The Covid-19 pandemic totally upended the way the travel industry functioned. Moreover, it triggered a slew of cancellations for many frequent travelers. After bearing the brunt of customers’ frustration and anger initially, almost all major US carriers ended up waiving change fees on most standard tickets. However, if you booked through an OTA, your situation may still be different. An Expedia customer has sued the company with a class action lawsuit for refusing his refund.
Expedia Lawsuit: Refunds v/s Vouchers
This USA Today report highlights some of the key details of the lawsuit.
Daniel Mahoney filed a lawsuit against Expedia after he claims the travel booking services violated the Washington Consumer Protection Act by refusing to refund the price of his airline ticket.
“Despite its role as middleman or broker in its customers’ purchase of air travel on these airlines, Expedia did not intervene or take steps to ensure that its customers were given the right to receive a refund on pandemic cancelled flights,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit describes the details of Mahoney’s travel plans. Mahoney purchased a $905 round trip ticket on Expedia in December. He was supposed to fly from San Francisco to Milan on TAP Air Portugal in July 2020. In May, Expedia informed him that the airline had cancelled his ticket.
Expedia refused his refund, informing him that he would only get an AA voucher for that value, valid until December 31st, 2020. Mahoney tried to get a resolution by escalating the issue, but there was no solution in sight. That prompted Mahoney to file the lawsuit.
The class action lawsuit claims Expedia violated the Washington Consumer Protection Act by using “unfair or deceptive practices in trade or commerce.” Mahoney and the class members are seeking monetary damages and treble damages.
The Pundit’s Mantra
On one hand, one really feels for the travel industry and its employees as they wade through the stormy waters of this crisis. On the other hand, cash is king in times of crisis. Vouchers provide little support to customers who are in desperate need of cash.
Have you recently contacted Expedia for a refund? If yes, what was your experience like? Also, have major US carriers done a better job at refunds compared to OTAs like Expedia? Tell us in the comments section.
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what is the update on this case? I experienced a similar situation and never got a refund.
Any updates on this lawsuit? I am apart of the list and lost thousands but was told here….take this voucher???
I could go on for hours about the problems, but looks like every one else is in the same place. Throw my name in the civil action, be glad to join. 1-1/2 years and still fighting!
Expedia said they would give me credit voucher on my account it would take about 30 days** Now they say the airline took over and deal with them. Iberia airlines which i paid for insurance and they said the airline took over and they are not the ones to give me credit, but yet when airline cancelled i was told i would get an expedia credit on my account** i am in California, i am about to take this to CBF, Department of insurance, and sue in small claims unless this can be used in class action
how do i join this lawsuit already reported then to the better business bureau. i booked a room and it was discus ting bugs water inside the walls filthy and the hotel agreed to refund and gave expeadian there refund because they do not send the hotel our info we booked with so it does not go back to me.. I keep getting the run around saying that hotel is non refundable even though i have the receipt that the hotel gave me showing they gave them the refund .
Whatever happen with this? My wife an I are literally dealing with this. I have a call log with over 20 calls to expedia, delta, and klm because expedia blames the airline. I also have emails from them.
If there is a lawsuit, I’d love to get involved. This has been a horrific experience when my wife an I were going to spend time with her family so they could see her now that she’s pregnant (she won’t be able to fly after july 15th due to pregnancy.) See them after being away for 2 years, and so I could meet them for the first time.
Expedia is blaming klm because they flew us back since our flight was canceled mid trip due to borders closing. Klms and expedias policy states due to corona, if a trip is canceled mid flight, its the travel agent job to provide a refund. I believe we even purchased insurance just incase. Heres the documents we have
Literally my experience as well. How do I join?
Me too! Please share details.
me too I got the same …. could help i need that money back !!!
How does a person join in this matter, my husband, son and I made plans in March, 2020, to see our grandson graduate from college in New Mexico and of course we had to cancel due to COVID restrictions and Expedia will not refund our monies($956.70)(even with travel insurance) and gives us a deadline to use it up this month 2021. My husband has had several illnesses since then and cannot travel by plane at this time or in the future. This has been a financial hardship for us.
I would like to join this lawsuit. Expedia is a fraud! They should not be allowed to operate a business under false pretenses. It is extremely hard to get in touch with customer service. They are delaying the process of my refund.
