Expedia Employee Cancels Mom's Flights After Complaint

A Los Angeles-area teacher booked a New Year's vacation via Expedia, then responded to an online survey the website sent her about her booking experience. "I was honest," Cara Viramontes tells CBS LA. "I said, 'You know what, the lady wasn’t helpful. I asked to speak to a supervisor and she wouldn’t let me speak to a supervisor.'" Viramontes, whose beef had to do with being charged travel insurance for her 8-month-old son even though he doesn't require a plane ticket, got an email two days later telling her that her travel plans had been canceled. She logged back on to Expedia to check her itinerary—and found that not only had the vacation indeed been canceled, but she had been left a message, apparently from an Expedia employee, reading "F--- you!"

Viramontes told CBS LA that she called Expedia's customer service but got little help, and was told she'd have to pay a $200 rebooking charge. She told ABC 7 that a supervisor even accused her of lying and of canceling the travel plans herself. But after she went to the media and posted about the experience on Facebook, Expedia responded to questions from CBS and promised to investigate the incident, rebook the plane tickets, issue a refund, and give Viramontes a voucher. The Expedia CEO tweeted about the incident Tuesday, promising to "make it right." (Here's a much happier customer service experience.)