I need your help

[WebmasterPete]

Hi everyone,

I need your help. I've been asked to do a radio interview next week about online travel nightmares and how to avoid them. I have lots to discuss from my perspective as the owner of an online agency (and of course thru the DIS), but I can't say that I have lots of personal experience with this. I've been very fortunate in that I've always had pretty good experiences when I traveled, but I also work in the industry and know what to watch for.

I was wondering if some of you might have some stories you can share with me that I might be able to use during the interview (and for an associated article I'm writing for the site). I'm not looking for freebies here, I'll give a $100 Disney gift certificate to anyone whose story I use. What I'm looking for is if you've had experiences booking a vacation online only to have a nightmare waiting for you when you arrived (the hotel was a dump, the room had roaches, things that were supposed to be 'all inclusive' weren't), and how you handled it.

Like I said, I'm writing this up and I've gotten pretty far with it, but I've hit a brick wall and I'm looking for some suggestions from you fine folks

Thanks,
Pete

 

[tinkbutt]

I wish I had an online nightmare for you but I don't
I have some good horror travel stories but none dealing with online booking

horrible airport bus drivers slamming on the breaks every ten seconds and yelling at people to get the **** off

mother reading the wrong time for our flight so we missed the flight by thirty minutes

that type of thing

 

[Madi100]

Pete, I don't think mine would be considered to be nightmares, but things that are headaches when it comes to vacations.

We recently took a trip to Vegas and booked all together, six adults. On most of the flights, we weren't sitting together. Not even couples. It was six seats all spread out. We also booked three king sized rooms that were adjoining. What we got were three rooms with queen sized beds in each room. The rooms weren't close together. It wasn't even on our reservation with the hotel that we requested it.

We booked on Hotwire one time with another couple for just a hotel. She was sitting at her computer, me at mine. With Hotwire you get to see the hotels, just not the names. We found what we thought were the exact same hotel, because it was all worded the same with the same amentities and everything. When we purchased, they were two different hotels. Not only that, but the one we got was a very nice hotel, in a nice area surrounded by eating places. Their hotel was not a very nice hotel, much older, and while right off the interstate, it was not a very nice area.

And lastly, we used Priceline once while we were in Chicago. We wanted Michigan Avenue area. What we got was 13 blocks from Michingan Avenue. It was still in their area considered Michigan Avenue area, but not by much.

I've just found that anything I book that is a "secret" in any way, I'm not happy with the end results. I know these aren't much, but if any of it is helpful, feel free to use it. It's not payment worthy, though.

 

[DrDeb]

Booked a cruise [NOT Disney] with Cruises.com on Royal Caribbean--the excursion to Atlantis was a bonus for booking with that online travel service. I was told the tix would be 'waiting' for us in our cabins. When we arrived they weren't there-- I told the concierge on board and gave him my confirmation # and the agent's name & extension--HE called the Cruise.com rep who assured him she would fax the passes...after some time and no fax, he kindly called again--needless to say-- she never did what she promised and i spent good 'sun and fun' time at a desk chasing this 'gift' that never came and ended up paying for the excursion. Upon my return [the RC cruise was wonderful] I sent a detailed letter to Cruise.com and asked for some sort of reply-- again NOTHING--not even a courtesy apology. I would NEVER book with them again--saved a bit of money, but in the long run-not at all worth the aggravation and discourtesy.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

We've been very fortunate as well, but we did have a hotel room we booked online for a visit to Victoria BC about four years ago that was presented much differently than what it actually looked like. I don't know if you want specifics as far as the name, and location, but this hotel was listed as being close to the waterfront when in fact it was several blocks away.

Also I believe it had a 3-star rating (which looking back in retrospect -- I think must have been based on the US/Canadian exchange rate at the time because you sure didn't get as much for 3 stars in Canada as you did in the US!). The room was old and shabby...everything from the carpet to the drapes to the towels -- which were so thin you could actually see through! And of course, the highlight was the adult book/movie store located directly across the street. I'm surprised the hotel rate information normally posted on the back of the room door didn't include hourly as well as nightly!

