Buyer Beware: Expedia Extras

In January we booked a trip to Las Vegas via Expedia.ca.  Two show tickets were included per room (we’d booked 2) as an Expedia Extra. It was the key reason we booked with them over Travelocity.

We arrived at the Vdara Hotel, enquired about the tickets and were informed we should have been given a voucher with our itinerary that could be processed by the hotel concierge – we hadn’t.

And so the Expedia experience began…

A one hour phone call with their ‘support’ centre ensued – 90% of which was spent on hold while the agent ‘waited for his supervisor’.  The agent, who could barely communicate:

• told me when I was checking into the hotel – I’d checked in the day before.
• emailed me a copy of my itinerary – the same one I was reading from.
• told me they had no record of my shows on the booking – even though the hotel did.
• told me Expedia can change or cancel the offer at any time without notification – even though it was in effect at time of booking.
• told me I wasn’t allowed to hangup, wait for him to get hold of his supervisor, and call me back with a solution.  It’s an inbound call centre only.

In the end, I they emailed me a $100 credit for food and beverage towards one of our rooms, telling me to print it off and take it to reception.  They didn’t grasp the concept that most travellers are not equipped with portable printers.  They did nothing for the second room.

Fortunately the Vdara has a better appreciation of the concepts behind excellent customer service.   They accepted the email, applied the voucher to both rooms and said they’d followup with Expedia.

As the vouchers were nowhere near the value 4 show tickets would have been, I’ve sent my own letter of discontent to the Expedia ‘Customer Support’ centre via their online feedback form.

Waiting…

View of the Bellagio Fountains from the 39th floor of the Vdara Hotel - a City Corner Suite I believe.