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Patricia of Lancaster KY (08/26/08)
On August 21st 2008 I booked a room thru Hotels. Com for a one night stay in Louisville, KY As it turned out we drove to Louisville from Lancaster, KY a distance of about 95 miles. We planned on visiting the Kentucky State Fair. Upon our arrival at the Fair we found it overwhelming due to the heat and size. We cut our visit short and headed to our hotel.
To make a long story short we decided to cancel our reservation and return home. We cancelled the reservation in person with the hotel clerk and were assured there would be no penalty or charge. On August 23rd I checked my Visa account and found a charge of$132.63.
Calling Hotels.com I was told it was the Hotel that charged me and they would refund the money but needed the hotel approval. After being bounced back and forth between the hotel and Hotels.com I was told by Hotels.com that I hadn't cancelled the reservation until 7:30 in the evening and the hotel's policy is that to receive a credit you must cancel by 6:00pm. I told Hotels.com I had cancelled at 3:30pm and why was the hotel lying about the cancellation time.
As it turned out Hotels.com was the liar. On August 25th I called Kathy who is an associate with the Jameson Inn Support Group which was the hotel we had booked in Louisville. She explained that the Jameson could not credit our Visa card because they didn't know our number. She told me that Hotels.com sends them a percentage of the money they receive from the credit cards they collect and process. I would advise anyone looking to book a hotel room to book directly with the hotel you are interested in. Hotels. Com is a shyster company whose company operations are just above the fraud level. I have yet to receive a refund and have file a complaint with VISA.
Extreme emotional distress
Vicki of Phila PA (08/07/08)
While searching for a hotel in AZ for a vacation using Hotels.com, I finally narrowed my options and decided the final elimination would be based on the smoking status of the hotel. My life's work is cancer so I feel very strongly about not staying in any environment with smoking. Hotels.com site state the Doubletreee in Scottsdale is a smoke free property. I wanted to confirm that this wording means the entire facility including rooms are smoke free. The first person I spoke with clearly did not have a good grasp of the English language. She would talk over me and say, Let me help you with that. I would say, Ok, how are you going to help me? No response. I would start explaining the clarification I was seeking again this pattern persisted. She then put me on hold for about 12 minutes and came back to the phone and said, Yes, this is a smoke free property. It says it on our website.
That's the problem then, without warning put me on hold. I hung up and actually called the Doubletree and checked their website. They are not a smoke free hotel. I called Hotel.com back and got another rep. As soon as I started to tell him about the problem, he became very loud and told me he knows I just spoke with someone else and she tried to help me but I didn't find that to be good enough. He was actually yelling at me. I was very angry and told him all I wanted to do is help them with the accuracy of the information on their site since for many travelers, being assigned to a smoking room would be a big problem. Seven minutes later he was still trying to find the hotel on their website. Again, there was a significant language barrier. He kept asking me to repeat the name of the hotel and the location.
Many minutes later, he said he was on the page and asked me the locations of the mis-information. I told him. He then in a very angry voice pointed out that there is a section far above the erroneous info. with and asterisk that states some amenities may be extra. Since when is checking into a hotel that allows smoking, when you don't want to, considered an amenity? I told him that there seemed to be a communication problem and I would like to speak with a manager/supervisor. He said, But you haven't completed your booking yet. I actually laughed out loud at him which prompted him to yell at me. He kept yelling over me. Everytime I tried to speak he would yell over me.
Finally he told me he would give me the customer care number and his employee number. The number he gave me was different than the number I dialed to reach him but actually took me right back to that call center. The next person told me she couldn't help me if I didn't have a booking number. She told me I didn't understand what I was doing since I was calling the wrong number. I told her a Hotels.com employee gave me the number to reach a manager. She asked me to describe the problem. I told her I would prefer to explain it to a supervisor since this story (as you can tell) was getting long.
She asked me if I wanted to book the room then we could work on the problem. I told her that she was not understanding what I was saying and that Hotels.com really needs to work on customer service. She hung up on me. I decided to stop and have realized that booking with Hotel.com would be a huge mistake. I am glad I learned my lesson before booking.
No damage was done other than a lot of frustration.
Deena of Portland ME (08/04/08)
On July 30, I called to reserve a hotel room in Boston for the night of 8/17/08. I was assured THREE times by the Hotels.com agent that I would receive WRITTEN CONFIRMATION that the rate would be $150/night, plus a ONE TIME $30 fee for a park and fly deal, covering 10 nights of parking, for a total of $180. When I received the email confirmation a few minutes later, the charge was $170.71, with NO mention of the $30 park and fly deal. I immediately called HOtels.com back (within 10 minutes of getting off the phone with them the first time), to request a written confirmation of the $30 park and fly deal, as promised (3 times) by their agent. I was told that the agent I had spoken to when I booked the room was mistaken, and that Hotels.com CANNOT confirm the park and fly deal, which was the basis of my decision to book the room.
I asked to speak to a supervisor, and had to wait 30 minutes until Claire came on the line, and told reiterated that they can NOT send me a written confirmation of the deal they had sold me. After I said that this was unacceptable, she offered to cancel the reservation and refund the $170.71 charge, as a one-time service, which I accepted. This morning, (Monday 8/4/08) I checked my credit card activity online, and saw that I had been charged teh $170.71 , but not credited that amount as a refund. Seems that HOtels.com knows how to take your money a lot quicker than they refund it.
I called them again to inquire about the refund. I asked for Claire the supervisor and was told there is no such person! The agent on the line would not transfer me to another supervisor, but gave me two conflicting stories: 1) to rest assured that my refund had been processed and would show up within 24-48 hours, or 2) After putting me on hold several times, for 5-7 minutes apiece, that she had spoken to the accounting department and her supervisor, and the refund had not yet been processed and would take up to 30 days to appear on my statement. I told her this was unacceptable, and repeated my request to speak to a supervisor, only to be put on hold for another 9 minutes, then hung up on.
I have contacted my credit card company to dispute this charge, and will NEVER use Hotels.com again, whose business practices I believe border on FRAUDULENT. They absolutely misrepresented the package deal I was being sold, would not confirm it in writing despite promising to PRIOR to my purchase, would not let me speak to a supervisor, kept me on hold for hours, and then claimed there was no such person as the supervisor I had spoken to.
A $170.71 charge to my credit card, which I will dispute, (I have not and will not use that reservation) HOURS of wasted time, aggravation and stress.
Danielle of Springfield VA (08/01/08)
We called to book a hotel in Ocean City, MD. Ms. Canasco said she would book us in the Comfort Suites located in Ocean City. We asked the address and were told it was on 50th Street; Ocean City. We were given a confirmation # and the phone # to the hotel. When we called the hotel to verify directions, we found it was the wrong hotel and address. The hotel was located on Rt 50 in Salisbury,MD. We asked to cancel the reservation, and were told by the hotel staff, that we had to call Hotels.com and cancel through them. We called Hotels.com and Ms. Karen said she couldn't cancel our reservation, and to call the hotel back. We informed her that we were told to call her, not the hotel itself. Ms. Karen then proceeded to tell us we would have to pay a $618 fee to cancel. (This amount is the amount of the original booking.) We inquired about the fees being waived, as we did not make the mistake. Ms. Karen put us on hold for 22 min. We called Hotels.com back and asked to speak to a Supervisor. Mr. Max said he needed to know what the issue was before he could give me a manager. We explained the situation to Mr. Max and he hung up on us. We called back, using the same automation line, typed in our booking # again, and we were hung up on again. We then proceeded to call a different number. This number was for customer care, still with Hotels.com. Mr. Jeff also asked us what the issue was before he could give us a supervisor. We explained again what the problem was. Mr. Jeff apologized and asked us to hold while called the hotel. After 30 minutes on hold, Mr. Jeff said he would have to cancel the reservation with the hotel and then wait for the authorization to refund us the $297.90 fee that would be charged to our card. He then informed us we would have to call back in a week to see if the authorization was approved. When we asked to speak to the supervisor who was giving him the information relayed to us, Mr. Jeff informed us that the supervisor would not speak to us. The (male) supervisor did not want to give his name either. When we tried to clarify what we were being told, Mr. Jeff then transfered us to a another, Spanish speaking employee. We informed the gentleman that we do not speak Spanish, and he transferred us back to the automated system. We gave up, and hung up.