As far as doing anything about it -- we felt as though our hands were tied as we were traveling on a Saturday night during the high summer season and most of the hotels closeby were already sold-out. Also, we came via ferry and had no car...or even a way to return home until the morning so we decided to just keep the reservation but spend as little time in the room as possible. FWIW, I did leave a very negative report on Trip Advisor upon our return.

 

[BRobson]

It almost makes me wish I had a holiday disaster

Now if you wanted to know about British Airways and 7 lost suitcases - I could tell you a story

 

[disprincessatheart]

A few years back I was moving out of state, and my mom and I were traveling to my new town to find an apartment. We were only staying one night and decided to use priceline to book a cheap hotel. We really didnt' know the area and booked a discounted hotel about 3 miles from my new work location. When we arrived we discovered it was right off the main highway and it was a motel style hotel that had seen much better days - think All Star that hasn't been maintained for about 20 years. There were lots of questionable people hanging out on the walkways and we felt very uncomfortable. Since we'd already paid for the room we decided the best thing to do would be to spend all of our waking time not at the room and only come back there when we were ready to go to bed. We were so nervous we actually put a chair in front of the door just in case! We didn't get much sleep and we checked out not long after the sun came up, and we're not morning people. That hotel scared me so much I've never used priceline again!

 

[DVCsince02]

Hi Pete! Hope your vacation is going well.

I have a travel story you can use, but I can't remember the name of the B&B.

When my husband and I were newly married and wanted to do a romantic B&B vacation to New England. I bought books about B&Bs searched the web and talked to everyone I knew. After searching I found a B&B online that was in CT that had an adjoining winery, restaurant, and a view of a beautiful lake. The same B&B was also listed in two books I had and were given high marks. The web site showed a beautiful lake, a warm lobby area with sitting room, wrap around porches, people in the restaurant having cooking classes, wine tastings, and all the comforts of a hotel, including TV, phone, and beautiful bedrooms with attached bathrooms. There was even a spot for testimonials from previous guests with glowing remarks. I made our reservation on-line and received an immediate confirmation. I even called to confirm prior to our drive from Delaware.

Upon arrival, the lake was amazing. I haven’t seen one like it since. We immediately recognized the B&B from the website picture. We entered the front door and were confronted by a smell I can only explain as musty and old, with a heavy touch of moth balls. We were still optimistic and kept moving forward looking towards a delicious dinner and wine tasting later that night. We stepped up to the sign-in desk to find a generic letter to guests stating they were not in the at the moment and please take the key in the envelope with your name on it. We think okay, but which way do we go? We dragged our luggage up and down 2 flights of stairs all the while being followed by a little boy whom I’m sure I have seen in the Shining! Finally we find our room and the thought of taking a nap before dinner is making us giddy with excitement. My DH opens the door and we see it. The bed from hell. Sitting against the wall was a queen sized pit of grandmas ratty afghans. And when I say pit I mean that little boy that followed us could play hide-n-seek in there. Nervously I walk in behind my husband and he is just standing there. Then I hear the words…. “no TV”, ….”no TV”, “where is the TV?”. I push him out of the way to see the bathroom. Well guess what I found…. BUGS! Little ones, big ones, all shape and size ones. I turn to DH and say let’s go. We open the door to the scary little boy standing at the railing smiling at us. We politely and cautiously smile and rush back to the check in desk to check out. Phone, phone, where is the phone? I finally find in a closet an old fashioned phone where you speak into wooden box and have a separate ear piece. I call the number from our confirmation and the phone is answered by a very polite woman. I explain that our room and the B&B is not as pictured and requested a full refund. I put the key back where we found it and never looked back. Except at the beautiful lake.

Seems like no matter how much searching and research you do on the internet, traveling is a gamble. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. After 10 years of marriage and 2.5 kids later we still talk about "The Shining" B&B.

