My Expedia / Air Canada Vacations / Hotel Xcaret Mexico Adventure

I recently had a very unpleasant experience involving my long-awaited vacation and, specifically, my dealings with Expedia, Air Canada Vacations and the Hotel Xcaret near Cancun, Mexico.

I hope you will bear with me while I try to summarize the issues I had as completely and accurately as possible.

Tl;dr version:

-        We were bumped less than three days before departure

-        The alternatives were all downgrades not upgrades

-        I spent hours on the phone (mostly on hold) and on Twitter with Expedia playing broken telephone with Air Canada Vacations for what should have been a 5-minute process

-        We received no financial compensation despite assurances

-        The only compensation that we have been offered requires us to spend another thousand dollars to obtain

-        No apology was ever offered by any of the three service providers, other than by their social media team.

My wife and I had long talked about taking a vacation. We have two young children and had not taken a vacation together since our honeymoon almost 7 years ago. This vacation was really our Christmas gift to each other and was meant as a second honeymoon of sorts.

I had done a great deal of research, looking at resorts all over the Caribbean over several weeks. We looked at less expensive options, but decided on the Hotel Xcaret as it was new, included lots of benefits and was getting rave reviews. At the time, it was listed for 65% off its “regular” price of roughly $3,800. We decide to “splurge” and book the resort as it was a great deal, it seemed.

We were very excited to finally book our vacation. This was a significant undertaking, as it required coordinating work schedules as well as family members to mind our children for a week. We began to shop for and purchase items we would need for our time away. This was such a good deal and the resort was getting such positive reviews that my sister from Victoria BC booked an overlapping stay. 

We would be able to see each other for almost 3 days.    

We booked the vacation on the Expedia.ca website on December 22, 2017. It was a package offered by Air Canada Vacations.

All was well. I had even joined a Facebook group called “Fans of Hotel Xcaret Mexico” to get more inside info on the resort and soak up the over-the-moon reviews from people who had stayed there.

We were scheduled to fly from Pearson airport at 6am on February 15^th.

On February 12th, 2018, at roughly 6pm, less than three full days before we were scheduled to leave, I noticed an email in my junk mail folder from Expedia entitled “Requested Email: ** URGENT** Hotel Advisory – Air Canada Vacations”.

It read:

Dear Expedia.ca Customer,

We have received the following advisory from the tour operator regarding the hotel for your upcoming trip.

We just received a notice from the HOTEL XCARET MEXICO that due to an extreme overbooking situation our arrivals on February 15th, 2018 and February 16th, 2018 must be relocated.

OPTIONS:

The following options are being offered to your clients:

1-      Relocate to one of the below hotel, based on availability:

·         Grand Riviera Princess – Junior Suite Deluxe

·         Platinum Yucatan Princess (adults only) – Junior Suite Deluxe

·         BlueBay Grand Esmeralda – Garden View room

·         Grand Bahia Principe Coba – Lead in room Category

·         Grand Bahia Principe Tulum – Lead in room Category

·         Iberostar Paraiso Beach – Lead in room Category

·         Iberostar Paraiso Lindo – Lead in room Category

·         Iberostar Paraiso del Mar – Lead in room Category

·         Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya – Lead in room Category

·         Sandos Caracol – Lead in room Category

·         Now Jade Riviera Cancun – Lead in room Category

·         Grand Palladium White Sands – Lead in room Category

·         El Dorado Royale – (adults Only) – Lead in room Category

2-      Select an alternate package, based on availability and new applicable rates.

3-      Cancel with a full refund

Should you choose the 1st option, a complementary return stay at Hotel Xcaret Mexico for the same duration/room category will be offered. In addition, your clients will receive a complementary access to all Xcaret parks during their stay, with transportation included.

Please do not reply to this e-mail if you need a response. If you have further questions, or to discuss the options offered by the tour operator for your reservation, please call Expedia.ca Customer Support at 1-866-370-5911.  For faster service, mention Case ID: S-155304155

Thank you for choosing Expedia.ca!

