WOW !!! I will never use Expedia again!
- Thread starter JimDandy
- Start date
I can confirm that if you actually have to call Expedia you'll be in a nightmare of Indian support who can't do a single fucking thing to help you.
That said, it's super convenient to book your own stuff. But I guess be careful of clicking the confirmations.
Amazon gets lots of ripoffs too with crazy shipping charges and stuff. Always scammers everywhere.
That said, it's super convenient to book your own stuff. But I guess be careful of clicking the confirmations.
Amazon gets lots of ripoffs too with crazy shipping charges and stuff. Always scammers everywhere.
I was just reading that one on CBC.ca
It's not unusual for Expedia to try to F**k you. I was going to rent a vehicle in California and checked the fine print before going ahead with it. I noted a bunch of extra Expedia fees added to my rental costing hundreds more. Going direct to the National site got me the vehicle for a better price without insane fees.
I don't like that TD Rewards is using Expedia. Seems the points are not worth very much anymore going through Expedia.
It's not unusual for Expedia to try to F**k you. I was going to rent a vehicle in California and checked the fine print before going ahead with it. I noted a bunch of extra Expedia fees added to my rental costing hundreds more. Going direct to the National site got me the vehicle for a better price without insane fees.
I don't like that TD Rewards is using Expedia. Seems the points are not worth very much anymore going through Expedia.
I use Expedia to find the best rate and then contact the Hotel directly. They almost always meet or beat the price on Expedia.
It saves me time from calling around to different hotels and waiting
Bob
It saves me time from calling around to different hotels and waiting
Bob
Shitty situation. But if you go back to the article, it's been updated: the guy got a refund and an extra $200 voucher to boot. Alls well that ends well! Shit happens sometimes, I don't think it's a situation where Expedia tried to "screw" him over. In the article the guy even states he's used Expedia a number of time previously without issue. So I would say that his most recent experience with Expedia was an anomaly, not the norm - that shouldn't be lost on readers of the article, in my opinion.
The measly $200 doesn't even cover his hours on the phone to Expedia's call centre being passed on from Rep To Rep.
This sort of stuff is like calling Rogers. They only want to speak to people who have something to buy and not reduce their plans. Now I don't call them and go to one of their own stores.
Neither you or I know what this man's time is worth. Maybe he makes 40k a year, maybe he makes 400k, we don't know. If you would not be satisfied with the extra $200, so be it. But there is no way of knowing, at least the article doesn't make it clear, whether or not he is satisfied with the extra comp. All we can say for sure is, based on his own words, he spent more than 8 hours on the phone and he got the refund he wanted and an extra $200 voucher. If you are outraged for him that he was given an extra $200, so be it I guess. But tough to say whether or not he was adequately compensated for his time when none of us really know what his time is worth.
If you have a fraudulent charge on your credit card
With credit cards, if you have a charge that you did not make (the fraud charge), the credit card company is responsible/liable?? for it. Credit card companies are usually very helpful when it comes to this, as most transactions are done by credit card these days. The credit card company will take the fraud charge off, whereas if you used your debit card, you are out the cash from your bank account.
So if you are buying online stuff, or booking hotels and vacations use a credit card that has a lower limit, so immediately you credit card company will notice something if you get overbilled and notify you.
6200 dollars sitting in a high interest account accrues money for that company. And there were several of them at that particular hotel. When you get your statement or bill it might be 20 days in coming, each day of delay repayment makes money for that company. The customer service gave you the run around until you got your credit card company involved. After all its the credit card company money they are borrowing at a free interest rate...
Then there are the little known charges hidden in the fine print designed to make the company more money. I'm not sure of the Canadian Law on the course of hidden fees in the fine print.
It should be something simple like: on the same page all fees (etc) should be clearly stated, and no "page links" should include hidden fees.
With credit cards, if you have a charge that you did not make (the fraud charge), the credit card company is responsible/liable?? for it. Credit card companies are usually very helpful when it comes to this, as most transactions are done by credit card these days. The credit card company will take the fraud charge off, whereas if you used your debit card, you are out the cash from your bank account.
So if you are buying online stuff, or booking hotels and vacations use a credit card that has a lower limit, so immediately you credit card company will notice something if you get overbilled and notify you.
6200 dollars sitting in a high interest account accrues money for that company. And there were several of them at that particular hotel. When you get your statement or bill it might be 20 days in coming, each day of delay repayment makes money for that company. The customer service gave you the run around until you got your credit card company involved. After all its the credit card company money they are borrowing at a free interest rate...
Then there are the little known charges hidden in the fine print designed to make the company more money. I'm not sure of the Canadian Law on the course of hidden fees in the fine print.
It should be something simple like: on the same page all fees (etc) should be clearly stated, and no "page links" should include hidden fees.
