VICTIMS OF EXPEDIA: A Closer Look at Customer Service Complaints
By By Jennifer Hammitt (reproduced with author's permission)
In the past, I have commented on my bad experience with
Expedia. I've talked about how I went from being an Expedia cheerleader to a
staunch opponent in no l time at all. I would like to take an opportunity to
discus this in greater detail. The first article was very emotionally
charged. This time around, we will be looking at the facts as they stand.
Along with my personal feelings, I will also be drawing from other people's
experiences. I have also tried to contact Expedia for their side of the
story. I initially contacted them on August 7, 2007, I finally had a
response on October 16, 2007. This was after contact the executives, being
blown off by them and the finally contacting the press office. Katrina
Thomas (from Expedia's press office) was kind enough to respond to some
comments and explanations. Some of the answers clarified things, other still
just didn't add up. I get what they are saying, I think if those answers
were correctly implemented they would be great. However, so many people I
know, and people I have encountered online have seen the polar opposite of
these practices.
My first item of business is why does it take so long for Expedia to reply?
I sent an e-mail that should have been responded to within four hours as
stated on their website. My e-mail was not returned until over 48 hours
later. Expedia claims that: "We make every effort to achieve a resolution as
promptly as possible. We review and send an initial response to online
inquiries within 4 hours, but it will likely take longer to solve more
complex issues, such as those that require a monetary transaction or
scheduling change."
You see, my problem did not need a monetary
transaction, a scheduling change, or anything of that nature. This seems to
be wide spread issue. My boss did in fact have an issue that did involve
monetary transactions. She waited over a week for a response. No on checked
in with her, or let her know what was going on. The excuse I was given at
the time of my issue was: "Due to recent weather events impacting travel in
the Northeast, there may be a delay in our response. We appreciate your
patience and will respond to your message as soon as possible." Okay fine,
but you can't tell me that there was a "weather issue" at the exact time
every person who has ever had complaint submitted their inquiry. My boss was
not even given that courtesy.
If e-mail takes too long, you can always call Expedia. In theory that means
your will be speaking with a courteous and knowledgeable rep. Expedia claims
that :
"Our expectation of call center agents is that they treat every customer
with respect and courtesy. If a situation arises that is counter to this
expectation, we take steps to ensure that future customers are handled
properly. Each customer interaction is an opportunity for us to become more
effective in addressing the needs of our customers, and for our customers to
gain insight they can use in planning their next trip."
Okay maybe if you call you will get a quicker response if you call. However,
you will be put on hold before you can speak with a rep. This is a common
practice with companies. You are put in a queue and your call will be
answered in the order it was received. I do not have an issue with that. My
issue is with what happens next. When you finally get a real person, you
think you've hit the jack pot, but you are wrong. Why does a company that
prides itself on "quality customer service" consistently have phone reps
that treat customers like they are a waste of time? Yes, with the exception
of a very nice gentleman named Carlos, every person I have spoken to at
Expedia has been rude. This seems to be a major complaint. I could blame my
getting rude rep each time I call on my pure dumb luck. However, I can't
believe that all of the cases I have heard about had that same bad luck.
When I voiced concerns about poor treatment from the reps, Expedia never
once told me that they would look into it, nor did they follow up with me.
Despite their expectations, rude reps seem to be something that still
plagues Expedia. Even if you are over worked and underpaid, that is still
not an excuse to treat customers poorly. It isn't the customer's fault you
are over worked and underpaid, do not take it out on them.
One thing you will not be able to avoid (by phone or e-mail) is the canned
scripted responses the reps rattle back to you. When I posed the question:
Why do you use canned e-mails that rarely actually answer the questions that
are asked? Expedia's reply was:
"There are many situations where our customer service agents are unable to
assist via e-mail and request that the customer call into the call center
for further assistance. This is done to protect the integrity of the
traveler's itinerary as well as ensure the customer receives the assistance
needed. As such, our e-mail support team will use an e-mail template for
responses, but if a case is escalated to our Traveler Advisory Group (TAG),
each response is drafted in accordance to the situation with standard
greetings and closings."
Okay, but if none of your customer care templates
actually answer the question, how is that helpful? I get the whole high
volume of complaints coming in and trying to be more efficient. However, if
a rep can read an e-mail and clearly see that none of the provided options,
shouldn't they of the insight to know they need to write and actual
response. Just sending .
When I inquired further about the use of scripts, I the response was:
"The only scripts employed by our customer care team are legal booking
scripts. However, an agent may use a standard line they create for
themselves due to the fact that the questions many customers ask are very
similar in nature. "
Wait I'm confused...I guess e-mail templates and phonescripts are two
different things in Expedia's mind. Okay, I can get behind that. Where I
start to get lost is when I am on the phone with a rep, and I have felt like
I have been fed lines. If they make up their own, that isn't company policy.
To be fair, that should not be put on Expedia. My concern is that if they
make up their own scripts, why do they rarely actually answer the question
posed? It makes the customer feel like their e-mail has not actually been
read or that the rep is not listening to them. This is a very negative thing
in the eyes of several former Expedia customers. Another concern I have is
that if they are making their own scripts based of the information they
know, it still reflects poorly. When customers call and the front line reps
know little to nothing about their question, that signals that there may be
some training ssues that need to be addressed. If you give the reps the
tools they need to answer the customer questions, you will have much happier
customers.
Once it has been determined that they do not know the
answer, the next logical step is to send you to a supervisor or a manager.