Expedia.ca Customer Support

1-866-370-5911 / +1 613 780 1386 

Obviously, this was extremely disappointing. I laughed at the absurdity of the situation, sat my wife down and gave her the news.

All of our work and excitement had gone out the window. Instead of being excited and making final preparations, we were suddenly thrust back into planning/research mode, starting from scratch – and the clock was ticking.

Of the three options, only the first was tenable.

Option 2: “Sorry we screwed up, but, hey, how about starting over with a different stay at last-minute prices, regardless of whether that’s twice as much?”

Option 3: “Sorry we screwed up, but, hey, what say we just forget the whole thing ever happened?”

Actually, I realize I am mischaracterizing the tone of the email because at no time was an apology offered, even if only for the inconvenience. (No hint of apology came until I vented on Twitter - more on that later)

So my evening was spent doing as much research on these alternatives as possible while putting my kids to bed, and while my wife attended an important meeting in my stead.

By 8:30pm I had put my kids to bed and done enough research (mostly TripAdvisor and the Facebook group) to get a sense of which resorts might be the best alternatives. In this case, the El Dorado and White Sands got the best reviews, but all sources agreed: NONE of these options was remotely close to the Hotel Xcaret.

By this point, the Facebook group was starting to explode with stories of people being bumped and with input with regards to the alternatives. Many of the people on the page are regular visitors to Mexico and other sunny destinations, having stayed in many all-inclusives. Members were stunned that we were being bumped in this manner at this late hour, and stated unequivocally that the alternatives were sub-par relative to the Hotel Xcaret. I myself have stayed at the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya roughly 10 years ago and can attest to the fact that it is not “5 stars”. Judging by the pictures and reviews, the Hotel Xcaret is leaps and bounds ahead of the Grand Sirenis. Clearly, we were not being offered comparable stays. Perhaps the use of the term “below hotel” was deliberate.

I called Expedia. I do not know the name of the representative that I spoke to, nor that of any of the subsequent reps that I spoke to (mistake #1). I also did not record any of the calls (mistake #2). I explained the situation. The rep asked for my Case ID (which gives details of the situation and offer) and was immediately able to discuss the options with me. He told me, however, that while Expedia was open till midnight ET, Air Canada Vacations (“ACV”) closed at 9pm. My wife would not be home until after then and I did not want to make this decision without her input. My situation would not be resolved that night.

We spent a very restless night, as we suddenly worried about our vacation. I discovered, thanks to the Facebook group, that the better alternative options were starting to disappear. The El Dorado was now sold out too.

After emailing my boss to explain that I would likely be late to work as I dealt with an unexpected complication with our vacation, I was on the phone at 8am the next morning. I had a phone in each hand; one dialing Expedia, the other dialing ACV.

ACV answered first. As soon as I mentioned that I had booked via Expedia, however, the rep refused to speak to me any longer. She simply told me I would have to speak to Expedia and that she could not help me. This was not a good sign.

I called Expedia through the French line as I hoped this would expedite things. In hindsight, this was perhaps not the best tactic as I was not only being forced to play broken telephone with Expedia and ACV, but I was also trusting that there would be no language issues between Expedia and ACV.

The Expedia rep that I spoke to was not very helpful. I offered to give her my Case ID more than once but she never took it. As a result, we covered ground that could have easily been clarified had she simply looked at the file. I found myself having to repeat things for clarity. She called ACV and the broken telephone game began. Note that it took a significant amount of time to get a hold of ACV and that each communication took place over several minutes as I awaited a response.

It's worth noting: when ACV heard that my sister was staying at the hotel as well and that we were supposed to meet there, they told Expedia that they might be able to make an exception. They asked for my sister's booking details. When they found out that my sister booked with another carrier, though, they balked and said they couldn't make an exception. Which makes you wonder: does that mean there WAS room available?

Also: isn't the reason for the exception still valid? Obviously it wasn't a matter of principle, just dollars.

The Expedia rep asked me what my preferred alternative was. I told her that my PREFERRED alternative was the El Dorado, but that I had heard that it was sold out. I offered to give her my second choice, but she left me to speak to ACV. She then came back and told me that she had gotten off the phone with ACV, that they would look into the El Dorado and get back to me within the next 24 hours.

