$6200 Hotel Bill For 1 Night

[WhiteTiger]

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canad...cid=spartandhp

Reading over this story, a guy got charged nearly $6200 for a hotel room for 1 night, of which the cost of the room was about $200.

He used Expedia, and ended up (somehow) with $3150 in "taxes and fees" and $2840 in "property fees."

A picture of the online posting is shown, with the whole thing totaling out nearly $6200. At that point, I'm wondering why he hit 'accept' or 'pay now' if, after a quick review, he could see that he was going to be charged $6200.

I have used Expedia in the past, but won't use them to actually book. I just find the info I'm looking for, and call directly. Seems like a good practice to keep up.

[btimbit]

He claims he was in a hurry and didn't see that part. Either way he did get refunded + a $200 voucher and they fixed the listing, but I guess "Man spends hours on phone to resolve bill dispute" doesn't make as good of a headline

That is why I just book direct though. Easier to get stuff resolved if it goes bad

[calgarygeologist]

I posted a comment on CBC, I'm not sure if it was deleted or not, but this whole thing seems bizzare. It is obviously a mistake and something that Expedia should make right but it also seems like this guy probably saw the error and thought he might be able to get some media time or something?

He makes a $6200 non refundable booking yet he decides that he doesn't even want to stay at the hotel and instead books another room next door for $155? Something just doesn't add up there.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Either way he did get refunded + a $200 voucher and they fixed the listing, but I guess "Man spends hours on phone to resolve bill dispute" doesn't make as good of a headline

Did he though? In the article I posted, he noted that he's contacted Expedia 8 times and still doesn't have a resolution, and he's contacted his credit card, who has been unable to contact Expedia. I didn't see anything about him getting a refund or a voucher. Was that a different/updated article or just very poor reading comprehension on my part?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I posted a comment on CBC, I'm not sure if it was deleted or not, but this whole thing seems bizzare. It is obviously a mistake and something that Expedia should make right but it also seems like this guy probably saw the error and thought he might be able to get some media time or something?

He makes a $6200 non refundable booking yet he decides that he doesn't even want to stay at the hotel and instead books another room next door for $155? Something just doesn't add up there.

I think you wouldn’t stay there because then it could be construed as accepting the terms of the rental agreement and make a dispute with your credit card more difficult.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

Did he though? In the article I posted, he noted that he's contacted Expedia 8 times and still doesn't have a resolution, and he's contacted his credit card, who has been unable to contact Expedia. I didn't see anything about him getting a refund or a voucher. Was that a different/updated article or just very poor reading comprehension on my part?

Oh my bad, I read this story on Reddit at the same time and just assumed it was the same link.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...-inn-1.5139297

After the story was published, Expedia contacted Smerchanski and offered him a refund along with a voucher for $200.

"Our team has reviewed this case, and we have gone ahead and processed a refund for this customer in full. We are very sorry this issue occurred, and deeply regret this experience," spokesperson Mary Zajac wrote in an email to CBC News.

"In this particular instance, we do feel we could have resolved this issue in a quicker manner," she said.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by GGG

I think you wouldn’t stay there because then it could be construed as accepting the terms of the rental agreement and make a dispute with your credit card more difficult.

He already accepted the terms of the agreement though by completing the transaction to reserve the hotel which was clearly identified as having X rate and Y fees. Staying in the room doesn't make him any more or less likely able to fight the charges. I don't know about Expedia, but hotels are almost always willing to work with their customers after their stay if they have issues or if problems occur.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Don’t. Use. Expedia.

[nieuwy-89]

I use Expedia for all my personal hotel bookings. Never had a problem. In fact I think I save a lot of time and money by using it.

[Calgary14]

I stopped using Expedia when I booked a flight on there and showed up at the airport to discover the flight had been changed and they didn't notify us. If I had booked directly with the airline we would've been notified. After hours on hold, Expedia claimed they had notified me (they didnt) and offered a $50 voucher. I don't know why anyone would use Expedia, Travelocity etc.

[Ped]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

I stopped using Expedia when I booked a flight on there and showed up at the airport to discover the flight had been changed and they didn't notify us. If I had booked directly with the airline we would've been notified. After hours on hold, Expedia claimed they had notified me (they didnt) and offered a $50 voucher. I don't know why anyone would use Expedia, Travelocity etc.

Not to excuse Expedia for not notifying you, but wouldn't it be common sense to check your flight before leaving for the airport? Even if it was booked through the airline?

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by nieuwy-89

I use Expedia for all my personal hotel bookings. Never had a problem. In fact I think I save a lot of time and money by using it.

I stay in hotels between 200 and 280 days a year and whenever I check any of those travel sites the price is the same or higher than just booking through the hotel directly. Usually it's the same but then you don't pay the fees that you do with Expedia.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I stay in hotels between 200 and 280 days a year and whenever I check any of those travel sites the price is the same or higher than just booking through the hotel directly. Usually it's the same but then you don't pay the fees that you do with Expedia.

Yup, it’s definitely a great search engine for hotels.

[monkeyman]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I posted a comment on CBC, I'm not sure if it was deleted or not, but this whole thing seems bizzare. It is obviously a mistake and something that Expedia should make right but it also seems like this guy probably saw the error and thought he might be able to get some media time or something?

He makes a $6200 non refundable booking yet he decides that he doesn't even want to stay at the hotel and instead books another room next door for $155? Something just doesn't add up there.

Whether or not he did it knowingly really doesn't matter to me. Maybe, people should be happy he brought a severe flaw to the attention of the company, and anyone using the site. Who knows, there could be thousands of these kinds of charges on smaller levels that many people might have been paying unknowingly.

[Calgary14]

Originally Posted by Ped

Not to excuse Expedia for not notifying you, but wouldn't it be common sense to check your flight before leaving for the airport? Even if it was booked through the airline?

We did, and got an error when trying to check in for the flight so had to check in at the airport. I assumed this was because of a glitch and didn't think much of it since it's happened in the past and have checked in fine at the airport before the flight, but in hindsight I guess I should have manually searched to see if the flight had been scheduled for that day

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

I stopped using Expedia when I booked a flight on there and showed up at the airport to discover the flight had been changed and they didn't notify us. If I had booked directly with the airline we would've been notified. After hours on hold, Expedia claimed they had notified me (they didnt) and offered a $50 voucher. I don't know why anyone would use Expedia, Travelocity etc.

I booked through United few weeks ago and same thing happened. It was fully United’s fault not my booking agency.

United sent me a flight delay notice at 2AM for a 10AM flight. Then at 6AM put me on another airline in another terminal that left 90 mins earlier. On top of it they didn’t tell me they rebooked me, I just found out through logging in and noticing I was goin to Toronto not Chicago on AC not United.

When I asked them at check in I got a arrogant “we you should know that we can do that”

Not disputing your experience but NA airlines for most part are cattle cars and we are treated as such.

[SilverKast]

I refuse to use Expedia or any of those OTA’s any more. Had an issue with flights once and the airline wouldn’t help me at all - told me it was booked with Expedia and that I had to take it up with them. Expedia was next to useless and I basically had to work it all out on my own.

Since then I always book direct with the hotel or airline as it’s so much easier to resolve problems if they arise vs using an OTA. I do use the OTA websites to check out hotels and flights for comparatives though, just book direct once I find what I want.

[Locke]

Well I guess I'll be the exception.

I've had nothing but a plethora of great experiences using Expedia including just last week when my one kid was on her way to Mexico her travelling companion was detained by security and they missed their flight and Expedia was excellent at helping them get on to another flight.