Recently, I shared the details about how Hotels.com totally screwed up our reservation in Barcelona.
A quick summary of what took place
After an overnight flight, the Michael W Travels family showed up early in the morning at our hotel in Barcelona. When we tried to check- in, we were told that we didn’t have a reservation.
Around a month back I had changed our reservation. I received a confirmation of the changes but the hotel claimed that they only received a cancellation message.
In the link above, you’ll find more details about what took place.
Around a week after publishing my post, I received an e-mail from PR person for Hotels.com. The message mentioned how a colleague had sent my post his way. After I responded I was then told that the matter would be escalated.
Later that day I received an e-mail from a Consumer Relations Agent. (The agent had tried calling me but I’m not able to answer my phone while at work.)
The e-mail included an apology about the events which took place in Barcelona. They confirmed my account of what took place. (I called to change a booking. When eliminating some nights off of a booking, Hotels.com cancelled and rebooks the reservation.)
Here’s where it gets interesting
The hotel owner claims that they never received our new booking for a two night stay. I found this hard to believe considering I received confirmation from Hotels.com.
Hotels.com stated in the e-mail that, “the hotel did not confirm these revised dates.”
What Do I Think?
I actually believe Hotels.com and think that the property may actually be more the one to blame than the booking site.
The owner didn’t want to look at my Hotels.com confirmation e-mail when I tried showing him my phone. At first, he also said that I never had a reservation. Then he went through a binder, pulling out our original booking which was printed out. On the booking, I believe the word cancelled was written on it.
Did the owner forget to print out our new reservation? Who knows, but it seems kind of odd.
Hotels.com Goodwill Gesture
The rep said that as a goodwill gesture for our inconvenience , a $102 good will coupon was issued. The coupon is a one time use code good for one year from the date of issue.
While the $102 amount was odd (I think it was around the cost of one night at the hotel in Barcelona), I do appreciate Hotels.com stepping up and apologizing for the headache we went through.
Final Thoughts:
While we can’t recoup the time wasted, at least Hotels.com tried to do right by us. The voucher will definitely get used on one of our upcoming trips.
The one thing I did wondered was, if I didn’t write a blog post, would the site have given my case another look? Either way, kudos to Hotels.com for handling this situation in a thoughtful manner.
