Expedia overcharges for room reservations -

Slide wrote:

On Nov 4, 10:54 pm, mrtravel wrote:

Slide wrote:

I booked a room through expedia.com, and afterwards checked the
hotel's web site to get the phone number, and I discovered that the
advertised room rate was $102.00/night. Expedia charged my 132.00/
night. I called Expedia and was informed that they would not provide
the room at the actual rate.

Avoid this company. They also have a cancellation policy for a motel
room, 1 day in advance, that forfeits one nights stay.

It is often cheaper to book hotels directly.
Different suppliers charge different rates.
Why did you not book directly with the hotel?



Why did you not book directly with the hotel?


Expedia advertised the 'guaranteed cheapest rate' ... it did not occur
to me that they would jack up the standard advertised rate by 30%.



Great. So, then make a claim against the guarantee.
Expedia doesn't know all of the rates offered by everyone.
How did you find the lower rate?
How long after your Expedia booking did you find it?
Rates change

"Craig Welch" wrote:
...look here, of course: http://tinyurl.com/yvynzv

So they do make a restricted best-price guarantee...
"You must contact us at 1-800-EXPEDIA within twenty-four (24)
hours... The lower rate must be available for booking at the time...
.... and if you met their conditions, you could make a claim.
.... which does not mean you may rely on Expedia to quote you the
best available rate. In fact, quite the opposite. Expedia is telling you
that sometimes, there may be better rates available elsewhere and if
you want to look elsewhere, go right ahead.

I see that as lauditory, not deceptive.

On Nov 5, 2:04 am, mrtravel wrote:
Slide wrote:
On Nov 4, 10:54 pm, mrtravel wrote:

Slide wrote:

I booked a room through expedia.com, and afterwards checked the
hotel's web site to get the phone number, and I discovered that the
advertised room rate was $102.00/night. Expedia charged my 132.00/
night. I called Expedia and was informed that they would not provide
the room at the actual rate.

Avoid this company. They also have a cancellation policy for a motel
room, 1 day in advance, that forfeits one nights stay.

It is often cheaper to book hotels directly.
Different suppliers charge different rates.
Why did you not book directly with the hotel?

Why did you not book directly with the hotel?

Expedia advertised the 'guaranteed cheapest rate' ... it did not occur
to me that they would jack up the standard advertised rate by 30%.

Great. So, then make a claim against the guarantee.
Expedia doesn't know all of the rates offered by everyone.
How did you find the lower rate?
How long after your Expedia booking did you find it?
Rates change- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The 'lower rate' is the standard rate for the room. This is the
point. I went to the hotel's web site to get the address and phone #
and noticed the rate. I called Expedia confident they would 'correct
the error'. Hahahaha... It was more than 24 hours after the initial
booking.

I'm not complaining that the the Expedia rate is not the best
available, I'm complaining because it is 30% higher than the hotel's
own standard published rate.

On Nov 5, 7:09 am, "Rog'" wrote:
"Craig Welch" wrote:
...look here, of course:http://tinyurl.com/yvynzv

So they do make a restricted best-price guarantee...
"You must contact us at 1-800-EXPEDIA within twenty-four (24)
hours... The lower rate must be available for booking at the time...
... and if you met their conditions, you could make a claim.
... which does not mean you may rely on Expedia to quote you the
best available rate. In fact, quite the opposite. Expedia is telling you
that sometimes, there may be better rates available elsewhere and if
you want to look elsewhere, go right ahead.

I see that as lauditory, not deceptive.

It's marketing, take that for what it's worth. I suspect they
have
an agreement with particular facilities to not undersell them. There
are restrictions on those agreements, but they offer these "rewards"
to figure out if their agreements are being honored. If someone
is underselling them, at the very least they want to know why.

On Nov 5, 12:53 am, Slide wrote:
I booked a room through expedia.com, and afterwards checked the
hotel's web site to get the phone number, and I discovered that the
advertised room rate was $102.00/night. Expedia charged my 132.00/
night. I called Expedia and was informed that they would not provide
the room at the actual rate.

Avoid this company. They also have a cancellation policy for a motel
room, 1 day in advance, that forfeits one nights stay.

Altogether a surprisingly disreputable outfit.

OTOH, after spending considerable effort searching for a suitable
hotel in Switzerland, I found one on Expedia. I noted their rates,
then contacted the hotel to see if I could save any money by booking
directly. I could not: the rate from the hotel was more than double
the amount charged by Expedia.

Moral: you win some, you lose some. And if thirty dollars is that
important to you, you can't afford to travel.

In message .com Slide
wrote:

The 'lower rate' is the standard rate for the room. This is the
point. I went to the hotel's web site to get the address and phone #
and noticed the rate. I called Expedia confident they would 'correct
the error'. Hahahaha... It was more than 24 hours after the initial
booking.

I'm not complaining that the the Expedia rate is not the best
available, I'm complaining because it is 30% higher than the hotel's
own standard published rate.

And?

You told Expedia you wanted a room, Expedia offered a rate, you accepted
it. Your lack of research isn't Expedia's fault.

--
You can get more with a kind word and a 2x4 than just a kind word.

In message Larry in AZ
wrote:

I never, ever book through those discount services any more. Many in my
busiseness have tried, but most have gone back to dealing directly with
airlines and hotels, or using regular travel agents.

I never say never. I used to say never, I would use Expedia (and
similar) to research, then purchase directly through the corporate
sites...

Until recently I was booking a flight that was normally only ~$400, AA
wanted $750. Expedia still had the $400 price. Since I was booking a
cheapo no-changes flight anyway, I was no worse off using Expedia.

Oddly, I got the confirmation from AA and could choose my seat on AA.com
well before Expedia confirmed the flight.

But for a hotel? Probably still never, I can usually negotiate better
on my own anyway.

--
You can get more with a kind word and a 2x4 than just a kind word.

mrtravel uselessly blabbles:

Rates change


How much do you charge for whoring your Russki "step - daughters" to horny
Mexican illegals down in Orange County...???


--
Best
Greg

"I am smarter than you think I am"
- Maryanne "Loafhead" Kehoe to me
in alt.gossip.celebrities

"Larry in AZ" wrote:
I never, ever book through those discount services any more. Many
in my busiseness have tried, but most have gone back to dealing
directly with airlines and hotels, or using regular travel agents.

I recently used Expedia to book a flight from Athens to Frankfurt.
I, too, prefer to deal directly with operators, but I found that Aegean
Air offered a flight code-shared with Lufthansa for much less than
Lufthansa. Same flight, different prices. For some reason, it could
not be booked directly with Aegean. Expedia was the only service
that listed both the Lufthansa + Aegean fares.

In message Larry in AZ
wrote:

Yeah, okay... "Never" is probably too strong. I have had air travel
booked for me by someone using a discounter, and like yourself, was able
to deal with the carrier directly. It depends. Generally, it's more of a
hassle.

If you're not expecting to make changes, then go for it.

In my case, about the only change that would happen is to cancel a trip
entirely.

We save at least 40% by booking non-refundable, so as long as I don't
cancel more then one in three trips, we'll come out ahead every time.

--
You can get more with a kind word and a 2x4 than just a kind word.