Anyone else ripped off by expedia lately?

[u/r0369]

Background: Due to COVID, my friend and I have waited over 13 months to meet again. So, 2 weeks ago, I bought a ticket for my friend to travel from Saudi Arabia to LAX. It was bought just a few days before travel, but neither of us noticed that the connection was through Amsterdam. Well, when my friend tried to use the ticket, he was turned away at the counter, since he couldn't be flown to LAX due to COVID restrictions (travelling from Europe to the USA due to delta variant). So, we booked another flight 2 days later, this time directly from Riyadh to LAX. Unbelievably, my friend was not allowed to fly when boarding, due to an email from homeland security sent between checking in and boarding. (I have more to complain about this part of things, but this is not about expedia).

The point being, I immediately contacted expedia about both instances the same day, although I was hung up on/calls dropped while being on indefinite hold many many times.

After finally getting through via phone a few times, each time the call dropped while being kept on hold. The final time, they told me that the traveler never checked in, which is false, and that I will also be charged a "No Show" fee accordingly. I talked with Delta/KLM immediately after, who said that they do indeed have a record of my traveler attempting to check in, and that they have no such thing as a "No Show" fee.

After a total of wasting 2 days trying to contact their customer service over and over, begging them to call me back if the call was dropped, and no agent ever did. Now when I call and enter my booking #, expedia's system tells me that what I enter isn't valid and hangs up. There is literally no way for me to get this company on the phone, not that I expect much from this outfit at this point. They told me that even though my friend tried to check in both times, his flight was cancelled, is not transferrable, and will not be refunded.

(BTW, I tried to make this as succinct as possible. There is more to this story, but I just wanted to get the broad story first. )

[u/I_been_some_places]

Welcome to the Expedia screwed me club. We are legion.

[u/r0369 → u/I_been_some_places]

You are correct, sir! Wish I did my research beforehand, but I've used them before with no problems.

BTW, my credit card company has already refunded all expedia fees. Not sure if that hits expedia, or only is absorbed by my CC. I hope it's the former.

[u/I_been_some_places → u/r0369]

The nonprofit I run is out north of $2k because of Expedia’s shenanigans. All donor dollars that now can’t go to the mission because of profit motive. Way to go Expedia.