Is Expedia the worst online travel agency to deal with?

[Mattg]

I had a lot of trouble dealing with Expedia a few years ago when they refused to honour '$50 off' coupons which were in my account because of a couple of 'lowest price guarantee' claims. They kept making up the rules like 'oh, you have to spend $350 or more before you can apply the coupon', or 'oh, you have to stay more than two nights'. None of these conditions were in the terms and conditions of the coupons when issued.

Were they honoured in the end?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Were they honoured in the end?

One was - after about three weeks of calling expedia, speaking to half a dozen different people, and finally emailing head office. The others I didn't bother with.

 

[Mattg]

One was - after about three weeks of calling expedia, speaking to half a dozen different people, and finally emailing head office. The others I didn't bother with.

Wow - absolutely pathetic on their part.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Wow - absolutely pathetic on their part.

the problem was that the terms and conditions restricting the coupon's use were not published on any public site, or on the pop-up window associated with the coupon.

the terms and conditions were however clearly stated in the information available to the call centre, and it was embedded in whatever IT governed the booking process (you couldn't apply the coupon on-line unless it met the terms and conditions which they had at the call centre).

the only information available to the public was 'find a lower price, we'll match it and give you $50 off your next booking'... with no stated restrictions.

so that's what I fought for, and got. I believe they've now changed their website and fully explain the conditions for coupon use.

 

[Julesmac]

Relevant to this topic. Mate of mine works for one of the biggest banks. Tells me they have a media monitoring room wallpapered with live screens following Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. There's some kind of trigger which generates, let's say, a green light when *insert name* (I assume Qantas does similar, maybe) is mentioned. If it's mentioned again, and comments are unfavourable, the lights turn to red and my mate said they really do track the comments.
I am not sure if any AFFers have experienced a better response when using FB to vent an issue, (we are fortunate to have a couple of airline reps on AFF) however the court of public opinion can be pretty powerful. I have no idea if this philosophy works with a company structured in a way which it seems like Expedia is, but hey you might feel a lot better after expressing your wrath in a more public forum.

 

[FL360]

yes, they are the worst travel agent.

simple story,

the airline need to reschedule the flight,
the alternatives are agreed, between expedia, and us.
somehow they are able to stuff up the booking, therefore the airline cancels the entire booking.
seeing that all cancel email, we called them, a monkey says it is all cancelled and we will have full refund.
we immediately book with another airline,
called expedia to ask what happened and ask when we will receive refund, but the monkeys in India cannot find out what happened.
only when complained with social media they start fixing the booking (after WE check on the airline's website, at no time they contact us actively). too late now

now we are disputing with the credit card company.