charge for a car with Expedia Car Hire which never turned up. Paid with credit card and trying to reclaim money

[marthafarqua]

Hi

I need a bit of advice regarding trying to get £626.24 from Expedia for car hire which never turned up at the airport.

 

 

I paid by credit card Halifax hoping this would ensure if anything went wrong - I should have know.

 

 

After repeated emails and phone calls to Halifax/Lloyds they told me they couldn't claim our money back as the car was waiting for us at the airport (which it wasn't)

- they just took Expedia's word for it - what can I do.

 

 

Below is an email I sent to Halifax outling all the details/times/dates screen shots etc

 

 

On the 24th May I paid Expedia £626.24 online using my Halifax credit card for 11 days car hire in Corfu from 14th July 2016 to 25 July 2016 with collection at 10pm at Corfu airport *see screenshot.

 

 

On the 25th May I called Expedia to add a baby car seat to my reservation.

I was informed by Expedia to call the Corfu office to arrange this, they gave me their number 0030 2109735000.

The car hire company in Corfu added a car seat at an extra cost of £33.00 which I agreed to pay at the airport upon collection.

 

 

The Corfu office then advised me I would also be charged £18 for a late pick up after 9pm.

I told them this was not included in the original price when I booked online and there was nothing on the website to say this was an extra charge.

 

 

The Corfu office advised me to contact Expedia.

Expedia told me to pay the additional cost and email them the receipt and they would reimburse me (see email screenshot).

 

This concerned me so I did some research and looked at Expedia's reviews on Trip advisor with regards to car hire in Corfu which only increased my concerns.

 

 

I was so concerned that I called the Corfu office a week before we went on holiday to check that they had a 7-seater car with car seat and that they were aware we would be arriving at 9:45 local time.

 

 

I was assured by the people in the Corfu office that they were aware of my requirements and everything would be fine.

They also took mine & my wife's mobile contact numbers.

 

Our flight from Manchester (Flight# LS951) on the 14th July 2016 was delayed before take-off by aprox 30mins.

We arrived at Corfu airport at about 10pm local time.

We left the departure lounge about 10:20pm local time

passing all the car hire companies and holiday reps holding placards with company logos and the names of people they were expecting.

 

 

I checked each one asking if they were waiting for Mr Ewing regardless of whether they had my name on the card or not.

No-one was waiting for me.

I left my wife and four children, the youngest only 18mths old, whilst I made inquiries with every single car hire, coach transfer and taxi desk inside and outside the airport to find the car hire company without any success.

 

I called the car hire company at 10:50 local time and got voicemail *see phone screenshot.

I called back one minute later (10:51) and this time a guy answered who took my name & number, said he would look into it & call me back.

 

At about 11pm it was clear that everybody who'd arrived on that flight had left and there was just me and my family in a very small, empty airport with one departure exit.

 

Me, my wife & 4 very tired & hungry children stood around the empty airport and waited for another half an hour for a phone call that never happened.

 

 

At about 23:20, with no sign of any car we decided our only option was to get a taxi to our accommodation at a cost of 101 Euros.

 

At 21.38 GMT (23.38 local time) *see phone screen shot,

I received a call from the car hire company wanting to know where I was?

I explained that as we had been waiting at the airport with no sign of any hire car for over an hour we'd got a taxi to our resort.

 

 

The guy took our phone number and said he would call someone and to wait for a return call.

The 1st phone call was to see what he could do.

The second phone call was to tell us he would ask if he could get the car delivered to us next day at our resort.

The 3rd phone call was to tell us to call the office tomorrow morning to see what they could do as nobody was available.

 

The following day they called me at 8:35GMT/10:35 local time *see screen shot, for 14 minutes.

The lady I spoke to preceded to argue with me insisting that the car had been available at the airport as arranged.

She asked me if I thought they were lying which struck me as odd?

The lady said that the car could not be delivered to Sidari and if not collected by 5pm the following day, at the airport, the car would be hired to someone else.

