So back in February to be exact February 13th we booked through a third party site which we have done several times with no problems. This is the first time we ever used something called otel.com we were charged $2,519 on February 13th for our stay December 29th through January 4th. Something told me to call the hotel yesterday to make sure they had our reservation. I was told it was booked and canceled the same day by this third party company. Needless to say it looks like this company is no longer in business you call the number can't get a hold of anybody as it says they are not taking calls because of covid no way to contact via email and I found them on Facebook and Instagram sent them messages no response. Called my credit card company to try to dispute the charge and so we could rebook but because it's been since February has to go into some type of investigation and it's a 50/50 shot if we will get our money back. This really sucks as we were looking forward to going and now have to decide if we want to suck it up and pay to go again in a couple weeks. Airline is booked and we are supposed to be meeting friends out there. Anybody else have this issue? Anything you think can be done? I called Temptations and they said they have seen this a lot where companies will book a reservation have the credit card charged and then turn around and cancel it! So mad and sad!
That has happened to me before, but I didn't find out until I got to the resort. I booked another room on booking.com and disputed the charge for the first booking. My bank did refund the money, but it took a while. I expect you will get your money back also, but it does take a while. Good luck. If you can, you should definitely book through some resource you have heard of and enjoy the trip. You only live once. Sorry you are going through this, it is not fun.
Sorry to hear this. If past experience is an indicator, you should receive full credit soon. Best of luck, we usually stick with Expedia.
Thank you and sorry to hear you went through this as well. I was just telling my husband thank God we found out before we arrived.
Another simple risk vs. reward to find the best price. Understandable. Meaning your risk, their reward! Could have been their method all along to scam people. Then again, covid has messed up many businesses. A lesson is to book thru the known third parties or directly thru the hotel at a higher price with the peace of mind that money will be returned or credit if cancellation is in order or that the reservation will remain in tact.
I agree. What really sucks is we have done third party sites many times with no issues at all. I just don't understand how people can sleep at night knowing what they are doing. So if we decide to go we will be paying double what we planned.
Couples Travels went under last year, and we were booked with them. We got our money back, and I think every one else did too. We always use third party sites. Orbitz, Expedia, and Fun Jet without any problems.
I had the same thing happen with Snap Travel a year ago. I had booked my Nov 2019 trip through Snap in Nov of 2018 because of a great price. The day before I was to arrive I called TTR just to confirm my reservation. I usually do this about a week before a trip to make sure there are no issues. I hadn't got around to it this time so I was checking the day before. Sure enough TTR said I had no reservation, that it had been cancelled by Snap in Dec 2018, a week after I had paid them. After calling Snap and getting told their system showed the reservation was still live and they wouldn't refund the money, because it was the day before, I called the resort back. They said there was nothing they could do and the resort was sold out for most of the next week. Luckily I had become a member earlier in 2019 and called Premier right away to see what they could do for me about getting a room. They were great. They checked their system and found a reservation that had been cancelled that morning so I was able to go. Never did get my money back from Snap and credit card company was no help because it had been a year. NEVER USE SNAP TRAVEL!!!!
