In November we booked through Hotels.com a 7 day stay for 4 people (2 rooms) at a ski resort in the Italian alps at 148 Euros per room per night. The stay was for mid- February The hotel contacted me a few days before the visit to confirm the arrangements.
The first problem was that Hotels.com had only arranged for a double and a single room, even though it was stated in the reservation details that Hotels.com had sent that each room was for 2 people. The second problem was that the price that Hotels.com had quoted on the website was incorrect, and the hotel said that we would be charged the difference.
I immediately spoke to the Hotels.com call center. They contacted the hotel and verbally accepted responsibility for the error. I was told that all I would need to do was send Hotels.com a copy of the hotel bill at the end of my stay and I would be refunded the excess. This seemed like an entirely reasonable response, and so I left it at that.
On my return home, I contacted Hotels.com and they asked me to send in the invoice. This showed that I had paid 164 and 214 Euros per night for the two rooms (ie a total of 82 Euros per night more than quoted, 574 Euros for the week).
Since then, it has become clear that Hotels.com does not honor its commitments. I have telephoned and emailed them on numerous occasions over a three month period. While the call center is always polite, it is totally ineffectual. It is impossible to talk to anyone with the authority to address my complaint as the call centre claim that they can only communicate with Hotels.com's complaints department by email.
I have yet to receive any response in writing despite my extensive efforts. It has become increasingly clear that Hotels.com has not, and probably never had, any intention of making any reimbursement to cover the costs associated with the webpage error. It's not just a rip-off, but it's the dishonesty of the website that is sickening.
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