lcuy

I agree. I do hope they have a great trip, despite the bad start!

Seamus

NeoP - my list probably made it look like a lot of work but I agree that I would not want to waste my vacation time quibbling. Bottom line is, whoever screwed up, the hotel is where you are standing at in the best position to get things fixed now. Maybe I should condense my recipe to: Don't get into an argument, state your intention to remain for the full period, get the info up front that you will need to resolve (manage name and number), then let the hotel and Expedia fight it out.
My favorite anecdote about a similar situation involves a hotel in Florence (Firenze). I had changed my arrival by one day (with confirmation telex received) but when I arrive they said "sorry, we gave away your room because you didn't show up yesterday." I showed then the telex and got the classic Italian shrug along with "but we have no rooms". I looked the clerk in the eye and said, "Well you had better prepare to respond to complaints from other guests." "Why?" she asked. I: "Because I will be sleeping right here in the lobby and I snore VERY loudly." Miracoli, they just happened to find a room.
Boy, this makes me sound like a really obnoxious customer, and I really am not at all, but I have learned that a lot of service businesses know that a large proportion of shortchanged people will just walk away grumbling (especially a tourist who may never return) so they withhold the really responsive service for those who demand it (gently if at all possible, of course.)

djkbooks

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the obvious prudence of double checking all arrangements made, especially by a third party, as soon as the trip is booked. I always double check everything again, a week to a few days before departure.

easytraveler

Why is this an "either -or" situation?

She should talk to BOTH Expedia AND the hotel.

If Expedia is a travel agency, then it is under the law of agency. The agent binds the principal, in this case, the hotel. Both are bound. She should seek redress from both.

The hotel cannot benefit from Expedia's other bookings and run away when there is a screwup.

She should have emailed/faxed the hotel a copy of the Expedia confirmation and then shown up at the hotel and DEMANDED her PAID FOR seven nights. It doesn't matter who screwed up, that's between the hotel and Expedia. It's not up to the customer to resolve this issue.

Nuts to Expedia. I never use it. Especially not after this and the Woohoo/woogoo story!

NeoPatrick

"I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the obvious prudence of double checking all arrangements made, especially by a third party, as soon as the trip is booked."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I thought I did mention that, perhaps not expressed quite so succinctly.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"I guess the lesson learned from all this is that if you are trusting ANY agency to book things, you need to do some follow up earlier than the night before. You shouldn't have to, but more and more I'm afraid you do."

courtneycwo

Hello! You are all so kind to have written with great advice. I had a minute and thought I would check in and let you know what happened with us.

I ended up - Friday night - after spending nearly 4 1/2 hours on the phone with Expedia (most of the wait was holding to speak to a supervisor) deciding that we would accept a room at the Royal Palms in Phoenix. The hotel seemed lovely - but my concern was that it is not a hotel that caters to young children. We always try to be respectful when traveling with our little ones to stay in "family friendly" resorts and the Royal Palms seemed to me to be more geared to "romantic getaways".

Long story short - went to bed midnight on Friday - slept for 3 hours - got everyone up and caught the ferry to the airport. When we arrived in Phoenix, I asked my husband to try Expedia once again and see if anything had changed while I went to p/u the rental car.

My DH spoke to a different customer service person @ Expedia and after an hour on the phone - and some confusion about our bill (which I'm sure that I will have to deal with when we return) he was able to get us back in to the Fairmont. He said that something had "opened up". We then jumped into our rental car and drove to the Fairmont - where we were met with cool drinks, and friendly faces - not a problem in the world at check in.

I'm not sure of what happened - but in the end - it all worked out to our satisfaction. This property is absolutely lovely - beautiful birds / flowers - wonderful service - and best of all - many swimming pools / water slides and activities geared to children - with wonderful dining and amenities that make my husband and I feel pampered

I will likely not use Expedia again - and have been a loyal customer of theirs for years. Your advice to double check reservations is spot on - I had confirmed flights / seats - but I did not confirm the hotel - my mistake.

Thank you all for your thoughts - they are much appreciated. When I was so stressed on Friday night, I felt lucky to have the support of well traveled Fodorites.

Take care,
Courtney

TahitiTams

Outstanding Courtney!
Have a great time and relax!

