No Warning Signs...

Newly-weds Bethany Thomas and Dimitri Zagidulin recently found themselves stranded in Germany after their travel service, Expedia, wrongly told them that they didn’t need visas to enter Russia.

Thomas, 30, who may be better known by her pen name, Catherynne M. Valente (http://catherynnemvalente.com/), and her husband, 31-year-old computer programmer Dimitri Zagidulin, were married in early fall 2009 and booked a romantic honeymoon getaway in St. Petersburg, Russia. They were assured by Expedia that they did not need visas. Long story short, Expedia was incorrect in making this statement and the couple's plans were quickly put on hold after they arrived in Frankfort.

When approached, Expedia seemed to develop amnesia and offered the couple a travel voucher in what's best described as a token amount when compared to their actual expenses.

Nearly out of funds due to these unforeseen problems, Thomas logged on to her blog, Rules for Anchorites, and began venting her frustrations. Like cavalry to the rescue, her fan base rallied help via Twitter and Facebook, asking for phone calls and emails to be sent to Expedia on her behalf. Less than half a day later, Expedia stepped in, admitted their error and not only rectified the situation, went out of their way to make things right.


USA Today quoted Thomas Seibert, Expedia’s Customer Service Senior Director, that “Social media played an important role in alerting us to our error”

Summarizing the event, Thomas’ blogged, “Can you even imagine that? That as a group, in the middle of the night, you can make such a difference.”

(Read the complete article in AOL Travel at: http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/articles/honeymooners-triumph-over-expedia)