Hopefully, nothing goes wrong with your trip when you book through Expedia, and everything’s smooth sailing. However, since Expedia is only a middleman between you and the travel service companies, there is a greater chance that a mix-up will occur than if you book things directly with a hotel, airline, car rental company, or cruise line. This is the unfortunate trade-off for getting better deals on your trips.
DISCLAIMER
Just a heads-up that some of the services we’re reviewing here have affiliate partnerships with us, so we may earn a commission if you visit one of them and buy something. You can read more about how this works at https://techboomers.com/how-to-support-techboomers.
In the event that you need to correct something, you can call Expedia’s customer service hotline at:
- 1-866-310-5768 (inside the U.S.)
- 1-404-728-8787 (international)
Tips for Dealing with Expedia Customer Service
Unfortunately, there are many stories on the Internet about people who feel that Expedia’s customer service department hasn’t treated them very fairly. Regardless of how many of those stories are true or not, the fact of the matter is that we don’t work for Expedia, so we can’t change how their customer service department or their policies work.
The best that we can do for you is give you a set of general pointers so that you’re prepared to deal with Expedia’s customer service department, or one of their partnered travel company’s customer service departments, in case the worst should happen.
Read the fine print. Though we realize this is something that a lot of people don’t like or bother to do, it can save you some frustration when it comes to understanding why Expedia or a travel company isn’t doing much to help you. On the flip side, it can also be a source of evidence for you if you don’t think either of these groups is following their own policies.
Be patient, but persistent. Like most customer service departments of large companies, Expedia’s is very busy, and you should be prepared to be put on hold at points from times ranging from 10 minutes to 30 minutes, or even an hour. Do your best to keep calm and stay on the line for as long as you can. It’s the only way that you’ll make progress in solving the problem on Expedia’s end.
Ask for a supervisor or manager. Generally, the higher up the customer service ladder you go, the better the chance you’ll find someone who has the authority to act on your problem. Again, it may take some patience to get in touch with them, so be prepared for that.
Make physical/written copies of important information. This includes things like booking confirmations or any other special requests that you make through Expedia, such as specific seats on an airplane or a certain number of beds in a hotel room. This way, you have evidence on your side if there’s a problem.
Double-check your bookings with the actual travel companies. These companies are ultimately the ones you’re doing business with and providing the accommodations for your trip. Therefore, they have the final say when it comes to what you get. Plus, they’ll probably be more worried about having their public reputations damaged than Expedia will be. After you book, call each travel company involved in your trip and ask for a written confirmation of anything specific that you’ve asked for through Expedia, such as a certain hotel room type or seat on an airplane. Or, better yet, record your phone call (and tell them you’re doing so for verification purposes) and ask for verbal confirmation that you’ll be getting exactly what you asked for. This puts the burden on them to back up their word.
Act early and often. The sooner you act and the more you work to resolve a problem, the greater the chance that you’ll be able to get a full refund, or at least some form of compensation. Plus, the problem will be off your mind and you’ll save yourself a nasty surprise.
Ask for physical records… or make your own! A good idea is to always ask for the name and employee ID number of any customer service representative whom you deal with. Also try asking the customer service representative to send you an email saying that they will fix the problem, and stay on the line until you receive it. Or better yet, record the phone call, and tell the representative on the other end that you’re doing so for verification purposes. Again, this is so that you’ll have evidence to back up your claims if you’re having trouble solving the problem.
If all else fails, consider bringing in a third party. If neither Expedia nor the travel service at the heart of the problem is proving to be much help, consider going to a third party. Call your bank or credit card company and let them know what’s going on, and they may help you recover your money or stop Expedia or one of their partnered travel companies from charging you for anything that you shouldn’t have to pay for. You may also want to file a complaint with a consumer advocacy group, such as the Better Business Bureau, and see if they will step in to help resolve the problem.