 

As we desperately needed this car I said that I would try to organise transport back to the airport to collect the car myself.

I also said that I would contact them beforehand if there was a problem getting there by 5pm as my wife has a disability and is unable to look after all 4 children alone.

 

 

After trying many different avenues to get to the airport

(the local bus service & travel back would have taken about 4/5hrs)

I just couldn't do it without realistically taking my wife and four children back to the airport in a taxi at a cost of another 101 Euros.

 

 

When I called the office they promptly reminded me that they couldn't deliver the car and the order would be cancelled.

I asked about a refund of the £626.24 I had paid weeks in advance which they said was nothing to do with them and I would have to speak to Expedia.

 

I called Expedia on Monday the 18th July *see screen shot, to log my complaint.

They said they would look into the matter and call me within 24hrs to confirm the refund had been authorised.

They didn't call back.

 

 

At this time I had had enough of the whole disastrous situation that had so far cost me £626.24 plus 101 Euros, numerous international calls from my mobile at my expense as well as taking up the first 3 days of my holiday

– we never did hire a car which made everything more difficult as we'd chosen a secluded location because we knew we'd have a car.

 

The day after I arrived home, 26th July, I called Expedia *see screenshot,

who told me the matter was still being looked into and that I would receive confirmation of a refund by email.

I am still waiting to hear back from them.

 

I want a full refund of £626.24 and if necessary will forfeit the extra costs incurred as mentioned above.

 

Please find enclosed screen shots of all phone calls made, copies of emails and other relative correspondence received from the car hire company.

[WarrenBuffet]

Shocking!

Why will your bank not do a S75 or a Charge back?

[marthafarqua]

The company in Corfu said we lied and the car was available - they told Expedia this and also Halifax. No one wants to take resposiblility for it. I escalated the case with Expedia yesterday but to be honest I don't hold out any hope as they've already ignored emails and promised to call back but didn't. Halifax credit card which is owned by Lloyds are being really slack too. After sending this letter they just contacted Expedia who also told them the car was a liable and it was our fault and they just accepted it. We have taxi receipt, times dates screenshots of calls made etc. We escalated it with them too. Expedia tried to tell me that it had nothing to do with them and it was to do with their vendor Eurocar. I refused to except this and they told me they look into it and get back to me within 72hrs. I'm so surprised by the bank tho...as I specifically applied for the Halifax card so I could pay for everything and also be insured. I'm not sure which avenue to take here or really who is responsible. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this tho, it's appreciated.

[unclebulgaria67]

Normally when you book a car through a company like Expedia, they give you instructions on the booking saying you need to report to Eurocar at the airport. From looking at Corfu airport online details, the car hire companies there have a meet and greet area, where the reps hold up company boards. You report to them and wait to be taken to the area where they sort out the car hire.

 

In your long post, it seems that you did not have details of which car hire company it was that had the booking. Go through your Expedia booking information to see what information was provided.

 

I had a problem with some hotel bookings with Expedia and luckily had taken printouts on holiday showing the arrangements made. In one case, the hotel (who were fully booked), arranged for another hotel which was better to provide a room at no extra cost. Luckily there was some local hotel association where they worked together to support tourism. Had all the hotels been full up, Expedia would have received a complaint.

[marthafarqua]

I went right to the top and persevered with this complaint and finally got a full refund - it only took 5 months of my life

[Buel10]

I am SO glad you did this. I am also having issues with Expedia, please can I ask who you contacted?

[marthafarqua]

Hi I logged it on the Resolve website, they have all the contact numbers for all the CEO's and told them. But basically I just persisted. Demanded to speak to manager, asked there names and when and what time they'd call me back...when they didn't as they never do. I called them and demanded to speak to them...I was like a dog with a bone. Once I told them it was logged with resolver and that it would be escalated to their CEO they repaid me in full. Although no apologies or compensation for what happened O would never use them again - good luck