The whole amount of time took about 2 hours. We have no hotel room for the night, or the weekend, and we are being charged a $297.90 fee that may or may not be refunded. We now will have to fight traffic to get to Ocean City, where we will have to search for a hotel to stay at for, at least tonight. While spending our time since before 3pm on the phone, some of the other hotels we tried to call for reservations, said they had just sold out of all their room. We tried 6 other hotels. Had we not spent all our time on the phone with Hotels.com, we would've been able to find a different hotel.
Jason of Athens GA (08/01/08)
My wife and I booked a trip to New York City through hotels.com. I booked a 3 star room for 4 nights at 188.10/night. Hotels.com had placed a PRICE MATCH GUARENTEE on this room, however they DID NOT honor their own GUARENTEE. I found a better price 2 days later on the hotel's website. I contacted hotels.com, but because it had been over 24 hours I did not qualify for the GUARENTEE. I researched the hotels.com website and NOWHERE on their requirements does it say that your request has to been with in 24. hours. I called back; they told me because I booked my hotel and my flight together I did not qualify. Therefore, because I spent $650 extra on flights that I couldn't get the discount. They said the flight was discounted, however, if I would have booked though Delta I would have saved $106.56 on my flight and if I would have booked through the hotel I would have saved $56.40. Furthermore, if I wanted to cancel hotels.com would charge me approximately $260 for canceling flights and processing fees.
Sean of Los Angeles CA (07/20/08)
I called an agent to get a non-smoking room at the hotel that I wanted to stay in. Online, they only had smoking rooms available, but I thought the agent might be able to determine if any non-smoking cancelations had been made. I explained the situation to him and he told me that he had a non-smoking room. I booked the reservation through him and at the end asked him to confirm again that this was a non-smoking room. He did.
When I received the confirmation email, the room that he booked for me was listed as smoking. I called to complain, but hotels.com would not refund my credit card. I talked to the people at the hotel and they told me that this happens very frequently when people use hotels.com to book reservations. I won't use them again.
$175 night in a smoking room, which in the end was not horrible. However, I was blatantly lied to by a hotels.com agent.
Darcy of Mango FL (07/08/08)
On May 21, 2008 I had to cancel a booking with Hotels.com for a reservation I had booked for that night due to an unexpected cancelled flight. This was the first time I had ever booked through Hotels.com. When I called from the airport to cancel, they assured me a credit would be processed (less 20%) in 30 days and would appear on my July 11 credit card statement. I followed up on June 5 just to make sure the refund had been processed and the agent referred me to their website to review my refund in detail. I did this and it was not there.
On June 24, I called again only to be told the refund still had not been processed or entered in the system. The agent provided the confirmation number and assured me they were processing it that day. On July 8, I called again...same story... no record of refund having been process but assured me it was being done today and guaranteed the refund would show on August 11 credit card statement. I assured the agent that if this was not the case, I would have my credit card company handle it. Regardless of the outcome, I will never do business with Hotels.com again due to their negligence.
Out $72.22 since May 21, 2008. It is now July 8 and remains to be seen if credit will be issued on August 11 credit card statement per Hotels.com.
Obed of Avon Lake OH (07/07/08)
My limited experience dealing with Hotels.com has been entirely negative. I booked a reservation through them and had to cancel it. It took three minutes to make the reservation on-line and twenty minutes to cancel it over the phone. There is no facility for canceling on-line. Instead, they force you into their phone-menu system that Donte could not have imagined. I then got transferred to a person in the wrong department and then to a person in the right department who I could barely understand and wanted to argue with me about the cancellation policy of the hotel.
I do not understand why they need multiple departments for canceling reservations. Maybe our new on-line world is going through a Byzantine system era. The person in the right department agreed to send a confirmation of the cancellation. However, I've not received it yet.
$5.00 non-refundable reservation fee (I agreed to this, stupidly--you don't pay for reservations that you make through the hotel) and elevated blood pressure. Maybe more if the cancellation doesn't go through.
Andy of Columbus OH (07/06/08)
hotels.com cancelled our reservation without notifying me. I have to spend more money and cut the vacation shorter. Total loss would be several hundreds dollars. I have all the documents to back me up. We reserved a room at travelodge through hotels.com. After driving 9 long hours to the hotel, we found out that hotels.com cancelled our reservation without our knowledge. So I talked to them on my cell phone for 3 hours and got 2 hang-ups after a long time of holding. Finally, an advisor named Jeanna (later on we find out that she is a liar) who promised me that we can check in first using our own money and call them back next day to get a refund for the night when their accounting dept opened.
The next morning, I was on the phone for 2 and half hours till 11:30 am and guess what, I just went through the same circle all over again (I spent 3 hours the night before). Hotels.com just refused to stick to their promise and also refused to refund the night Jeanna promised. Our vacation was totally ruined - we planned to stay 3 nights so we can have 2 full days to tour the area. We had to cut it to 2 nights since we had to pay our hotel as walk-ins. Out of the only one days stay, we lost 3 hours dealing with those customer service rep without any results. The advisor that put me on hold was lying by tell me she was contacting the hotel yet my wife was down at the front desk waiting for half an hour and the rep never called the hotel.
Thus our 2-day vacation essentially became a half-day visit. Based on my reservation (I have all the emails and their responses) I should spend $104.51 for three nights and after I finished my stay, I can get a $50 gas card. Now I spent $155.04 for only two nights (I have to stay for the second night because the check out time was past while I was put on hold with the hotels.com customer service). So we used two days on the road and only get a half-day vacation. We could not go to the places that we planned to visit and promised to my kid. Plus we took a day off work just for this vacation.
Whats more is that hotels.com claimed that they have refunded the amount charged for my reservation. When I called my credit card company this morning, I was told that hotels.com NEVER refunded that amount for the reservation they cancelled without my knowledge! I'm fed up with their lies and if our victims don't unite and sue them, they will continue their scam and generate more victims!
A ruined vacation- direct cost: $155.04 room, about $120 gas, about 160 mobile minutes and 2 days off (my wife and I) from work. I was charged $104.51 by hotels.com for a reservation cancelled by hotels.com. Indirect loss: emotional loss and a tons of stress, I was especially exhausted on 7-3-08, after driving for 9 hours and then had to deal with the hotels.com for 3 hours with an empty stomach; so much disappointment for my child. We didnt get to eat dinner until 10:30pm on the night of 7-3-08 because I was dealing with hotels.com for 3 hours.
Andy of Columbus OH (07/06/08)
Summary: hotels.com cancelled our reservation without notifying me. I have to spend more money and cut the vacation shorter. Total loss would be several hundreds dollars. I have all the documents to back me up.
