On August 12, Expedia allowed me to reserve a hotel room on their website. When I arrived at the hotel 15 minutes later, I was informed that the hotel was completely booked and there was not a single room to be had. I immediately called Expedia and was told that there was not any record of my reservation, so I would not be charged anything. I then made a reservation through Priceline's website, and drove 30 miles to the nearest hotel with availability. When I arrived to the Econolodge in Salinas, I learned that Priceline (the low price guarantee?!?) had charged me $50.00 more than the hotel regularly charges per night. What a joke...
When I returned from my trip, I was reviewing my credit card account and discovered that Expedia had charged me for the failed reservation at the overbooked hotel. When I called Expedia, after a lengthy hold time, I was told that the hotel management stated that I never showed up to claim the reservation so it was cancelled and I was not entitled to a refund! I informed them that was a blatent lie, and demanded to speak with a manager. The manager got on the phone and basically gave me the same song and dance. I told him that I had called Expedia immediately upon the occurance, and he said that they had no record of my call, so basically I was lying.in the end, Expedia stands by their charge of $140.00 to my credit card.
After speaking with other friends/aquaintances, I have learned that others have had the same, or very similar, experiences, so this is not a random occurance. Beware!
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