On Thursday, May 22, I booked a hotel room online via www.ego.com for Friday May 23. When I arrived at the hotel on Friday, the front desk informed me that there were two rooms booked for me for that night. I told them that wasn't right, because its just my husband and myself, we wouldn't need two rooms. I even had the confirmation print out in my hand from the website. So the woman at the desk cancelled the second room for me. She was polite, so I had no problem with that, I realize it's not the hotels fault. I asked her how often does that happen, and she replied "quite often, actually". I was a little aggravated, but assumed that by her cancelling it, www.ego.com and lodging.com (same company) would automatically credit my card. I was wrong.
I didn't realize that they didn't credit my account like they shoudd have until saturday when I was shopping with my husband, and my card got declined, in front of like 30 or more people. How embarrassing, especially since it wasn't my fault. I had to find another way to pay for the purchase, and left the store, a little ticked off.
I got to the parking lot and called the company, only to be on hold for 15 minutes, then some guy finally answered the line. He had no clue what was going on, and asked to put me on hold. I agreed, assuming that this would resolve the issue at hand, and I'd be credited the money back. Well, I stayed on hold for 35 minutes (thank God weekends are free on a cell phone) when some woman answered. I calmly (as much as possible) and politely explained the situation to her.
Less then 1 minute into my explanation, she cut me off and started accusing me of booking two reservations. I was like "I know exactly what I did, and I know thats not it. You guys double charged me, without my consent, which is prosecutable by law. If you don't believe me, I'll put you on 3 way with the hotel and they can tell you themselves. But I want you to credit my card, now. I'm sick of waiting, and this is ridiculous" At which point, she went crazy and irate. She started cussing me out. I told her I want to speak to her manager, and she told me she was the manager. At which point I told her I'm sorry for that poor establishment to have someone like her on their staff. Its rather pathetic.
At this point, I was pretty ticked off, as anyone would be. And I told her that I'd see her in court, because not only will I get my money back for the double charge, but I'm prosecuting for embarassment at the store, aggravation, and any time I may miss from work to prosecute them. She told me "go ahead, I dare you". At which point I told her what a b* she was and hung up.
I was crying at this point because I was so upset. I've booked many hotels and vacations online through sites like expedia.com and travelocity.com and have never had a problem until now. But if I find that any of those sites are associated with lodging.com, I won't be returning there.
My husband at the same time was on the phone with the hotel, and they agreed to have the manager write up paper work stating that indeed we were booked for two rooms, and indeed they did cancel one for us. So we have their cooperation.
I then called my credit card company, and tried my best to explain the situation through them. The woman was very polite and understanding. I apologized for crying and that I was just so upset that this company would do this, and treat a customer like crap. She pulled up my account and in deed did see 2 charges from the same company for the same amount. I asked her what I could do now. And she said that they will take care of that for me, and while they are disputing the charges on my behalf, I will not be responsible for the charges or the interest for those charges. I thanked her and told her how much I appreciated her being so nice and helpful.
Even though the credit card company may be disputing the charges on my behalf, I still plan to take this to court. If you've ever had an issue with the same company, please, email me and let me know. [email protected] I'm interested in hearing about how they treat everyone else. Thank you.
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