Expedia Rant
Mar 20, 2015, 10:52 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 9
Expedia Rant
I generally do not book travel through online travel agents, whom I regard as parasites that offer no service. They are just middle men who had an extra, unnecessary layer of complexity, so that if things go wrong, it will be more difficult to sort out. My recent experience with Expedia confirmed all my worst suspicions. Even then, I was unprepared for the level of stupidity and incompetence that I encountered in my 4.5 hours on the phone with them.
It all started when I found a very cheap fare for an itinerary on Google Flights:
Home to London nonstop (BA)
Lisbon to Philadelphia (Iberia) and Philadelphia home (US Airways).
It involved multiple airlines and I could not book directly online with the airline(s). I found the itinerary on Expedia and booked it with them since there was no online alternative.
A few weeks later I received an email with an "update". The Iberia flight was cancelled. Nothing else. No suggestions about what I should do or that I should contact them or Iberia or anything. Nothing. This is what happens when you deal with computers and automated emails rather than people. They are just stupid messengers who understand nothing.
I called them and after being on hold for a while, got through to a CSR. I explained the message. My first question was what had happened. My confirmation showed that the flight was actually operated by US Airways, so Iberia was obviously doing a code share. What was actually cancelled? The code share or the actual flight. Maybe they could rebook me on USAirways if the flight still existed. But he simply could not understand the what I was asking. He insisted that it as an Iberia flight despite what it said on my confirmation. He put me on hold and I checked Iberia and US Airways websites.
He came back and insisted that I was wrong because the flight was available. After a while he said that he could understand why I got the message because the flight showed as available. He tried to re book me but couldn't for some reason he didn't understand. (The flight was not available. It turned out that he had confused flight numbers, as I explain in a minute). He then said that he would call BA who owns the ticket. But it was the weekend and their CSR was closed, so he'd call me back. End of round one, time 48 minutes.
Four days pass and no call. I call again and virtually have to start all over again with the CSR. We have virtually the same exchange as before. This time, the CSR says that Iberia had changed the flight number, but the flight was still there and I could be booked on it. The first CSR had not caught on to the number change. But why hadn't I automatically be rebooked? She didn't know. She put me on hold and transferred me to someone who "would take care of me."
While on hold, I checked airline websites. As I suspected, the Lisbon-Phil flight was on US Airways, but there was no such flight on Iberia under any number. Huh? Iberia already canceled me out once for no explicable reason. Why wouldn't they do it again? Did they really have a flight? I wanted to no what would happen if they did? The next two hours were among the most aggravating of my life. The CSR just couldn't understand that I was concerned about getting stranded and wanted to know what would happen if Iberia cancelled completely. How would I get back? Was the airline obliged to offer an alternative itinerary? If so, which airline? The idiot CSR just kept ignoring what I was saying and repeated over and over and over that cancelled flights weren't Expedia's responsibility and that he could book me on the Iberia flight. It was like talking to a wall. He just couldn't get what I was asking a simple question - how do I avoid being stranded if Iberia cancels. They've done it once and show no flight.
It gets better. He finally said that BA owned the ticket. I asked him what that means. He repeated that they own the ticket. I asked him what this means. We went round and round. He couldn't seem to understand that "owning the ticket" is a meaningless phrase to me and I was asking him to explain. It took me another half hour to get him to say that the responsibility for getting me back lies with them. I said OK, maybe I can get a return itinerary on BA. Can you try them, which is what the first CSR said he would do. He reluctantly said he would. During the 15 minutes on hold, I looked up BA flights and found that they had two on the desired day and times. Lisbon to London, then London to home.
The CSR came back and had an itinerary on BA. It was one of the itineraries that was on their website. However he read the itinerary as Libson to London and Philadelphia!!!!! to home. The flight time and numbers were exactly the same as on BA through London. I pointed put that their website said nothing about Philadelphia. I pointed out that BA can't fly between Philadelphia and home because it is a foreign airline. I also pointed out the flight durations made no sense for the length of the flights. I also pointed out that Philadelphia to home flight had only 2 digits, meaning that was a long distance, probably transatlantic flight. He insisted that he was right. He just wanted to know whether I wanted him to book it. How could I answer since it made no sense whatever.
I finally gave up on trying to sort things out with Expedia and called BA. After being on hold a long time due to their pilot's strike, I got through to the CSR. I was right about the itinerary of course. It was through London. The CSR had me booked a ready to go in about five minutes. A subsequent check on their website confirmed that the booking was correct
One final capper. A few hours latter, I received an email from Expedia with an updated itinerary. Lisbon to London, and Philadelphia to home on US Airways. Huh? Naturally, I rechecked BA to make sure that booking was correct despite this email. It was.