 

[ArielRae]

My First story happened a few years ago. My DH's grandfather passed away and we had to bring him back to Vero beach Florida from New Jersey to be buried. We decided to drive cause we had him cremated and with the issue about powders and all on airplanes we decided it would be best to drive him down. It took us two days to drive down. We booked two different hotels thru expedia. We went thru all the info and picked ones we though would be good. One was the Amera Suites in south Carolina which was wonderful. The other one was the Howard Johnson express inn in Vero beach which was right down the road from where the funeral would be. Well upon arrival we checked in and went to our assigned room. The place was a nightmare. DH works as an apartment maintenance man and when he saw this place he flipped out. The room was filthy. The bed looked like it hadn't been changed out since the stone age. There where stains of unknown origin all over the floor. They screwed the frig door shut with short screws which did not keep the door shut so the smell was awful. There was a huge hole in the shower. We where in an upstairs room so that had to leak downstairs. There was mold all over the ceiling and walls. DH had them give us another room which turned out to be no better then the first one. Finally after all this mess we demanded that we get all our money back which we did get with the manager begging us not to contact the main office cause they where currently fixing up the place. yea right. LOL I have never been in a hotel room that has been in such poor up keep before. We took our money and went to a little mom and pop place near by and ended up getting a truly remodeled room with brand new out of the box sheet. We told the manager there our story and we came to find out that that place was always horrible and that since we where from NJ where this manager was from we got the best room. This made everything so much better. It is just sad something like this had to happen during such a sad time.


My second and most recent story was our trip to Atlantic city. We stayed at the Resorts Atlantic city. We purchased our hotel thru expedia. We arrived a little before check in time but where assigned our rooms any ways. we had a room in the ocean towers. We head up to our room to find it all stained up with the shower head caked with minerals. The tissue dispenser could cut you. So we head down to get a different room. We check that room out only to find the same problems after two more rooms after that I had it. The straw that broke the camels back was that the last room had a blood stain on the curtains and when I asked if they could change that curtain they told me no that was an outside service but they could try and clean it for me. NO NO NO. I demanded a supervisor after I cried my eyes out to him as it was our anniversary and I had to spend hours looking at rooms he gave us a room in the Rendezvous tower which was beautiful. Turns out they have two different cleaning companies working there and one is way better then the other. Now we only get the Rendezvous tower room and if they can't get us that we are out of there.

 

[Minniemouse07]

My dh and I were married in Ocho Rios, Jamaica while on a cruise (Celebrity). We planned this event very carefully and had a group of 20 family and friends with us to celebrate the wedding

I found our destination wedding “specialist” online. She had a lovely website with gorgeous photos of the different sites around the world where they could arrange weddings. In addition to being wedding coordinators they were also travel agents… cruise specialists even! The majority of our communication was through her website and email, only when I was irate was it by phone...but all phone interaction was initiated by me

If I wasn’t the anal retentive planner that I am, we would have been taken advantage of beyond belief.

The owner of the company said that just because the cost of the cruise dropped online (on the cruise line’s website) it doesn’t mean that she can get the same “deals” for us. Only when I pressed for it and told her that I knew that we could, did she begrudgingly adjust the costs of our cabins.

The owner also gave me the run around when I asked, with just a few weeks until our final payment was due, about group discounts for the cruise. She tried to tell me that we didn’t qualify (with 20 people and 11 cabins!!) and when I pressed the issue stopped returning my calls and emails. After battling with her over this for a few weeks (and almost final payments due), I finally contacted the cruise line directly and then they patched her in on a three way call. She was NOT happy with me that I went over her head, but agreed during the call that yes we did qualify for a discount. I found out later that she booked two other couples for weddings in Ocho Rios for the same cruise, along w/ her family and two other staff members. I am suspecting that she wanted to use the free berths for her family.

Our wedding was pre- 9/11 so although security was important, it wasn’t as strict as it is today. My husband’s aunt and uncle decided that they didn’t want to go on a cruise but that they did want to attend our wedding. They booked an all inclusive in Ocho Rios and met us at the gardens for the ceremony. Afterwards they came back to the ship with us to have lunch in the ship’s dining room. This was planned ONE YEAR in advance. In fact, the travel agent/wedding planer offered the all inclusives as options for the guests from the moment we contacted her. She told me the entire time that we planned the wedding that there would be “no problem” getting the aunt and uncle on the ship. She “knew people” and would make sure it was taken care of. I routinely checked with her that it was okay for them to dine with us and I was repeatedly assured that it was taken care of

Then we got on the ship. Remember there are THREE staff members from the travel agency traveling WITH us on the cruise. All three of them were dining at the table NEXT to ours every night for dinner. We boarded on a Saturday and the wedding was on Monday morning. Both Saturday and Sunday nights I checked to make sure everything was okay, asking again about the aunt and uncle. The TA assured us all she had to do was speak to the special events person that was her contact. That was the first indication to me that it “wasn’t taken care of.”

