My dispute with Expedia has a happy ending, though that ending has nothing to do with any responsiveness from Expedia.
Summarizing what I blogged last week:
I booked a flight to Ottawa through Expedia, which confirmed the flight for $528.46, then tried to raise the fare to over $700. I got no satisfaction by calling “customer service,” but after I tweeted about my frustration, @Expedia tweeted that it would try to help.
I won’t bore you with a long version of this, but after several Twitter direct messages and emails, including a draft of my complaint to the Iowa Attorney General, Expedia provided no help. In fact, one email from Expedia falsely told me that the airline had canceled the flight.
Meanwhile, another news organization heard that I was going to be in Ottawa and asked me to do another day of workshops there. So I was glad that I didn’t have a confirmed reservation that would cost me to change. And when I booked directly with an airline, it had a New Year’s sale going on, so I booked my flight (the first two legs on the exact same flights, which had not been canceled) and actually saved about $6 over what Expedia had originally confirmed.
So I am glad how this turned out. But I won’t be booking with Expedia again. And I went ahead and filed my complaint with the Iowa Attorney General:
I’m afraid the Iowa Attorney General won’t do anything since EXPEDIA will use the “Governing Law” (that you automatically agree when you book) to avoid any legal problem. It is a dirty trick they use to scam.
By the way, can I reproduce your case in http://www.victimsofexpedia.com ? with links to oyur site.
Your case will help other to avoid being scammed by EXPEDIA.