Expedia and Coinbase payment disaster

If we want to encourage consumer adoption of bitcoin as a payment system, my disaster story with Expedia and Coinbase surely can't be allowed to happen to others. The saga is almost a month long and still no end in sight as each side now points the finger at the other.

 

TL;DR- I sent bitcoin as a payment for a hotel booking, which was never acknowledged by the Coinbase payment page, now Expedia can't find it, and neither side has a clue how to refund my bitcoin - even though I can see the proper amount sent to the correct address on the blockchain!

 

Here's what happened:

1. Tried to book a hotel on Expedia with bitcoin. Coinbase handles Expedia's bitcoin payments, so when you checkout using this method the Coinbase website comes up showing the bitcoin payment address and amount

2. I sent the exact amount of BTC requested, immediately

3. But then... the Coinbase payment screen never acknowledged the transaction and the timer counted all the way down to zero. I was redirected back to Expedia's check-out screen to pay again, as if no funds had been sent at all!

 

At this point I was taking screenshots and checking that my payment was showing on the blockchain. Yes, there was 1 confirm within minutes of sending the payment. Am I victim of the mempool backlog that was happening at the time?

 

So I emailed Expedia my screenshots and explain what happened. Nothing but obnoxious robo-form replies. The suggestion? You must call in if you want to cancel and refund your booking. But I have no booking!

 

I call in, spend an hour on the phone, and because they can't see bitcoin attached to any booking, they have no idea what to do and no way to refund anything. Expedia's resolution? Email Coinbase. At this point I was offered a $100 voucher for a future booking. Nice but nowhere near what I'm missing right now.

 

I email Coinbase. They respond acknowledging they can see the transaction and even offer technical details, and suggest I email them to Expedia, because only Expedia can process refunds. Now I'm doing the back-and-forth work between Expedia and Coinbase. Great.

 

So I email Expedia again - nothing but form responses despite providing everything they would ever need to resolve the issue. The suggestion? Call the call center again. What a huge time waster!

 

Back and forth more times. No resolution. Expedia support can't get over the idea that if there is no booking, then I could not have been charged out of my "bitcoin account". I'm sorry, but I can see my payment right here on the blockchain! And need to talk to someone who understands bitcoin, but Expedia doesn't have anyone like that at their call center. Conversation goes downhill when they ask me to contact Coinbase for a resolution yet again.

 

Finally, a ticket is opened with Expedia's "bitcoin department" and I'm told to expect a response in 24-48 hours. It's now coming up on two weeks and no response at all. WTF.

 

Meanwhile, I go back to Coinbase for more advice, which is to email another support address at Expedia. So yet again I message another department at Expedia with the details of what happened. No response ten days later.

 

So my fellow bitcoin aficionados, here's the problem. You have no recourse when you try to use bitcoin as a payment method in a world where a big merchant like Expedia can jack you around like this. A credit card at least has a chargeback process for when a merchant can't get their act together.

 

And boy oh boy. Expedia’s customer service is in dire straits right now. Just look at the comments on their facebook page.

 

I have to say if you send your bitcoin to any merchant using Coinbase (or another bitcoin “payment processor”), and especially to Expedia - be cautious. If something goes wrong you may lose all your money. Or at least hours trying to get it back.

Submitted March 24, 2016 at 11:58AM by PresAndCEO http://bit.ly/1S7MTVt