The Military Home Programs' Blog

I received the below email from a close relative...  I decided to post it as I have encountered so many problems with customer service recently and quite honestly, it is just so irritating the way we are treated sometimes.  I continue to ask myself, "With the amount of information at our fingertips, is it possible to really get the word out when we are mistreated by large, reputable companies?"  I have no idea but here is what I do know...

All,
Just wanted to start my personal crusade against EXPEDIA.COM.  As some of you may know Amanda and I were supposed to be leaving for Hawaii for a 2 week vacation this morning.  When we got to the airport, we learned that the carrier we were flying went out of business.  After calling Expedia, speaking to 7 different representatives, and being placed on hold for the better part of 8 hours today to ask them why we were not informed and what could be done to correct this. The answer I received was: 'this is not our problem it is your problem'.  When I explained how this was my family's vacation before my 7 deployment to a combat zone, and how the other booking made through Expedia that we discovered was also cancelled, was for my parents to see their grand child and me one last time before deployment, I was told: 'Military people bring this on themselves. It's too bad for all of us that you're in the military'.  Through the extreme disgust, I managed to keep my calm despite wanting to reach through the phone to the different call centers in India that I talked to and finally managed to stay on hold long enough to get a supervisor.  She promised us 2x $200 coupons to be applied at the Expedia website for future bookings, however, after an attempt to salvage our pre-deployment leave by making a booking I learned (after yet again another call to a representative) the supervisor had lied to us.  Bottomline: 2 sets of tickets (one set for us and one set for my parents) bought 5 months out on Expedia, cancelled without notifying us until we were at the airport, lied to by 'customer service', arrogantly insinuated to that it is my fault for being in the military =  very disappointed family, ruined family vacation, missed opportunity to enjoy a vaction together before another deployment overseas.
 
Please help me to pass this on to ensure that other military families don't get screwed over by Expedia.com; use Travelocity.com!
Liam