My jaw hit the floor.      

Not only was the El Dorado likely sold out, but our flight was in less than 45 hours! And she had hung up with ACV! Waiting 24 hours to hear back that the El Dorado was unavailable was unacceptable. I explained this to her, and asked to speak to a supervisor. I needed this resolved more quickly than that!

Eventually I got to speak to a supervisor. While she was courteous, she was also completely unhelpful. She assured me that my second choice (White Sands) had been noted and that ACV would get back to them eventually.

When I complained that the alternatives were not at par with Hotel Xcaret, both the second Expedia rep and the supervisor assured me that if the value of the alternative was lower than the Hotel Xcaret, I would be refunded the difference. I did not prompt this information, nor did I ask about a refund. Clearly, the rep and supervisor were on the same page, which suggests that this is a standard offer when being bumped. Once again, I suppose it is my fault that I did not record the call. But perhaps Expedia did and could verify this information.

Length of call: 2.5 hours. Issues resolved: 0.

I got a call from Expedia rep #3 at roughly 1pm while I was running errands. She explained that she was on the line with ACV and could arrange my re-booking. We discussed the options, now that they were disappearing. El Dorado was gone, as was White Sands. Unfortunately, ACV’s system went down just then. They would have to call me back…

…

As time ticked away, I became more and more concerned and more and more frustrated with the entire experience. I took to Twitter (I rarely tweet) and tagged Expedia, ACV and the hotel asking what was going on.

It seems ACV and Expedia are more on the ball when it comes to their social media presence, as both quickly tweeted back at me, asking for a DM conversation. This is, of course, simply a means of taking the argument out of the public eye. Still, I played along in the hopes this new avenue would lead to resolution.

Shocker: ACV told me they couldn’t help me and that I’d have to go through Expedia. Thanks, ACV!  

I may not have recorded the phone conversations, but Twitter does have a record of our DM conversation. You can read my conversations with ACV and Expedia here (but maybe hold off on that for a second).   

Expedia rep #4 called at 4pm while I was at work. She was by far the least helpful and sympathetic. We were on the phone for an hour, half of which I was supposed to be working. I pleaded with her to advocate on my behalf with ACV. I had booked through Expedia, but so far I was simply being told what ACV had to say with no indication that Expedia was pushing back. Since I could not speak to ACV directly, it was imperative that Expedia do the talking for me. I argued that we should be UPGRADED not downgraded, and even offered some options that I had seen online. ACV was still offering packages at places such as the Grand Velas as well as others that were clearly more suitable alternatives. I was being inconvenienced – why was I being offered less than I had booked? The Expedia rep was not helpful. She would come back on the phone and say “your choice of hotel so-and-so is not available”, when we had never even discussed hotel so-and-so! I had no idea if she simply wasn’t listening to me or if she was getting me confused with others she may have been assisting at the time, but it was clear that things were not going to go as I had hoped.

By 5pm – already late to pick up my kids and in a near-empty office – I was left with choosing between dwindling alternatives. I literally turned to a couple of co-workers and said, “What do you think guys? Grand BahiaPrincipe Tulum or the Iberostar Lindo?” I had done very limited research on each – only enough to know the reviews were mixed and they were again clearly not even close to the Hotel Xcaret in quality. Since a couple of friends had been to the Grand Bahia and said it was ok, I went with that one. Within a couple of minutes, the change was made and I had my new confirmation.

Some 3.5 hours on the phone over a 9 hour period, and it took mere minutes to resolve. All because I had to go through Expedia and could not speak to ACV directly.

Does this seem logical to anyone?

When I got home, I quickly did some research and realized that the Iberostar Lindo was likely a much better option.

I continued my seemingly helpful Twitter conversation with Expedia and asked if it would be possible to switch from the clearly inferior Bahia Principe Tulum to a hopefully more comparable Iberostar Lindo.

Here’s where you might want to check out the ACV & Expedia DM conversations. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

…..

Done?

So, in the end, not helpful AT ALL. A complete and utter waste of time. This made me even more upset with Expedia.

