Warning about Expedia

[zigzagzerr]

Hopefully most of you guys are smarter than I am , but I wanted to share my story...

I had booked a hotel for 4 nights in Orlando through Expedia -- our vacation is next week, but I actually did the online booking back in April. And paid in advance, per Expedia's rules.

Over the weekend I was playing on the computer, and happened to notice that the hotel I booked was now quite a bit cheaper on Expedia's website than what I had paid. Obviously back in April, I didn't realize the economy was going to hit summer tourism as much as it did. My overall 4 days would be about $80 cheaper at the same hotel if I had booked it today.

So I called Expedia and asked about a price adjustment. They said they could do it, but the only way was to cancel the old reservation and make a new one. Fine. But.......the credit on the old reservation would take 7-10 business days to process and might take 2 or 3 months to appear on my credit card statement. The charge for the new reservation, however, would appear immediately. So, in essence, I would have paid for my reservation twice, and it might take several months to see my refund.

This does not make sense to me. I told the Expedia rep on the phone that I didn't want to do that, didn't realize that was their policy, and that I would not be using them again.

I also emailed Expedia to express my displeasure over this policy and ask why they couldn't just issue people a voucher for the price difference, that they could use on future travel? They emailed me back this morning, and said sorry but no can do.

Obviously, I take full responsibility for the fact that I did not make sure I knew all the details of the arrangement. My mistake was booking so far in advance, and with a company that demanded upfront payment. It just didn't occur to me that if the price went down, that there would be a hassle in getting the adjustment.

Out of principle, I don't think I'll be using Expedia again. Again, it's totally my fault, but I just wanted to let people know about this policy, and hopefully prevent a disappointing situation for anyone else.

Thanks for listening.

[Magalex]

Thank you for the warning. I have always looked at different travel websites for any vacation not just Orlando. I always end up just using AAA discount and making reservations with the hotel's website because I was always concerned about Travelocity or Expedia but thought at times I was missing out of great deals because I was too cautious. We are planning a Orlando trip(for Sea World/Universal) for next Nov. 2010 so I will just stick with the hotel's website. When we have visited WDW we always stayed on-site. This is the first time I will be searching and reviewing off-site hotels.

[safetymom]

Disney operates the same way.

[paladin]

Most companies say the same "it could take 2 - 3 months for the credit to appear on your credit card" to cover themselves. While they process the credit within a day or two, they have no way of knowing how long the cc will take to process it, so this covers them. While I have never dealt with Expedia, I have had Disney tell me the same thing and yet the credit has always appeared on my cc within a couple of days.

[disneylove69]

It's the banks that could take that long. The business that gives the refund could take 24 hours to post. I find the bigger banks (Wells, BofA, etc) have the refunded posted within a few business days. Smaller banking institutions could take longer. In the end you would save $80. The business is not to blame. I work in the retail industry where people will yell and threaten and it's not our fault.

[NOLA_Tink]

Originally Posted by zigzagzerr

the credit on the old reservation would take 7-10 business days to process and might take 2 or 3 months to appear on my credit card statement. The charge for the new reservation, however, would appear immediately.

I was told the exact same thing by Disney last week. I understand your frustration, but you should prob get your refund in a few days. It took almost a week for the money from Disney to show up on my Disney Visa.

[kksmom92]

We don't travel that much where we stay at hotels, but everytime we have gone anywhere our best bet has always gone through the hotel's website directly. Most of the time if you do find a cheaper price online for the same hotel then they will match it when booking! Of course if you find one later on I don't know what they will do.

[Poohbug]

Originally Posted by paladin

Most companies say the same "it could take 2 - 3 months for the credit to appear on your credit card" to cover themselves. While they process the credit within a day or two, they have no way of knowing how long the cc will take to process it, so this covers them. While I have never dealt with Expedia, I have had Disney tell me the same thing and yet the credit has always appeared on my cc within a couple of days.

This is true-there is a possibility that it could take 2-3 months, so they say that to cover all their bases. I have cancelled a ressie with expedia and it did not take but a week to get the money credited back to my card. It is not Expedia's fault-its just the way electronic banking works.

[zigzagzerr]

Thanks for the info on how the banks process the credits -- I think I understand a bit better now.

I think I'm going to chalk it up to a lesson learned at this point -- we're leaving on vacation in just a couple of days, so I don't want to mess with canceling and rebooking my reservations so late in the game.

I did have to laugh yesterday when the TV commercial came on for Orbitz -- the one that brags about how if the rate goes down, they just send you a check for the difference. Sounds good to me!

Thanks again for the help! Have a great day!!

[Purseval]

Originally Posted by kksmom92

We don't travel that much where we stay at hotels, but everytime we have gone anywhere our best bet has always gone through the hotel's website directly. Most of the time if you do find a cheaper price online for the same hotel then they will match it when booking! Of course if you find one later on I don't know what they will do.

They won't match Priceline.

[bluejasmine]

In my experience most times it doesnt take more than 14 days.. But if your like me and watch every penny, I couldnt cancel and book at the same time Id need my money back first..

[NOLA_Tink]

Originally Posted by zigzagzerr

I did have to laugh yesterday when the TV commercial came on for Orbitz -- the one that brags about how if the rate goes down, they just send you a check for the difference. Sounds good to me!

I laughed out loud (in a good way) when I read this. That sounds good to me also (& way less complicated). Then again, it probably takes 2-3 months to get the check, lol. I hope you have a great trip!

[vicki_c]

Originally Posted by safetymom

Disney operates the same way.

That's just what I was going to post!