Just so y'all know - Expedia SUCKS

[Richardo]

Booked myself and my parents into a little motel in San Antonio last week and when we got there it was NOTHING like it was represented on the site. The sign was painted over, the lobby was a shambles and the clientele looked like they used rooms by the hour, if you know what I mean.

Well, we told the clerk that our plans had changed and we needed to cancel the reservation. They told us to take it up with Expedia.

Expedia Customer "Service" puts us on hold for 5 and 10 minute increments trying to get to a human. When we finally talk to a representative, he tells us to hold (again) while he contacts the hotel. After another 10 minutes, he comes back on and says the manager will charge 100% of the room rates on my folks' credit card as a penalty for late cancellation. My response: "Oh no they won't - let me talk to the supervisor." Well, after 3 more seperate phone calls, each involving 10-15 minute holds, we finally got it resolved.

But never again. :grr:

[GOPisEvil]

1. Which hotel was it?

I go with Travelocity, myself. :-)

[Richardo]

2. We were staying out by Lackland so we'd be close to Wolff stadium

It was billed as the "Lackland Inn" on the website and showed as an EconoLodge. (Not great, but we're simple people.) :) We get there and it literally was the no-name motel: sign painted over, no identify marks whatsoever - not even a cardboard sign saying "Lackland Inn".

Luckily that area is a motel row so we were able to walk in to the Red Roof Inn up the street and get two rooms at even lower rates than the no-tell motel.

On the plus side: We had a great time in SA and got to see the Missions play El Paso from 5 rows up, right behind home plate. Field boxes: $9. Parking $3. I LOVE minor league baseball :loveya: !

[GOPisEvil]

3. Yikes!

I used to live in that area. It's pretty hit and miss. There are some decent hotels because of families visiting their relatives in basic training and for those folks who have families at the hospital. The La Quinta isn't horrible, but the Red Roof is newer.

[demosincebirth]

7. I've been in some ...

Econolodges that I've reserved on line, and were no where like they were addvertised.

[jobycom]

4. They gave me a roach-crawler in Tampa last month, too.

I usually go with Hotwire to save money and Travelocity when I want to pick my hotel, but I gave Expedia a try. It was a namebrand, too, I think it was a Hampton Inn, but it was crawling with bugs, the room stank, the carpet was stained and bare, and the matresses looked so bad I slept on top of the covers.

The back door to the hotel wouldn't open properly, either, so they propped it open. Very safe.

Expedia must have a weak screaning process.

[eyesroll]

5. Hotels.com isn't much better

It neglected to inform me, when I was booking a hotel for our assistant editor, that the chosen hotel was being picketed (and it had been for some time -- it wasn't a sudden thing).

He, being the apolitical shrug-it-off type guy he is, not to mention not the one who makes expense-account decisions, crossed the picket lines without even giving it thought. Didn't even tell me until he was filling out his expense report. (He knows I don't cross picket lines unless, well, I literally have no choice -- like it's in front of the ER -- so he thought I'd be pissed.) -- I instructed him if he ever finds himself in that situation on the company's dime again, find a different hotel and I'll smooth over the charges (preferrably with Hotels.com).

[pagerbear]

6. Not that I like Expedia

...but in their defense, most of the time they have to rely on the information and images provided by the hotel. They can't possibly take responsibility for the veracity of every claim by every hotel.

I've stayed in some really, really crappy places booked on Expedia--in one I had to walk up a flight of stairs, take an elevator up three more flights, and then walk up the final flight to get to my top-floor, un-AC'd room in the middle of a heat wave. I think in the future, when booking online, unless I'm feeling adventurous I'll go with a chain I know.

[Richardo]

8. You are correct, sir. Here's their response to my comments....

Dear (Richardo),

Please accept our apologies in regards to what had transpired during your vacation. We regret any inconvenience that may have occurred during your stay and would like to assure you that every reservation is important to us. We would also like you to know that we do not intend to mislead our customers as we rely solely on the information that the hotels posted on our website give us. Thank you for bringing this incident to our attention.

As you may know, Expedia.com acts as an independent agent for reservations for airlines, car rental companies, and hotels. All information found on our site is maintained by the individual property. Still, if an Expedia member has an unsatisfactory experience with travel booked through Expedia.com, we want to take appropriate action to ensure another member does not have a similar experience. Thank you for taking the time to write us. We rely on customers like you to provide us with the information we need to continue improving our services. Rest assured, your complaints have been duly noted.

Sincerely,