I used to be the ultimate Expedia cheerleader. I loved the site, and I love the deals I found. Now I am disillusioned and hesitant to even consider them as an option while booking travel. My experience is that if everything goes to plan with Exoedia you are fine. However, once something goes wrong, be prepared for the long haul. All of this started with a little software glitch. Their software had an error, and that made unable to process my reservation with the options I wanted. After weeks of fighting with their customer service department, I gave up. I just didn’t have any fight left. Something that should have been easily fixed, had become this totally absurd drama. Instead of saying “yes we screwed up and let us fix it for you,” I was faced with being told to make additional reservations, give bad and misinformation, getting responses from people who clearly did not read my e-mail, and just getting the run around in general.
Pretty soon I was hearing other people, my friends and family, complaining about similiar issues. I started looking online and it became apaprent that Expedia’s customer service practices had hurt or at least disillusioned. After writing my own emotionally fueled rant, I decided to hear Expedia’s side of the story. I initially contacted them on August 7, 2007, I finally had a response on October 16, 2007. This was after contact the executives, being blown off by them and the finally contacting the press office. Katrina Thomas (from Expedia’s press office) was kind enough to respond to some comments and explanations. Some of the answers clarified things, others still just didn’t add up. I get what they are saying, I think if those answers were correctly implemented they would be great. However, so many people I know, and people I have encountered online have seen the polar opposite of these practices.
Here are the facts as they stand. Posted below is a list of questions I posted to Expedia. Directly below each question is Expedia’s response:
1) Why does it take so long for a reply?
We make every effort to achieve a resolution as promptly as possible. We review and send an initial response to online inquiries within 4 hours, but it will likely take longer to solve more complex issues, such as those that require a monetary transaction or scheduling change.
2) Why does a company that prides itself on “quality customer service” consistently have phone reps that treat customers like they are a waste of time?
Our expectation of call center agents is that they treat every customer with respect and courtesy. If a situation arises that is counter to this expectation, we take steps to ensure that future customers are handled properly. Each customer interaction is an opportunity for us to become more effective in addressing the needs of our customers, and for our customers to gain insight they can use in planning their next trip.
3) Why do you use canned e-mails that rarely actually answer the questions that are asked?
There are many situations where our customer service agents are unable to assist via e-mail and request that the customer call into the call center for further assistance. This is done to protect the integrity of the traveler’s itinerary as well as ensure the customer receives the assistance needed. As such, our e-mail support team will use an e-mail template for responses, but if a case is escalated to our Traveler Advisory Group (TAG), each response is drafted in accordance to the situation with standard greetings and closings.
4) Why is it that reps (whether it be on the phone or on e-mail) know nothing unless it is on a script?
The only scripts employed by our customer care team are legal booking scripts. However, an agent may use a standard line they create for themselves due to the fact that the questions many customers ask are very similar in nature.
5) When a rep does not know a question, why do they not automatically send you to a supervisor?
Our agents are equipped to address the customer support inquiries we receive, and the overwhelming majority of customer support inquiries are addressed promptly in one call to 1-800-EXPEDIA. In cases where a customer feels their situation requires escalation, they can request to speak with a supervisor, but should be aware of potentially lengthy hold times.
6) When a customer asks to speak to a supervisor, why do the reps refuse to transfer you or give out any contact information?
In an effort to provide the best possible service to customers contacting our call centers, our systems are set up to handle calls through 1-800-EXPEDIA as that assigns a case number to the customer which can then be referenced in subsequent calls if necessary. Our call centers are not equipped to support calls outside of the support line. If a customer asks to speak to a supervisor, our agents are directed to escalate the call.
7) Why are your top exec e-mails and contact info such highly classified items?
This information is not classified and is in fact available on the Internet. However, not all agents may have access to that information and are unable to share it because they don’t know.
8) When someone contact the execs, why does it take over month to get a response,if you get one at all?
There can be a lag time inherent in communications. While executives can be pulled in many different directions, our customer care team was created to handle the needs in a timely manner for our customers at any point during their travel, from planning and purchase to during and after a trip.
9) Why do reps bounce you from rep to rep and department to department without ever giving you their full name, or disclosing which department they work for?
Some agents do not feel comfortable giving out their full name but are more than happy to provide you with their first name for identification. Any time you contact 1-800-EXPEDIA, you are speaking to an agent within our customer care team.
10) If they are sending your complaint on to another department, why do they not tell you what is going on?
Our customer service agents are solving a range of issues that may emerge before and during travel, (missed flights, personal emergencies, weather-related cancellations, etc.). In many cases, Expedia is working on behalf of our customers with our supply partners, and we are dependent to a certain degree on our partners’ participation in reaching a resolution for the customer. As such, it is important for customers to interact with our agents in good faith as they advocate on the customers’ behalf and seek a resolution to the issue at hand.
11) What is the Customer Advisory Group, and why do they claim “they are all supervisor” when you ask to speak to someone above them (when they do not know the answer to a s seemingly simple question).
