 day tickets for Universal Studios in Orlando via Expedia. The price per person was £236.06 so I assumed that as the ticket description on Expedia mentioned 14 consecutive days that this is what i was getting. Price is comparable to other websites who charge £220 - £230 per ticket - eg travel republic. It wasnt until i received the booking confirmation that it stated these were 3 day tickets that I pufchased. Upon checking the item description on Expedia again there is a tiny clock with 3d written next to it - nothing else! I rang Expedia and this means 3 days which means i have purchased 3 day tickets for £236.06 (outrageous) each which they stipulate are non refundable. I have emailed a complaint to them and contacted my credit card company but am extremely worried that there is nothing I can do. Can anyone help?

ThumbRemote · 28 February 2018 at 12:44AM

I assume it's the tickets here: https://www.expedia.co.uk/things-to-do/universal-orlando-theme-park-tickets.a326356.activity-details. That does seem extremely misleading: "The 2-Park Explorer Ticket entitles one guest admission ... on all days during a fourteen (14) consecutive calendar day period". That sounds like a 14 day ticket to me.

I can see a little 2d and 3d symbol on them, but it's very unclear what that means - especially since the 2d and 3d seems to correspond to the 2-park and 3-park tickets.

First of all, get a screenshot of that page. You may also want to get a copy of the payment page and Rules and Restrictions, just to show that neither of these have any further explanation of the time period on them.

I believe that if a contract terms are unclear, the meaning more favourable to the consumer should be used - there's a user on here called unholyangel who will hopefully see this and explain more. I would provide this information to Expedia in the first instance, showing that the text description states it allows access on ALL days during a 14-day period, and requesting a full refund. If that fails, I'd try a claim against your credit card company as a next step.

pogofish · 28 February 2018 at 10:25AM

The problem is probably because Florida was only under British rule from 1763-1783 and did not side with America during the Revolutionary War, only becoming part of the US in 1822.

Also, Expedia itself did not start trading until 1996. There is a little gap here.

Helldog · 28 February 2018 at 8:43PM

Hello Thumbremote

Thanks for your response and for taking the time to look at Expedia. I have taken screen shots and I agree with your thoughts concerning 2d and 3d - it just never occurred to me that they meant 2 days and 3 days as:
1. it was not clarified anywhere
2. I thought that their price meant that it must be for14 days as I had already checked other websites for comparison prices before buying;
3. It talks about 14 consecutive days of ticket in the description.
4. I've been to universal before and as far as I am aware both Disney and universal have specific tickets that they aim at UK tourists and they are not 2 or 3 day tickets hence i did not even consider that these tickets could possibly be anything other than 2 week tickets - this is what I have always bought albeit never via Expedia before.

I have raised the issue today with the Trading Standards who have logged it as a case. The FCA, spoken to a legal helpline I have with my house insurance and spoken to my credit card company again (they state they can't start any dispute action until yomotoe as the transaction has not yet been posted - no idea really why this delays things). Both the legal helpline and the Trading Standards mentioned the Misrepresentation At 1967 so I have sent a follow up complaint email with screen shots to Expedia again today. It is difficult to raise a complaint as there is no complaints process on their website, no email addresses and no details of a UK address listed. What I did though is check the companies house website and the ATOL website and found London address that way.

I will also take a copy o the payment page and rules and restrictions page. Can you think of anything else? It would be useful to hear from unholyangel.

grawiz · 15 April 2018 at 11:19AM

Hi,
I just wanted to warn people about Expedia and hotel reservations: I was trying to a arrange a short break for us in Cordoba, and found the best price for the hotel on expedia. I reserved it a month ahead with credit card details as it looked like Booking.com where you can, at a certain price, cancel with 24 hours notice, and I booked in the box where it clearly stated -- "Expedia does not charge for cancellations on this booking". Four days later, we changed our plans and I cancelled the reservation, and am being charged one night's accommodation plus taxes - not by Expedia, but "by the hotel" as the cancellation was within 30 days of the booking! The hotel say it is their"policy with Expedia".
Everything - apart from a small box below the payment section on the website conveyed the impression that cancellation would be free. I will not use Expedia again.
In the meantime, I had booked a twin room for my daughter and me in Amsterdam through Expedia, despite the confirmation from Expedia - when we arrived the hotel said that I had only reserved a room for one person, and that the details from Expedia were incorrect. Another reason - if I needed one, to avoid Expedia.
Hope this helps avoid others being ripped off or disappointed in future.

Problems with Expedia

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free