[OT] Expedia.com Bait & Switch

[Mike Swope]

I apologize for the off-topic. Has anyone had a similar experience with 
expedia.com?

We were using Expedia.com to locate a vacation package for Las Vegas in 
November. We performed the search and the results show a list of of 
available packages and pricing. So far so good.

But this is where Expedia.com goes bad, possibly fraudulently bad. In 
every search result, clicking on the link to continue to purchase and 
pricing suddenly increases by about $200 ($100/person). IN EVERY RESULT!

We called Expedia.com as soon as we identified this bait & switch 
tactic. The CSR on the phone was unhelpful and could not answer any 
questions to our satisfaction. The CSR blamed the difference on the 
airlines, and then on the fact that we did not have a login. When we 
asked to speak to a supervisor, we were told there was no supervisor 
available. The CSR reported that Expedia.com has no control over their 
results. At one point, we used the word "sucks" and were promptly told 
that the CSR would discontinue the call if we used "profane" language 
again. Of course, this is a means to get rid of customers frustrated by 
Expedia.com's inability to answer questions fundamental to their 
business. Results were the same with a login.

If you're so inclined, if you could test our results (we don't pretend 
to think we're unique) and confirm our experience, that would be helpful.

If you could also relate any news media outlet where we may submit this 
as newsworthy, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!