We reserved a room at travelodge through hotels.com. After driving 9 long hours to the hotel, we found out that hotels.com cancelled our reservation without our knowledge. So I talked to them on my cell phone for 3 hours and got 2 hang-ups after a long time of holding. Finally, an advisor named Jeanna who promised me that we can check in first using our own money and call them back next day to get a refund for the night when their accounting dept opened. The hotels clerk was involved in this time and can verify that.
The next morning, I was on the phone for 2 and half hours till 11:30 am and guess what, I just went through the same circle all over again (the same crap I spent 3 hours the night before). Hotels.com just refused to stick to their promise and also refused to refund the night Jeanna promised. Our vacation was totally ruined - we planned to stay 3 nights so we can have 2 full days to tour the area. We had to cut it to 2 nights since we had to pay our hotel as walk-ins.
Out of the only one days stay, we lost 3 hours dealing with those customer service rep without any results. The advisor that put me on hold was lying by tell me she was contacting the hotel yet my wife was down at the front desk waiting for half an hour and the rep never called the hotel. Thus our 2-day vacation essentially became a half-day visit. Based on my reservation (I have all the emails and their responses) I should spend $104.51 for three nights and after I finished my stay, I can get a $50 gas card. Now I spent $155.04 for only two nights (I have to stay for the second night because the check out time was past while I was put on hold with the hotels.com customer service).
So we used two days on the road and only get a half-day vacation. We could not go to the places that we planned to visit and promised to my kid. Plus we took a day off work just for this vacation. In these difficult times vacation is precious and ours became a total loss with so much frustration. Anybody wants to sue them?
A ruined vacation- direct cost: $155.04 room, about $120 gas, about 160 mobile minutes and 2 days off from work. Indirect loss: emotional loss and a tons of stress, I was especially exhausted on 7-3-08, after driving for 9 hours and then had to deal with the hotels.com for 3 hours with an empty stomach; so much disappointment for my child. We didnt get to eat dinner until 10:30pm on the night of 7-3-08 because I was dealing with hotels.com for 3 hours.
Daniel of Oak Park IL (07/05/08)
I paid Hotels.com for 3 nites, May 3-5, 2008, at the Westin Hotel in Las Vegas. When I checked out, the hotel added a resort fee of $10.72 per nite. I complained to Hotels.com but received only $30 of credit vouchers. I will not use Hotels.com again so the vouchers are worthless to me.
Dion of Glandale CA (07/02/08)
I booked a reservation on hotels.com in the uk and it was for a hotel called golden tulip which I now find out there is 9 where I am so I did it at the wrong one I called 30 seconds after and they would not allow me to change the booking what type of company are they running here they ruined my trip and caused a major convenience for me.
Bad Rooms, Wrong Area, Ruined Trip
Wayne of Virginia Beach VA (06/22/08)
Booked a 3 day weekend to a Williamsburg, VA hotel. Had 2 criteria, 1st was indoor pool 2nd was non-smoking room. I was immediatly billed and funds were removed from my account upon reserving with HOTELS.COM When I arrived, the hotel did not have the room available. They said sorry about your luck, that's the chance you take booking with a third party. I'm a business consultant so that was not acceptable. The hotel had one room available, a smoking room with a king bed (I also needed the double bed that I booked as well but I wasn't very upset about the bed situation, although I have 2 children, they could camp out with sleeping bags). I tried to make due with the smoking room but it smelled like a bar. The room was very smokey and would not do.
So I had to cancel and find lodging someplace else (Memorial Day Weekend, so we actually just drove about an hour home.) HOTELS.COM said they would refund my purchase. After a month I called and they had no notes in their records of my cancellation! Had to go through the whole thing again! Was on the phone for about an hour. Finally, they said that they would re-refund my money! It may take up to (another) 30 days. We'll see! Just call the hotel. They can often save you a lot of grief, and usually are better at dealing with real people.
Damages: So far 365.88 and more pain and suffering than I cared to share.
Philip of Santa Fe NM (06/19/08)
I went to hotels.com, it was my first time. I thought I was just putting a room on hold and selected the bill me later option. I thought I would only be charged if I actually made the reservation but since my intention was just to hold the room and bill me later if used. It was very confusing to me, I had no idea that bill me later was a company and was being charged for a purchase. This is a scam.
I called hotels.com and asked to speak to a supervisor but was denied. Again, this sounds like a scam. I didn't use the room, i just put it on hold or thought I did.
Malinda of Gilbert AZ (06/17/08)
I booked a reservation on 5/23/08 for Vegas thru Memorial Weekend with a king non smoking. I booked online and was immediately charged from my card. When we arrived at the hotel on Saturday the 24th, the clerk informed us that we had to standards and smoking. With me having asthma I couldnt stay in a smoking room. I immediatly called the customer service # and spoke with Ceasar. Ceasar was very nice and helpful and was trying to accomidate me in anyway possible. He offered me 2 options:1st was they would refund me my 2nd night of 67.71 but i would still be charged 98.16 for one night or credit me $30.00 if i stayed the 2 days. I went with the 1st option but the hotel said they dont allow that, so i opted for the 2nd choice.
Later the hotel finally had an availability for us and was able to give us a non smoking room. We get to the room and our key doesnt work, after several attempts with the maintenance man he then advised us to just call him whenever we need to get in...which was not going to work with me. Finally after several complaints to the front office they change locks. Worst saty in my life.
On the 27th when we arrive home, I place a call to Hotels.com customer service and spoke with Karen. I informed Karen of the stay and i spoked with Ceasar about crediting me $30.00 and she said she would get it approved after a couple of hours of being on the phone, she states that i should receive it at the end of the billing cycle in about 7-10 days or it could take up to 30 days.
Today 6/16/08 I called to check the status and spoke with Kay and she informed me that she does see a promise of $30.00 credited back to me. After placing me on hold for about an hour she got back on and informed me I wasnt going to get any credit back. She offered me some hotel boxes and i refused. I said i dont want any other offers than what was promised to me and she said im sorry I cant offer you that, after going in circles with her i asked for a supervisor and was hung up on. I called right back and asked for the supervisor and was hung up on again. The third call was placed and spoke with Lucas, told Lucas of the situation and was placed on hold for 58 min exact and got hung up, by this time i had already spent 2hrs on the phone trying to get someone it was now 9pm i had been on the phone since 7:15.
Finally the 4th call was placed and spoke with Eugenia told her the whole situatuion about the calls and hang ups and wanted some results, and was put on hold again about 9:30 she gets on and tells me im not able to get it back because i stayed the 2 days at the hotel and was offered some hotel boxes again and repeatedly said the same thing im sorry but all i can offer you are 80 hotel boxes mam she sounded like a robot. I asked for the supervisor and she said he wasnt available, i asked for him 3 more times and all she said was im sorry you will not be issued the $30.00 credit, I finally said I need to hear it from the supervisor, I was placed on hold AGAIN,around 10:15ish the Supervisor named Jose Chavez gets on and i inform him of all the calls and dillemas that ive encountered, he then quickly states there is no more they can do for me, all they can give me is hotel boxes, and there are no notes stating that i was approved for the credit in the first place.
I finally got corporates number after the 8th time asking for it and all he kept saying is there are no notes in here from the 24th stating you getting the credit. Its not about the money anymore its the principle of the fact that these people have no customer service at all, they talk over you when youre trying to tell them about the situation and they hang up on you and place you on hold for long periods at a time, and they really dont know the meaning of customer service....this was just the half of the story. I will never use them again and will not refer them to anyone. They are by far the worst people to deal with and have poor, poor service. I will be calling corporate tomm.