Turns out that even w/ all of my follow up w/ her about the status of this issue. SHE NEVER ASKED! So here I am , married for about 2hrs with all my guests up in the ship's dining room waiting for ME to come and celebrate our wedding... and I’m STANDING ON THE PIER IN MY WEDDING DRESS at the security desk w/ dh’s aunt and uncle, waiting for them to get clearance to come on board!! We waited there for 45 minutes before they allowed them to board. The TA was still at the gardens coordinating the other two weddings and made a call to her “contact” on the ship…who was “on leave for the day” so it took some time to figure out who could give the okay.

The TA actually told me to make sure I waited with dh's aunt and uncle because, after all, security would be more likely to let them on since I was wearing my wedding dress!

One of the reasons for my destination wedding was that I really don’t like to be the center of attention. Try standing on a pier in front of a cruise ship in a wedding dress and see how much attention you get!

Our wedding was beautiful and everyone in our group had an amazing time. This was because of all the hard work dh and I put into the planning…okay, most of it was me… NOT because of our TA/wedding coordinator. The majority of the weddings/cruises they handle are done so w/o them present. To be honest I shudder to think what kind of fiascos they turn out to be. We spoke w/ the “team” the night before the wedding to make sure where all the guests were supposed to meet the vans to take them to the ceremony… and we were told to “not worry about it, we’ll figure it out when we get to the pier.”

So there are no roaches or lost reservations in our saga…but a sincere warning in using travel agents online that really don’t know what they are doing (I'll throw in a disclaimer that I'm using DU for an upcoming WDW trip and Marla rocks!). Thank goodness for other online resources that told me that we were supposed to get a group discount, and that our TA should honor price reductions for our cruise, otherwise we would have been taken advantage of, and our guests would have been out a lot of money. Unfortunately, these practices are only unethical, not criminal!

 

[lugnut33]

One year for the Formula 1 race in Indianapolis I booked a hotel room online at the Dollar Inn. I was thinking: "Hey, this is nice and cheap and we are only about 45 minutes from Indianapolis Motor Speedway".

We get to the motel located right off of Interstate 65 and check in with the completely disinterested receptionist who was watching Maury. We went to our room and it was like I was hit in the face with a baseball bat as soon as I walked in. The smell can only be described as vomit mixed with amonia.

I ran back down to the recepetionist who immediately told me, "There are no more rooms". So I got on my cell phone and started calling around to find another hotel, but she was right, there was literally no more rooms anywhere around central Indiana.

So, I go back to the receptionist and ask if I can have a fan, which she was nice enough to give me. We propped the door open and tried airing out the room, which helped very little.

I finally laid down on the bed and kicked my shoes off since I was tired after the 6 hour drive and the resulting fiasco. I got up to use the rest room only to find the carpet was wet with some substance, GROSS!!

It was finally time to try and sleep so we shut the door, which was a bad idea because the smell came back and was really stong. We literally had to sleep with the door open all night and the fan blowing in fresh air.

Next morning I told the manager who was working the front desk about the crappy smelly room we had. So, being the generous person he was, he took $5 off our bill, because we had already got an "internet bargain". LOL.