That would make sense. If you as a supervisor do not provide this info for
your employees, you should be expected to field those questions. I work in
customer service. I do everything in my power to get my students answers. If
I can't answer it, I forward them on to someone who can. It isn't chore or
above and beyond my job description...it is my job period! Expedia
claims that "Our agents are equipped to address the customer support
inquiries we receive, and the overwhelming majority of customer support
inquiries are addressed promptly in one call to 1-800-EXPEDIA. In cases
where a customer feels their situation requires escalation, they can request
to speak with a supervisor, but should be aware of potentially lengthy hold
times."
Lengthy hold times I can handle, but I have had reps blatantly refuse to
transfer me or give me contact information several times. Other people have
had the same issue. Yes, even those of us who have requested to speak with a
supervisor (or at minimum be given contact info) have had those requests
declined. I was told via e-mail by the before mentioned Jennifer Issacs
that: "We do not try to block our customers from speaking with a supervisor;
however, we do attempt to do all we can at the first level before escalating
our customer to a supervisor." Okay, so I'm thinking if you can't answer my
questions, you have done all you can at the first level. Correct me if I'm
wrong here. Get me to a supervisor please.
My next issue of contention is that once you e-mail Expedia they bounce you
around from rep to rep and apparently department to department without
discretion and without letting you know what is happening. They close their
e-mails with a first name and maybe a last initial. They never tell you what
department they work for. If they send you on to another department,
they do not advise of the shift. My feeling is that if you are going to take
credit for assisting me, give me you whole name and the department you work
for. Even with recent e-mails to the company, Ms. Thomas gave me her first
and last name, but I had to actually ask. Expedia claims that: "Some agents
do not feel comfortable giving out their full name but are more than happy
to provide you with their first name for identification. Any time you
contact 1-800-EXPEDIA, you are speaking to an agent within our customer care
team." Okay, but I am not comfortable about giving out my first and last
name, but guess what, it is on the website, I am required to give it out
students. It is required by employer.
Also, if you are going to pass my complaint along it is
good form to at least let the customer where it is going. Otherwise you are
say you are not worth our time to help right now, and we have shoved you off
on some nameless faceless person. Ms. Issacs responded with "We agree with
your feelings on this, our agents did not properly inform you of who your
case was being escalated to." However, apparently they did not agree because
they have treated many customers disservice after that moment in the same
manner. Do not just say something to appease a customer if you do not really
mean it. Expedia's formal response, left me a little confused. I'm not sure
if they actually answered my question: "Our customer service agents are
solving a range of issues that may emerge before and during travel, (missed
flights, personal emergencies, weather-related cancellations, etc.). In many
cases, Expedia is working on behalf of our customers with our supply
partners, and we are dependent to a certain degree on our partners'
participation in reaching a resolution for the customer. As such, it is
important for customers to interact with our agents in good faith as they
advocate on the customers' behalf and seek a resolution to the issue at
hand." I think it was a valiant effort, but it tell me how that explains: If
they are sending your complaint on to another department, why do they not
tell you what is going on?
In my original complaint, I did eventually speak with Jennifer Issacs. She
worked in the Customer Advisory Department. Apparently, without my
knowledge, my complaint had made my way to her department. She was not very
helpful, and the excuses she gave me seem to be very weak. The things she
said we just flukes in my case have happened to so many other people as
well. I was only able to speak to Jennifer after I made several demands to
speak to a supervisor. The first time I asked to speak with a supervisor I
was told "well all of us are supervisors here." Wow, that was a joke. Ms.
Issacs explanation was, "this department (Customer Advisory Department) is
the highest escalation point within Expedia, and everyone in this department
is given the authority and responsibility of a supervisor." If you are a
supervisor, you should know how to answer basic questions. How does that
work?
According to Expedia: "The Customer Advisory Group (or
TAG) is our highest level of support. A customer usually is transferred to
this group if they ask to speak to a supervisor, or the agent is unable to
assist. Our TAG is dedicated to resolving customer issues efficiently, but
sometimes that requires additional research which could entail contacting a
supplier partner or looking into a matter further for direct follow up with
the customer."
Okay, but how does that make them all supervisors? You can't tell me that
you have a whole department of people does not have any type of boss. After
going back and forth with that department for a while, they eventually told
me supervisor would be in touch with me with in 24 hours. Over a week later,
Ms. Issacs did get in touch with me and was rude and condescending. I would
like to think this was just my experience, but it is the same story for many
people. Expedia is great until something goes wrong...then you are in
trouble.
The last thing that frightens me about Expedia is the unavailability of
higher level people. Expedia's story is that: "This information is not
classified and is in fact available on the Internet. However, not all agents
may have access to that information and are unable to share it because they
don't know." However, I am not so certain it is that readily available.
Plus, why wouldn't your agents/reps have that info on hand?
It took me nearly three weeks to talk to a supervisor. I couldn't find
anyone over her head to complain to. I scoured the website for their contact
info, and I could not find it. I eventually found the information on
Christopher Elliott's (The Travel Troubleshooter) website. I decided to do
my follow up article, and I e-mailed them with some basic questions on
August 7, 2007. I did not hear anything back until September 2, 2007. At
that time I was written to by a person who I had not written to, on some one
else's e-mail account (Her name was Bonnie Sharkey, the email was tuckermo@expedia.com),
and she misspelled my name. It was a short e-mail that asked me to reply
with more information. So I waited for another month. Still, no reply came.
I gave up and just e-mailed the press people. That apparently caught some
attention. Ms. Thomas did work hard to get my questions answered. I do
appreciate that. However, when I compare her responses to the actual things
customers have faced in reality, things just do not add up.