Domenica of Whitestone NY (06/11/08)
i booked a flight through hotels.com that I needed to cancel due to illness in the family. I have spent countless hours on the phone trying to reach a supervisor and I constantly get hung up on, their oversees operators are horrible and yes you ad nauseam, but never really answer your questions. I am demanding a full refund for my airline credit because I refuse to deal with them any longer. I can't imagine how they stay in business. this is by far the worst customer service experience i have ever had!
major stress loss of money
Andy of Bensalem PA (06/09/08)
My experience with Hotels.com is that the on-line portion of their service works well, but if you ever need to speak to anyone about an existing reservation they are incompitent. The phone system is horrific...transferring you constantly from sales to customer service and hanging up on you regularly.
Emily of Davis CA (05/21/08)
I booked a hotel room on May 11 for a May 17th stay and cancelled within 24 hours. I read the cancellation policy and thought it was perfectly clear that as long as I cancelled by May 14th at noon PST, I was fine. I cancelled my reservation and was not informed I would still be charged. My American Express was charged for the entire stay and I called hotels.com to explain that I had a family emergency and could not go and stay. They kept me on told for over 25 minutes when I was waiting to hear from the supervisor, and to no avail. The cancellation policy is not clear at all. I did one year of contracts in law school and the wording, font, and conditions are absolutely outrageous. From the one year of knowledge I have from my contracts class, a judge would NOT approve of their shady cancellation policy, its location in the 'contract', or how it is worded. This is horrible.
I have been charged an entire nights stay, $186.00 and did not set foot in the hotel.
Trish of Houston, TX (05/15/08)
The operator quoted me a rate and told me that if I booked today he could reduce the rate by $30/night and give me a rate of $129/night. I booked with hotels.com. Upon receiving the confirmation via e-mails within minutes, I noticed that the reservation details did not reflect the 'bayview' that the Hotels.com stated the rate included.
I immediately called the hotel to be sure they noted that preference on my reservation. The hotel reservation clerk stated I don't know why they quoted you $129/night because we show the same room available for $109/night - same day. I immediately called Hotels.com back to get a refund because I thought their tactics were deceptive and may fall under the DTPA. I communicated my complaint to Mary who said she would connect me with a supervisor. I held for 30 minutes and no one came to the phone.
They overcharged me, gave me false details to get me to buy the ticket during the call and refused to deal with the complaint. Total damages $20 + TAX + surcharges.
Critton of San Antonio TX (05/02/08)
I had two rooms at the Quality Inn, Topeka, KS and we stayed three nights. When I checked out I received a receipt for $176.94 for each of the two rooms. IAN charged my VISA card for $457.68 for the rooms. That is over $108.00 more than Quality Inn's receipt showed.
People who are traveling should avoid using hotels.com when doing so because that as a commission is a ripp-off. I talked to the people at IAN and they said the motel should have not given me a receipt. I'm glad they did because that means avoid hotels.com when making reservations bookings. Thank you -
Amber of Green Valley AZ (04/22/08)
I booked with hotels.com for my honeymoon vacation to go to Hawaii. Package included hotels, car rental and roundtrip air for two people for July 6th 2008 thru July 11th 2008. I received an e-mail that I needed to contact hotels.com because my flight had been canceled. So I called to find out the problem. The first agent I spoke with was very rude and hard to understand. She told me that my outgoing flight on July 6th was needed to be changed to an earlier flight than the already early flight of 6:15am. And the flight on the Friday July 11th was needing to be changed and that I would have to leave 3 hrs later in one of my flights and that my connecting flight would be in Vegas instead of phoenix and my layover would be longer and I wouldn't be getting home to around 2am. I explained to the lady that those flight changes were not something I could accept and so I would need to cancel and take my services elsewhere. She said that the flight was non-refundable and that she couldn't refund the flight. I explained to the lady that it was not my fault that it was an airline fault and that they needed to refund the money.
After fighting and fighting with the company she finally said they would refund the package. She put me on hold to get a reference number. I then got disconnected. So I called back in and with lady number 2, told me there were no notes in my account showing the agent as refunding the money. This new agent tried again to pull the same thing, that the flight was non-refundable and that it was not hotels.com fault either. I told her it was between hotels.com and the airlines. It was not my fault, I booked and paid through hotels.com. I authorized and paid hotels.com for the package. NO one else and that I was demanding a full refund She put me on hold for another 30 min. She came back to the line saying that she if an overnight flight was ok on the 11th or if I could leave on the 10th. I told her no it wasn't ok. We didn't want an overnight and we didn't want to loose a day on our honeymoon.
Finally after a total of almost 3 hrs on the phone with hotels.com they said they would give me a refund. But I had to mail in my paper tickets first and then they would process refund. Which they said could take 7-10 business days. I'm not happy with how long it took, the rudeness, and the fact I have to mail in my paper tickets and wait still that long for my money back on something they did wrong. 4/21/08 I'm not sure how to add anything further. But I called Hotels.com today because we still have not received our refund even though they told us as soon as we returned our paper tickets that our package remainder of $1377.44 would be refunded and was told by a VERY RUDE supervisor today that our money would not be returned because the airline was filing for bankruptcy. Even though we bought and paid for the package though hotels.com We NEVER authorized them to give our credit card information to the airlines to charge. We authorized hotels.com to use our credit card to pay hotels.com for the package, not hotels.com and the airlines. He was very rude and told me that we were not getting our money back and hung up on me.
WE will be calling our credit card company tomorrow. We need to know what to do. This is alot of money and who knows how many innocent people are giving their credit card information to hotels.com and they are letting people charge on their cards. This needs to be stopped! Please let me know status of my case. Also I just checked the number the first lady gave me for refunds dept and believe it or not...it goes to expedia.com
We have been paying on the 1377.44 on our credit card with fees and interest, its taking up credit that we need to pay for things for our wedding. It is alot of money. And I can't believe that they think they can claim they won't give me our money back because they airline is going bankrupt when I paid hotels.com for the package not the airline.
Petru of Edgewater NJ (04/03/08)
I made reservation via phone as the coupon e-mailed to me by hotels.com would not work. Jami Deam confirmed that coupon did not work but took reservation over the phone after confirming with sup. Janet Roller, a 30% disc. for the hotel part of reservation. Got charged full price, nobody at hotels.com knows anything about it. They will do whatever as long as they get the sale, and the two vanished. I am in the process of making as many people aware of hotels.com ways as possible. DO BUSINESS WITH HOTELS.COM AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Did not receive the promised rate. Got charged the usual, web-quoted hotels.com rate.
Kam of Portland OR (02/01/08)
We booked a room in September 2007, for a January 2008 stay. While I was in the air on my way to the hotel, they canceled my reservation. They said they would credit my card. They ended up crediting half of the amount, then re-charged 25% of it! When I called them to find out what was going on, they said don't worry, it will be taken care of. But that was what they told me the first time, before they re-charged me again! I asked to speak to a supervisor, and they refused, and repeated the same robotic statement over and over!
The entire time I was very calm, even though I felt like screaming! After being hung up on, and waiting on hold for literally more that 2 hours for a supervisor, I was told, we called your bank and they said it was credited. Still not speaking to the supervisor I said ok, then called my bank who said only half was credited. I don't see how these crooks stay in business. I have NEVER had a worse experience.
It is unresolved!
Kim of Portland OR (02/01/08)
we booked a room in September 2007, for a January 2008 stay.
