Expedia Unconfirmed Flight Sucks!
I got the following message in my inbox from the kind folks at Expedia:
We have received an unconfirmed response on your reservation. This means that the airline has not acknowledged the flight and/or fare that you originally purchased. We have attempted to restore the original flights and have been unsuccessful. Without confirmation from the airline, we are unable to ticket this reservation.
Please call us at 1-800-EXPEDIA as soon as possible and refer to your itinerary number so that we can work with you to make alternate arrangements. Unless you call within 72 hours of receiving this e-mail, your reservation will automatically cancel.
If you have further questions, feel free to reply to this e-mail or contact Expedia customer services at 1-800-397-3342 and reference case ID xxxxxx. You can also visit the Expedia.com “Customer Support” page (
) for more customer service information.
I always thought when I bought plane tickets from Expedia that somewhere tickets, real tickets, would be issued to me, a seat reserved and noted, etc. Unfortunately, everything seems to operate in batch-mode, where airlines give blocks of seats to online vendors who match them together in strange ways that allow the possibility that the tickets they’ve resold may not represent spots on a plane:
I’m not the only one complaining about this practice. See:
My bank account also looks quite cute, waiting for $3000 in refunds:
This isn’t to blame Expedia though. To their benefit, they are refunding the total amount over those two cancelled flights. Also, their customer service reps on the phone were extremely apologetic and kind. It’s more a flaw in the system of batch-time ticket booking. With a real-time synchronized process, this sort of thing could not happen.
| This entry was posted on Sunday, December 24th, 2006 at 3:09 pm and is tagged with customer service reps, customer service information, time ticket, kind folks, alternate arrangements, strange ways, expedia, ticket booking, case id, batch mode, e mail, plane tickets, customer services, itinerary, customer support, inbox, confirmation, airlines, airline, real time. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback. |
15 Responses to “Expedia Unconfirmed Flight Sucks!”
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[...] I found this one lately posted on 12-24-2006Â [...]
[...] Gagan wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptPlease call us at 1-800-EXPEDIA as soon as possible and refer to your itinerary number so that we can work with you to make alternate arrangements. Unless you call within 72 hours of receiving this e-mail, your reservation will … [...]
Horrible. Never Never Never Never use Expedia. THIS IS A WARNING!!!!
As I was trying to book flights for a trip to Europe their web page gave me an error on the final “click”. Something about being unable to book a leg of the flight. Customer service also tried with me several times on the phone. We switched to a different credit card (their suggestion), and got the same error.
HOWEVER, THEY WERE CHARGING MY CREDIT CARD WITH EVERY ATTEMPT!!!
In less than one hour they had CHARGED my card over $8000, and NO tickets, NO reservations, NO confirmations. I called Delta who couldn’t find any reference to my tickets.
Guess what… the money IS TIED UP FOR FIVE DAYS until it “rolls off”. I have been on the phone for 4+ HOURS trying to clean this up. Bank can’t help me except to register a dispute, Delta can’t help me. AND EXPEDIA WON’T HELP ME.
Customer service people barely speak English, phone connections are bad.
DO NOT USE EXPEDIA - YOUR TRIP AND YOUR MONEY ARE IN DANGER
[...] ElliotBack blog [...]
[...] ElliotBack blog [...]
Don’t ever use expedia
1. service rep are horrible (non of them can speak english and they like to give you a run-a-round)
2. they like FEES (so they will charge you for anything that you want to change)
3. manager is never there. So you can never talk to an upper management.
I would rather pay $100 extra than going through all these head ache with them. So I would highly recommend that you try another service, I’ve made the biggest mistake for using expedia. Please do yourself a favor and use other services that are much better.
Expedia DOT SCAM!
u are all idiots…tsk tsk tsk
Recently, I received the exact same e-mail about a month after purchasing my tickets. I called the number and they were extremely helpful booking new flights and I was not charged an additional fee.
The customer service rep, who spoke impeccable English, DID try to book a flight that would have left my party stranded in Las Vegas for about ten hours. When I explained that this was unacceptable, she called the airline and immediately fixed the problem, again with no additional fee.
I will never use Expedia again. Here’s what happened:
A couple of weeks ago I was booking a flight and everything went through except my credit card billing address. The problem is that my credit card is through my employer so I don’t have the address. There are about a hundred different ways the employer’s address could be specified (department vs. no department, office address vs. mail code vs both, which order, etc.) I called the credit card company and they would not tell me the billing address. Of course work was closed because it was holiday break.
At that time I spoke with an Expedia rep who told me that the ticket would be held as long as I called when I had the billing address before the flight.
Tonight I call with the billing address. I spoke with two reps because I was cut off the first time. They both tell me they have no record of my prior conversation with the rep, and that it is not their policy to book a flight until the entire billing process is complete. Fortunately, the flight is still available - at $500 more. Unfortunately, for me, they will not honor the original price and my employer will not cover the additional cost.
