7 On Your Side helps traveler with Expedia ticket glitch

Thursday, August 27, 2015
7 On Your Side helps traveler with Expedia ticket glitch
A woman encountered an unusual mistake when she booked her ticket through Expedia and ended up losing money on her plane ticket. She contacted 7 On Your Side to help her get a refund.

ANTIOCH, Calif. (KGO) -- An unusual mistake snow-balled into an avalanche for one vacationing air traveler this summer.

An Antioch woman was all ready to vacation in Puerto Vallarta. She showed up at the airport counter and was told she didn't have a ticket to board.

Frances Finley had a big problem this summer when she showed up at the Alaska Airlines ticket counter. Her name was not on the reservation. She thought she had fixed the issue back in April when she booked through Expedia.

"Upon receiving an email confirmation, I see my name isn't on the ticket," Antioch resident Finley said.

Expedia had substituted her name with the name of someone who traveled with her four years ago on another Expedia trip. Frances contacted Expedia immediately and thought they had taken care of it.

She received this confirmation with her name and her husband's name, but when she and her husband showed up at the airport.

"And they go, 'Oh, yeah. We have your seat. Mr Finley.' But we have no seat for Francis Finley in the system," Finley said.

Finley tried to show the agent her confirmation.

"They said, 'Excuse me, we don't deal with paperwork. We only deal with the system. You're not in the system and therefore you cannot board the plane,'" Finley said.

Finley was forced to rebook another ticket for $492. She and her husband Patrick had a wonderful time in Puerto Vallarta.

When she got back, she called Expedia asking for a refund on the second ticket. She estimates she must have talked to 40 people.

She decided to call 7 On Your Side for help. We called Expedia and the company said, "We regret the confusion surrounding the itinerary details and the delay in processing this refund."

Expedia refunded the full ticket price and gave her a voucher for a future flight.

"It would have never happened if KGO hadn't helped me," Finley said.