Complaint Review: Expedia - Internet

After I get a new job in Hawaii, I thought of using Expedia to arrange a vacation in Malaysia where I can bring my parents in law so all of us can meet for 2 weeks before I start my 3 years contract in USA. I haven’t seen them for 4 years and if I miss this vacation I’m not going to see them for another 3 years.

The plan was exactly like this:

1. Book my one way flights from Hong Kong to Honolulu
2. Book my parents in law return flights from Lebanon to Malaysia
3. Book my return flights from Hong Kong to Malaysia

On Sunday 16 of August 2017 I started by the first item in the list and then the nightmare began.

The itinerary price for my flights from Hong Kong to Honolulu was 15,896 HKD and I already had that amount in my credit card. I provided my Visa card information and completed the payment then my bank sent me an SMS with the transaction recoded on my credit card with the amount of 15,896HKD. What was strange is that the transaction was made by something called HAHN AIR. Few minutes after that I received another SMS from my bank telling me about another transaction with the same amount 15,986HKD being recorded on my credit card again but this time from Expedia. Considering that I have received a confirmation I thought that everything is fine. I didn’t know at that time that confirmation does not mean that the tickets are issued.

Few minutes later I received a call from Arizona (where Expedia call center calls are routed) with a lady who told me that she is from Expedia. She asked me if I speak Chinese, considering that I don’t she said that the English team will contact me soon. But then no one contacted me at that day.

I started suspecting that something is going wrong, I called Expedia customer service hotline and a representative explained to me that there is nothing to worry about at all and that this transaction will be reversed within 72 hours. The reason, as he explained, is that the transaction got stuck somewhere in the payment gateway (Rahman). He assured me that my reservation is confirmed and that it is just a matter of time for the second transaction to be reversed.

However, Next day Mon 17 of August 2017, and while taking my daughter for lunch during my lunch break (she waited for very long to do it), I received a call from an Expedia representative telling me that the tickets are not issued yet and that the transaction was rejected yesterday. I explained to him that there is a transaction with 15,896HKD pending on my credit card and waiting for their action (Pending Preauthorization) but he explained that this one must be canceled and he advised me to visit my bank to get a fax number where he can send a cancel request. I stayed with him on the phone (my daughter was with me frustrated and without lunch) and went to the closest HSBC branch beside my work. I explained the case to them and they all found it very awkward. They had a consensus that from their banking experience it is not a common practice (logical) to require double the credit required to pay for a specific product/service and that the only solution for Expedia is to go through the standard procedure and proceed with the pending preauthorization or cancel it before sending another one. I spent hours and hours in the bank where the stuff tried to contact different departments in the bank including the credit card department and the authorization department without any solution.

I went back to my work and instead of working I started calling HSBC customer service hotline and explaining to them the story with strange reaction from all the bankers I talked to. After spending the whole day between the physical bank branch and the customer service hotline of both the bank and Expedia I couldn’t find a solution. The result is that my booking is not complete yet and I can’t use my credit card anymore as Expedia is double holding the amount (15,986HKD). Finally, my bank gave me a fax number but they explained to me that usually they don’t accept cancelation requested by the customer or the merchant directly and that there is a standard procedure that the merchant must followed. I know that this is true because I once made booking through booking.com and at that time the hotel recorded a transaction on my credit card (Preauthorization) and when I requested the hotel to cancel the booking the preauthorization was canceled within 24 hours. I called Expedia and explained to them again all of this and gave them the fax number. And every time I call I have to spend at least one hour to explain the story from the beginning to the end as different representative will pick up the phone each time. However, finally Expedia assured me that it is normal to have 2 transactions on the same credit card and for the same itinerary and the standard procedure for them is to send a fax to MY bank.

Tuesday morning 18 July 2017, I didn’t receive the tickets and the preauthorization was not removed from my card and I was unable to proceed with my travel arrangements for the vacation nor I was able to work because I was spending all the time visiting my bank branch and calling both my bank and Expedia.

July 19, and after arguing with one of the supervisors at Expedia, after few hours of talking to a normal customer services representative on the phone, he assured me that If I extend my credit card limit  to let the second transaction (by Expedia) go through the preauthorization will be automatically canceled by their system within 72 hours. They even sent me an email assuring me that if the preauthorization with the amount of 15,896 was not automatically canceled within 72 hours they will send emails or fax to my bank and try to resolve the issue immediately. I trusted them and extended the credit limit of my card and they did recorded the second transaction with the total amount of 15,896HKD and then few hours later they issued my tickets finally.

On July 21 and July 22 I talked to my bank and they said that the preauthorization is still pending and that the merchant has not canceled it yet. I can’t use my card now to continue my vacation arrangements. I talked to Expedia explaining all of that, it took me ages as I’m talking to different representatives and everyone is trying to understand the case from scratch. They promised that they will communicate with other departments to solve the issue ASAP.

Sunday July 23 the issue was not resolved yet. The fair that I want to book for my parents in law was around 21,000HKD including the coverage plan. I talked to the sales team at Expedia explaining to them that the prices are going up and I’m losing money because I’m unable to book these flights because of a mistake done by their system as they are still holding the money in my account. I asked him to use the same amount they are holding or at least to hold the fair for me until they release they money. The sales representative offered transferring my call to the support team to see if they can help. A guy talked to me and said that they no longer need the money held in my account and they already released the amount and that they cannot help in the new booking.

Today morning 24 of July 2017 I woke up in the morning to see the flight fair going up to 30,000HKD and the money not released yet on my card. I was totally mad and talked to Expedia trying to explain again. After a long argument with the customer service representative she accepted to transfer my call to her supervisor (Tier2). The supervisor (Tier2) was nice and, as all other stuff, she said that she is very sorry for the inconvenience maid. She said that they cannot book the new flights for me and she does not have the authority to provide this amount of compensation (the difference between the 2 fairs) but she will send to her supervisors (Tier 3) to ask for compensation as it is their own mistake. She asked me to give her only 24 hours to get back to me. After 5 hours I realized that only 5 places left in that flight I’m trying to book. I called Expedia back again and they again started wasting my time by trying to understand the case from the beginning. Finally, the representative assured me that the case has been sent again to (Tier 3) and they are waiting for their fast response within 1-2 hours. I called again after 2 hours and he said that he do not have the authority to talk to (Tier 3) again and that his supervisors are working on the case and that they will call me back soon. It is 5 hours now and no one called.

After 3 hours of waiting for the supervisors to get back to me. And under the stress of watching the flight fare going up and the number of available places shrinking (only 5 places are left) I searched Expedia social media channels (Facebook, Twitter). I sent messages to their account on Facebook (Expedia.co.hk) and after 2 hours no response at all. I sent messages to their Twitter account (@ExpediaUK) and the get back to me soon apologizing that that they are working on investigating my case and trying to find the problem. I wrote back to them explaining that the flight is about to be fully booked, again, they said that they understand my situation and that they will try to find a solution and contact me soon. As for now, no response yet.

Summary, Expedia system made an uncommon mistake by recording 2 transactions on my credit card (one under HAHN AIR and another under Expedia). After 9 days they couldn’t cancel the preauthorization which means that I couldn’t use my Credit card. They couldn’t help me in completing my travel arrangements by booking the return flights between Lebanon and Malaysia and they cost me until now a financial loss of about 11,000HKD as a difference between the flight fares in addition of the stress and waste of my time. During these 9 days I spent all the time on the phone and visiting my bank branch and I didn’t do any work. Final results they ruined my vacation.

I don’t know who will be responsible to judge Expedia for these mistakes.