Expedia:
"If it's not in writing, if it's not in our computer, then the customer is always wrong (or lying to us)."
I first called an Expedia agent when I accidently entered the wrong departure date (it was either prefilled based on a previous vacation search, confused with a duplicate account or I just plain entered it wrong) and stupidly booked it online before I realized what I had done. I called 1-800-expedia and spoke with an agent within two minutes of booking the wrong date. The agent told me that trip would be voided; I would not be charged, and I could rebook my trip immediately. Just in case, I called my credit card company to ask their advice, and thank goodness they they recommended I wait to rebook. I called Expedia back to find out how long to wait, and they said my card wouldn't be charged and I would see the void in 7 days...
Within three days (1 business day since I booked on Saturday), it was clear to me that the agent I had spoken with had never voided my trip because it has already posted to my Visa. And, well, according to Shaun #U9 (supervisor in Expedia customer service), as far as he cared, since Expedia's computer had no record of my conversation with their agent the night before, then of course, that conversation never happened. I was faced with penalty fees—$109 per airline ticket $25 more for the hotel ($20 more from the airline for using Expedia and not calling thme in the first place)... And yada yada yada, Shaun #U9 sounded more than happy to tell me how much money Expedia was going to charge me for MY mistake.
P.S. I called Expedia today to ask if maybe they had troubles with duplicate files causing booking problems (since I was told by an agent that Expedia had 2 files/accounts under my name), and the agent said, "No, duplicate files don't cause problems because the customer chooses whether or not to confirm their itinerary. If you choose to confirm the itinerary, then it is your fault if it is wrong..." And what I didn't wait to hear was what I already had the pleasure of experiencing firsthand:
"Expedia and Expedia agents never make mistakes, if something goes wrong when you do business with Expedia, well it's your fault. Oh, and if this conversation is not in writing, then it never happened!"
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