Hotels.com has a program where you get one free night after booking 10 nights. First of all, this is misleading: you don't get one free night. You get rewards points that you can redeem, so if the value of the one "free" night is more than what they decide is redeemable, you have to pay the difference. Second, when it comes down to redeeming your points, the hotel.com website won't allow you to do it.
As I was looking for a room, I narrowed my search by hotels that accept redeeming hotels.com rewards. When I found one, I tried to book the night going step by step, which are:
1- Find the hotel
2- Click on book
3- Click on redeem points to reduce your balance
4- Pay the balance. Options here are: you can pay immediately or at the hotel
When I got to step 3 where I wanted to redeem my points, every time I clicked on "redeem rewards" the hotel room suddenly becomes unavailable, as in "sold out." When I don't click on "redeem rewards," the room becomes available again. I tried this over and over just to be sure, and I got the same results. So hotels.com promises you the rewards, but when you try to redeem them, suddenly the room you want becomes unavailable.
So eventually I booked the room without redeeming my points and I chose to pay at the hotel because I wanted to contact hotels.com about this issue first. I tried to chat with them online, no rep was available. I sent them an email, no response, so I called hotels.com and I got a rep by the name of Anthony on the line, who sounded like someone from India. Anyway, I explained the issue, and he looked at my reservation and here was his answer:
“Ma’am, you were unable to redeem your points because you chose to pay at the hotel, not immediately through the hotles.com website.” I told him that this was bull because redeeming the point is one step before choosing where to pay, so there was not way for the site to know where and when I was intending to pay for the room when I chose to redeem my points. He kept repeating the same BS, and wouldn’t help to redeem my points. He was totally useless, which led me to believe that the whole hotels.com rewards program is just a SCAM. They lure you into booking through them, promising rewards, but when it comes to redeeming the points, you’ll never be able to. You will not be able to book a room when you chose to redeem your points because every time you attempt to redeem your points, suddenly the hotel you’re trying to book at becomes fully booked. They are LIARS!
I have often used hotels.com but it became increasingly obvious that they almost never have the lowest price. I came to using the site just to find hotel options and then book them elsewhere but recently I gave them another try. I was going to San Francisco and booked at a mid-range hotel for 2 nights. You cannot cancel but I did know that they had a price guarantee so I didn't worry. Within 5 minutes another site showed me the same room for a total of $30 cheaper. I went to hotels.com and filled out the price guarantee form which included the site where the cheaper price was found. Later that day I received an email saying that they would not honor the price guarantee stating that they "could not locate the rate." They sure didn't try very hard because I signed right back in and found it. No special rate, just the posted rate from before and it was still there.
1. I had a $35 credit with Hotels.com because they had made a mistake. I applied it to a new reservation. Tried to change the reservation (perfectly allowable, no date problems, no problems of any kind) and hotels.com said that, because the credit had already been used, it could not be reused. They even agreed with me that the credit had not actually been used, but their computer system would not allow it to be used. So I lost the $35.
2. That experience reflects a theme I've encountered numerous times with Hotels.com - their computer system is often not working. Sometimes I've been told the system is "updating", other times that it "doesn't respond", still other times that various common operations cannot be performed.
3. The phone representatives do not speak good English. Oh, most are understandable with some effort, but it is perhaps a cultural context that is missing. I know that sounds vague or trivial, but I believe it is actually a worse issue than their technical abilities with the English language. One time, Hotels.com had messed something up and the person at Hotels.com was good enough to call the hotel to try to straighten things out. Unfortunately, the American-born, English-speaking hotel employee was unable to understand what the Hotels.com employee was saying due to the thick accent.
4. This one is probably not specific to Hotels.com. Keep in mind when using a travel service like this that one cannot simply call the hotel to make changes. One has to coordinate between the hotel and Hotels.com and it can become a big hassle.
Hotel.com operator clearly provided two important pieces of misinformation:
1. When the operator answered, I asked if I was connected with the hotel per se [name of hotel not included]. The operator said yes. Not until my card was charged did he tell me the reservation was actually booked through hotel.com.
2. The operator assured me--I asked for verification 3 times--that the shuttle runs 24-hour a day. When I later called the hotel directly, the manager informed me that the shuttle stops at midnight, leaving me stuck hiring a cab, when I could have just stayed at a hotel with 24-hour shuttle.
Petty deceipt and systemic incompetence is frustrating. I do not recommend this site.
