Question: My wife and I planned a trip to Antigua this summer and purchased round-trip flights, hotel room and a kayak excursion through Expedia in December.
Everything was a “go” until we received a call one day in early April from an Expedia representative informing us of a change to our American Airlines flights. American had apparently changed quite a few flights to the island and, unfortunately, none of the changes worked for us.
The Expedia rep said that if we chose not to accept the changes for the flights that we could expect to see a full refund due to an “unacceptable” involuntary schedule change by the airline. After getting the rep to verify that we could cancel the hotel, excursion and flights at no charge, I authorized them to go ahead and cancel the trip completely.
The rep was able to instantly provide a refund for the hotel and kayak trip, but advised that the refund for the flights would take between four to six weeks to go through.
Six weeks later, having received no refund, I checked with Expedia. It informed me that it had already given me a refund, but it turns out it only was referring to the first refund. I emailed Expedia back to let it know that it got the wrong refund, but have not received a response yet. It concerns me that no one can seem to tell us when we will ever get the refund or why it has been held up for so long.
I am at my wits’ end with Expedia, Chris. Can you please help me get this resolved? My wife and I would be so grateful. — Dan Lachapelle, Sudbury, Canada
Answer: I wouldn’t be so quick to blame Expedia. Airlines are known to drag their feet when it comes to refunds, and my initial reading of your problem suggests American might have something to do with the delay, too.
This is a common problem. You buy your tickets through an agency, and the agency takes your money. But if you want a refund — or something else, like a name change — then the agency defers to the airline.
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