Location/place: Bangalore
Name of company/service: Expedia.co.in
My Itinerary number: 1142808906
I had never used expedia.co.in for any kind of booking but on 7th September 2012, I thought of trying this site. I had to book a hotel in Delhi and found a decent one on this site. When I reached the payment page, I couldn’t find NetBanking option, which is usually my favourite way to pay online. Anyway, I was left with no choice but to use my debit card. And I noticed that they had, by default, selected to save my debit card details. I tried a lot but there was no way to ‘deselect’ this. I still went ahead to pay, thinking that such a big website will not do something as fishy as this. 2 minutes later I realised that they not only deducted the usual amount which I was supposed to pay, but also they deducted Rs 100 extra (now that they had saved my details). I was shocked to see this. Very quickly I called up their customer care and they informed me that this happens with every customer /every transaction, to check if the card is working or not! Then he said that I will get this Rs 100 in 1-2 days. I do not understand that firstly how can they deduct anything extra from what we authorise them to deduct. If they have to do something like this, they have to show a message that this is going to happen. This is nothing short of robbery! Another thing what I do not get is why do they have to do this? No other e-commerce site does this.
It’s been 7 whole days and I have not received this Rs 100 back in my amount. I think it’s just another way to make money. If you really ask me, it’s not about this small amount of money. It’s about highlighting the mean business practices that indulge into. I therefore wish to warn everyone to stay away from expedia.co.in, as there are many sites which is reliable and trustworthy. It was a mistake that I tried this site and would never forget this. I have written 3 mails to them asking to return the money and this is what they reply:
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Dear Mohit,
Thank you for contacting Expedia.co.in regarding the transaction.
I understand your concern about the amount charged to your card. Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to you.
I would like to inform you that the amount of INR 100.00 was not debited from your account used at the time of reservation. This is an authorization transaction which occurs against the online purchase. This authorization gets released within 24-48 hours of the purchase attempt.
We request you to get in touch with your respective bank regarding further clarification of this authorization.
For assistance with any other query, feel free to write to us. We will happy to assist you.
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Mohit
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