Expedia promised me a full refund of my hotel fee. Then it went back on its word

Photo of author

By Christopher Elliott

Expedia promised it wouldn’t charge Katy McLaughlin for her canceled hotel reservation. So why didn’t it keep its word?

Question

I recently canceled a hotel reservation at Los Omeyas Hotel in Cordoba, Spain, that I’d booked through Expedia. The company sent me a confirmation email saying there would be no charge, and if the hotel charged anything, it would be refunded.

However, the hotel charged me the full amount and Expedia now says I won’t be refunded. I have the email in which they confirm there will be no charge, as well as their subsequent emails saying I will be charged. I would like to be refunded $102, the amount the hotel charged me. — Katy McLaughlin, Culver City, Calif.

Answer

If Expedia promised not to charge you, then it shouldn’t have. Hotels have refund policies that an online agency is supposed to adhere to, but they also had a responsibility to clearly communicate those policies to you. It apparently failed.

Curiously, your paper trail shows the online agency first promising, then un-promising the refund. This is not the first time that Expedia did not stick to its promise. Do you recall when a reader requested a refund because she had an allergic reaction to something in the hotel room? That leaves me to wonder: Which is it going to be? (OK, actually, I’m not really wondering. It’s the one that favors Expedia and the hotel — keeping your $102.)

The reason?

“As per their cancellation policy, reservations should be canceled 48 hours before check-in date, and it should be at the local hotel time, (CET),” Expedia told you. “Since this is a late cancellation, they still charge you for the full reservation amounting EUR 90.00.”

Oh, I can already see some of the comments. If you canceled your reservation after the 48-hour deadline, you should have known. True. But if Expedia tells you it will refund the money, then what the hotel says is really irrelevant. Expedia owes you the $102, in that case. (Related: Their valuables disappeared from the hotel safe — and so did the hotel safe.)

You could have tried reaching out to one of the Expedia customer service contacts we publish on this site. You might or might not have heard from anyone. Lately, even these contacts have been slow in getting back to our readers.

Arch RoamRight is one of the fastest-growing, most-highly rated travel insurance companies in the United States. Travel advisors love working with us, and travelers feel protected with our trip cancellation and travel medical insurance coverage. We also make it easy to file a claim online with our fast, paperless claims website. Learn more about RoamRight travel insurance.

If you’ve ever wondered what happens during an industry consolidation, here you go. Ah, for the days when Orbitz and Travelocity competed with Expedia. But I digress.

Our advocacy team jumped on this case and contacted Expedia on your behalf. I wish I could say that worked, but it took a lot more to get this resolved.

You made several more phone calls to the hotel after “weeks and weeks” of phone calls and emails with Expedia. Finally, you received a partial refund of $70. What about the rest? You say you were too exhausted to pursue it.

But your financial loss was a good, if painful, lesson. You told our team, “I’ll never book via Expedia again.”

Photo of author

Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers consumers to solve their problems and helps those who can't. He's the author of numerous books on consumer advocacy and writes three nationally syndicated columns. He also publishes the Elliott Report, a news site for consumers, and Elliott Confidential, a critically acclaimed newsletter about customer service. If you have a consumer problem you can't solve, contact him directly through his advocacy website. You can also follow him on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or sign up for his daily newsletter. He is based in Panamá City.

Related Posts