On October 6 2014 I made hotel reservations for Raleigh NC on November 7-8-9, going thru motels.com and using a credit card. No one mentioned that my card would be charged immediately.
When I received my card statement, I was charged $224 for a hotel stay that had not taken place. I didn't think about the hotels.com reservation, but thought it was a fraudulent charge, so contacted my card provider and they cancelled my card and issued a new one.
I later cancelled this reservation directly with the hotel, but they said only motels.com would be able to issue a refund. When I called them, I was transferred to several different people and finally put on hold for over 10 minutes before hanging up. It seemed like no one could or would settle this in a straightforward way. I strongly recommend that no one use motels.com for any reservation, but unfortunately many motels will not let you make direct telephone contact with them and refer you to motels.com
Booked a hotel on Hotels.com. I prepaid in full for the room (not just a deposit but prepaid in full). Arrived at the hotel and was told they had no reservation for me. After some investigating it turns out that the hotel has a poilcy that you must arrive within a few hours of check in time or the room will be resold. Seriously? The hotel would not let me check in and had no more rooms available and resold my room I had paid in full for!!!!
I immediately called Hotels.com and after 40 mins on hold I get some guy in a 3rd world country who barely speaks English. He tells me he can't get in touch with the hotel and can't help me. Sorry, no refund.
I disputed the charge with my bank. The bank sides with Hotels.com. I read the explanation Hotels.com sent my bank. Ready for this... according to Hotels.com the hotel's services were rendered and I never made any attempt to contact their customer service.
LIARS AND THEIVES.
So now I'm out $$$$ and was given no service. Scammers and Liars.
I booked a hotel room at the Amsterdam Inn in New York for our return trip home to Minnesota. When we arrived at the hotel it was closed for renovations. I called hotels.com to inform them and to get a refund for the room since we could not actually stay at the hotel. They customer service rep told me that she could not refund the money because they had to speak to the hotel representative to confirm it was closed. They attempted three times when I was on the phone with them and were told that it was closed for renovations but would not refund the money. They sent the case to the billing office and they were suppose to reconcile the issue within 72 hours. It has been three months and there has been no refund. I have emailed and made additional phone calls with all the same result. They will not refund until they speak to the hotel directly even though they have already verified that it is closed for renovations. I will never use their services again. They have the worst customer service in the industry as far as I am concerned.
Hotel.com states clearly on web site that you can enter a promo code to get 10% off the hotel room rare. When you try to use it, the company finds some reason why you cannot. I spent 30 minutes with customer service and got bad attitude from them and no solution. Clear that customer service didn't give a darn and just wanted to wear me down. Never do business with them.
I’ve been planning to take my eldest son to the Jelly Bean factory for quite some time and finally I got the chance. I booked a room with hotels.com well in advance since I would be taking my son during the beginning of a big holiday.
When I was ready to book, I chose a room and hotel carefully since I was taking my 5 years old son and my elderly mother. I book the room on August 12th, 2014. There was absolutely nothing stating that I was booking a smoking room.
On August 26th, Hotels.com send me a confirmation on my email. It said:
“Thanks for using Hotels.com, your booking is confirmed! You don't need to call to reconfirm. Here are the details of your booking along with information about the hotel,
local weather, and attractions near your destination.
You can easily access your booking online anytime.
Happy traveling, Hotels.com®
Hotels.com Confirmation Number: XXXXXXXXX”
I clicked on the link indicating about the details, and this is what I got:
“Location: Fairfield, CA, US
Dates: 08/30/14 to 08/31/14
Room Details: 2 adults, 1 child
Hotels.com Confirmation Number: XXXXXXXX”
Then very low in a corner, there was another link: “review your reservation”
After reviewing information I showed above, which was contained in two pages, I didn’t think it was necessary to click on third link, to direct me to a third page in order to review the room Hotels.com had assigned to me. What a big mistake.
When I arrived at the hotel, I learned we were assigned to a smoking room, and how could I possibly spend a night in such a room with a 5 years old child and an aging mother?
I tried to argue with the front desk lady, but she said she couldn’t do anything since they were solid booked. She said she couldn’t return my money back and refused to call the manager who was on dinner break.
I called hotels.com, and found out that I had to wait four hours and half to speak to a live agent. Yes, 4.5 hours. I asked the lady for a better number to call and finally got a 40 minutes waiting period. What happened to the 24/7 promise of a live agent? I think this is only when you are trying to book. After you give your credit card number, you will talk only to a machine. Unless you are a very persistent person.