What purpose does Expedia serve, exactly???

If you aren’t willing to act as our surrogate in dealing with the other service providers, you are simply a hindrance in the process when things go wrong.  

I used to think that dealing with a travel agent was silly because they simply offered the same prices as Expedia. (Why not do it myself, right?) But now I realize that, when things go wrong, it is far better to have one direct contact that you can call, with whom you have a face-to-face relationship, who will handle the situation for you. Not ideal, certainly, but preferable to dealing with various faceless, nameless representatives on the phone or through social media.

Of course, if I had thought to book directly with ACV, this would have been over in minutes.

So my wife and I caught a plane at 6am on February 15^th and headed to Mexico – to the Grand Bahia Principe Tulum.

Was that the end of the drama? Of course not.

We landed in Mexico and got through customs surprisingly quickly. So far so good.

Then we got to the bus platform.

We met the ACV rep. We quickly explained that we were among the group that had been bumped. She seemed to know exactly what was going on and explained that a rep from Hotel Xcaret was supposed to be there to meet us and give us the wristbands which would allow us to get into the parks, as promised. For now, we should just wait on the bus.

More than a half hour passed. Meanwhile, a group was gathering on the platform. I sensed they were other people who had been bumped, as I had met some of them on the plane. After some time, a woman showed up who was clearly from the hotel. I got off the bus to see what was what.

It was immediately apparent that something was amiss.

She was surprised to hear that we had been bumped to different hotels. It was also obvious that she did not have enough packages for everyone. She quickly turned to her cell phone and away from the frustrated group. Another half hour passed.

I asked to see the package. She removed the wristbands as, I suppose, she was nervous we’d simply walk off with them.

There was a letter inside:

Notice the apology?

Neither did I.

You may have noticed, though, that excursions to the parks required booking in advance and coordination of busing, which means each of these became a planned, full day trip instead of the frequent shuttle hop on/off we would experience if we were at the hotel and wanting to visit the nearby parks (Xcaret, Xplor, Xenses). Due to other stops, a trip to Xenses would be a one hour bus ride instead of mere minutes.

The rest of the package included the voucher for our return stay, which was valid until April 1, 2019, and included blackout dates for December and around Easter. Not shocking, but perhaps a little disappointing that they would have restrictions.

The kicker in the package was the waiver we were being asked to sign.

It was in Spanish.

Now, I understand that we were in Mexico, and we were able to deduce what it said (roughly), but the packages were for folks bumped from an Air Canada flight and some of the other documents were in English. This was the one document that was intended to be “legally binding”. I informed the rep that this was unreasonable.

More time passed. More time on the phone with the hotel. This took so much time, that my wife and I were asked to get off our designated bus so that the rest of the passengers could move on.

Finally, some members of the group became so frustrated that they simply wanted to sign the waiver and get to their resort. At this point, it seemed they’d be willing to sign over their first born just to get it over with. It had been a long trip already, we were warm, standing outside with our luggage, and waiting for instructions when we just wanted to start our “vacations”.

We were given our packages. We asked which bus we should board. After a moment, the rep realized it was a bus that was just pulling away. They flagged it down, we got aboard and we were finally on our way. We’d been on the bus platform for an hour and a half…

It appears others within the bumped group were not so lucky. I ran into one of the parties at Xcaret Park a few days into our trip who told me their story. It seems the rep eventually walked away, telling the others who had not yet received their packages that the packages (including wristbands) would be waiting for them at their hotels. They weren’t, of course, and some people were not able to enjoy the parks until they received their wristbands two days later.

The rest of our vacation was fine. We managed to settle in and calm down enough to enjoy the sunshine. The Grand Bahia Principe Tulum is a fine, mid-range resort. We had no particular complaints other than the problematic design of the washroom which led to lots of water on the floor, and the terrible wifi which we needed to use occasionally to get messages from home or book restaurants, available only in the lobby (my brother-in-law, by contrast, was able to call me in Canada via VOIP from his room at the Hotel Xcaret).