It was an exhausting 4 and a half hours, with some of the stupidest and incompetent people I've ever dealt with. These middlemen are worse than parasites. They are stupid and incompetent parasites.
It all started when I found a very cheap fare for an itinerary on Google Flights:
Home to London nonstop (BA)
Lisbon to Philadelphia (Iberia) and Philadelphia home (US Airways).
It involved multiple airlines and I could not book directly online with the airline(s). I found the itinerary on Expedia and booked it with them since there was no online alternative.
A few weeks later I received an email with an "update". The Iberia flight was cancelled. Nothing else. No suggestions about what I should do or that I should contact them or Iberia or anything. Nothing. This is what happens when you deal with computers and automated emails rather than people. They are just stupid messengers who understand nothing.
I called them and after being on hold for a while, got through to a CSR. I explained the message. My first question was what had happened. My confirmation showed that the flight was actually operated by US Airways, so Iberia was obviously doing a code share. What was actually cancelled? The code share or the actual flight. Maybe they could rebook me on USAirways if the flight still existed. But he simply could not understand the what I was asking. He insisted that it as an Iberia flight despite what it said on my confirmation. He put me on hold and I checked Iberia and US Airways websites.
He came back and insisted that I was wrong because the flight was available. After a while he said that he could understand why I got the message because the flight showed as available. He tried to re book me but couldn't for some reason he didn't understand. (The flight was not available. It turned out that he had confused flight numbers, as I explain in a minute). He then said that he would call BA who owns the ticket. But it was the weekend and their CSR was closed, so he'd call me back. End of round one, time 48 minutes.
Four days pass and no call. I call again and virtually have to start all over again with the CSR. We have virtually the same exchange as before. This time, the CSR says that Iberia had changed the flight number, but the flight was still there and I could be booked on it. The first CSR had not caught on to the number change. But why hadn't I automatically be rebooked? She didn't know. She put me on hold and transferred me to someone who "would take care of me."
While on hold, I checked airline websites. As I suspected, the Lisbon-Phil flight was on US Airways, but there was no such flight on Iberia under any number. Huh? Iberia already canceled me out once for no explicable reason. Why wouldn't they do it again? Did they really have a flight? I wanted to no what would happen if they did? The next two hours were among the most aggravating of my life. The CSR just couldn't understand that I was concerned about getting stranded and wanted to know what would happen if Iberia cancelled completely. How would I get back? Was the airline obliged to offer an alternative itinerary? If so, which airline? The idiot CSR just kept ignoring what I was saying and repeated over and over and over that cancelled flights weren't Expedia's responsibility and that he could book me on the Iberia flight. It was like talking to a wall. He just couldn't get what I was asking a simple question - how do I avoid being stranded if Iberia cancels. They've done it once and show no flight.
It gets better. He finally said that BA owned the ticket. I asked him what that means. He repeated that they own the ticket. I asked him what this means. We went round and round. He couldn't seem to understand that "owning the ticket" is a meaningless phrase to me and I was asking him to explain. It took me another half hour to get him to say that the responsibility for getting me back lies with them. I said OK, maybe I can get a return itinerary on BA. Can you try them, which is what the first CSR said he would do. He reluctantly said he would. During the 15 minutes on hold, I looked up BA flights and found that they had two on the desired day and times. Lisbon to London, then London to home.
The CSR came back and had an itinerary on BA. It was one of the itineraries that was on their website. However he read the itinerary as Libson to London and Philadelphia!!!!! to home. The flight time and numbers were exactly the same as on BA through London. I pointed put that their website said nothing about Philadelphia. I pointed out that BA can't fly between Philadelphia and home because it is a foreign airline. I also pointed out the flight durations made no sense for the length of the flights. I also pointed out that Philadelphia to home flight had only 2 digits, meaning that was a long distance, probably transatlantic flight. He insisted that he was right. He just wanted to know whether I wanted him to book it. How could I answer since it made no sense whatever.
I finally gave up on trying to sort things out with Expedia and called BA. After being on hold a long time due to their pilot's strike, I got through to the CSR. I was right about the itinerary of course. It was through London. The CSR had me booked a ready to go in about five minutes. A subsequent check on their website confirmed that the booking was correct
One final capper. A few hours latter, I received an email from Expedia with an updated itinerary. Lisbon to London, and Philadelphia to home on US Airways. Huh? Naturally, I rechecked BA to make sure that booking was correct despite this email. It was.
It was an exhausting 4 and a half hours, with some of the stupidest and incompetent people I've ever dealt with. These middlemen are worse than parasites. They are stupid and incompetent parasites.