When I finally spoke to some one, the conversation turned out to be very frustrating. The answer was that they could do nothing. Hotels.com said clearly on the third page that it was a smoking room.
I argued that there was nothing saying it was a smoking room during my reservation process, and that they should make it clear on the first or second pages of the confirmation email. But that meant nothing. What was valid for them was the page I should have read (the third one). Apparently, the reservation process is different from the “assignment” process. And it is the latter that holds on.
When I told the agent that their practices were deceiving and unethical, he threat to disconnect the line.
Then, nearly 3 hours after our conversation, Hotels.com send me yet another confirmation. But this time it stated clearly on the very front email page that I had a smoking room. Couldn’t have they done it on the first email? That would have saved us from so much chagrin.
Needless to say, I left the hotel and drove back home, with a crying boy and a frustrated and tired mother. I lost $140 for the hotel booking, $70 for gasoline and gained many tears of a very disappointed son.
Hotels.com may have gained $140 from me right now. But they will never do so again. Where they legally right? Maybe so, not sure. Where they ethically right? I don’t think so. Their practices are deceptive and shady to say the least.
In this case, I was only 2 hours away from home, so I just turned my car and drove back home. But I only imagine what would have happened had we travelled across the country.
Bottom line, Hotels.com will treat you with shady and deceptive practices. Be careful if you decide to go through this road. There are much better options out there.
Booked on line thru hotels.com on July 15 at hotel by the river in idaho falls but per front desk every room was already booked. Scrambled to look for a place to stay. Requested a refund but todate no refund received.
We made a reservation 5 months in advance, and 2 days before the trip we got a mail that they had rebooked us to another hotel. Just like that. But they messed up that one too. Even after 4 full hours on the phone they haven't yet managed to fix anything even if their web site states that many hotel rooms are available in the place we are going. Seem that hotels.com is somewhat of a hoax, they are advertising hotels that you actually can't book and are stating availability that isn't there. Their customer service is incompetent and seem to be most interested in taking your money and not fixing your problem. I see that there are many angry people writing bad things about this company, do hotels.com even have any satisfied customers?
Don't use Hotels.com!! They bait and switch customers,which is illegal, getting them to pay much more than the price quote. And when you call their customer service to correct their error, their 'agents' say their hands are tied even though they know it is wrong.
Here is what happened to me. I was quoted a hotel room rate of $173 in the Hotels.com listing. When I was in the process of paying for the room, their 'system' sent a message saying the rate had just been bumped up by $20 per night. I have a saved screen shot of the original rate. Then when checking out, their system said a total of $608 was listed as what my credit card would be charged. But seconds later I find my card has actually been charged $619. WTF! Not once but twice in the same transaction.
So over $70 was added to my original quote! Customer service offered a refund of $11 (their clearly illegal tack on at the end).
So do not use Hotels.com -- they are engaged in shady and illegal bat and switch activity. Use another site or just contact the hotel directly. Be sure to tell all your friends, and tell the hotels you stay at too! This corporation should be arrested for stealing, and their site should be shut down.
My friend and I had been lookign to book a vacation package. We searched and searched until we came across Hotels.com. They had an option to buy vacation packages, so of course, I clicked it. When I was looking at their deals, I thought it was amazing the prices that they were offering. When chose a package and when my friend when to purchase it, we made sure that the taxes and any other additional fees were included in the final price. So, of course, we knew that the price would be a little higher because of all those fees. My friend then went to book our package, but befoer she could, Hotels.com asked to do a test purchase of 800$ to make sure that her creditcard would work.
