By Christopher Elliot | Travel Troubleshooter
Steve Eliason cancels a hotel booked through Hotels.com after the owner goes into labor and closes the property. But Hotels.com still charges him for the room. What happens when a third-party booking site fails to honor a cancellation?
Q: I recently booked a room through Hotels.com near Glacier National Park in Montana. I received an email from the property saying my reservation wasn’t guaranteed and my card hadn’t been charged.
The hotel asked me to call about my reservation, but the answering machine said the owner was in labor and wouldn’t be able to respond to messages. My credit card was charged for the room. I tried calling the hotel multiple times, but the answering machine message remained the same. Other numbers provided were either busy or disconnected.
Hotels.com wouldn’t help, simply forwarding my concerns to the property. I feel like I’ve been scammed. I just want my $169 back and to warn others about this place. Can you help me? — Steve Eliason, Minnetonka, Minn.
A: The hotel should have honored your booking — and if it couldn’t, Hotels.com should have refunded your $169. When a hotel can’t honor a reservation, the booking site is obligated to find you comparable accommodations or to return your money. That’s a standard practice in the travel industry.
This is the first time in my years of advocating cases that someone has closed a hotel to give birth. I hope mom and the baby are OK and that the hotel opens again soon.
In this situation, you did everything right by trying to contact the property and Hotels.com. You also kept a detailed paper trail of all correspondence, including emails and phone call records. This documentation shows that you gave the system a chance to resolve your problem.
Most importantly, the correspondence shows that the hotel sent you an email saying that your reservation was not confirmed and that you wouldn’t be charged. So someone — either the hotel or Hotels.com — really screwed up here.
If your initial attempts fail, consider escalating the issue to a supervisor or executive. You can find contact information for Hotels.com executives on my consumer advocacy website, Elliott.org.
If Hotels.com hadn’t been able to help, and if you hadn’t reached out to me, you could have disputed your Hotels.com charges. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, your credit card can refund you for an item you paid for but didn’t receive, like a hotel stay.
I contacted Hotels.com on your behalf. A representative acknowledged the unusual circumstances of your case and agreed to issue a full refund. You received your $169 refund from Hotels.com, along with a $50 credit for future bookings.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him on his site.