While I was in the air on my way to the hotel, they cancelled my reservation. They said they would credit my card. They ended up crediting half of the amount, then re-charged 25% of it! What the heck!
When I called them to find out what was going on, they said don't worry, it will be taken care of But that was what they told me the first time, before they re-charged me again! I asked to speak to a supervisor, and the refused, and repeated the same robotic statement over and over! The entire time I was very calm, even though I felt like screaming! After being hung up on, and waiting on hold for literally more that 2 hours for a supervisor, I was told, we called your bank and they said it was credited still not speaking to the supervision I said ok, then called my back and they said only half was credited.
I don't see how they crooks stay in business. I have NEVER had a worse experience.
unresolved!
Kelli of Meridian ID (01/11/08)
I reserved a room in a Vancouver, Canada hotel at the hotels.com website, which offered a 20% disount for a stay of at least three days at that hotel. When the credit card statement came about two weeks later, the price was almost twice what the website had stated it would be in either US or Canadian dollars. I called immediately, and the first person said that if I cancelled my room, I would get back the $360.75 for my reservation, but the card had been charged $700. After speaking with two others, I was told that the reservation had been made in British Pounds, and apparently this price came out to be $700.00
I was making a reservation from the states to Canada and I did not make any currency changes. I was offered a $200 discount on a new reservation after cancelling the reservation (which they said might take up to three days on their end) and threatening legal action, but this was still more than the original offer. The hotels.com representative said that he did not know what the rate should have been when I made the original booking.
The more expensive rate that I was charged for the original reservation caused the credit card to be overdrawn, and a fee was charged. The credit card company asked for a cancellation number, which I did not get, and when I called two different people asking for one, I was told that it would take at least a day and that, about an hour later, someone was still working on my reservation that had already been cancelled. The issue is still not resolved. Worse yet, when I called the hotel, I found out that I had been charged for a room that had not even been reserved yet, and am paying interest as well. The hotel had no record of my reservation. Because I was traveling for a conference, it is likely that rooms will become booked quickly, as I know has happened in the past. Also, the terms of their service are in very fine print, often on optional windows. I wonder how they can charge for a room that has not been reserved with the hotel weeks later.
The credit card has been charged an overdraft fee because I was charged hundreds more than expected. I am paying late fees and overdraft fees for a room that was never booked. I will have to book a hotel at a higher rate to be in the same area of town, if I can still find one. I spent a couple of hours trying to resolve this, but with no satisfactory explanation or resolution.
Paul of Schererville IN (01/03/08)
I made a reservation through hotels.com and received a confirmation on 11/23/07 of my reservation, and they charged my credit card for my confirmed reservation. After making reservations with them, I made air transportation arrangements. Finally, 15 of my friends made reservations to the same hotel I was confirmed at and they are confirmed. My friends booked through another service. On 1/3/08, I received a phone call stating my reservation had been cancelled because Hotels.com no longer had a contract with the hotel I was booked with. I called them immediatly and got no satifactory solution. I reserved, they confirmed, they chaged my credit card.. this is a terrible nighmare and I will be spend hours of my time correcting their problem. All they would offer is a cancellation and refund of my credit card charge of $693.00. I need restitution of $2000 or more to correct this mess.
Yogesh of Austin TX (12/30/07)
I booked (using hotels.com) for a 4-day stay (Dec. 26 - Dec. 30), at a suite at Westgate Vacation Villas. My credit card was already charged since I had made a reservation in Nov., several weeks in advance. I arrived at the Westgate property late at night for check-in and was informed that Westgate property owners had carelessly over-booked, and they had no room for me. They offered no reasonable explanation as to why they can over-book when I was already charged for it in advance. I would suggest that you not consider staying here, since the management/proprietors don't appear to be very professional.
I had no option but to wander around at night with kids/family and find another hotel in this peak holiday season.
Kristina of Langley OTHER (12/30/07)
I made a reservation for 1 week in Hawaii. Before I finalized payment, I noted that the cancellation policy date was odd. The date was 4 weeks prior to the date I was booking, effectively meaning if I booked, there would be no refunds. BEFORE I confirmed online, I called the Rep at Hotels.com as I wanted to confirm that I could cancel if I needed to. I was told the date was wrong and I could cancel 3 days prior if I needed to. It stated this in a roundabout, convoluted way on their website. In general, the standard is that you must cancel the room(s) by 4 or 6 PM on the arrival date, or 24, 48, or 72 hours prior. She said she made a note on the reservation file and to go ahead and confirm online the reservation. I did and 48 hours later I went to cancel and NO REFUND. They sent me an email stating I cancelled after the odd date (that I had called the rep about). I sent them an email explaining what had happened an still, NO REFUND. I called them and was put on hold, then told the system was done and their was nothing they could do. I will call my credit card company and tell them their is a charge on my account that I didn't approve. The credit card company will reverse the charge.
Linda of Warwick NY (12/19/07)
I booked a hotel for one night 12/27/07, I was very uncomfortable booking as my plans were very tentative but the woman I was speaking with told me there was only one room left at this great rate and I had nothing to lose by booking as the reservation was 100% refundable until 5pm on 12/24/07. On 12/16/07 I tried to cancel the reservation because my plans had changed and I was told that it was a non-refundable reservation. I was on the phone for three hours with hotels.com reps. In that 3 hours, half the time I was on hold not to mention the fact that that I was hung up on twice. Only when I threatened to call my credit card and file a fraud complaint did they put a supervisor on, Thomas, and he was incredibly nasty with me and put all the blame squarely on my shoulders, telling me they would have never told me it was a refundable price if it wasn't. Basicallt, calling me liar. I realize this is a he-said, she-said situation but I am sure that they do this on purpose and that I am being screwed by hotels.com. I feel like I am banging my head against a wall.
I am now out $325, money I do not have especially a week before christmas.
Rob of N Andover MA (12/06/07)
BEWARE--nice service, but Terms and Conditions can cost you. I booked a two-night stay for a great price (online-special); it wasn't a two-night minimum so I could have just booked one night at a great rate. Couldn't make the first night, so I called to cancel the first night: no problem. Come to find out on my AMEX bill, Hotels.com charged the full one night rate because I made changes to that reservation. It blows away my special rate. My room rate went from $133.09 to $190.13. To this day I find nothing that states this. The cancel 48-hr. policy I understand . I was canceled well before that.
It cost me an extra $70 for one night; the two nights was only going to cost me $250.
Jessica of Chicago IL (12/02/07)
I booked a trip to Manhattan with hotels.com and then I thought that I would check the itinerary with them online. It didn't exist. When I called customer service they couldn't find it and said that they would have to transfer me to an affiliate. I asked them where they were located and who they were and they hung up on me. This happened several times. Finally I told them that I wanted a full refund or I was going to open a fraud claim against them on my credit card. It was at that time that the supervisor got on the phone and was incredibly hostile with me and basically told me to be quiet. Then she informed me that I could not get a full refund. I hung up at that point and I am going to go ahead and file the claim against them and get all charges taken off.
I am totally stressed out over this. I am pretty sure that my credit card company will do the right thing but I felt that I had been robbed frankly.
Rosa of Secaucus NJ (09/06/07)
i reserved four days at a hotel in Puerto RIco and paid in advance the photos of the place looked great. when i got there the place was a dump. The beach was filthy and the pool was run down, (nothing like the photos). It reminded me of one of those match.com horrible dates where the photo is year old. It was so bad that i could not check in but instead called Hotel.com customer services number and asked for another hotel. They said they booked me in another hotel three minutes away for an additional $300.00. I agreed and walked over to the other hotel and canceled the first. Got to the second place and they booked me for 4 days in september, two weeks later. The hotel was full and my son and I were left with no place to stay that night. When i requested a refund i was told that the $800. for fourdays was tied up for 48 hours. My vacation was ruined. I ended up spending not the $560 dollars for four days but $1500.00 . In addition, I ended up spending over $200 for a car. I will never use them again. buyer beware.....
