Action 9: Casselberry woman says online travel site charged her more than $6,000 for $2,300 trip

CASSELBERRY, Fla. — A Casselberry woman says she booked her vacation on a very popular travel website, only to have thousands of dollars vanish from her bank account.

When she had trouble getting her money back from the travel site, Expedia, she called Action 9's Todd Ulrich.

He turned to the company for results and those results show how travelers can avoid online travel mistakes.

Tijana Pantic has sweet memories from vacations to Central America and Mexico.

She booked all those all-inclusive trips on Experdia.com.

But when she attempted to book the same kind of vacation to Cancun, things did not go smoothly.

“That experience left me mad, angry, (and) disappointed,” she said.

Pantic says the trip, which included airfare and hotel for two, totaled $2,300.

She bought it, then couldn’t believe what happened next.

“Five minutes later I go on my bank account and see almost triple has been taken from me,” Pantic said.

Instead of $2,300, the Expedia charges totaled more than $6,000 and the charge was taken out of her checking account.

Pantic claims her complaint call to the company took four hours, and 10 days later, she still didn’t have any money back.

“Every other phone call has been about an hour and I give up after that,” she said.

According to the Better Business Bureau, booking air and hotel travel on Expedia has triggered numerous complaints and bad reviews.

At the BBB, customer ratings are 98 percent negative and there are more than 4,000 complaints.

The company is rated A plus, though, because the BBB says it does respond.

Pantic said that was not her experience.

“I can't get any answers why I haven't got any money back,” she said.

Travel experts say online travel deals may not fully disclose all fees and any changes can be pricey.

Central Florida BBB President Holly Salmons said, in general, resolving a problem can be more difficult.

“You are dealing with the online travel site and the provider, and it may be difficult to get the two to speak to each other,” she said.

After Action 9 contacted Expedia, the company said a mistake held up the refund but it's now been sent.

For her next trip, Pantic said she will be booking the airline and hotel on her own.

In 2012, the BBB did find Expedia had a pattern of complaints involving billing and refund issues.

With any online travel sites, use a credit card, so you can challenge any unexpected charges.

"Thank you again for reaching out on behalf of Tijana Pantic. After investigating the booking, we can confirm this matter is resolved and Ms. Pantic has been fully refunded. The pending charges to Ms. Pantic’s account were determined by customer service agents as pending authorizations from the airline, which fell off. Unfortunately, there was a delay in Ms. Pantic receiving a refund for the hotel due to a system error, but we’ve confirmed this has been remedied and a full refund has been received. We’ve also offered Ms. Pantic a $200 coupon for her inconvenience, which was declined.

"At Expedia, we strive to provide the highest level of customer service, and anytime there is an issue with an Expedia booking we recommend that our customers contact Customer Service. The Customer Service telephone number is included on all Expedia itineraries."

Cox Media Group