On 08/29 I had booked Susan%u2019s Villa in Niagara Falls for a two night stay. Checking in on Saturday September 1st and checking out on Monday September 3rd. Susan%u2019s Villa, a local Bed and breakfast, seemed like a good choice for a romantic weekend getaway%u2026.. We arrived at %u201CSusan%u2019s Villa%u201D at around 10:45 pm.in front of us was a regular residential Single Family house with lights off and door locked. Luckily at the same time a car pulled in and they had keys into the house. We followed them in and of course were stopped in the doorway. They informed us that they were guests and that the owners of %u201CSusan%u2019s Villa%u201D do not live on premises and that we need to call them. We found the number outside in the front yard on their sign. We immediately contacted them at the number listed (incurring international air time charges). The gentlemen on the phone informed me that he will be there shortly%u2026in the meantime, we were left outside at 11 pm. About 15-20 minutes later a gentleman arrived (we assumed the owner of the property) and immediately questioned us why we had arrived so late and did not call him. We were taken back by such a question and replied that we are not able to control border patrol and it took us several hours to cross the border from US to Canada. He then proceeded to tell us that we should have notified him that we would be arriving this late. He then proceeded to inform us that supposedly Orbitz overbooked him and that there was no room for us at his Bed and Breakfast, however! His %u201Cbuddy%u201D (exact words) down the road has same kind of %u201CBed and Breakfast%u201D and has room for us there. At this point it was already past 11 pm, we had been on the road for 6 hours, were tired and hungry. We had questioned him, why he did not notify us that there will be no rooms available to which he replied %u2013 %u201CHe had no contact information%u201D, although Orbitz does include our e-mail address in the booking detail. As you can imagine we were very upset and were not willing to stay with a %u201Cbuddy%u201D down the road, concerns for safety came to mind. We had informed him that we booked a room at his Villa and that we were not looking to stay with a buddy, and unless he has room for us to please refund the money for the room he did not have for us. At which time he rudely stated that all sales are final and that since we booked with Orbitz it is not his problem. We attempted to reason with him, however at that time he was already inside his car pulling out of the driveway. We immediately contacted Orbitz to have another hotel booked. We spent over an hour on hold with Orbitz with no result due to %u201Chigh call volumes%u201D their hold time was over an hour. The time was approaching midnight, we were tired and hungry and no where to stay during the last 3 day weekend on Niagara Falls. We had to find a place to stay and booked a hotel ourselves, spending over $120 above what we had intended initially due to last minute reservation. Needless to say this ordeal put a damper on our weekend%u2026At this time we are simply asking for a refund for services we did not receive. We did not break the contract with Orbitz yet Orbitz is refusing to refund the money stating that we need to contact the hotel owner. The charge on my credit card appears from Orbitz, since I did not receive the service it should be refunded from Orbitz. We have attempted several times to plead and reason with Orbitz and they have refused. So if it is not the owner's problem and not Orbitz problem... Who is responsible?! At this point I have no choice but to take it to the public and hope to make people aware of the situation.
0 comments