To top it off, we went to the race and I noticed I was missing my watch, I had left it back at the motel. So I called and sure enough, they couldn't find it. I hope the cleaning lady enjoyed the watch.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

Well if it is to good to be true I say RUN!!!! DH and I booked a weeks vacation to Lake Tahoe for $1100 that included room, lift tickets, food, air, rental car and a bottle of champagne. The flights were fine. We got our car which was something along the lines of a Ford Focus (to use in the Mountains of Nevada) needless to say we had to pay to upgrade to a 4 wheel drive vehicle with 6 foot of snow on the ground. We arrive at the "beautiful lakeside hotel" to find yes a true roach motel that was located just down the street from all the casino type hotels. Words can not desribe the condition of the room. Musty old lake side resort. Dry rotted curtains, bespread with stains, TV with those antenna things on top. We luckily didnt see any bugs due to the cold weather but found the traps for them all over the room. Our meals were literally cooked by the owner of the hotel. The shuttle bus from the hotel to the ski resorts was some sort of old hanicapped school bus painted over a royal blue color. Thankfully I was young and the champagne was there to get me drunk because I would have cried otherwise. After 3 days at the roach motel we gave in and rented a room at one of the casinos. It was probably the worst hotel I have ever seen. Oh yeah there was also a hole in the floor that was patched up with plywood and a rug thrown over it, which with ski boots on my husband tripped over and ended up with a fat lip. This lovely hotel was surrounded by poro video stores and there was not a lake view as advertised. I wish I could remember the name of the place. I am sure some Soprano type people have probably dumped a few cold bodies there. I will never again book a good deal unless I have some information on the place. In the end we spent another $1,000 to change hotels and upgrade our car. The food was just lost. It was the craziest experience of my life.

It was booked online through an add found in SKI magazine. Those people should be shot for lying.

***Updated to add hotel name. My husband said the Name of the hotel was The Tropicana so he just assumed it was the same as the Tropicana in AC, boy was he wrong. LOL.

 

[TallyTutter]

Sorry, no help here either.

My husband & I took a 3 week trip to Europe a few years ago. I booked the entire thing online before we left (I didn't use a travel agency either) & everything worked out perfectly! How horrible is that ! Not only was it all booked online, it was 4 foreign countries, using 4 different exchange rates (before the Euro), 3 different languages and I don't have anything to complain about.

We started in Amsterdam, stayed 3 days then picked up our rental car (rented online before we left) drove to Germany, drove to Austria, back to Germany to catch a plane to London (booked online again) and then 4 days in London. We even had tickets to the Tower of London - these were for when they lock the Tower up at night, you can only be a part of it if you get tickets ahead of time! (Again, online!!) I so enjoyed planning this trip, it was an awesome time with my DH.

My husband has bragged on me every chance he's gotten because it went so well. I think he was very surprised! I'm ready to go again.

 

[wilde_oscar]

I used to travel a lot for work, and would book my own travel online, very early in the online universe, mid to late 90's.


Once a highly rated hotel I checked into late in the evening... the hotel was being renovated, the room they assigned me had exposed pipe, one of which was leaking raw sewage. I asked to be moved to a different room, there were none, so I asked to be moved to a different hotel, at their expense... which they begrudgingly did.

Once in Dallas, because of weather I got into the Embassy Suites very late, they were out of rooms, but could put my in the presidential suite if I would be leaving early, which I was. In the middle of the night I got up to use the bathroom, and turned the wrong way in my haze and fell into the hot tub in the middle of the floor. Great luck to get such a nice room, wasn't there long enough to enjoy it... when I was asked the next morning how it was, by the same person that checked me in... I mentioned falling in the hot tub in the middle of the night, they should warn someone in the middle of the night about that. The response was, "so you are complaining about getting upgraded to a room with a hot tub?"

I have several examples of checking in and getting a room that someone was already in... one that stands out was a couple that was "in the middle of something" when I opened the door... another where a gentleman was "in the middle of something" when I opened the door... and last but not least a gun pointed at me, the guy thought I was breaking in.

Lots of online flight booking in the early days were weird, several times though a prominent site, I would get to the airport to check in for the flight, and they showed no record of my having booked... print out your confirmations. Also there were several times when I thought I had booked a direct flight, when actually there was a stop, you just didn't change planes. So make sure you understand the difference between direct, and non-stop.

