Expedia Dot Com

Deciding to book a New Year's break in Washington DC at the last minute was a fairly spontaneous decision. However, we enjoyed the trip and felt it a worthwhile venture. Unfortunately, we had a problem with the internet travel agent, who failed to provide us with the actual tickets. The airline staff fixed the problem for us, but only once we had arrived at the airport...

Email
To: travel@expedia.co.uk
Date: 04/01/2001 (my first day back after the trip)

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am not a happy customer. I was due to fly to Washington DC on 30th December from Manchester. Since the tickets had not arrived by the morning of the 28th, I rang your customer services and spoke to Elli. She told me (incorrectly) that all UK airports were shut and that the courier had not been able to deliver my tickets. She assured me, indeed guaranteed to me, that she would organise a ticket on departure, which I could pick up at the airport.

I later found out that an email (which this was sent as a reply for) had also been sent offering a ticket on departure.

When I arrived at the airport and went to the US Airways desk, they had not received ticket on departure instructions. The US Airways staff member contacted you in order to get approval for the ticket to be issued to me. As you can imagine, after braving the weather to get to Manchester, we were distressed to think that we might not be able to go. An Expedia staff member reportedly objected to giving the information required for ticket on departure because she was a bit too busy, the US Airways person had to point out that, since the passengers were standing in the airport waiting to go, it really had to be sorted out there and then.

We got our tickets in the end, but I am not happy because:

Elli, though trying to warn us about a potential weather alert, worried us greatly with inaccurate information.
Elli's guarantee that the ticket on departure would happen was worthless.
Your email's offer of ticket on departure was also incorrect - it had not been organised.
Your staff member's reticence to release ticket on departure information to US Airways, while we were standing in the airport, was ludicrous.
The eventual delivery of tickets to my home, on either the morning of the 30th or 2nd was futile.

I expect you to do something to make up for these errors. At the very least, I do not expect to pay courier's fees. I would also like to know if this level of service is to be expected from you in the future; if it is, I will have to reconsider any further business that I may put your way.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Ashley Frieze

That letter meant business. However, you don't show all your cards at once - you give them time to respond and then decide if to increase the pressure. To their credit, Expedia confirmed receipt of my complaint (5th Jan 2001) and said they would look into the matter.

Email
To: travel@expedia.co.uk
Date: 17/01/2001 (12 days after the confirmation of receipt)

Dear Heather, (the person who replied to my initial email)

It has been nearly two weeks since I last heard from you. Since my credit card bill is due soon and since I am, at the very least, in dispute with you over some of the charges that may appear on that bill, a prompt resolution would be appreciated.

Please let me know how you are getting on.

Regards

Ashley Frieze

-----Original Message-----
From: Travel [mailto:travel@uk.expedia.com]
Sent: 18 January 2001 18:24
To: Ashley Frieze
Subject: RE: Complaint

Dear Ms Frieze

Thank you for your interest in Expedia.co.uk.

Please be advised that our customer relations department are currently deailing with your case and will be in touch as soon as possible with the upto date status of your refund.

We do apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards
Derek

Unfortunately, this wound me up. Getting my sex wrong and making typographic errors when dealing with a customer (me) in the same email... I let myself go a little:

Email
To: travel@expedia.co.uk
Date: 18/01/2001

Dear Derek,

Please will you think before you email me. Apart from getting my gender wrong (which you could have ascertained from my online user profile), you have also managed to incorrectly type "dealing" and "up to". I would have hoped to be dealt with swiftly and professionally, yet it seems that the whole of your organisation is not like that.

You mention a refund. Am I to understand that there will be some refund then? If so, what will the terms be? In addition, can you give me an estimated time by when I will have heard back from customer services? It seems to me that two weeks is an adequate timescale to examine the straightforward facts of this complaint.

If I am ever to use Expedia again, I need to know that my custom will be dealt with expediency [oh dear, crap wordplay...]. So far, I feel that this has not been the case.

Yours
Mr Ashley Frieze

Luckily for someone - probably Derek - my email was answered by another person at expedia.

-----Original Message-----

From: Travel [mailto:travel@uk.expedia.com]
Sent: 19 January 2001 15:45
To: Ashley Frieze
Subject: RE: Complaint

Dear Mr Frieze

Thank you for using Expedia.co.uk travel services.

Please be advised that as my colleague previously stated, your complaint is being dealt with. We do apologise for the delay with concluding your case, however, we do have to investigate every aspect thoroughly.

[she could probably use a lesson in punctuation - how about a comma before the "as" after "that"? and how about a full stop before "however"? and come on... investigating aspects thoroughly! it was an open and shut case...]

As soon as there is any progress, a member of our customer relations department will be in touch.

If you require any further assistance do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards
Debbie

That's twice they used the phrase please be advised. What do they mean by this? Is this another one of those stock phrases that people like them put in letters in order to sound clever? Or is it a warning - you'd better be advised that we mean business! I don't like it. However, they were dealing with me in a professional enough manner for me to leave it a while longer. And then I contacted them again...

Email
To: travel@expedia.co.uk
Date: 25/01/2001

Dear Sir,

Having waited for a resolution to my complaint nearly the entire month, I would now like to inform you that my credit card bill has arrived. This bill contains a charge from yourselves for the air tickets and couriers' fees. If you do not resolve my complaint to my satisfaction by the end of this week, I will dispute the entire amount with the credit card company. Perhaps you will respond quicker if they are chasing you.

If, however, you would prefer to resolve this directly with me, and have any chance of repeat business, then please email me or call me on [my phone number].

Regards

Ashley Frieze

Another breakdown in communications. In fact, they had sent me a letter by post the previous day. I received it on the 26th. The letter offered me my courier fees and an ex gratia payment amounting to around 5% of the cost of the airline tickets - probably a large portion of their profit margin on the sale.

Be as firm in your complaining as you are in all communication. I let Expedia know that I had received their refund and to disregard my last email.

Result!!! Complain and ye shall reap the goodwill gestures. Of course, my main reason for complaining in the first place was due to their terrible customer service in respect of my tickets, so even though I am a few pounds richer, I will think at least twice before using their fee-paying services again.