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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    3

    Angry Hotel Online Reservation Fraud

    Last weekend I reserved a suite described as a King bed and a double hide-a-bed with fridge, microwave, coffeemaker, and hairdryer at a Best Western in Oklahoma City through hotels.com for $81.88/night. I reserved the room with my creditcard. Upon arrival, the clerk had my reservation and informed me that the room desribed in the reservation listing did not exist at the hotel. Since the room was described as a Suite and hotels.com had shown 4 Suites available, I asked if there was any available rather than a "down-sized" room. I was told that there were Suites available and was also shown an internal Best Western memo posted behind the desk that indicated that all Suites were $189/night and $229/night and would not be allowed for less. It was after 1am, so I agreed to a non-Suite room since my wife and daughter were ready to just go to bed after the trip. The room was roughly a 10' x 20' room without either a refridge or a microwave, but it did have 2 Queen beds. In addition, there were other unpleasant things at the hotel and the entire experience was completely unsatisfactory for my family.

    After getting back home, I contacted hotels.com about what I found was fraudulent listings for the hotel and was told that the descriptions for the rooms were Best Western's sole responsibility and the only thing they could do was offer discount coupons for future reservations through their site for a period of one year. I declined the offer as I have no intention of having a similar future experience even with a discount. I then called Best Western's customer service where I was told such rooms were available at the price stated, but only a booking through Best Western's website guarantees a reservation and the room (out of 4 listed) must have been booked. Further, the service agent told me that the 3rd party booking websites all contain disclaimers stating that a reservation does not guarantee the described room. I had the service agent look up the exact same listing I had reserved at hotels.com and he found no such disclaimer. He went through the entire process of reserving the room and found no such disclaimer. He then said that when the listed room is not available they are allowed to substitute any room they wish as fulfilling their reservation duties and this MUST have been the case. He stated that there was nothing fraudulent done by Best Western and hoped that I would have better experiences in the future. I uttered a few obscenitites after that and was hung up on for being vulgar.

    In summary, I reserved a room through a 3rd party booking website. Although similar rooms, if not the exact room being listed for reservation, were available at the point of booking-in; I was denied the room without paying an additional $100/night. I was substituted a room that was not at all what was described by Best Western in the listing for the same price as the listed Suite I reserved. Neither Best Western or hotels.com will assume responsibility for what I clearly see as past and present fraudulent listings on the hotels.com website. There is also no intention of changing this practice on either parties behalf. It was unfortunate, but conformed to both parties business practices. There is no disclaimer as claimed by Best Western on the hotels.com website or booking process. This experience will be allowed to happen to anyone in the future at any time.

    What would be the proper process to pursue concerning what I clearly find as intentional fraudulent booking practices? Is this a criminal matter that a gov't attorney's office can investigate? Is this a civil matter that I can pursue to try and eliminate any such future practices by the named parties?

    This link is the same room listing as I reserved (#17 & #18):

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Hotel Online Reservation Fraud

    Looking at Best Western listings, the Hotels.com listings are accurate. They have a room they describe as "Suite-1 King 1 Double, Second Bed Is A Sofabed, Coffee Maker" - that's what you reserved.

    The fact that one price is given online does not mean that the same price will be offered at the counter, although my experience has been that I can usually get an even better price at the counter if the hotel has room available. This Best Western apparently has decided that it can fill up on last-minute guests while charging a premium.

    I must also observe that I had something similar happen at a Hampton Inn, and they were so eager to "make things right" that they comped us their best suite on our next visit to the area. I once left an item at a Comfort Inn and, when I kept getting the run-around trying to get it sent to me (I was prepared to pay shipping and a handling fee), a report to their corporate headquarters resulted in their quickly locating the item and overnighting it to me at no charge.

    What does this mean? I'll continue to patronize Hampton Inns and, assuming I know it is a decent facility, Comfort Inns, but... your experience is making me put Best Westerns pretty low on my list of alternative hotel chains.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Hotel Online Reservation Fraud

    Thanks for the reply. I was looking more into getting a direction as to where to file a complaint. OKC-DA, state DA, some federal agency, the BetterBusinessBureau, etc....

    Any ideas?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: Hotel Online Reservation Fraud

    If a company is a member of a Better Business Bureau, you can complain to that BBB and see what comes from their investigation. State attorney general's offices typically accept consumer complaints about businesses.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Hotel Online Reservation Fraud

    Thanks Aaron!

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