But let’s be clear: no one in their right mind would say the Grand Bahia Principe Tulum is “comparable” to the Hotel Xcaret. If you don’t believe me, check out the pictures/videos online or the rave reviews on TripAdvisor or Facebook.

Not. Even. Close.

Speaking of TripAdvisor, I posted there about the bumping situation. My review was approved but then mysteriously unapproved and deleted (as were some others). I received a notice that it violated the terms. Odd, no? Clearly, someone had re-visited the review for some reason, or, more likely, someone had lodged a complaint.  (long story – it has more to do with their site design which triggers ratings of certain facilities when you scroll over them but does not allow you to “undo”) I corrected the review and re-posted. No dice. Unacceptable for some reason. Now why exactly would my 1/5 star review (and others) be unacceptable? Hmm…. By the way, here it is:

So where do we stand?

Well, we have this voucher for a one week stay at the resort within the next year. Here’s the problem with that: the airfare is not included. So, in order to receive this compensation, I need to spend roughly $1,000.

That’s not compensation, folks, that’s a sales pitch.

“Spend $1,000 and we’ll give you a $3,000 trip!”

I spent $3,000 already. I expected to get what I paid for.

And let’s not get confused here. The “free” part of this equation is not the stay at Hotel Xcaret. I paid for that. In the end, if I go back and complete this circus, the free portion will have been the stay at Grand Bahia Principe Tulum. That’s the part I will not have paid for.

In the end, though, we may not go.

As I mentioned earlier, this was a very special trip. Our first together since our honeymoon. We are not regular travellers, nor are we wealthy. Arranging to go away together is no small feat as we have two young children and have work/school schedules to consider. This trip was a BIG deal. 

Besides, returning to the same vacation location, even if it is a different resort, is not particularly appealing. We like to visit new cities and experience new cultures - especially considering how rare these trips are.

So if we’re being told we have to pay $1,000 to return to the Mayan Riviera, it gives us that much more reason not to go. Which means NO compensation at all for our botched trip. 

As it stands, I have paid over $3,000 for a one week stay at the Grand Bahia Principe Tulum when I paid for a top-notch resort. I have overpaid. I have not been offered any financial compensation.

I feel that I have been ripped off. I’ve been wronged. I’ve been cheated of our dream vacation and told to be satisfied with what we were given.

It’s no surprise then that I feel angry. We booked a relaxing vacation and were given a headache and stress.

This shouldn’t happen.

If it does, the service providers should be bending over backwards to make it right. Telling us that we need to spend extra money is not making it right.  

The hotel, for all its bumbling of this booking, has at least offered another stay. There isn’t much more they could do, I suppose.

Air Canada Vacations clearly has some sort of relationship with Air Canada. Why aren’t they offering a free flight in conjunction with the stay or at the very least a rebate? How much skin could that possibly be off their noses as opposed to asking us to pay $1,000 more? (It’s worth noting that, according to others in the Facebook group, some other carriers involved in the bumping issue offered their travellers a rebate – one gave $300 per person, I believe, but don’t quote me. That at least would have made paying so much for a stay at GBP Tulum more palatable.)

But I didn’t book with ACV nor the hotel. I booked with Expedia. They’ve offered nothing but interference when it came to fixing the problem. They clearly did not advocate on my behalf and secured no compensation from ACV. They themselves have offered nothing. Not surprisingly, the difference repayment I was assured would occur by rep #2 and the supervisor magically vanished (see Twitter conversation).

What would that repayment be worth? Well, it depends who you believe, but let’s have a look:

I booked two months in advance. Let’s compare GBP Tulum and Hotel Xcaret, looking two months into the future.

If I were to book for mid-May 2018, Thursday to Thursday, Expedia lists GBP Tulum at 4.5 stars and for $1,315 (“regularly $1,811”) and Hotel Xcaret at five stars for $2,105 (“regularly $3,135”). That’s a difference of $790 per person plus tax.

If I look at next year around our dates (only January is viewable so far), the prices are $1,835 at GBP Tulum and $3,319 at Hotel Xcaret. That’s a difference of $1,484 per person plus taxes.

…Still think these two resorts are comparable?

Hey Expedia:

Step.

Up.