They told her it was temporary and it would go away on her purchase history. Then, once she passed this 800$ "test" she wnt to purchase the actualy package. She purchased it at the price that was shown in the finalization price. Then, all of a sudden, ehr creditcard was beign charge an extra 350$ more AFTER purchasing at the SET FINAL PRICE. They started charing her this extra 350$ due to plane fees, yet this was not at all included in the price that we actually purchased. It's a good thing she checked her bank account because we were able to call and reverse the transaction but she now has to wait for two days until her money goes back into her account. This whole process was absolutely ridiculous. We now have to wait those extra two days unti lwe can buy a different vacation package from a reptuable site. Hotels.com is asite fileld with nothing but lies, which if you dare to use thier site, be ready to embrace the impending headache to follow in your dark crusade through the secret fees of Hotels.com
I was directed to HOTELS>COM from Delta reservation desk. I told the reservation clerk that i wanted a certain room at a certain hotel in Paris. i specifically requested the Priviledge room with Eiffel tower view and he said yes he could book that. I ask him twice to make sure that it was indeed the room i wanted and he assured me that it was. After i paid, he sent me a confirmation and it was a basic room and no Eiffel tower view. I called them and they agree that i should get a refund as the reservation clerk did lie to me because they cant even offer the room i requested. But they said they would have to let me know about a refund within 72 hrs. I called back the next day and they didn't even have a record of me complaining the day before and again told me that yes i should get a refund as i was lied to by their reservation person. Then within a few hours i received an email that said they would not be giving me a refund and if i canceled i would lose all my money.
WOW OMG!!! they blatently lied to me and refused to refund my money. I am furious, So dont use HOTELS>COM at all because you will not be protected period. I did not book online but actually talked to a person at their reservation department.
BEWARE as you will get ripped off. They seem to be such a big company that they could care less about customer service.
On May 2, I contacted Hotels.com and shopped for a hotel for my son and I to stay. I asked the agent if I could put two cards on the bill because I didn't want to be billed the full amount on one card. The agent stated that she could do this. I gave her my card information and requested the amount to be charged on the bill. I then provided her with my second card information. The agent billed me for the full amount and I immediately requested that it be cancelled because it was not what I requested. Days later I found the full amount deducted from my card. I contacted hotels.com last week and was told that I would be issued a refund since it was their mistake. I followed up with them today and was told that they never agreed to the refund and I would have to contact the hotel. I contacted the hotel and was informed by the manager that they did not receive my information regarding a cancellation. I do, however, have an email from hotels.com stating that the hotel stay is cancelled. The manager then informed me that many people call their hotel and complain about hotel.com and their business practices. He advised me to contact the hotel directly because third parties are known to be shady.My experience with hotels.com has been one of fraud, deceipt, and being hung up on. I am in the process of contacting an attorney as I never approved the credit card charge that they put through.
Hotels.com Reviews
Hotels.com has a program where you get one free night after booking 10 nights. First of all, this is misleading: you don't get one free night. You get rewards points that you can redeem, so if the value of the one "free" night is more than what they decide is redeemable, you have to pay the difference. Second, when it comes down to redeeming your points, the hotel.com website won't allow you to do it.
As I was looking for a room, I narrowed my search by hotels that accept redeeming hotels.com rewards. When I found one, I tried to book the night going step by step, which are:
1- Find the hotel
2- Click on book
3- Click on redeem points to reduce your balance
4- Pay the balance. Options here are: you can pay immediately or at the hotel
When I got to step 3 where I wanted to redeem my points, every time I clicked on "redeem rewards" the hotel room suddenly becomes unavailable, as in "sold out." When I don't click on "redeem rewards," the room becomes available again. I tried this over and over just to be sure, and I got the same results. So hotels.com promises you the rewards, but when you try to redeem them, suddenly the room you want becomes unavailable.
So eventually I booked the room without redeeming my points and I chose to pay at the hotel because I wanted to contact hotels.com about this issue first. I tried to chat with them online, no rep was available. I sent them an email, no response, so I called hotels.com and I got a rep by the name of Anthony on the line, who sounded like someone from India. Anyway, I explained the issue, and he looked at my reservation and here was his answer:
“Ma’am, you were unable to redeem your points because you chose to pay at the hotel, not immediately through the hotles.com website.” I told him that this was bull because redeeming the point is one step before choosing where to pay, so there was not way for the site to know where and when I was intending to pay for the room when I chose to redeem my points. He kept repeating the same BS, and wouldn’t help to redeem my points. He was totally useless, which led me to believe that the whole hotels.com rewards program is just a SCAM. They lure you into booking through them, promising rewards, but when it comes to redeeming the points, you’ll never be able to. You will not be able to book a room when you chose to redeem your points because every time you attempt to redeem your points, suddenly the hotel you’re trying to book at becomes fully booked. They are LIARS!
