Online Booking Woes (LONG)

[william41]

I was really feeling proud of myself this year ... it is my first time to book everything online, airline tickets, car rental, PS's, hotel, etc.

As is my custom when "D-Day" is about 1-2 weeks out, I call everyone and re-confirm just to make sure that all is well in the State of Denmark ... WEEELLLLLllllllllll, I'm glad I did! Everything worked out, plane tickets, PS, car; so I'm in the clear, right? WRONG! I called the hotel (offsite) we're booked at from the number given in my email confirmation and guess what! They have NO RECORD of it! And I booked it on March 3 of this year!! That was this past Thurs. night. The person I spoke with asked to call me back after she did more checking;after about 10-15 min., she called back and told me the same thing! NO RECORD. Then she takes my phone number and said the reservation would call me back 'in the morning'. Being impatient (and knowing that we leave in a week and 2 days) I called *him* the next morning. Same story ... he tells me after I explained that I booked online, that the server is independently maintained, they have no control over that. I told him that I could fax a hardcopy of my CONFIRMED reservation to him; he said that it wouldn't make a difference, 'cause they have no record. I'm getting concerned seeing that my credit card number is "out there" with a hefty amount that could be billed to it ... he explained that he could assure me that my no. would not be billed as there is no record. How can that be?!? SOMEONE has to have it!

So I was faced with two worries:my CC charges, and flying to Orlando with no place to stay. Well, a friend at work heard about my predicament, and gave me the number of her friend that works at a local well-known travel agency. She was able to book us into the same chain just down the road. (A matter of "maingate east/west"). I have till 2 p.m. today to cancel that, as I'm still trying to get in my original hotel, but that probably will not happen. We love the hotel, but this has really given me a panic attack in the worst way.

I have emailed the site given me on the original confirmation to try and get this worked out, explaining everything I have here. I just don't know what to do if I see charges on my card next month from this fiasco. It's never happened to me before. (I'm 43)

So, dear unseen friends of the DIS- just count me as one of those who has been bitten hard, and will never book online hotel reservations again! I mean, can you imagine this: getting off the plane, getting the rental car, arriving at hotel and being told we have no record of your reservation IN THE PEAK SEASON!

Sorry this is so long, it's just that I had no place to turn to vent. Maybe some of you can spread some "pixie dust" my way, and others (preferably) would *pray* for me and my family that all goes well for us on our trip!

Thanks,

William
We're THERE June 11-19!

 

[CarolA]

Well, #1 I am not sure why you are so eager to stay at this hotel since they appear really uneager for your business! Just so you know, it may be peak season, but I am in Orlando right now and there are rooms everywhere! (The paper was printing articles earlier this week regarding the "soft" tourism season!)

What company did you book with? They should be able to help you, plus they can tell if they did indeed send the form to the hotel!

As for your credit card, it it appears on the bill- don't pay it! Write the credit card company a letter with all details and they should take care of it!.

 

[william41]

Carol-

I wanted to stay at the Hampton Inn Maingate West. I booked the reservation on THEIR website and when the graphics were downloading, my address bar read "secure-res". As I mentioned, I emailed the address that was on my confirmation yesterday explaining everything, but I still haven't heard from them. Could be because it's the weekend ... I just don't know. Anyhow, the clock time has passed to cancel my plans for the Hampton Maingate East, so we'll go with them. I guess email them (West) back and tell 'em to forget it- cancel everything. (That is, even though they supposedly have no record of it to begin with!)

I'm just to the point now that I'm saying the heck with it-let me get to DISNEY!!!

William

 

[robinb]

William:

I'm sorry for the problems you had . Since it's past your cancelation deadline (although 16 days in advance seems to be a bit excessive), you're at the new place now. No need to worrry any more! You will have a fantastic time at your new hotel. After all, you're going to Disney World!

 

[DNSDisney]

Did you book this through a hotel site or a discount site? Just courious cause we have used a hotel discount site and i am now wondering if i should call the hotel directly to confirm they have our names on the day we are suppose to be there. We leave fri.
thanks

 

[sablair]

I had reservation problems with them back in march. They were REALLY nice, but I didnt get an email conf of a ressie at the HI-MGE and they didnt give me the hotel ressie number I requested.. I called the hotel and they had no record of me. They did say i needed to have their chain (HI-MGE) reservation number to check it with them, and not the travel agents conf #. I asked Dreams to cancel my ressie (out of fear) and they did.. I hope I dont get charged either! Funny... I booked a diff hotel with them, and had no problems with the conf #s.. but after the HI-MGE scare I cancelled all reservations and went with priceline!