They acknowledged that the rep may have told me that the flight was booked, but he was wrong. So I need to pay the higher price.
My point: Expedia should stand by what the reps say, even if they are wrong. Otherwise, how can I believe anything that Expedia ever says? Both cs reps responded by reiterating that they won’t honor the commitment because if it was wrong.
So I have asked that the call be escalated and I have been on hold for umpteen minutes waiting for the supervisor.
I find it astonishing that their policy is to not honor a commitment if the rep was wrong, even if it is entirely within their control to honor the commitment.
expedia is a joke. they do nothing but collect fees. they are in it for the airlines only, not customers. the very first time you have a real issue and you call them they will tell you (after putting you on hold for a while) that they are powerless and that if you really want to fix the issue then YOU need to call the airline. basically, they want us to believe they are just simply the greatest and are there to help us with out travel. at least this is how they are precieved as long as we dont have a problem.
because then, they will want more money or have to stick their heads in the sand and wait for you and your issue to go away.
expedia has lost my confidence forever!
ive been using expedia for years now and have book very many flights. this is the first problem ive ever had, and i have now learned expedias true colors. the way expedia has handled it all of the way through has shown what they are really NOT made off.
i have now found that if you contact the airlines direct you can get the flights for the same price. so why not just use expedias website, find what you want, then contact the airline direct. expedia is just a wall between you and the ones who can help solve an issue.
[...] ElliotBack blog [...]
I will never use expedia again. As itterated above, expedia will not fix a problem and will “pass the buck as the fault of the airline.” The problem is, I never dealt with the airline in the first place, why is it I would be responsible to deal with the airline when I went through expedia, I paid through expedia, I was confirmed through expedia? I called the airline, and of course they said that expedia must have done something wrong.
Look at this, Expedia Customers and non customers.
It is real and live. Expedia proved they dont have a person taking care of paid trip and I keep receiving automatics messages. First Parrich, After Kayse and now a computer. I have booked a lot hotels with then and now they ARE SAYING WE CAN DO NOTHING. Part of the story I would like to share:
* Itinerary Number: 124584379994
>
> * Subject: Other questions, comments, or feedback
>
> ——————————–
> * Comment:
> Hello,
> I am a frequent Expedia Customer and the services provides for places all around the world is nice, very coorect. So, before today, I never had a problem.
> TODAY A FACE A REAL BIG PROBLEM CHECKIN AT DELTA AIRLINES, Terminal 3, New York, JFK Airport.
>
> PRoblem 1 - I was not able to checkin at the self service area. I asked for help and the miss said they cannot help and I went to the big line for regular checkin
>
> Problem 2 - after wait 20 minutes and no progress at the line, I went to the Delta Kioski Center to explain my situation looking at the 45 minutes baggage policie prior to flight schedule. She was not able to find my reservation and spent around 15 minutes asking for help to find it. Finnaly they got my name and at the same moment the message LATE TO CHECKIN appears. They said nothing can be done and let try the next flight at 11:10am.
>
> Problem 3 - There was no seat available at the next flight and the waiting list / stand by list was not available for this flight
>
> Problem 4 - I had no hotel reservation in New York and I tried to fo American Airlines.
>
> Problem 5 - the Las vegas leave at 4pm and I didn’t wait 10 hours in a airport because a third party situation.
>
> I decided to say in New York paying US$ 299,00 per day just the hotel
>
> EXPEDIA - Please cancel my flight back from Las Vegas to New York, next thrusday and my hotel reservation at MGM Signature in Las Vegas. I also want your help to get back my money from DELTA AIRLINES. They are very unhappy with their jobs and they dont care with a passenger. They asked me to wait because the Expedia reservation is always a problem and takes time to solve. She called the suprevisor to fix the problem finding my reservation. All this in a very lazy way. It is hard to believe.
>
> Please, let me know how can I help Expedia to get this money back and provide an official letter to Delta airlines code on Expedia Reservations Flights.
>
> Thanks for yout attention. This week I will be staying at Hilton Hotel in NYC and you can contact me anytime at 212-586-7000.
>
> Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:32:14 -0700
> To: aleale00@msn.com
> From: Travel@customercare.expedia.com
> Subject: Re: Other questions, comments, or feedback - Case ID: [REQ:44711908]
>
> Dear Alexandre,
>
> Thank you for contacting Expedia.com about changing your return flight.
>
> We would first like to express our apologies for the inconveniences and frustrations you experienced.
>
> The feedback that you have provided to us will be helpful in looking at our vendor’s customer service and gauging our customers’ satisfaction and perceptions. When you book on Expedia.com, we hope and expect that your travel will be a flawless event. Should unforeseen circumstances arise, we anticipate that both Expedia.com and our travel partners will step in to fix whatever difficulties occur.
>
> As you may know, Expedia.com acts as an independent agent for reservations for airlines, car rental companies and hotels. Still, if an Expedia member has an unsatisfactory experience with travel booked through Expedia.com, we want to take appropriate action to ensure another member does not have a similar experience. Thank you for taking the time to write us. We rely on customers like you to provide us with the information we need to continue improving our services. Rest assured, your complaints have been duly noted.