I have often used hotels.com but it became increasingly obvious that they almost never have the lowest price. I came to using the site just to find hotel options and then book them elsewhere but recently I gave them another try. I was going to San Francisco and booked at a mid-range hotel for 2 nights. You cannot cancel but I did know that they had a price guarantee so I didn't worry. Within 5 minutes another site showed me the same room for a total of $30 cheaper. I went to hotels.com and filled out the price guarantee form which included the site where the cheaper price was found. Later that day I received an email saying that they would not honor the price guarantee stating that they "could not locate the rate." They sure didn't try very hard because I signed right back in and found it. No special rate, just the posted rate from before and it was still there.
1. I had a $35 credit with Hotels.com because they had made a mistake. I applied it to a new reservation. Tried to change the reservation (perfectly allowable, no date problems, no problems of any kind) and hotels.com said that, because the credit had already been used, it could not be reused. They even agreed with me that the credit had not actually been used, but their computer system would not allow it to be used. So I lost the $35.
2. That experience reflects a theme I've encountered numerous times with Hotels.com - their computer system is often not working. Sometimes I've been told the system is "updating", other times that it "doesn't respond", still other times that various common operations cannot be performed.
3. The phone representatives do not speak good English. Oh, most are understandable with some effort, but it is perhaps a cultural context that is missing. I know that sounds vague or trivial, but I believe it is actually a worse issue than their technical abilities with the English language. One time, Hotels.com had messed something up and the person at Hotels.com was good enough to call the hotel to try to straighten things out. Unfortunately, the American-born, English-speaking hotel employee was unable to understand what the Hotels.com employee was saying due to the thick accent.
4. This one is probably not specific to Hotels.com. Keep in mind when using a travel service like this that one cannot simply call the hotel to make changes. One has to coordinate between the hotel and Hotels.com and it can become a big hassle.
Hotel.com operator clearly provided two important pieces of misinformation:
1. When the operator answered, I asked if I was connected with the hotel per se [name of hotel not included]. The operator said yes. Not until my card was charged did he tell me the reservation was actually booked through hotel.com.
2. The operator assured me--I asked for verification 3 times--that the shuttle runs 24-hour a day. When I later called the hotel directly, the manager informed me that the shuttle stops at midnight, leaving me stuck hiring a cab, when I could have just stayed at a hotel with 24-hour shuttle.
Petty deceipt and systemic incompetence is frustrating. I do not recommend this site.
On October 6 2014 I made hotel reservations for Raleigh NC on November 7-8-9, going thru motels.com and using a credit card. No one mentioned that my card would be charged immediately.
When I received my card statement, I was charged $224 for a hotel stay that had not taken place. I didn't think about the hotels.com reservation, but thought it was a fraudulent charge, so contacted my card provider and they cancelled my card and issued a new one.
I later cancelled this reservation directly with the hotel, but they said only motels.com would be able to issue a refund. When I called them, I was transferred to several different people and finally put on hold for over 10 minutes before hanging up. It seemed like no one could or would settle this in a straightforward way. I strongly recommend that no one use motels.com for any reservation, but unfortunately many motels will not let you make direct telephone contact with them and refer you to motels.com
Booked a hotel on Hotels.com. I prepaid in full for the room (not just a deposit but prepaid in full). Arrived at the hotel and was told they had no reservation for me. After some investigating it turns out that the hotel has a poilcy that you must arrive within a few hours of check in time or the room will be resold. Seriously? The hotel would not let me check in and had no more rooms available and resold my room I had paid in full for!!!!
I immediately called Hotels.com and after 40 mins on hold I get some guy in a 3rd world country who barely speaks English. He tells me he can't get in touch with the hotel and can't help me. Sorry, no refund.
I disputed the charge with my bank. The bank sides with Hotels.com. I read the explanation Hotels.com sent my bank. Ready for this... according to Hotels.com the hotel's services were rendered and I never made any attempt to contact their customer service.
LIARS AND THEIVES.
So now I'm out $$$$ and was given no service. Scammers and Liars.
I booked a hotel room at the Amsterdam Inn in New York for our return trip home to Minnesota. When we arrived at the hotel it was closed for renovations. I called hotels.com to inform them and to get a refund for the room since we could not actually stay at the hotel. They customer service rep told me that she could not refund the money because they had to speak to the hotel representative to confirm it was closed. They attempted three times when I was on the phone with them and were told that it was closed for renovations but would not refund the money. They sent the case to the billing office and they were suppose to reconcile the issue within 72 hours. It has been three months and there has been no refund. I have emailed and made additional phone calls with all the same result. They will not refund until they speak to the hotel directly even though they have already verified that it is closed for renovations. I will never use their services again. They have the worst customer service in the industry as far as I am concerned.
