PHOENIX — They were looking to save some money, booking their trips through Expedia, but instead, they say they ran into hassles trying to get a refund.
"We went to California for my son's 13th birthday," said Ruthy.
She had planned it all out. A day at Disneyland and a day at Knott's Berry Farm.
"He's never been on a roller coaster, so it was a big deal for him," said Ruthy.
She had paid $195 for three tickets to Knott's, but the vouchers issued by Expedia weren't accepted at the park.
"The lady in the information center said, well, the best you can do is just buy new tickets and get your refund from Expedia," said Ruthy.
She tried that, but when she started the process for a refund, she was denied each time.
Jim contacted us with a similar issue. He says he flew to New Orleans only to find the hotel did not have his Expedia reservation - even after he did the self-check-in for the hotel online.
So, Jim had to pay again.
When he asked for his $1,800 back from Expedia, they only gave him $900.
Jim and Ruthy weren't to blame here, so why couldn't they get their money back.
That's when we got involved and Expedia took notice.
They say Ruthy will get her money back and that they have "flagged the issue for our supply team so they can look into it further and make sure no other customers have a similar experience at the theme park."
As for Jim, he now has his full $1,800 back plus a $200 credit for his troubles.
Expedia says when the hotel couldn't locate Jim's reservation he may have canceled the booking online, "so the system automatically applied the cancellation penalty."
They say, "We always strive to deliver a great experience for our travelers and this was clearly a situation where we didn't do that."
Thank you, Expedia for making this right.
They say if either of these happens to you, to call an Expedia agent in the moment to sort out a refund or to re-book.
Expedia Full Response:
- Regarding the first customer, I can confirm our agents have refunded him in full for the hotel booking, as of Oct. 27th. We’re also issuing a $200 coupon to their Expedia account as an apology for the issues they experienced. It wasn’t clear from our records why the hotel couldn’t locate the booking, but I can tell that the customer had a frustrating time when speaking with our agents and for that, we’re very sorry. We always strive to deliver a great experience for our travelers and this was clearly a situation where we didn’t do that. One tip that might be helpful for travelers should they find themselves in a similar situation – if the hotel can’t locate your booking, please contact an Expedia agent (either via chat or phone) so we can assist with the relocation or refund. In this case, the customer canceled the booking online so the system automatically applied the cancellation penalty.
- Regarding the second customer, we will be refunding her for the tickets. Our agents are in the process of trying to get in touch so they can process the refund (she paid with PayPal so we’ll need a credit card in order to refund). We have also flagged the issue for our supply team so they can look into it further and make sure no other customers have a similar experience at the theme park. There was no evidence of a service error here that we know of so the vouchers should have been accepted by the park.