NeoPatrick

How great that it worked out. Perseverance does count, doesn't it?

AAFrequentFlyer

as posted by easytraveler:

If Expedia is a travel agency, then it is under the law of agency. The agent binds the principal, in this case, the hotel. Both are bound. She should seek redress from both.

huh?

When you deal with 3rd party, it's the third party's responsibility to fix things. The hotel was told by EXPEDIA that it needs 2 nights booking for a family of four. They said ok, here it is.

How is the hotel suppose to know that the OP wanted 7 nights? or perhaps according to your theory, keep number of rooms open just because of situations like this?

You are living in some fantasy world if you believe your statement above.

That said, everything worked out so no need to quibble over who was/n't responsible.

escargot

I'm so glad this worked out for this family, - but this is why I am reluctant to use anything like Expedia unless I absolutely can not find a better rate elsewhere and it is a must go thing -

Every single time I check rates on Expedia, I get lesser rates directly with the hotel or airline - is this just some miraculous luck of mine or does anyone else find this to be true?

This morning I booked my son a flight from his college state to NYC for a weekend and it was, for the exact same flight #/time/etc almost $20 less than Expedia - not that that is a lot, but it is less.

Every time I book a hotel, I check on Expedia for the heck of it, and I always get a better rate directly from a hotel - this happened the last two times I booked the MIchelangelo in NYC and other hotels for recent reservations in Boston, Miami and Palm Beach - andfor flights recently to NOrth Carolina, South Carolina and Florida - so every so often I check hotels.com/expedia/etc but have never used them for this reason.

Also in the past year or so I have asked various airline or hotel personnel that IF I arrived and didn't like my room/location/something and had booked with X package / discount group - how likely am I to get what I want versus the person that booked directly with the hotel and or airline?

Every time they have said, better off if it is a direct booking with us for any accomodations or complaints -

I even got this answer recently with our Disney vacation from Disney vs. some of the well known and well recommended Disney travel packages from agencies, etc - Disney direct was the same price as two of the packages I considered, and the hotel manager said there is a difference if bbooked directly with them vs. the others if I am wanting something different, changed, unhappy about something-

So, am I the only one who has found this or if not, I just never luck out with these discount places prices finding me a price less than I can booking it myself?

mikesmom

Courtney:

Very glad it worked for you after all. Enjoy your vacation!

granniem

escargot, I agree with you. I always get a better deal dealing with the hotel, etc. directly.

Priceline is so far out there you need to pray. How could you pay for a hotel and not know which one is was before hand? Doesn't make sense to me.

AAFrequentFlyer

I only use Priceline on occasion but it's not as bad as you make it sound. If all I need is a 1 night at an airport location, I pick - airport location, 4 stars (usually a Hilton, Marriott or Sheraton) and it never failed just yet.

Just recently I needed 1 night at the Manchester, UK aairport. Did exactly what I described above and got the Sheraton Airport Hotel for 1/2 the price of their regular rates published on their own website.

OTOH, if you pick a 1 or 2 star hotel, you will get what you will get but for lot less money.

I'm not a big fan of Priceline but there are times it works for me, just like advertised.

NeoPatrick

I'm not a personal fan of Priceline either, but I don't get that argument "How could you pay for a hotel and not know which one it was before hand?"

This board is filled with people who don't know the hotels in a particular city. They end up booking one -- but blindly -- since they've never been there. When they book they may know the name of the hotel, but they really are taking their chances on whether they like it or not. I really don't see how that's any worse than booking a hotel in a particular location and of a particular star rating without knowing its name. And if it's going for half the price, many will do it feeling it's no greater risk than booking any other hotel that they've never seen or been to anyway. And since they could be unhappy either way, isn't it better to be a little displeased and paying $200 instead of to be displeased and paying $400?

