We spent one day in Illinois packing a sturdy cardboard box of toys and other gifts for our grandson. Our daughter, Tiffany had saved a bunch of KC's toys to pass on to her little cousin.
It was a less than 2 hour flight to the Baltimore/Washington D.C. airport. Art had used Expedia to purchase an American Airlines flight/Dollar rental car bundle. And then the aggravation began.
American Airlines had misplaced our large check-In box of gifts for our little grandson, JD. Yikes! However, they said they would find it and send it to our hotel.
Our son, Keola met us at luggage claim with our adorable grandson, JD. (OK, I am a little biased) and told us they'd expect us over at their apartment as soon as we got our rental car from Dollar.
We caught the shuttle to Dollar and was told they didn't have our reservation from Expedia. What??!?
Art and Tif tried to find a number online to call Expedia and found it was next to impossible to find someone who could address the problem. Tif luckily found an outlet to plug their cellphones into so that they wouldn't get cut off while being put on hold several times.
Expedia finally agreed that they would refund $355 and $50 in Expedia travel vouchers for a total of $405 they owed us. However we needed to find a car on our own. Alamo was charging $428. and Dollar was even more. Luckily, our son-in-law in Chicago found us a cheaper car at Hertz and after TWO HOURS of wrangling with Expedia who did admit it was their mistake, we were on our way.
Lesson learned? We're never using Expedia again. This was a terrible beginning to our trip to the East coast, but things would look up the next day and the next.
And the missing box of gifts for little JD? American did find it and delivered it to our hotel as promised.
What a day!
POSTSCRIPT: Art just told me that Expedia refunded the $355, but never gave the promised $50 voucher. Doesn't matter because we are never using Expedia again! Arrrghhhh!
It was a less than 2 hour flight to the Baltimore/Washington D.C. airport. Art had used Expedia to purchase an American Airlines flight/Dollar rental car bundle. And then the aggravation began.
American Airlines had misplaced our large check-In box of gifts for our little grandson, JD. Yikes! However, they said they would find it and send it to our hotel.
Our son, Keola met us at luggage claim with our adorable grandson, JD. (OK, I am a little biased) and told us they'd expect us over at their apartment as soon as we got our rental car from Dollar.
We caught the shuttle to Dollar and was told they didn't have our reservation from Expedia. What??!?
Art and Tif tried to find a number online to call Expedia and found it was next to impossible to find someone who could address the problem. Tif luckily found an outlet to plug their cellphones into so that they wouldn't get cut off while being put on hold several times.
Expedia finally agreed that they would refund $355 and $50 in Expedia travel vouchers for a total of $405 they owed us. However we needed to find a car on our own. Alamo was charging $428. and Dollar was even more. Luckily, our son-in-law in Chicago found us a cheaper car at Hertz and after TWO HOURS of wrangling with Expedia who did admit it was their mistake, we were on our way.
Lesson learned? We're never using Expedia again. This was a terrible beginning to our trip to the East coast, but things would look up the next day and the next.
And the missing box of gifts for little JD? American did find it and delivered it to our hotel as promised.
What a day!
POSTSCRIPT: Art just told me that Expedia refunded the $355, but never gave the promised $50 voucher. Doesn't matter because we are never using Expedia again! Arrrghhhh!
I have stopped booking anything via a third party after too many bad experiences. Direct with the company is best! ;)
ReplyDeleteSigh.... that's what we'll do next time.
DeleteSomething similar happened to me using Travelocity, so it's not just them. Hopefully all the aggravation was behind you and you had a great trip after all that! :-)
ReplyDeleteWish you were not cataloging these horror stories right before my planned trip.
ReplyDeleteBut great that you spent time with those grandkids! And your son and daughter too, of course.
It is difficult enough to travel and I cannot stand kinks in the plans. It drives me crazy. I know now that I will never use Expedia.
ReplyDeleteWe do research on third-party websites like Expedia, but always go to the source when it's time to book.
ReplyDeleteThat's what our son-in-law told us to do.
Deletereminds me of the last time I made the 40 min flight north to visit family then waited 1 hr in line fo rmy rental car at Hertz! Never again...
ReplyDeleteOh my! Wow
ReplyDeleteTruly, "UGH!" I am so sorry that happened. We now print each confirmation and ticket, and we each carry a copy Of them with us.
ReplyDeleteWe had the confirmation number and everything else. Expedia had just not sent it to Dollar.
DeleteYikes!
ReplyDeleteYikes. Cross them off my list. At least American came through as promised.
ReplyDeleteAlways book with Hertz. Best car rental of them all. Maybe a bit pricier but their service is worth it.
ReplyDeleteGlad everything worked out, travelling can be so stressful. Terrible service from Expedia.
ReplyDeleteI use them for hotels, but I have always called ahead just to be sure
ReplyDeleteOh oh. My daughter's very nice boyfriend works at Expedia. I shall pass on this post to him.
ReplyDeleteWell, that wasn't fun. We haven't used Expedia for a while. I'm really glad the toys were found!
ReplyDeleteDrats; what a poopy start. When I've traveled to Hawaii, I've got a local travel agent friend (who has a long-time time share on Big Island,) and she's always got the package together for us without glitches. Locally, I use Enterprise car rental. As a single mom, it's great for picking you up at home or the car shop, and reversing the pattern at the end of the rental period. Very decent local prices. Seems not so common in Hawaii. Glad you had fun! Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteEnterprise makes all my dreams come true--so far anyway.
ReplyDeleteGosh.
ReplyDeleteexpedia wasn't expedient
ReplyDeleteWell, we had a nice interlude for a while when customer service seemed to be improving, but I guess that's all pau now.
ReplyDelete