UPDATE: Nasty hotel room booked through Expedia, any experience?

[Dawnlight]

A friend and I recently had a few days vacation with our kids and booked two rooms after reading pretty decent reviews on Expedia. It was a budget hotel, not needing anything fancy, just a clean place to sleep and shower and store our items while we were away on day trips in the area.

We arrived at the hotel and it was disgusting. It smelled horribly of smoke that someone tried to cover up with god awful overpowering room fresheners. One room, when the AC unit was turned on, smelled like death. Something dripped from the ceiling onto the head of one of the children. There was green mold on the tiles in the bathroom. The carpets were extremely worn and not vacuumed.

We went to ask for another room for one family in our group (the other room was a little more acceptable), when we turned on the light in the other room cockroaches went skittering. Ugh.

We couldn't stay there, so went to speak with the clerk. He said he'd not charge either of us for those nights even though Expedia has a policy of charging one night if reservation is cancelled. I don't consider it cancelling per se, more this place was not acceptable by any standard and didn't live up to the reviews of cleanliness.

Lo and behold, I get home only to see a charge from this hotel and 2 others pending! I'm livid, spoke with my credit card company and she called on my behalf and we had a 3-way conversation with the clerk. He agreed to reverse the charge that went through and I have to wait on the two pending to see if they fall off or go through. My friend also has a charge pending on her card.

Has anyone had similar experience with booking through an online agency and arriving at a hotel only to find it unfit? Have you had success in getting charges reversed if you chose not to stay?

 

[cabanafrau]

I never do the third party booking for reasons like this. I'm wondering if you're going to wind up with an issue with Expedia's policies even if the hotel comes through with a credit for you? I'd imagine Expedia is going to want their cut from the hotel regardless since they have a policy of one night charge no matter what.

We wound up with issues one time in Clearwater at a hotel we direct booked ourselves. It was nasty & we wound up charged for the night even though we were back at the front desk immediately after opening the door to the room.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I don't use those sites to book either. I know a lot of people have good experiences with them, but if something were going to go wrong, it would happen to me.

 

[jevs]

I always book direct with the hotel, there are just too many things that can go wrong - and expedia doesn't have the best rap.

 

[bcla]

I always book direct with the hotel, there are just too many things that can go wrong - and expedia doesn't have the best rap.

That's always been my preference, but there are some outlying cases. Some hotels basically use online travel agencies as their booking sites. They may not have their own website, and if they do they might not have any way of booking directly.

I've also gotten some better rates or freebies for using an external website.

 

[jevs]

That's always been my preference, but there are some outlying cases. Some hotels basically use online travel agencies as their booking sites. They may not have their own website, and if they do they might not have any way of booking directly.

I've also gotten some better rates or freebies for using an external website.

The ones that don't have online booking I phone up or email. With phoning sometimes I've gotten a cheaper rate.

 

[JamieH]

We had the same issue back in May and had zero luck trying to get our money back. We went through Expedia, PayPal and the actual hotel. In our case, I blame the hotel, though. The front desk told us that we could get our money back, we just had to call Expedia. Expedia called the hotel while I waited on hold and the hotel's general manager refused. We fought it for 2 months and all I got in the end was an "apology letter" from the general manager

 

[Dawnlight]

UPDATE:

The hotel refunded my money that was charged for the first night and the pending charges for the additional nights dropped off.

 

[3Gsandme]

Be sure to leave an honest review of the hotel through Expedia.

 

[cabanafrau]

UPDATE:

The hotel refunded my money that was charged for the first night and the pending charges for the additional nights dropped off.

That's good news.

 

[NFLDERS]

A friend and I recently had a few days vacation with our kids and booked two rooms after reading pretty decent reviews on Expedia. It was a budget hotel, not needing anything fancy, just a clean place to sleep and shower and store our items while we were away on day trips in the area.

We arrived at the hotel and it was disgusting. It smelled horribly of smoke that someone tried to cover up with god awful overpowering room fresheners. One room, when the AC unit was turned on, smelled like death. Something dripped from the ceiling onto the head of one of the children. There was green mold on the tiles in the bathroom. The carpets were extremely worn and not vacuumed.

We went to ask for another room for one family in our group (the other room was a little more acceptable), when we turned on the light in the other room cockroaches went skittering. Ugh.

We couldn't stay there, so went to speak with the clerk. He said he'd not charge either of us for those nights even though Expedia has a policy of charging one night if reservation is cancelled. I don't consider it cancelling per se, more this place was not acceptable by any standard and didn't live up to the reviews of cleanliness.

Lo and behold, I get home only to see a charge from this hotel and 2 others pending! I'm livid, spoke with my credit card company and she called on my behalf and we had a 3-way conversation with the clerk. He agreed to reverse the charge that went through and I have to wait on the two pending to see if they fall off or go through. My friend also has a charge pending on her card.

Has anyone had similar experience with booking through an online agency and arriving at a hotel only to find it unfit? Have you had success in getting charges reversed if you chose not to stay?

Sorry for that awful experience for you! We always use Tripadviser.ca They seem more reliable in reviews.

 

[King Schultz]

UPDATE:

The hotel refunded my money that was charged for the first night and the pending charges for the additional nights dropped off.

I understand sometimes getting an older, unrefurbished room, but everything should still be in working order and there's no excuse for it being dirty.

Glad things were resolved the way the way should have been.

 

[jevs]

Good result OP.