Mark of Los Angeles CA (08/08/07)
I wanted to change the returning flight time. I was not allowed to because it was not in their policy. I asked to see the part of the policy that explains this in writing. She continued to say that it doesn't exist but can not change the departure time. I asked for a supervisor and she hung up. I called back and immediately the system seemed to know who I was and disconnected. To cancel this flight would cost me 225, but instead I reported this to WAMU as the entire charges will be reverse.
Laura of El Paso TX (05/24/07)
On May 1st we made several reservations with hotels.com. Out of the four reservation one was booked incorrectly. After many emails, several phonecalls and being disconnected because they insisted that the connection was bad, 4hrs later I was helped by one of the supervisors and the correct package was made. I was promised that the other package was being cancel and the money was being refunded to my credit card, and that all I needed was to pay for the new package witch I did.
It has been more then a month since this transactions where done by hotels.com and no money has been returned back to the credit card but they did charge the package that was made in oder to correct there mistake.
Ashaki of Riverdale NY (05/19/07)
I represent a small non-profit, humanitarian organization. I booked two rooms, for two nights at the Surrey Suites Hotel in New York City through hotels.com over the telephone. I specifically asked about the cancellation policy because they required pre-payment and I wanted assurance that there would be no problem about the amount being refunded to the card. I was told there was a 24 hour cancellation policy.
The reservation was made on 5/18/07 and cancelled on 5/19/07, at which time I was informed that if I had not cancelled by 4/10/07 there was no cancellation policy and I would be charged the first night ($1,000)!!!! This is absurd.
Inasmuch as the card used to pre-pay for the two rooms is a debit card and not a credit card, I have no recourse. The hotel is not in agreement with this and says it is strictly hotels.com that is requiring this.
Linda of San Francisco CA (05/19/07)
I see from reading your web page relevant to the subject of my complaint that I am but one of a number of people who have been ripped off by Hotels.com What makes me most angry about my situation is that I have only myself to blame.
Hotels.com has a policy -- posted on their reservation page -- of charging a $25 change fee PLUS what they label as a 50% Cost of Stay penalty. Penalty for WHAT? For changing one's arrival and departure dates, but not the length of the stay.
I made an error on my arrival and departure date. I did not reduce the number of days I am staying at the property so nobody is losing any revenue. Hotels.com charges a service fee anyway and now I learn they charge more!!!
My failure is that I didn't read their fine print. Their fine print on the reservation page is clearly entitled CANCEL POLICY: Cancellations or changes made before 04:00 PM (Mountain Daylight Time (US & Canada)) on 06/15/2007 are subject to a 25.00 USD penalty and a 50% Cost of Stay penalty. Cancellations or changes made after 04:00 PM (Mountain Daylight Time (US & Canada)) on 06/15/2007 are subject to a 100% Cost of Stay penalty. No refunds will be made for no-shows or early checkouts.
And on their confirmation page that is sent to each customer following the reservation, they label this caveat CANCELLATION POLICY.
Because it was entitled CANCEL/CANCELLATION POLICY and because I wasn't CANCELLING, I did not read it. My reservation change wasn't capricious -- I made a mistake on arrival and departure dates.
So imagine my surprise when I received my credit card statement on 5/17/07 and saw (in addition to charges for the reservations I had made for our forthcoming vacation at the end of June 2007) two charges each for $212.24 -- penalty for changing our reservations.
I feel totally ripped off. The Customer Care person said there was nothing she could do about it -- that was the company's stated policy -- and of course my email request (since they do not post their mailing address on their website) for a refund has been totally ignored. I don't have a problem with the $25 change fee, but I DO have a problem with the 50% penalty.
I have lost a total total of $424.48 for absolutely NOTHING.
Maria of Bronx NY (02/19/07)
Over Thanksgiving 2006 we negotiated a room for 2 nights at a familiar hotel on cape cod through Hotels.com. The offer was only slightly better than usual so we agreed to $55 Thursday and $67 Friday. They sent back a confirmation which we failed to notice was commanding the payment in pounds.We didn't realize their curious ways until we received the statement.While i realize my carelessness in overlooking the confirmation i feel that my approval of the agreement was in $ . How can they change the terms. Why would I have been willing to agree to paying twice as much as we are accustomed to paying?
In my conversations with Hotels.com supervisors they request that I present proof of my $ agreement,knowing well that the only part of the agreement printable is the confirmation that they presented in pounds. I asked them to show me an offer on their web site for Americans negotiating payment in an American hotel in British currency. This is a hotel that we have spent each of the last 5 Thanksgivings at: We know their rates and would have never agreed to paying double .
Meghan of Orlando FL (08/03/06)
We booked a hotel for our mini-vacation in Chicago for a three night stay. The hotel we booked on Hotels.com was listed as a Marriot hotel, but when we arrived, there wasn't even a sign on the outside of it on Michigan Avenue. The cab driver drove by it twice. There was not a conceierge, just a security guard. As I walked in further there were about 15 college kids walking in. I quickly found out that it in fact, was a college dormitory!
At this point we did not have any other choices since there was a huge convention and festival in Chicago that weekend-and everything was booked. We booked the more expensive room at $200 a night so that we could have a one-bedroom suite. When we walked in we had an efficiency without a pull-out couch which is what we had already PRE-PAID for. There was also not a cleaning service for the three days we were there. Our air-conditioning in the room broke the next morning we were there (keep in mind it had been 95 in Chicago all weekend and we were on the 22nd floor).
Since there wasn't a front desk person, I had to call the security guard who called their maintenance person. This turned out to be a 20-yr old female college student (probably an R.A.) that didn't know anything obviously about fixing things. She then informed me she could not help us and that they don't have maintenance people on the weekends and she didn't understand why they would sell rooms to guests. So we were stuck with a hot unclean room all weekend. When I called Hotels.com, they put me on hold back and forth for an hour and said they would get back with me and never did.
There was also not even a blow-dryer in the room, so we had to go and buy one out of our own pocket. When I called back once we came back home, the Hotels.com person I spoke with was extremely rude and did not want to be bothered. When I asked to speak with a supervisor, she got angry with that, and put me on hold for over 20 minutes without a response, so I had to hang up and go about my day. I am still in deliberations with them again, but they aren't offering anything. The only thing they offered was $120 total for my inconvenience, but that is what I should have received anyhow as a refund because the $40 difference with the room I got and the room I already paid for x3 days equals that amount. They were unwilling to offer me any more of a refund.
I paid $720 in total. Again this was PRE-PAID, and they were deceiving by saying everything they did on the site about it being a Marriot. It was a college dorm-LITERALLY!!! They have horrendous customer service. I am trying to get as much of my money back as possible, but they are fighting me every step of the way. I recommend not using this service ever and I am giong to write the BBB about it too.
Connie of Edgartown, MA (07/24/06)
I placed a reservation with hotels.com and had to cancel due to a change in flight plans out of Rhode Island. The cancellation was more than 3 weeks ahead and they still charged me $25.00.
Steven of San Pedro CA (07/23/06)
On January 11, 2006, I used Hotels.com to make reservations for 7/22/06 at a high-end hotel in San Diego, so that I could attend a convention. I also had tickets for a theater event later in the evening.