This doesn't pass the test for fraud unfortunately. I've used Expedia hundreds of time, all fees are listed prior to clicking "purchase". Even in the article, the man states that he was in a hurry, saw a price he liked, clicked purchased and saw the other fees when he printed his receipt. No doubt there was some sort of error on Expedia's end. And no doubt this guy had to expend time/effort to get it resolved. But again, I can't see how this situation is an example of fraud - just a series of unfortunate events, that most importantly, was rectified.
Rectified only after it made national headlines.
"CBC News contacted Expedia on Wednesday evening and again on Thursday for an interview, but a company spokesperson did not provide any information about the situation.
After the story was published, Expedia contacted Smerchanski and offered him a refund along with a voucher for $200."
No doubt he contacted the media. But that doesn't mean the issue would not have been rectified otherwise - you merely assume it was rectified because of the media. Most companies are like most people, reasonable: if something happened that should not have, more often than not it gets rectified. Now, maybe the media attention made Expedia move more quickly, who knows - the guy would've gotten at least a refund regardless would be my guess. Running to the media more often than not these days, in my opinion, is just another example of the prevalence of outrage culture.
Personally, I have used Expedia dozens of times without issue and have also used TD Rewards on Expedia and it worked perfectly. TD Rewards is basically just a monetary credit on any fare that is offered.
I'm not sure about alls well that ends well. For one, they gave him the run around for days and he wasted hours on the phone and they issued the refund after the article was published. Would they have issued the refund if they did not get any bad press?? Many of these large online companies have terrible customer service when it comes to handling issues.
About 7 years ago, I booked a trip to Vegas on Expedia with a room in an expensive 4 star hotel. When I got there, there was no room. They would not do anything when I called them and told me to wait till a room became available. The hotel management gave me vouchers for food and said they would try to help, but it was the holiday season and most hotels on the city were full. I was considering changing my ticket and going back home, but Expedia then told me I would be charged a large penalty on the package. I think it was 50%. After 16 hours, the hotel management gave me one of their luxury suites for 24 hrs and then changed me to a kind of room I had booked. Expedia did NOTHING!! They didn't even refund me for the day I did not have a room.
Since then, I have never used Expedia and generally avoid or am very careful with such online companies. I look up a good rate online and then just directly contact the airline and hotel. They have almost always matched the price, especially if I tell them my experience with Expedia.
About 7 years ago, I booked a trip to Vegas on Expedia with a room in an expensive 4 star hotel. When I got there, there was no room. They would not do anything when I called them and told me to wait till a room became available. The hotel management gave me vouchers for food and said they would try to help, but it was the holiday season and most hotels on the city were full. I was considering changing my ticket and going back home, but Expedia then told me I would be charged a large penalty on the package. I think it was 50%. After 16 hours, the hotel management gave me one of their luxury suites for 24 hrs and then changed me to a kind of room I had booked. Expedia did NOTHING!! They didn't even refund me for the day I did not have a room.
Since then, I have never used Expedia and generally avoid or am very careful with such online companies. I look up a good rate online and then just directly contact the airline and hotel. They have almost always matched the price, especially if I tell them my experience with Expedia.
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Well; and credit to the reporter on this story, the article states that they tried to book the same hotel in the same city on Expedia. The reporter also got a ridiculous "other fees". When the reporter tried again (the next day or whenever) the "other fees" issue seemed to be corrected. That would seem to highlight that Expedia did take the issue seriously enough to fix it.
Getting the "run around" is highly subjective. What I've noticed over the decades are two things that have really poisoned customer/company relationships:
1) People are less patient generally
2) The ability of front line workers to make judgment calls have slowly been taken away in favour of "following procedure"
Both these things greatly taint the perception of how quickly a company is working to try and fix a problem.
I have used Expedia for comparative shopping only and then book direct. Occasionally booking direct will get a better rate.
And often the opposite is true. When I extend my stay, I have often been directed by staff to book online through a third party for a better rate than can be offered by the hotel desk staff.
Most companies are reasonable if they have competition and customers have a choice. When customers dont have choice, companies care less about customer service. In this age of internet and mega companies dominating industries, quality customer service is diminishing. Companies aren't thinking about long term, but short term profit and quarterly stock price.
Why do you think internet based solutions like Expedia, Amazon, etc. are so successful? We actually value speedy, efficient and cheap transactions as opposed to "customer service". Often; when you have to speak with someone, it means something has gone wrong - and that has the ability to predispose our perception of the interaction with "customer service" before we even speak with someone. Quicker, cheaper, faster, zero errors - that's what modern consumers unfortunately want. It's what leads to things like outsourced call centers, training front-line employees to efficiently repeat menial tasks with little room to exercise judgement, etc.