Good luck!!!

 

[william41]

DNSDisney-

I booked it through the hotel website itself, not a discount site. Nevertheless, depending on your departure date, I'd call AT LEAST a month in advance to re-confirm. At least then, you'd have a little time to compose yourself and take a look at your options in a worst-case scenario.

Good Luck!

sablair-

I've never tried DU, but maybe in the future I will.
Thanks, and good luck to you, also

 

[Scotch]

William, I hope you kept good notes of the phone calls you made re no record of reservation, including name of rep, time of call. I've simply learned to be cautious when it comes to online reservations/cancellations. As much as I enjoy the freedom and convenience of booking stuff direct online, I've heard of problems. Just this week, I discovered a $375 charge on my VISA card from a Maui hotel that we never stayed at. Then I recalled making a reservation online through the chain's web site back in December for a trip in late May. I thought I had cancelled the reservation once we changed our vacation dates -- I recall the hotel (as typical of many Hawaii hotels) imposes a penalty charge of two nights for reservations not cancelled within 3 days of first checkin date. I searched my emails for the confirmation and cancellation and was happy to discover the email confirming the cancellation of the reservation. I thought, no problem, just a call to the hotel and that'll be it. Well, the first phone call was not sufficient as I was advised that their computer records did not show a confirmation -- I was charged for the no-show. Then I faxed them the two emails I had, one with the confirmation number and the second with the cancellation number. Then another call revealed that the supervisor who issued the charge looked at my fax but still said I should be charged for a no-show. I was convinced that the guy did NOT read both the emails and the nice lady rep said she'll ask him to call me back today (the supervisor's next shift). I just got off the phone. Yup, just as I suspected he didn't look carefully at the second email I faxed them. He asked if I had a cancellation number (to confirm my statement) and I said look at the fax I sent you. He checked and said "I don't know what happened. I'll issue the $375 credit, which should show up in one or two billing cycles." Lesson for me: always print out online reservation/cancellation confirmations and keep email records of same for as long as necessary. In your case, just watch your credit card bill for one or two billing cycles after your Orlando dates to make sure you don't get charged for "no-shows" for your first reservation due to the hotel's messed up record system.

 

[william41]

Scotch-

Re: Good Notes of Phone Calls ..
Yes, as a matter of fact, I did! Before I got off the phone Thurs. night with the front desk receptionist, I got her name; then Fri. a.m. when I called I got the name of the reservationist that I spoke with.

It's interesting that you should mention that, because after speaking w/ the reservationist Fri. a.m., and him saying that the server was in a different location and was maintained by an independent company, I re-read the first sentence of my so-called "confirmation" which says in essence: "If you have any questions, please call ***-***-****(the hotels' direct line 800 no.) or email us at *****@******.com"(the HOTEL'S EMAIL ADDRESS!) In my email, I mentioned the two people that I spoke with by name- so if they screwed up, I guess they'll hear about it!


Mistakes I can deal with, incompetance is another matter (and there IS a difference!) ... I hope I find out which, one way or the other pretty quick!

 

[william41]

UPDATE ON BOTCHED RESERVATIONS!-

After emailing the hotel Friday night and saying that I hoped they could fix things, because I really wanted to stay with them, I had all weekend to think about this thing ... so, I sent them yet another email last night (Sun.) telling them to forget it, cancel everything, I want an email confirmation of it as well as a handwritten letter stating that my CC was not charged, etc...

WELL- this morning(Mon.) I had barely been at work 5 min. when I get this phone call - the MANAGER of the hotel (!) calls me and (in so many words) 'grovels at my feet' asking me if I still wanted to stay with them! I'm leaving out quite a lot of BULL here, but that's where I wanted to stay in the first place, and it seems he's bending over backward to get us to stay there anyway.

I feel better now, a sense of satisfaction in knowing that sometimes a person just has to 'push' a little harder to get things made right. I'm really not the type of person to get aggressive with people in this respect, but I guess when it comes to me and my money,......
a happy ending is in sight!

 

[robinb]

How are you going to get out of the other reservation you made? I thought you couldn't cancel it.

I hope things work out for you ... it sounds like the original hotel will do things right by you.

 

[william41]

robin-

The travel agent that I hooked up with Fri. afternoon called the Hampton ME and cancelled it for me.

Further update****

I received yet ANOTHER call this morning from the hotel manager, who apologized profusely about the whole mix-up and the way things had been running. Get this-
he wanted to give me a *confirmation number* so everything would run smoothly!

Hey, all I want to do is get there now, ya know?!