Hotel.com states clearly on web site that you can enter a promo code to get 10% off the hotel room rare. When you try to use it, the company finds some reason why you cannot. I spent 30 minutes with customer service and got bad attitude from them and no solution. Clear that customer service didn't give a darn and just wanted to wear me down. Never do business with them.
I’ve been planning to take my eldest son to the Jelly Bean factory for quite some time and finally I got the chance. I booked a room with hotels.com well in advance since I would be taking my son during the beginning of a big holiday.
When I was ready to book, I chose a room and hotel carefully since I was taking my 5 years old son and my elderly mother. I book the room on August 12th, 2014. There was absolutely nothing stating that I was booking a smoking room.
On August 26th, Hotels.com send me a confirmation on my email. It said:
“Thanks for using Hotels.com, your booking is confirmed! You don't need to call to reconfirm. Here are the details of your booking along with information about the hotel,
local weather, and attractions near your destination.
You can easily access your booking online anytime.
Happy traveling, Hotels.com®
Hotels.com Confirmation Number: XXXXXXXXX”
I clicked on the link indicating about the details, and this is what I got:
“Location: Fairfield, CA, US
Dates: 08/30/14 to 08/31/14
Room Details: 2 adults, 1 child
Hotels.com Confirmation Number: XXXXXXXX”
Then very low in a corner, there was another link: “review your reservation”
After reviewing information I showed above, which was contained in two pages, I didn’t think it was necessary to click on third link, to direct me to a third page in order to review the room Hotels.com had assigned to me. What a big mistake.
When I arrived at the hotel, I learned we were assigned to a smoking room, and how could I possibly spend a night in such a room with a 5 years old child and an aging mother?
I tried to argue with the front desk lady, but she said she couldn’t do anything since they were solid booked. She said she couldn’t return my money back and refused to call the manager who was on dinner break.
I called hotels.com, and found out that I had to wait four hours and half to speak to a live agent. Yes, 4.5 hours. I asked the lady for a better number to call and finally got a 40 minutes waiting period. What happened to the 24/7 promise of a live agent? I think this is only when you are trying to book. After you give your credit card number, you will talk only to a machine. Unless you are a very persistent person.
When I finally spoke to some one, the conversation turned out to be very frustrating. The answer was that they could do nothing. Hotels.com said clearly on the third page that it was a smoking room.
I argued that there was nothing saying it was a smoking room during my reservation process, and that they should make it clear on the first or second pages of the confirmation email. But that meant nothing. What was valid for them was the page I should have read (the third one). Apparently, the reservation process is different from the “assignment” process. And it is the latter that holds on.
When I told the agent that their practices were deceiving and unethical, he threat to disconnect the line.
Then, nearly 3 hours after our conversation, Hotels.com send me yet another confirmation. But this time it stated clearly on the very front email page that I had a smoking room. Couldn’t have they done it on the first email? That would have saved us from so much chagrin.
Needless to say, I left the hotel and drove back home, with a crying boy and a frustrated and tired mother. I lost $140 for the hotel booking, $70 for gasoline and gained many tears of a very disappointed son.
Hotels.com may have gained $140 from me right now. But they will never do so again. Where they legally right? Maybe so, not sure. Where they ethically right? I don’t think so. Their practices are deceptive and shady to say the least.
In this case, I was only 2 hours away from home, so I just turned my car and drove back home. But I only imagine what would have happened had we travelled across the country.
Bottom line, Hotels.com will treat you with shady and deceptive practices. Be careful if you decide to go through this road. There are much better options out there.
Booked on line thru hotels.com on July 15 at hotel by the river in idaho falls but per front desk every room was already booked. Scrambled to look for a place to stay. Requested a refund but todate no refund received.
We made a reservation 5 months in advance, and 2 days before the trip we got a mail that they had rebooked us to another hotel. Just like that. But they messed up that one too. Even after 4 full hours on the phone they haven't yet managed to fix anything even if their web site states that many hotel rooms are available in the place we are going. Seem that hotels.com is somewhat of a hoax, they are advertising hotels that you actually can't book and are stating availability that isn't there. Their customer service is incompetent and seem to be most interested in taking your money and not fixing your problem. I see that there are many angry people writing bad things about this company, do hotels.com even have any satisfied customers?