Once when flying into NY, NY I had booked car service, online though what I thought was a reputable company... I was picked up in a well used sedan, the guy took me into manhattan (I was staying in times square) from La Guarida via the holland tunnel (if you are not familiar, that would be the longest way possible going completely around the island of manhattan the wrong way) only to have him hold my luggage hostage unless I paid him in cash for the trip, twice the price that was quoted on the site. I called a cop right on the spot, the guy took my card, refused to give it back... but I got my luggage, and was able to call AMEX who had a new card to me at 6am the next morning. No he was never paid for giving me the "ride"

There is the cab ride in Panama (the country in central america) from the airport to downtown... where after I was in the cab, he opened the car door and threw a half dozen empty beer cans in the middle of the street then floored it.

oh, there is the time I was on the same commuter flight with Jessie Jackson... as we were pulling away from the gate, I and the folks I was traveling with, we could see our bags sitting on the tarmac as we were pulling away, asked the attendant "what's up with that" no clue. Asked at the arrival gate, we were told that Mr. Jackson had enough luggage to fill the compartment, the addition of ours would put the flight over weight. Then it took two days for the luggage to show up at the destination (thanks Delta).

I doubt any of that is useable, but it brings back vivid memories.

 

[cocowum]

Hi Pete,

Hope you're enjoying California. I book travel online all the time and we've only had a problem once. In Aug of 2004, AAA was giving away 3 day passes to US/IOA to new members. So DD and I decided to drive down and spend a few days in Orlando at PBH. We were living in VT (Vermont )at the time so it was a 20 hr drive. I booked a hotel for the first night through priceline. 3* according to them. I forget the name of the place but OMG it was a DUMP! We pull up and I'm scared. Most of the lights are blown out, there is a guy sitting outside on a lawn chair, wearing a wife beater (undershirt), cutoffs, black socks and sandals. He's got a little hibachi grill going beside him. but it was about 2 am so we decide to check in anyway. So we go inside and get our room key. We go to the room and turn on the lights. Our shoes are sticking to the carpet. There is a colony of ants on living the table. DD(9 at the time) looks at me and says "How many stars is this?" Needless to say, we turned right around and checked OUT!

 

[amyhughes]

My DH Adam is a peculiar traveller. He does not like hotel rooms that are really tiny, but the budget we travel with usually calls for 400 sq. ft of living space. A friend of ours recommended we look into renting an off property home as it was comparable to a Value budget but gave us each our own space for the week to breathe. We searched and searched online, well I searched and searched until I came up with a reasonable list of priced alternatives. We found a couple from Great Britain that we felt comfortable renting from, drew up a good rental agreement, made our payments and we were KOSHER.

We drove down, with both children which went remarkably well all things considered. The all things considered here was my husband contracted a stomach bug the day of our departure. So I drove most of the way, including through Atlanta traffic!

So we get to our destination and it looks of course just like the pictures. We get the kids set up, and then we go to lay down in our room. My husband lays down first and Hollers! When I say Holler, I mean shouts. We don't like to raise our voices to each other, but he was upset about something. The King Size mattress was so lumpy you could feel the springs collapse under your skin. In all my communications with these folks it never entered into my mind to ask about the mattresses. I was in such a rush to get to Disney and so focused elsewhere I never asked.

This mattress had to have been from the late 80's to early 90's. It CRUNCHED when you sat on it. The other rooms were just as bad. It seemed like whoever we had rented from decided that they would buy their mattresses from a discontinued hotel chain and then ran over them a few times in the driveway. He slept on the floor in the kids room a couple of nights, and then the couch in the family area.

To go to Disney, walk the equivalent of 14-17 miles and not have a comfortable bed to collapse into at the end of the day is a nightmare in and of itself. When your husband is sleeping on the couch because that is the only possible sleeping surface for his back, it's even WORSE! I slept in this bed a couple of nights, and I must say I ached halfway through the parks the next day, and it definitely affected our energy levels not getting a good night sleep. In hindsight, I don't think we got nearly the enjoyment out of our trip that we should have because of the lack of sleep.

From now on, one of the first questions on my list is, HOW NEW ARE YOUR MATTRESSES??????????