>
> Furthermore, once the first leg of a flight takes off in progress, the airline takes control of the flight that any changes you wish to request would have to be handled by them. What we can do on our end is to reserve a seat for you on the flight that you prefer and afterwards, you would need to contact the airline directly to complete the exchange process. Upon calling the airline, that’s the only time that you’ll find out the total cost for the exchange. Please be advised that once we have reserved your seat, we will not be able to revert it back to your original flight.
>
> If you’re not amenable to the additional fee, you also have the option to purchase a new return ticket. Please note that the return flight may be non-refundable.
>
> If you have further questions regarding this issue, feel free to reply to this e-mail or contact Expedia customer services at 1-800-397-3342 and reference case ID 44711908. You can also visit the Expedia.com “Customer Support” page (www.expedia.com/daily/service/default.asp) for more customer service information.
>
> Thank you for choosing Expedia.com.
>
>
> Parrish
> Expedia.com Customer Service Team
Dear Expedia Customer, Thank you for contacting Expedia.com regarding booking a hotel. We appreciate your interest in booking a hotel reservation with us. However, we are unable to book reservations via email correspondence. In matters such as these, we need to have you on the line while we assist you. You may contact us at our toll free number at the number provided below or 1 404 728 8787 for callers outside the U.S. and Canada. A customer service representative would be happy to assist you on this matter. You would also need to have your account information like user name, e-mail address and itinerary number ready as well. To use the Expedia Hotel Wizard, go to http:// Expedia.com and: 1. Click the white “Hotels” link at the top of the page. 2. Enter the city name of your destination into the text field labeled “Destination”. 3. You may also use the drop-down listbox to search for a hotel in a specific destination, such as In a city, Near an airport, Near an attraction, or Near an address. 4. Supply your travel dates if you know them, though dates aren’t necessary. 5. Enter the number of rooms, adults and children from the drop down boxes. If you select from the children drop down you will be asked to supply their ages in the additional Child boxes that appear for each child and then click “Search.” 6. You may select the “Additional options” link to specify preferences such as hotel class. Once you have completed entering your information, click the green “Search for hotels”. 7. Expedia will present you with a list of hotels or vacation rentals for the destination you selected. You now have the option to view hotel details via the “More lodging info” links or view the rate details via the “Book it” links. If you have further questions, feel free to reply to this e-mail or contact Expedia customer services at 1-800-397-3342 and reference case ID 44711908. You can also visit the Expedia.com “Customer Support” page (www.expedia.com/daily/service/default.asp) for more customer service information. Thank you for choosing Expedia.com. KaseyExpedia.com Customer Service Team
Sent:Mon 8/11/08 11:17 AM
To: Expedia Travel Support (travel@customercare.expedia.com)
Dear Expedia,
Looks like that I am talking with a computer.
This if the fouth message. I cant believe your automatic way to answer. Unfortunately you “computer” didnt read my messages. I am not outside USA. I gave you my hotel name, hotel phone and you are saying a toll free international number.
Remember, Mr Computer, because the expedia offer I am missing my friends in Las Vegas, AND I AM PAYING TO STAY ALONE IN THE NEW YORK.
This was the last automatic answer I agree. From now on I require a personal attention in order to EXPEDIA be responsable for its IT problem with DELTA AIRLINES. They didnt find my reservation and took more than 40 minutes to solve the problem. I LOSE MY FLIGHT and EXPEDIA is SAYING “I CAN DO NOTHING” - “I AM SORRY DEAR CUSTOMER”.
It is the end. Around four years working with you, buying expedia solutions, dozens od trips and NOW I RECEIVE this message “teaching”me how to book a hotel. IT IS NOT REAL.
If you are not a computer, please pay attention in my account details and try to be responsable for your acts.
That is the end
Alexandre Batista
Hilton Nwe York Hotel
1 212 5867000
Our Expedia experience began in August, 2008,with flight arrangements from Minneapolis, MN to Manchester, UK. In late October,2008, Expedia informed us that those reservations were cancelled. After lengthy telephone calls with Expedia, new reservations were made. In February,2009, Expedia informed us the last leg of our trip had been cancelled. After lengthy telephone calls with Expedia new reservations were made. On April 4,2009, the night before departure,e-confirmations were made. Upon arrival at the airport on April 5,2009 we were informed that no tickets had been issued. Between that day and the next we were on the telephone 9 hours (most of which we were on “hold”) which resulted in flights 2 1/2 days later. Expedia has explained to us that although they are sorry, they cannot be held responsible for their vendors. I cannot accept this as it was Expedia who accepted our payment, not their vendors. We had complete frustration as noone with whom we had contact,had the authority to make decisions.
It would be nice if there was someone in Expedia who really cares. It is apparent that noone does evildent by this web-site