I arrived at the hotel in the morning before check-in time and was told that my reservation was not in the system. He asked to see my reservation number from Hotels.com, wrote it down along with their customer service phone number, and explained that he'd have to call them to fax over the itinerary. I pointed out that I had reserved a one bedroom suite ($590 pre-paid) which I expected to get.
I called Hotels.com, who confirmed that I had the reservation and assured me that they would fax my itinerary to the hotel and take care of the situation. The Hotel's general manager said his supervisor was very familiar with my name because she rejected my reservation the day it came in. The hotel never contacted me, nor did Hotels.com.
My limited time at the convention was cut short by this fiasco and I was unable to use my theater tickets.
Adam of Tucson AZ (07/15/06)
I made reservations on 6/28/06 for rooms in three cities: St. Louis, Oklahoma City, and Albuquerque. I made these reservations due to the fact that my widowed mother and myself lost our home in Indiana due to her losing her job and not being able to make the payments to the bank. I wanted to make reservations with a two-star motel, due to the fact that I wanted something that was clean but not very expensive. The following is a description of Hotels.com's two-star rating:
"Typical of chain hotels, these properties offer simple, consistent services such as expanded continental breakfasts, high-speed Internet access, and cable televisions with complimentary movie channels. These value-oriented hotels often offer outdoor pools and complimentary toiletries. Guestrooms are usually accessible by exterior entrances."
I had to make changes to my reservations, due to the fact that we hadn't finished packing up our house. I made the changes at least two days before we were to leave. Hotels.com charged me $69.67 for my change to the St. Louis reservation, $25.03 for the reservation change in Oklahoma City (they have since let me know this charge will be refunded), and $25 for the change to the Albuquerque reservation (which Hotels.com has also agreed to refund). Initially, Nicole from Hotels.com told me that due to my inconvenience and the money that I was out, I would be receiving $20 in motel vouchers. Hotels.com has a prepay policy that they either try to keep very secretive so the person doesn't see it or it is nonexistent.
Anyway, the Oklahoma City room was fine and the beds were wonderful. However, Albuquerque was a total dump. I took digital pictures of the room, which had a large strip of mold over the air vent, greasy black fingerprints on the bathroom door and the inside of the door leading into the room, and the bathroom tub was apparently covered in latex paint to hide serious flaws in the tub. It was peeling up in big hunks. We would have changed rooms or gone to another motel, but it was 3 in the morning and we had already driven over 800 miles and couldn't go another step. We stayed in the room three hours and didn't even turn the covers down. The next morning, I tried to return the key and register a complaint with the motel, but the door was locked and no one was around due to the fact that someone was making an airport shuttle run. I dropped the key on the welcome mat and we got out of there just as fast as we could. I have since filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Internet Fraud Complaint Center. I have warned friends and family never to use Hotels.com due to their lack of customer service, fraudulent writeups, and the fact that you can't get your money back for any reason.
Ultimately, Hotels.com charged me for every reservation change I made even though it was well enough in advance. I am continually being overdrafted by my bank, due to the extra charges Hotels.com charged me. Currently, I have $120 in overdraft fees alone by the Hotels.com problems. Also, Nicole has stated that I am not going to receive any further refunds, which means I have to foot the bill for the Albuquerque room despite the awful condition.
Susana of Belmont NH (06/18/06)
I booked a room with hotels.com in Aug of 2003 to go and watch my daughter play against Adelphi University in Hicksville Long Island, but an emergency a week before my trip forced me to cancel my trip. I went back to the website A WEEK before and canceled the reservation since I no longer needed the room. The hotel charged my credit card anyway and when I called the hotel they told me that they were sorry but no one had canceled the room so tough, I was out my money and they advised me to take it up with hotels.com. After nearly two years of calling hotels.com, being placed on hold for unheard amount of minutes and being jerked around enough I have completely given up. I no longer care about the refund, but I want every one to be aware of this.
Sridhar of Bangalore India (06/18/06)
Hotels.com charged my credit card nearly $450 (GBP 237) for a hotel booking in the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo. That was 2 weeks prior to my hotel stay. When I checked out of the hotel, the hotel authorities informed me that they had not received any payment from hotels.com, so they billed me once more. I e-mailed hotels.com for details and am still to hear from them (it has been two days).
Double billing. Undue anxiety and stress because of having to telephone the hotel and in trying to establish some communication with hotels.com.
Diane of Eden Prairie MN (05/08/06)
We booked our reservations on 3/14/06 for a hotel in Tampa that Hotels.com had rated highly. Our stay was to be for 2 nights on April 2 & 3. When we arrived, the hotel was the biggest rat hole & in a very unsafe part of the city. With two small children in tow, we immediately checked out the next morning & made our own reservations for another hotel. After receiving my credit card statement, I realized I was still charged for the 2 nights from Hotels.com. The hotel we stayed at also charged me for that one night. I quickly cleared the matter up with the hotel. After several calls to Hotels.com, (they were going to follow up but never did) they informed me they could offer me incentives only because of my inconvenience.
We never would have chosen this hotel if it weren't for the great rating Hotels.com gave it. Hotels.com inconvenienced us & our family vacation because they didn't check out the condition of the hotel they recommended. But they were more than happy to keep the additional $137 we feel we had a right to receive back. Hotels.com also charged our credit card 2 1/2 weeks before our actual stay. I wish I would have checked the comsumer complaints prior to using Hotels.com.
Sheila of Manchester CT (04/10/06)
I made a reservation through Hotels.com for La Quinta Inn in Orlando, FL. When I got there, they informed me that they had overbooked and La Quinta offered me another room in a nearby Ramada and said that they would have Hotels.com reimburse me. This hasn't happened yet, but it has only been a few days. So, no problem there. When I got home, however, I discovered that I had another charge for another hotel that I had never stayed at, as well as a customer satisfaction survey for that hotel, the Comfort Inn North. When I called Hotels.com, they informed me that that reservation had been made 2 minutes prior to my reservation at the La Quinta and that if I had only cancelled it right then and there, they could refund me my money.
I explained that to do this, I would have had to have KNOWN about this reservation. I received no confirmation e-mail, and indeed don't think I can book 2 reservations in 2 minutes, and certainly would have remembered pulling out my credit card a 2nd time. They kept insisting that I had made this reservation AND that they had sent me a confirmation e-mail. They also said that they wouldn't be able to get the hotel to reimburse them because they couldn't have sold that room. Now, there were NO hotel rooms in Orlando that night, they were all double or triple booked, and I'm sure that the Comfort Inn North didn't hold an empty room all night. All Hotels.com said they could do for me was refund me $15 of a $74.95 hotel bill. Then, when I went to fill out the customer survey, the links were broken!!
I'm now out the cost of a hotel room that I never stayed at, and since I already told my employer that I had been given a free room, I now can't even expense report the extra hotel room because then it will look like I'm trying to receive recompense twice!
Marilyn of Moreno Valley CA (03/31/06)
Booked room on-line for through Hotels.com for Durry Inn on 3-16 at 7:51am, reservation number 034122902. Cancelled reservation on 3-16 at 12:51pm. It was feasible for me to say at Drury Inn's located in the Galleria section of Huston, TX rather than the Hobby location I had selected. This request was made based on advice from Drury Inn employee. Contacted Hotels.com customer service today to request funds is placed back into my account. Phone rep displayed no empathy, only quoted policy, refused to consider refund. Consequently, Hotels.com charged me 202.04, refused my request to escalate to a supervisor.
