Expedia took my money, failed to provide the booked vehicle, and then made getting a refund nearly impossible
I prepaid Expedia $406.38 for a midsize Suzuki SX4 or similar rental through OK Mobility in Athens. When I arrived, the reserved vehicle class was unavailable. Instead, I was offered a materially smaller Suzuki Swift. The OK Mobility employee told me that, if I did not accept the smaller vehicle, I should return the key and have Expedia process the cancellation. I followed those instructions exactly: I returned the key immediately, never drove or used the vehicle, and contacted Expedia while I was still at the rental location. Expedia’s representative tried to contact OK Mobility but could not reach anyone able to help. Expedia later used its own inability to communicate with its supplier as the reason for refusing my refund. In other words, Expedia accepted my payment, its partner did not provide the booked service, and Expedia then claimed that nothing could be done because the partner would not approve the refund. Expedia offered me $60 in OneKeyCash instead of returning the $406.38 charged to my credit card. A promotional credit is not an acceptable substitute for refunding money paid for a service that was not provided as agreed. The escalation process was equally poor. I gave Expedia a specific telephone number and agreed to be available between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. France time. Expedia confirmed that it would call during the requested time. It did not. Nearly two hours after the agreed window ended, someone called a different telephone number that I could not access while traveling, left no direct callback number, and asked me once again to provide a callback time that I had already supplied in writing. The supplier also later sent an erroneous record to my email concerning a Renault Trafic, contract 7339499, plate listed as “FAKE168,” under a misspelled customer name. I never collected, drove, or returned that vehicle. Despite being informed of this serious inconsistency, Expedia still failed to provide a meaningful resolution. Because of Expedia’s failure, I had to arrange another rental at the last minute for $831.09, pay an additional €20.10 taxi fare, spend approximately three hours dealing with the problem at the airport, and devote many additional hours to emails, calls, documentation, and escalation. I have now had to initiate a credit-card dispute simply to recover the original charge. This experience showed me that Expedia may be willing to take payment, but when its supplier fails to provide the booked service, the customer can be trapped between Expedia and the supplier, with neither accepting responsibility. Expedia repeatedly sent generic responses, failed to review its own correspondence, failed to call the agreed number at the agreed time, and attempted to substitute a small platform credit for a legitimate cash refund. I would not book another prepaid car rental through Expedia. Based on my experience, booking directly with a reputable rental company provides far greater accountability when something goes wrong.