Is Expedia.co.uk charging booking fee again?
Mar 2, 2011, 10:57 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 2
Is Expedia.co.uk charging booking fee again?
Hi! I just finished a series of email correspondence with Expedia Customer Service. They deducted 13.50GBP from the refund for my hotel-flight cancellation (within 24hrs), calling it variably a non-refundable booking fee, adminsitration fee or eAirServiceFee, depending on who wrote the email. I rang on 15 Feb to cancel the booking and was not told of this fee until I noted the difference in my bank statement later.
I couldn't get much more information from them except:
"Expedia have made the decision to introduce a booking fee because scheduled airlines are reducing the level of commission paid to all travel agents (not just online travel agents). The aim is not to create more revenue for Expedia, the aim is to recover some of the lost revenue due to the recent commission reductions implemented by the airlines.
Expedia's number one priority is to provide the highest quality customer service for all our customers whatever their travel requirements. We do everything in our power to provide customers with choice and flexibility with their bookings and with full information and support throughout the entire booking and holiday experience."
This is contrary to what is in their FAQs which keeps stressing Expedia will not charge any change or cancellation fees. Has anyone else had similar experience recently?
I couldn't get much more information from them except:
"Expedia have made the decision to introduce a booking fee because scheduled airlines are reducing the level of commission paid to all travel agents (not just online travel agents). The aim is not to create more revenue for Expedia, the aim is to recover some of the lost revenue due to the recent commission reductions implemented by the airlines.
Expedia's number one priority is to provide the highest quality customer service for all our customers whatever their travel requirements. We do everything in our power to provide customers with choice and flexibility with their bookings and with full information and support throughout the entire booking and holiday experience."
This is contrary to what is in their FAQs which keeps stressing Expedia will not charge any change or cancellation fees. Has anyone else had similar experience recently?
Mar 9, 2011, 5:02 am
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 2
Update
As there hasn't been any reply to my post, I take it that no one had the same experience. And that is good news to the travel community, I guess.
Apparently, Expedia made a mistake in not giving us a full refund initially. It took me a phone call and another two emails to reach the Escalation Department to get confirmation that "in the event of cancelling an itinerary it is our policy to refund in full, less any fees imposed directly by airlines, hotels or service providers". We got our full refund and apologies but it is still a concern that no less than 5 Customer Service Representatives got it wrong in the first place.
It has been a frustrating process to be stone-walled that many times while their "story" got more and more inconsistent. I'm glad we persevered and got to the bottom of things. Expedia does take a service fee when processing certain types of booking but that fee is fully refundable in the event of a cancellation as per their publicised policy. Fair enough, they need to be able to run a viable business.
Apparently, Expedia made a mistake in not giving us a full refund initially. It took me a phone call and another two emails to reach the Escalation Department to get confirmation that "in the event of cancelling an itinerary it is our policy to refund in full, less any fees imposed directly by airlines, hotels or service providers". We got our full refund and apologies but it is still a concern that no less than 5 Customer Service Representatives got it wrong in the first place.
It has been a frustrating process to be stone-walled that many times while their "story" got more and more inconsistent. I'm glad we persevered and got to the bottom of things. Expedia does take a service fee when processing certain types of booking but that fee is fully refundable in the event of a cancellation as per their publicised policy. Fair enough, they need to be able to run a viable business.
Jun 12, 2011, 6:34 am
#3
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 1
Expedia booking fee
I have just recently discovered that Expedia.com is charging a booking fee again. In my examples it was for airlines tickets.
I came across your post when wondering if the booking fee is refundable in case of a cancellation within 24hrs. So thanks for clarifying it... and going through the pain with their customer service department.
I sincerely hope they are keeping their 24hrs free cancellation policy (unless on advance purchased hotel reservations) and even roll it out to all countries they are serving. This nice feature is the main reason eventually ending up booking with Expedia even in case that their offers are a few dollars/pounds more expensive.
I came across your post when wondering if the booking fee is refundable in case of a cancellation within 24hrs. So thanks for clarifying it... and going through the pain with their customer service department.
I sincerely hope they are keeping their 24hrs free cancellation policy (unless on advance purchased hotel reservations) and even roll it out to all countries they are serving. This nice feature is the main reason eventually ending up booking with Expedia even in case that their offers are a few dollars/pounds more expensive.
