Expedia Refunds

Subject & Goal

Most Expedia reservations are being charged by Expedia Virtual Cards. In the case of a refund with an EVC reservation, the process is different compared with the regular refund process. This article will give you a detailed guide on how we need to process any Expedia Refunds. 

Regular refund process with EVC:

In order to process a refund with an EVC reservation, there are 2 main steps to follow:

• Refund the amount from the Hosteeva System. Go to "Make a payment" from the Reservation dialogue, then you will need to click on refund, specify the exact amount, and complete the refund. 
• Contact Expedia either with a chat or with a call and approve a refund for the amount you want to send to the guest.

Step 1. Processing the refund from our end from the reservation dialogue.

Since the refund option is available only for supervisors, you need to forward such cases to them. Kindly note that all the refunds should be approved by the supervisor.

Step 2. Contacting Expedia through Chat. If you want to use the call option, you can contact them at +1 877 227 7481. 

After choosing the "Refund a guest" option, you will be required to fill in the guest's name or the Reservation ID. You need to follow the steps and approve the refund. Do not forget to mention while talking to the Expedia Agent that we have already refunded to EVC. After the chat/call, Expedia will send a confirmation email confirming the refund. 

Refunds to the non-checked-in guest. 

This option refers to guests who want to cancel prior to the check-in date.

First and most important thing is that we are proceeding according to a refund policy. If the guest wants to cancel prior to the check-in date, they need to cancel it from their end, and according to the policy, they will receive a refund. The remaining balance will be our payout, and we'll be able to charge it with the normal EVC process ( Add a card to the reservation and charge the amount). Make sure to check the Total price on the channel and on Hosteeva. The prices should be the same. 

However, in the case when we are approving a complete refund, the guest will need to cancel the booking on the channel, and we should ask the guest to contact Expedia and inform them that the host approved a full refund. Afterward, Expedia will contact us and confirm the refund either over the phone or via email.

Refunds to non-checked-in guests who canceled on the day of the check-in.

This case refers to same-day cancellations when the guest receives the check-in instructions and cancels either on the day of the check-in or after the check-in time. The reservation will be non-refundable, and no refund should be processed to the guest. However, we still need to charge the EVC. If Expedia doesn't allow the charge, you need to contact Expedia in regard to this matter and ask them to provide another card to charge the payout.

If the guest contacts us and informs us that they will not come and refuses to cancel the booking, we should put a reminder on the reservation for the day of the check-in, max 5 hours after the check-in time ( area location time), and once receiving the reminder the reservation needs to be marked as "No Show". If the check-in time has already passed, you can go ahead and mark the booking as "No Show". Kindly note that after mentioning it as "No Show," we will no longer be able to charge an EVC, so before this step, we need to make sure that the EVC is charged for the reservation. 

After processing the mentioned steps, if the reservation is canceled after the check-in time, please mark it as "Attention needed" as the guest will be able to leave a review. The same process refers to when we mark it as a show. 

Special case: Same-day cancellation with Nola Local Guests or with cases when we can't accommodate the guest, and a complete refund should be sent. 

Case 1: When the guest is willing to cancel the booking. Follow these steps:

• Ask the guest to cancel the booking
• Mark the reservation as "Attention Needed" to prevent future reviews by these guests.
• Proceed with processing the refund. You can let the guest know that the refund is in process and that they will receive it within 14 business days.

Case 2: When the guest is not willing to cancel the booking. Follow these steps:

• Put a reminder after the guest check-in time and "Mark the reservation as No Show."
• Make sure the EVC is not charged 
• Mark the reservation as "Attention Needed" to prevent future reviews by these guests.
• Proceed with processing the refund. You can let the guest know that the refund is in process and that they will receive it within 14 business days.

Refunds to In-House (Staying) guests

This refers to cases when the guest is staying at the property and, due to some inconvenience, the manager approves a refund for a specific amount.

If it is urgent and should be refunded right away during the stay to calm down the guest and make them satisfied, follow these steps: 

• Proceed according to the Regular EVC Refund Process ( Refund from our end, and call Expedia to confirm the amount you want to refund)
• Mark the reservation as "Attention Needed" or "Challenging" and notify the Reputation Team Via CC/RT chat that you have already refunded the guest with X amount so that they consider this amount during their investigation of the case. 

If it is not urgent and can be refunded after the checkout, follow this step:

• Mark the reservation as "Attention Needed" or "Challenging" with necessary comments included about how much refund was approved by the manager and about the guests' issue
• If the manager didn't inform the guest about the refund to the guest, do not let the guest know. Let the Reputation Team take care of any refund-related questions as well as amounts.