 

[bettyann29]

A few years ago I booked a cruise with an online agency (not disney)... I asked if they could book my pre cruise hotel stay so I wouldnt have to do that myself.. I gave her the hotel that I wanted to stay at and gave instructions that we would be arriving and checking in late on that arrival evening as we had to work that day and were driving to there.. she came back and said there was a special going for booking ahead of time and gave the price. we gave our credit card for them to have in case we didnt show as alot of hotels require this and was told we could pay with cash when we checked out which was what we wanted to do.

We arrived around 11 pm on that specific night at the hotel and found out that the doors were locked.. the front desk person let us in and when we proceeded to check in he said that there was no active reservation for us. When I explained that there was, he said that the reservation was cancelled as we didnt arrive by a certain time and they figured we werent coming so it was cancelled. I explained that the travel agent was to give instructions that we were arriving late that night so that this didnt happen. He said there was no notes attached to the reservation. There were rooms available but he said that he had to charge us full price. I explained the rate we were given but he said that was for early bookings only, since ours was cancelled this was being treated as a walkin. Honestly we were just tired so we did it and figured we would get it straightened out with the agent when we arrived home.

We went on our cruise (which was wonderful), got home and I called the TA. Basically she appologized and that was it.. they didnt do anything to rectify the situation with us.. I dont know what I was expecting them to do but just felt like the sorry wasnt enough.. I havent used them again! Our card was never charged, so I was happy for that but that was about it.

 

[daneenm]

Hi Pete!

Hope you are having a nice trip. My sister was at DLR this week with her family and said it was very busy!

Fortunately, we only have one not so good result from booking on-line. We rented a cabin in Tahoe for our whole family (11 of us total) from an internet based agency. There were a couple of pictures which looked pretty good so we took it. Some things that were key to us - it needed to be above the normal snow line, we needed at least 4 bedrooms, we needed living space for 11 and we had to have phone reception. The agent assured us that all of those things were true about the house.

Well, the first thing we noticed when we walked in was the one 'bedroom' was actually the laundry room with a bunk bed stuck in it and a curtain that could be pulled across the opening. This was right by the front door and not well insulated so it was freezing all the time. The rest of the house seemed OK (its features were definitely overstated) until we got dressed the next morning and tried to use the built in wall heater in the bathroom. We turned it on and it heated up VERY hot and VERY fast ...then it would not turn off. We tried everything. Pretty soon the plastic control knob was starting to melt and the wall above the heater was turning brown and was HOT to the touch. As a last resort we actually had to trip the circuit at the breaker box. Well, at least it didn't burn the place down. When we told the agent about it, she mentioned something about it (the breaker - which we did not turn on) should not have been turned on so they clearly knew they had a problem but had done nothing to fix it and in the end we could have had a disaster.

To make matters worse, the cabin was not even close to the normal snow line. Only in rare circumstances do they get snow, we now know. We also had NO phone service - zilch. Again the agent had assured us that while the cabin did not have a land line, we would have no problem with cell reception. We had to drive 10 minutes down the hill to get even one bar!

Obviously, we will never use this company's on-line service again!
Daneen

 

[Jennygt]

I don't have a real nightmare but I did book online via expedia for a hotel in Bermuda. I was supposed to be Ocean front, and I was charged for it. I forget why but I called the resort directly only to find that I had a parking lot view. It took several calls to get it right but I did. I would never go online without calling the resort directly to confirm my location etc.
How is your trip going? I hope you are having a wonderful time! By the way I am watching the Sam Brown WDW new show and they just did a segmant on the LaNouba little girls and there is NO WAY they are 17!! Have a wonderful time, look forward to hearing all about it.

 

[checkwriter]

Well, there was the time I booked that tour of Turkey through that online travel agency and ended up getting framed for smuggling and was sentenced to 30 years in . . . wait, no, that was "Midnight Express."

Or the time I used that new Internet-based travel agent to reserve a trip to France where I was wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to Devil's Island, only to escape by sailboat and be captured in Columbia . . . no, sorry, that was "Papillon."

Okay, well, there is still that Internet agency that sold me that tour to Switzerland where my spouse fell off the Alp . . . oops, that was "Auntie Mame."

I got nothin', Pete. Sorry.