Teresa of Dade City FL (02/06/06)
I called hotels.com to make a reservation for the 2/4/06-2/5/06. I told Albert that I needed to stay Sat. night. He recommened the Raddison in Kissimee, FL. It was a very nice hotel but the problem was that Albert book my night for Sunday night not Saturday. When I arrived at the Radisson I could not check in because of the mix up. So I called and spoke with Lucian after an hour and a half on the phone with hotels.com they informed me that they didn't have anymore rooms to book in the hotel but that they would refund my money.
The Radisson was great to me they gave me the same room for a better rate. When I got home I called to speak with hotles.com about my refund because I had made the reservation with my Visa check card. The lady I spoke with told me that it could and probably would take 30 days for my refund to happen! There was nothing according to her that could be done about that and she said I would just have to wait. I have ended up paying for two rooms and have to wait for my $90 refund. This was the first (and last time) that I have used hotels.com. Buyer beware if sounds too good it probably is. The check in clerk showed me how i could have gotten and even better rate than the one he gave me if I had went to their website. From now on I will skip the middle man and go right to the source.
Had to pay for two hotel rooms and am waiting for my refund that could take up to 30 days.
Vish of Roswell GA (01/18/06)
We tried booking a room in San Juan, Puerto Rico for Jan 14, morning. We were told that there were only two choices open. We picket the one that had a lower rate but had no clue where it was. Upon reaching there we found out [Ponce, Puerto Rico] we would have to take another flight to reach this location. We called up the hotels.com and were told that there was only one available in San Juan and it was going to cost $214.00.We took it only to find out the hotel was a rat infested motel and we found out later that there were umpteen hotels in San Juan where they had vacanies. We feel we were cheated big time and we would like this company held accountable for their trade practice. Our entire vacation was ruined on account of them. Now we are even suing the hotel in question because of their customer service and attitude not to speak of other credit card issues we have been having.
Rodger of Hobbs NM (11/13/05)
I reserved two adjacent non-smoking rooms at a hotel in El Paso, Texasfor September 7th. When We arrived on the 7th we were told that the only available rooms were on opposite corners of the property. I was not willing to quarter my son so far away. I called Hotels.com and was told that I must accept the alternate accomodations and since the cancellation wasn't more than 24 hours in advance I would not receive a credit.
I moved down the street to a nicer hotel for less money but still lost $160 to Hotels.com
Renee of Bear DE (08/30/05)
I booked the Labor Day weekend in Cape May, NJ on May 25 and my credit card was charged on May 26 for $438. I received an email on August 30 saying that the Bed & Breakfast that we were to stay in on Sept 3 & 4 had no openings and to contact Hotels.com. I contacted Hotels.com immediately. They searched and couldn't find any hotels available. Surprise, Surprise! All they could do was credit me the $438 and look for other available hotels in the yellow pages. Nevertheless, I took the credit and will never use Hotels.com again. I used them on a regular basis... never again.
Sj of Lakewood CO (08/22/05)
My husband made a reservation at Best Western in Grand Junction for a one nights stay. We arrived at the hotel at 10:15 pm (a four hour drive from Denver) and were told we had no reservation - even though my husband had the confirmation in his hand! The clerk called hotels.com and a customer service rep said it was not hotels.com fault that the hotel was booked and that Best Western had not notified them that their hotel was booked for the evening. He offered to find us another hotel in the area - even though I told him there were none. There was a rodeo in Grand Junction that weekend and an airshow - there was not a hotel to be found.
I asked the CSR for his supervisor and he refused. I asked him for the name of the company president and the address I could write to and he told me it was company policy not to give out that information. I told him it didn't matter - all of that was available on the web. He asked me if I wanted to cancel the reservation - my response was what reservation? we obviously never had one! He said he would re-credit our credit card. I have not recieved the bill yet to see if this was done, but if not I will fight any charges tooth and nail. I was smart enough to get a statement from the hotel clerk at Best Western in writing about what had happened. We ended up driving 110 miles to Green River, Utah (arriving about 1am) and stayed in a trashy hotel (red shag carpet - holes in the wall, etc).- the only one available in that town.
Jody of Johnstown, PA (7/12/05)
I booked a Holiday Inn reservation in suburban Philadelphia through
hotels.com. When we arrived at the hotel (10:30 pm) we were told they had no
reservation for us. (they also refused to contact hotels.com for us to
confirm the booking number, but that's for another complaint). They charged
us more than the hotels.com rate for a room.
When I contacted hotels.com, I was told they would credit my account if I
would fax them the receipts, so I did. They contacted me a few days later
and asked me to fax them again. I did. That was over a year ago and I am
still trying to get reimbursed!
Karan of Naples FL (1/19/05):
I had called Hotels.com to verify that I had a reservation which I had made online and Richard H. assured me my reservation to the Disney All Star Music Resort was confirmed. With that I requested email confirmation which he was happy to send. Upon my arrival at the Resort, I was told I had no reservation and further that the hotel was completely booked up. The company misrepresented itself, blatantly lying to me about a non-existent reservation.
I was forced to stay in the only other room we could find - a smoking optional room which exacerbated my asthma to the point of having to sleep with my Ventolin inhaler by my side. We were charged $142.04 and wasted nearly three hours waiting in line at both resorts and trying to get Hotels.com to help us with a room. They referred us to Travelnow.com who kept us online for half an hour. We were late for a family dinner which was the reason we travelled to Orlando. The entire event was a nightmare, most especially having to sleep in a smoke-filled room.
Leonard of Aurora CO (11/6/04):
Upon first hearing about Hotels.com I thought to give them a try. It was April 2003 and I was going from Denver, Colorado to visit my parents in Albuquerque, New Mexico then make an overnight trip to Las Cruces, New Mexico (where I grew up). I used Hotels.com to make a reservation at Baymont Inn in Las Cruces. The reservation ran $55.00 for one night. It was early on a Saturday morning that I was driving to Las Cruces from Albuquerque (a little over a 3 hour drive). About 40 miles into the trip my car began to overheat. Immediately I called Hotels.com on my cell phone and explained the situation to them.
The agent at Hotels.com said that the reservation would be canceled but they would keep the money charged to my credit card. I told them that I had no way of knowing that this would happen. The man said that he was sorry but since I did not call 24 hours ahead that I would not get a credit. Previously I had gone to the websites of Hotel and Motel chains and made reservations directly on their sites. They would let me off the hook under circumstances like these but not Hotels.com.
Clarence of Hickory NC (10/26/04):
Emailed hotels.com for a room in Charleston, SC. Asked for recommendations. Received a recommendation for the Ramada Inn, Coliesum. Upon arrival it was obvious this was a drug den. The entire place smelled like stale hemp. There were bullet holes in the hallway and when we got to our room their were bullet holes in the walls and roaches everywhere. There were roaches on the bed in the sink and tub and on the air conditioning unit as well as all over the floor. You could hear them crunch when you walked.
We obviously would not stay at this hotel and drove around for 3 hours until we found a suitable place. We have been trying to get reimbursed for our $120.
Nick of Millbrae CA (8/12/04):
This outfit pre-charges your credit card for the entire sum of the hotel reservation in advance before using the hotel services. They charged $500 to my credit card on 8/1/2004 when my check-in is on 8/14/2004. When I enquired on this strange practice, their response was that they offer better discounts. I called the hotel to get a direct quote and the price was $2 less than Hotels.com online reservation. Furthermore, they will charge a penalty if you cancel a reservation with them.
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