Complaint Review: Expedia - Bellevue Washington

I had booked a round trip flight + from the UK to the US and back to the UK + 3 night hotel in early August.

I was running a bit late that morning.  There was a chance that if I rushed I may have been able to make it, but I didn't want to pay 100 pounds for a rush cab if I wasn't sure.  I'd missed a flight before and they just put me on the next flight so I didn't think there would be any serious problems.

I had called the airline to see if I could still get on the same flight but they said if I'm a few minutes late then it's not possible.  So, I called expedia and asked them to put me on the flight for the next day.  They said I have to pay 100 pounds change fee.  I didn't like but after a few minutes (during which he said the charge was only 100 pounds and nothing more) finally agreed to it.  Then, once I agreed to this charge, he suddenly said there was another fee, the airfare difference which was pretty expensive like over 200-300 pounds (I don't remember exactly), which would have made the total over $500 for a flight change for the next day!  I didn't think that was fair because he had just said that I only needed to pay 100 pounds, and it felt like he was trying to get me to pay another fee that wasn't necessary because I said yes to the first fee.  He suggested I call the airline to see if they can do something about that, so I proceeded to do that.  At some point around that time, the booking got suspended because I was a "no-show".

I lost the entire plane ticket (over 800 pounds or $1300) and the 1st day of the hotel.  I was never able to get that refunded.  I had to rebook the ticket for the next day directly through the airlines (the same airline), for over 950 pounds (i.e., over $1500)

Basically I asked to be put on the flight for the next day, and if they had the ticket would never have been suspended.  They wanted to charge me the change fee which I agreed to, but then once I agreed to that they wanted to charge me more (over $600 which was way too much for being possibly a few minutes late.. and perhaps I could have made if I had rushed.)  Or they could have told me to try to get to the airport so at least it wouldn't be a "no-show" if I was a few minutes late in person than not show up at all.

I know that partly it was my fault for being a bit late, but I was very upset at the way that they handled the situation.  I was literally on the phone that day for over 10+ hours trying to resolve it.  Nobody answers for a long time and they just keep passing my call around and putting me on long hold sessions.  Finally the last guy told me that he will send me a cancellation invoice to claim a refund. He had also told me that he will check with the hotel and get back to me about the whether the first night could be refunded (but I never heard back from them bout that).  He told me that nobody has ever had to call back once they received the cancellation invoice.  I didn't really know what a cancellation invoice was but the guy made me believe that it was like a confirmation of a refund claim or something.

Today I just found out that the cancellation invoice is useless.  It seems that the guy in August just told me that to make me go away.    So the guy in August had purposely deceived me into thinking that he was sending me something that would resolve the issue (telling me that once someone got a cancellation invoice they never had to call back again!)  Perhaps because I was on the phone with him all day and he got tired of me so he would say anything to get me to get off the phone.  I think they just want you to go away and forget about it and think that if you can get the customer on the phone and make them believe that a refund is on the way that they will go away, and eventually forget about it and not want to deal with it anymore.  And sadly perhaps they are able to rip off some people like that, but I haven't ever forgotten about this situation.

They are very rude and all they care about is money.  When I was talking to them in August, I said that it wasn't fair that they aren't giving me a refund even though they had a chance to put me the flight for the next day (at that time the ticket wasn't suspended yet) which would have avoided the suspension.  And at one point the guys as just like "it's just business" trying to justify their action. I was on the phone over an hour today arguing with the guy, he was very rude and kept interrupting me.  And the information he gave was completely different from what people earlier had said.

Unfortunately it was a non-refundable ticket but I didn't know this (when I was booking my ticket so wasn't really keeping an eye out for the refundability ability since I didn't plan to miss my flight or anything).  But I don't remember the words non-refundable anywhere.  I only found out afterwards when they told me this on the phone.  I said that it didn't say this when I registered it or in the confirmation email (I searched my entire inbox for the word non-refundable and nonrefundable and there weren't any results).  He said that it was "clear" that it was non-refundable.  He said that if you scroll to the very bottom and click a small terms link that it will show a full page of small print where it will say that (and obviously I didn't read it).  I told him that isn't clear and most people don't click small links at the bottom of pages and then sit there reading small print to try to dig up whether a ticket is refundable or not, and it never said that when I was booking the ticket and was unaware the whole time that it was nonrefundable.

He told me that I can look into an insurance claim but nobody died or anything like this so he knew that this wouldn't work, when I told him you know that won't work, he said he didn't say that it will work, just that I can look into it.  So he purposely mentioned it to try to make me go away knowing full well that I can't make a valid insurance claim for this.  (And in August the guy on the phone had told me that I could, but I looked into that already and you can't make an insurance claim for a missed flight unless something very life-threatening serious happens like someone dies or is hospitalised).

I'm a student and I can't afford to pay for a ticket I never used.  I've already paid for the plane ticket again through the airline directly so basically I lost over two times the price of the original roundtrip ticket :(  (the original ticket was about 700 pounds/$1100+ or something, which I completely lost to expedia.  Then I had to buy the ticket again from the airline for 950+ pounds, which is over $1500).  And I lost the first day of the hotel which they never got back to me about before.  They could have just put me on the plane for the next day which I agreed to 100 pounds, but he said I didn't confirm it (but I couldn't confirm that because when I agreed to that then the person changed the price to over $600 and said he won't put me on the flight for the next day unless I pay that.. even though that's not what he said at first and I felt like he was just being greedy and trying to get more money from me because I agreed to his first fee and which he made me believe was the only one)

I had agreed to the 100 pound change fee before the ticket was suspended and if they had just put me on the flight for the next day then it wouldn't have been suspended.  But when I agreed to the change fee then he changed the number which made me really suspicious (and the new number was way too high over $600 which I didn't think was reasonable).

In my recent call to them today, I just wanted an answer if there would be a refund or not, I asked him to just answer the question, yes or no, if they are going to refund me because he kept saying the same thing and dodging my question and I was on the phone with that one person for literally over an hour already.  Finally he said no, so I got no refund.  

I know that the running a bit late part is my fault, but they refused to put me on the flight for the next day.  Also they advised me to call the airline to see if the price of the airfare difference could be waived instead of suggesting that I go to the airport to at least show up in person (perhaps missing a flight a few minutes in person, I could have gone to the desk and gotten a boarding pass for the next flight?  at least better than not show up at all).  And they refused to put me on the flight for the next day, even after I agreed to charge of 100 pounds, because then he changed the number and changed it to over $600.

I feel very ripped off and angry about the way that I was treated, like I didn't matter, and they only want my money.  And I've actually used them several times before win the past without issues (but I never missed my flight), so it seems like even for long time customers when something goes wrong they offer completely 0 help.  Not even a partial refund, just nothing but lies.