If on the other hand a person goes to a particular city and has a particularly favorite hotel, sure he's taking a huge risk trying to get it on Priceline for half price and possibly getting something else. That's not the point of Priceline, and a person would be crazy to try to use it that way -- to get a specific hotel at a big discount.

toedtoes

I have more issue with the "No refunds, no cancellation" rules of Priceline than anything else. I'd rather pay $100 for a simple Travelodge through their website and be able to cancel or change my plans up to 24-48 hours notice, than to pay $120 for a 4 star hotel and not be able to cancel or change my plans at all.

lcuy

Courtney- I'm so glad that you gave it one more try! Congratulations on your success! I'm sure all of us here would like to think our sage advice was empowering and led to this happy conclusion!=D>

Did you have a chance to drive by the Royal Palms for a comparison visit? It would be interesting to hear your take on that one!

Escargot- I'm totally in agreement with you, as I've had the same experience time after time. I use Expedia for research, then always end up getting a better deal directly with the hotel or airline.

And yes, it may be only a small savings, but $20 on the air, $20 a night on 5 nights, and soon you've saved enough to splurge on something!

Plus, change and cancellation policies are much more liberal when dealing direct.

easytraveler

Courtneycwo: so glad everything worked out for you! "All's well that ends well".

AAFrequentFlyer: I usually enjoy your posts very much, but I do respectfully disagree.

"When you deal with a third party, it is the third party's responsibility to fix things." By third party I am assuming you mean Expedia. Your post then implies that it is ALL Expedia's responsibility and that courtneycwo can't go after the hotel. This is not correct.

I said in my post that I assumed that if Expedia is in an agency relationship with the hotel, then the law of agency applies.

One of the simplest explanations of agency law is given in Wikipedia:

"Agency is an area of Commercial law dealing with a contractual or quasi-contractual tripartite set of relationships when an Agent is authorized to act on behalf of another (called the Principal) to creat a legal relationship with a Third Party. Succinctly, it may be referred to as the relationship between a principal and an agent whereby the principal, expressly or impliedly, authorizes the agent to work under his control and on his behalf. The agent is, thus, required to negotiate on behalf of the principal or bring him and third parties into contractual relationship. This branch of law separates and regulates the relationships between:
1) Agents and Principals;
2) Agents and the Third Parties with whom they deal on their Principals' behalf; and
3) Principals and the Third Parties when the Agents purport to deal on their behalf.

The common law principle in operation is usually represented in the Latin phrase, qui facit per alium, facit per se, i.e., the one who acts through another, acts in his or her own interests."

Wikipedia then goes on into explaining 1)Liability of Agent to Third Party
2) Liability of Agent to Principal
3)Liability of Principal to Agent
etc.

In this case, we don't have enough facts to know whom to hold responsible for the mixup. It could be that Expedia DID tell the hotel to book 7 nights, but the hotel put down only 2 nights, or Expedia made the mistake and booked only 2 nights - we simply don't know and probably never will.

However, the fact is that Expedia was acting on behalf of the hotel, that much we know. And generally this is considered an agency relationship. IF there is an agency relationship, then the injured third party (in this case, I mean courtneycwo) can go after both the agent (Expedia) and the Principal (the hotel) until such time when things are clarified and one gets to know exactly whom to blame.

I apologize for such a long post, but I just didn't want to have readers of this thread to think that they could only go after Expedia and not after the hotel. That's simply not true. Until you know who made the mistake, you have to go after both of them to correct the mistake...and you have the legal right to do so.

Put another way, if you were to buy a house and a part of the house collapses the first day you move in, do you go after the real estate agent or the seller? Or both?

My apologies again for such a long post. If you disagree, please do! Nothing like a challenging discussion!

lgott

easytraveler, in the very beginning of this thread, courtneycwo stated (in item #2) that Expedia admitted to making a mistake. Unless this statement was in error, the hotel made no mistake; the law of agency provides no relief.

Seamus

Glad to hear that it all worked out.
But I do have a question for the legal beagles - the arguments above are premised on Expedia being an agent of the hotel - is that truly the case? Isn't there all sorts of fine print on the Expedia TOS that spells out that they are a reseller and not an agent?

mikesmom

I totally agree with escargot. I use Expedia as a research tool only. I always get the same or better (usually better) rates on the hotel website and/or the airline website. Why do I need Expedia? I don't understand it. If I make a reservation at a hotel, I can change or cancel the reservations (within their guidelines without penalty). If I want to cancel a reservation with Expedia, I have to
pay a fee. What is the advantage? I don't get it.