The Customer Advisory Group (or TAG) is our highest level of support. A customer usually is transferred to this group if they ask to speak to a supervisor, or the agent is unable to assist. Our TAG is dedicated to resolving customer issues efficiently, but sometimes that requires additional research which could entail contacting a supplier partner or looking into a matter further for direct follow up with the customer.
Like I said before, these are good answers. Really if Expedia lived up to all of these, they would be a delight to do business with even when things went south. However, my personal experiences and experiences I have researched paint a different picture.
1) When I discovered the software glitch, I contacted Expedia immediately. It was well over four hours before I was sent a canned e-mail saying they would get to me ASAP. I guess that is initial response, but to many people it is just a confirmation that your complaint has been received. It isn’t “initial contact” because there is not a person you can follow up with, nor are they actually responding to your question. My first e-mail was sent on 2/18. My canned response came on 2/19. I did not get a real response until 2/22, and even then it was bad information. This was not within four hours, nor was it within the 48 hours promised on the website. Maybe I just hit them at a bad time. However, many other people had the same results regardless of when their initial e-mail was sent.
2) The phone reps…yikes. Seriously in all the times I have called Expedia (yes this was before I had my big rule about always doing complaints via mail or e-mail for the paper trail), I have been treated rudely by all but one rep. Once again, maybe it is just my dumb luck, but I’m thinking that unless everyone I interviewed had that same dumb luck it is a good indication. I work in customer service, I know when people call my line they are expecting me to be courteous and knowledgeable. I have the same expectation for other customer service employees. This has not been my experience. More on this later…
3) Okay this one just cracked me up. At first I wasn’t even sure she answered my question. She talks about needing customers to call (once again on my travel complaints DO NOT list…if they force you to do so take copious notes and get names), and integrity of the customer itinerary. Okay fine the front line customer service staff does not know the right answer (which I’m guessing from the volume of canned e-mails I have received back is the case for most questions), they send you a canned e-mail telling you to call them so they can still not know the answer…which leads me to….
4) Yeah this one made me laugh too. Okay well then your employees are sharing the scripts they made up…fine yes I’m being a little jaded here. Each time I called Expedia, I had a different employee feeding me the SAME LINES over and over again. If Expedia is not supplying these scripts, I’m not sure where the uniform stonewalling answers are coming from, but they are there. When two different people have called Expedia and reached different reps, but gotten the same response, that just isn’t right.
5) Customer Service 101: If you do not know the answer, please connect the customer to some who does know the answer. DUH! Do not keep feeding them lines and giving them the same bad information over and over again. Yes I have the e-mails to prove this! Once again, forcing us to call and to no longer have the benefit of a paper trail is low in my mind. Forward our e-mail to some one who knows the answer and let them tell us what is going on, or even GIVE us the proper contact info and we can follow up ourselves. Really it isn’t that hard.
6) I repeatedly asked to be sent to a supervisor, and I was always told no. At one point I was actually told “we are all supervisors here.” NO one gave me the option of even having a long hold time, and I once again have e-mails to prove it. Really this still doesn’t answer my initial question of why now does it? Maybe it does and I’m just not getting it. Once again, would it really be that hard to let us know who can help us and how to get a hold of said person?
7) Okay, the site I finally found the contact info on (www.ellliott.org) was very helpful, but at the time I was looking for contact info, it was no where to be found on the Expedia Website. I only went this route when the traditional customer service route failed me. No one I talked to could help me, and they refused to tell me how to get a hold of anyone that could, let alone transfer me to them. As for the customer service reps not having the contact info for the higher ups, I’m just baffled. I do not understand why a company would not give and employee EVERYTHING he or she needed to do the job.
Okay, fine responding to e-mail isn’t their only job, but hello? A Month? Wow. I mean the only reason I went to the Execs was because I was so frustrated with Customer Service I had no other recourse. Then I was blown off for a month, and my response came from someone using the Execs e-mail address, but never identified her position. That is just a little unprofessional in my mind.
9) Okay…once again I work in customer service and whether it “makes me comfortable” or not I HAVE to give out my name if asked. Actually is *REQUIRED* on my outgoing e-mail signature. I don’t care if I am talking to someone on the customer care team. If I am calling (because the company is forcing me to if I want this situation resolved) I want a name to associate with the information. If I get contradictory info or I am told otherwise later, it will not just be my word backing me up.
10) Wow..please don’t even get me start on how this question is just not answered at all. Yeah I’ve really got nothing else.
11) I don’t get it still. My experience with the TAG was not of a the professional caliber I would expect from a supervisor. It was just like speaking to another agent who did not know the answers and in the end never really helped me. It was just beyond frustrating and annoying.
I have read from other travel bloggers that in the end Expedia usually does right by customers, but they never did right by me. I will say though unless you know how to play their game, and have the patience to jump through their hoops, it could be a while before you see results. I’m still just a little afraid to give them another chance. Yes I know it may result in me missing out on deals, but for now I’m going to steer clear.
Does anyones else have more recent experiences with Expedia? I’m curious to see if they have recently changed their tune? Good or bad what has bee your experience?
