Hotels.com
Undisclosed cancellation fee on hotel booked during hurricane

My flights were cancelled because Hurricane Ike was about to hit Houston; in the process of changing my flights Continental Airlines asked if I needed a hotel room. Continental Airlines transferred me to a customer service rep. I was never informed that I was talking to Hotels.com. With the CSR, I booked a Holiday Inn hotel room. During the call, I was never informed of any cancellation/charges fees etc. Since a Hurricane was about to hit Houston, and not knowing the status of IAH after Hurricane Ike, this detail would have influenced my decision to book a hotel. There is no way that I would have booked the hotel room.

After Hurricane Ike, my flights were cancelled again. I found out my flight status on the 14th. Once I knew that my flight was cancelled, using my Blackberry since I didn't have electricity, I checked my e-mail to get the information regarding the Hotel. At the time I realized that it was Hotels.com, I still had no idea that there was a cancellation/charge fee. I contacted Hotels.com and they explained the cancellation/charge fee for the hotel. During the same call, I explained that the cancellation/charge fee was never explained and the Hotels.com representative said that they would contact the hotel on my behalf and see if they will refund the fee. The representative put me on hold and contacted the Holiday Inn, when she took me off hold, she had said that she had contacted the hotel's accounting department and that I need to call back in a few days and they would refund the cancellation/charge fee. She then asked if I wanted to cancel, explaining that the cancellation/charge fee would be refunded. I cancelled, but was explicitly clear that I was never explained a cancellation/charge fee nor was I accepting the fee.

I called back the following week and Hotels.com would not refund the cancellation/charge fee. They told me to contact the hotel, which I did. Holiday Inn said that I need to contact Hotels.com.

Bottom line, this is the worst service that I have ever received. The fact that the cancellation/charge fee was never explained to me, the fact that Hotels.com said they would reimburse the charge and that Hotels.com was unsympathetic to the fact that Houston was just hit with a hurricane. This all left me with an extremely bad taste in my mouth, consumers should be aware of the type of company they are dealing with before they ever think about doing business with Hotels.com. This is if they know they are doing business with them.

Company: Hotels.com
Country: USA
State: Texas
City: Dallas
Site: hotels.com

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