Roaming alone (and naked) thanks to Expedia

Posted Wed November 11, 2009 12:00 pm, by Jim H. written to Expedia, Inc.

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I purchased a ticket from Manila PH, to Albany, NY for October 30, 2009. The ticket was through United Airlines. The traveler was robbed at gunpoint on the way to the airline at 2am. Everything taken, passport, visa, clothing, everything.

I needed to cancel this flight so I called Expedia, whom I booked the ticket with. The CS rep, who barely spoke English told me I needed to contact United to cancel, as they could not help me. I call United and get the ticket cancelled. I go to rebook the flight for the previous week, as the belongings were recovered about 6 hours later, and we have proof of the incident, police report, news article etc, and I call Expedia to rebook the flight. The CS rep again, not very good english tells me that I need to rebook with United, as they cannot help me. I call United, who tells me they do not sell a ticket originating from Manila to anywhere in the world, and Expedia should not have sold this ticket. They refer me back to Expedia who again refuses to help me and pushes me back to United. United finally got me sorted out, after having to pay extra fee's and do some running around in Manila to offices to get the ticket sorted out.

Expedia was quick to take my money, but they offered no Customer Service in a time when extenuating circumstances happened. I would warn anyone using Expedia that they are the most unprofessional, and unhelpful company I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with, and I would not recommend them to anyone. I'm sure its fine when things go right, but unfortunately things don't always go right, and Expedia completely pushed me off and would not offer any assistance.

Expedia should reimburse me for the extra fee's I had to pay to get the ticket rebooked. They completely disregarded me when I had to call them back and pushed it to United, who doesn't even sell the ticket in the first place, and United stated that Expedia should NOT have sold me that ticket.

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Re: Roaming alone (and naked) thanks to Expedia by C A. Posted Tue November 17, 2009 @ 11:32 AM I agree. Expedia is not trustworthy, and I will never use them again. I found out the hard way when we had a canceled flight on the way home from Hawaii, and the airline claimed that Expedia owed us a refund, and Expedia claimed that the airline did. They issues paper tickets, so it is still a mess, and I'm still trying to resolve it. A very expensive lesson for us to learn. Reply Re: Roaming alone (and naked) thanks to Expedia by S W. Posted Sun November 15, 2009 @ 7:57 AM I learned several years ago not to use any of the travel sites for this very reason. When something goes wrong, neither party wants to help you, even when it's something that should be far easier to resolve than what the OP dealt with. All you get is finger pointing back and forth. Expedia's customer service is horrible. Expedia and similar sites have good prices, but I've found that I get similar prices booking directly with the airlines. Most importantly, I don't have to deal with the nonsense that occurs when something goes wrong. Reply Re: Roaming alone (and naked) thanks to Expedia by PepperElf Posted Thu November 12, 2009 @ 1:21 PM oy, yeah that's prolly why i always go through the airlines directly myself too.. but i'm glad to see all of the items were recovered and that the person who was mugged is safe. Reply Re: Roaming alone (and naked) thanks to Expedia by Teresa B. Wed November 11, 2009 @ 2:20 PM I agree by Casmly Posted Wed November 11, 2009 @ 3:11 PM It may seem easier/faster/less expensive to book through a 3rd party site. However, you can usually get as good of a price, if not better, by going through the airline or hotel directly. And usually, it's worth any extra hassle because in situations like this there wouldn't be any question who you should call and deal with. Sorry to hear about your situation! That's absolutely terrible. Reply not very good english by Bill R. Posted Wed November 11, 2009 @ 9:15 AM Jim H., A sad situation. However, company policies have to be adhered to or there would be chaos. Using a third party aggregator,in this case Expedia, the end user needs to make themselves aware of all policies before hand as this experience is not the same as booking directly with the airline. In retrospect this might have been the perfect situation to have purchased Travel Insurance in preparation for instances that you describe as when "things don't always go right". Stop back when you hear back. BillR. How Reply