I would also be interested in how to obtain my refund from Expedia – have received nothing but projection onto hotel, tho my credit card clearly shows Home Away got the deposit. No response to emails. Waited 4 HOURS on hold with customer service and never had anyone pick up. Ridiculous!
I would like to jointhe lawsuit too.just criminals
Any update on how to join the class action suit?? Expedia has been nothing but an absolute nightmare to deal with. Totally screwed me out of a full refund for my hotel booked and cancelled last March due to the pandemic and STILL haven’t even issued the credit they insisted I was stuck with. Impossible to get an answer from anyone and constantly “disconnected” from customer service reps. Outrageously awful.
I planned family reunion for 19 family members in Portugal at the end of July 2020. Because of COVID travel was restricted, flights cancelled. I have been attempting to get compensation from Expedia. What I get is a runaround for 7 mos. Bad faith. No effort to help. Nearly 30,000 dollars involved.
I booked a R/T ticket through Expedia in November for flights in January Bangkok/Seattle/Bangkok. In December Expedia informed me that the airline had cancelled my itinerary. According to Expedia, the airline was only offering a voucher valid for travel until March 31. I declined the voucher and insisted on a refund. After waiting with no further reply from Expedia, I contacted Japan Airlines and Air Canada. Air Canada in a letter dated January 30, informed me that their ticket had already been refunded to Expedia. This has not been refunded to me by Expedia. Japan Airlines stated that the claim by Expedia that only the limited validity voucher was being offered is false and that full refunds are given when requested. Japan Airlines also stated that it was Expedia who cancelled the itinerary, not the airline. It is worth noting that at the same time as the cancellation, Expedia were offering the same itinerary on the same dates at US$400 more than my original ticket. This would seem to indicate a fraud on the part of Expedia, canceling flights, and forcing customers to either book the higher price tickets or risk losing their original purchase price.
I just tried to reschedule a flight to Europe using my Expedia credit and was informed that my travel had to be complted by January 21, 2021. Given the current COVID lockdown this is impossible. I would like to join whatever class action lawsuit emerges from this.
I would like to join any lawsuit against Expedia.
Please please please…. did any one get any refunds from Expedia???
I booked a hotel room in January 2020 to attend a wedding in June 2020 In Suffolk County I used my Platinum American Express card and Expedia made the reservation. Due to the Pandemic in New York, I cancelled the reservation with the Hotel in April 2020 and the Hotel accepted the cancellation since I was in lockdown in Westchester County and the Hotel was closed due to the Pandemic in Suffolk County. In spite of this, the $ 2400 deposit remains on my American Express card. I have explained the situation on 2 separate occasions to American Express to no avail I have been a Platinum member since 1987.
I have told Amex that I will not pay that bill, and will stop using my 2 Amex Platinum cards and when they bring suit, I will counterclaim and seek punitive damages for their egregious conduct. P.S. I am an attorney, so it will cost me nothing. , but time.
Which is why children, we never book our travel through an OTA. The short term savings arent worth the long term hassle when the poop hits the fan.
Please update with details of joining the lawsuit so that we can join as talking to Expeadia for refunds is getting nowhere at all that it only provides excuses one after the other and passing the buck between it and its vendors.
We booked a trip on Expedia in January from Portland, OR (PDX) to Davao Philippines scheduled to fly out May 9th. We had to cancel because of Covid-19 a we were issued a full credit for the amount ($2k) minus the Expedia fee. We re-booked the trip at the beginning of Aug for the same trip but had to pay and extra $450 because the airfare went up. A week later we rec’d an email from Expedia saying that Philippine Airlines had changed the flight and that we needed to contact the airline because they had not given enough time between flights on our return trip and they had also changed our layover at LAX from 2.5 hours to 28 hours. We contacted Philippine Airlines and they told us that Expedia needed to contact them and make the change request. We contacted Expedia and made them aware of this. After a couple weeks Philippine Airlines gave Expedia a waiver code that would allow them to change the flight so that we had enough time between flights and not have a layover of 28 hours at LAX. Expedia then said we had to pay an extra $450 because the airfare again had went up. Not sure if we should walk away with a $2450 loss or pay the additional $450 at the risk they could do the same thing again. Would rather just receive the full refund.
I’m admittedly somewhat ignorant regarding the law but wouldn’t small claims court be better since the customer would get the full amount of the refund rather than having legal fees deducted?