srirams

My father was flying on Malaysia Airlines roundtrip from MAA to KUL on J. We bought the ticket on Expedia and paid ~$950. On the return leg, there was an equipment change (from A320 to 772) and he was downgraded to Y.

The agent at KUL told my father to contact Expedia for a refund. Expedia, of course, told us to contact Malaysia Airlines I've since been getting the run around, them variously telling me to call between 9-5 Malaysia time, then 9-5 PST for their LAX office, which told me to send an email to another address (I'd previously sent an email to [email protected] which apparently they don't bother reading or responding to).

Aside from the poor customer service here, what do you think an appropriate refund/compensation is?

moondog

I feel your pain because I helped a friend go through the exact same runaround with Expedia last month. The airline (CZ) was relatively cooperative, but told him their hands were tied without some sort of authorization from Expedia. After many, many phone calls, my friend eventually pulled together a conference call between an Expedia manager and his CZ contact.

One more word of warning, in my friend's case, Expedia claimed its records only go back 6 months (ticket was 1 year ticket about to expire).

jiejie

I have heard so many problems of similar ilk with Expedia that I personally stopped booking with them quite a while ago. Life is too short and I don't need the potential hassles.

doctorjosh

Unfortunately, because you booked through Expedia, you'll also have to go through them if there are any problems (despite what they say and trying to palm it off to MAS). The other thing is that MAS does not use the A320 but they do use the 772, so I'm confused about the equipment change. The IT department at MAS is pretty slow but they do eventually respond to emails (after a couple of weeks).

harryhv

Write an E Mail to Expedia requesting a refund within 7 days, and after 7 days reverse the creditcard charge

srirams

I think at this point both Malaysia Airlines and Expedia have agreed that Malaysia Airlines is the one that needs to a refund, but I agree that Expedia should be more proactive in dealing with the airline instead of telling me to deal with them.

But, what do you guys think is a fair compensation?

bzcat

The price difference of the J vs. Y ticket, plus a couple of drink coupons for the next time you get downgraded from J to Y

Seriously... I would not expect a miracle. If you got MAS to agree to some sort of refund, you are already ahead of the game. I had the displeasure of dealing with their LAX office before on a ticketing dispute for a flight to TPE; I booked online and picked up the ticket in person, which should incur no additional charge. They charged me the price for off-line (phone) booking. It was a lot of arguing and attitude - very unprofessional and unhelpful staff. Typical State-own airline employee entitlement mentality.

srirams

and.... still waiting on the refund. The main office (KL) tells me to contact the local (LAX) office. The LAX office is waiting for confirmation from the KUL airport (for about 3 weeks now).

Very poor service from a supposedly 5 star airline.

asianmom

I ,too, have the displeasure of dealing with them over a baggage claim many years ago. It took a total of one and a half years and many calls to their head office in KL before I finally received their cheque of 170USD. To be fair, there was no attitude problems, just plain inefficiency and like mentioned above, a state-owned mentality.

charlotteimmigration

Dont want to be an ... but Drinks [alcoholic] are free on MAS in Y.
I used to fly MAS weekly when I lived in KL.
BAD airline but convenient. I was always in C, but have flown extensively in Y.
Like you said, government run; but in Malaysia that ought to mean GOOD since the government is flush with cash!

payam81

Shouldn't the airline compensate with an MCO or Cash at the time of downgrade? I don't see why Expedia should be involved at all. Had this been a voluntary downgrade or some sort of voluntary cancellation, then the Travel Agency would have been responsible to deal with the charges, however this is clearly an airline operational issue.

This is the case on the few occasions this has happened to me on TG, NH, AC, UA and LH! Always cash or MCO on the spot at check-in, gate or lounge.

The best was when I got bumped from C to Y almost 10 years back on THR-FRA. LH offered me €900 on the spot, booked me an entire row of middle Y and offered C meal service in Y. In fact, they dedicated the entire front of Y cabin to downgraded C pax. The whole R/T tix had cost me €1200!!!

wpyeh

stop flying MH USA route since 2001, many similar unhappy experience with ground services.
MH flight attendent and ground service are actually two different companies:
one for 5* MH service, one for NO* state own MH.

WebDesignGuy

I check Expedia and similar sites every time I book a trip, but it's been years since I found a better deal there than on an airline's site. The hassles I read about here and in "Letter To the Travel Expert" newspaper columns make it even less likely that I will ever have a reason to book through them.

srirams

Well, after three and a half months of waiting, Malaysia Airlines finally came through.............. with a $81 refund

I wonder.... if I buy a Y ticket on this sector, what are the chances they will let me upgrade for the same?

BearX220

The only thing Expedia is good for is mixed-airline itineraries at low prices. But I hate booking via Expedia. It used to be a Microsoft experiment, a bunch of ex-MSers work there now, and the attitude towards customers is about what you'd expect.