Don't use Hotels.com!! They bait and switch customers,which is illegal, getting them to pay much more than the price quote. And when you call their customer service to correct their error, their 'agents' say their hands are tied even though they know it is wrong.
Here is what happened to me. I was quoted a hotel room rate of $173 in the Hotels.com listing. When I was in the process of paying for the room, their 'system' sent a message saying the rate had just been bumped up by $20 per night. I have a saved screen shot of the original rate. Then when checking out, their system said a total of $608 was listed as what my credit card would be charged. But seconds later I find my card has actually been charged $619. WTF! Not once but twice in the same transaction.
So over $70 was added to my original quote! Customer service offered a refund of $11 (their clearly illegal tack on at the end).
So do not use Hotels.com -- they are engaged in shady and illegal bat and switch activity. Use another site or just contact the hotel directly. Be sure to tell all your friends, and tell the hotels you stay at too! This corporation should be arrested for stealing, and their site should be shut down.
My friend and I had been lookign to book a vacation package. We searched and searched until we came across Hotels.com. They had an option to buy vacation packages, so of course, I clicked it. When I was looking at their deals, I thought it was amazing the prices that they were offering. When chose a package and when my friend when to purchase it, we made sure that the taxes and any other additional fees were included in the final price. So, of course, we knew that the price would be a little higher because of all those fees. My friend then went to book our package, but befoer she could, Hotels.com asked to do a test purchase of 800$ to make sure that her creditcard would work.
They told her it was temporary and it would go away on her purchase history. Then, once she passed this 800$ "test" she wnt to purchase the actualy package. She purchased it at the price that was shown in the finalization price. Then, all of a sudden, ehr creditcard was beign charge an extra 350$ more AFTER purchasing at the SET FINAL PRICE. They started charing her this extra 350$ due to plane fees, yet this was not at all included in the price that we actually purchased. It's a good thing she checked her bank account because we were able to call and reverse the transaction but she now has to wait for two days until her money goes back into her account. This whole process was absolutely ridiculous. We now have to wait those extra two days unti lwe can buy a different vacation package from a reptuable site. Hotels.com is asite fileld with nothing but lies, which if you dare to use thier site, be ready to embrace the impending headache to follow in your dark crusade through the secret fees of Hotels.com
I was directed to HOTELS>COM from Delta reservation desk. I told the reservation clerk that i wanted a certain room at a certain hotel in Paris. i specifically requested the Priviledge room with Eiffel tower view and he said yes he could book that. I ask him twice to make sure that it was indeed the room i wanted and he assured me that it was. After i paid, he sent me a confirmation and it was a basic room and no Eiffel tower view. I called them and they agree that i should get a refund as the reservation clerk did lie to me because they cant even offer the room i requested. But they said they would have to let me know about a refund within 72 hrs. I called back the next day and they didn't even have a record of me complaining the day before and again told me that yes i should get a refund as i was lied to by their reservation person. Then within a few hours i received an email that said they would not be giving me a refund and if i canceled i would lose all my money.
WOW OMG!!! they blatently lied to me and refused to refund my money. I am furious, So dont use HOTELS>COM at all because you will not be protected period. I did not book online but actually talked to a person at their reservation department.
BEWARE as you will get ripped off. They seem to be such a big company that they could care less about customer service.
On May 2, I contacted Hotels.com and shopped for a hotel for my son and I to stay. I asked the agent if I could put two cards on the bill because I didn't want to be billed the full amount on one card. The agent stated that she could do this. I gave her my card information and requested the amount to be charged on the bill. I then provided her with my second card information. The agent billed me for the full amount and I immediately requested that it be cancelled because it was not what I requested. Days later I found the full amount deducted from my card. I contacted hotels.com last week and was told that I would be issued a refund since it was their mistake. I followed up with them today and was told that they never agreed to the refund and I would have to contact the hotel. I contacted the hotel and was informed by the manager that they did not receive my information regarding a cancellation. I do, however, have an email from hotels.com stating that the hotel stay is cancelled. The manager then informed me that many people call their hotel and complain about hotel.com and their business practices. He advised me to contact the hotel directly because third parties are known to be shady.My experience with hotels.com has been one of fraud, deceipt, and being hung up on. I am in the process of contacting an attorney as I never approved the credit card charge that they put through.