Crusader Rotten welcome to Big Apple
AFAMILY’S plan of a “dream holiday” in New York over the Christmas break turned into a nightmare when they arrived to find that the apartment they had booked did not appear to exist. Grandfather Vince Baker and his group, including two children and a baby, were stranded on a strange street in the dark on a freezing late December day as the limo that had dropped them off from the airport sped away.
The address they were standing outside matched the reservation for a three-bedroom flat they had made through third-party accommodation booking platform Hotels.com.
“But the place didn’t look like the picture and there was no reception, just locked doors,” explained Vince. “We called all the contact numbers we had been given but they all had the same ‘busy’ message. We called Hotels.com and it said it was getting the same response.
“It was the holidays, we had just come off a long flight and were so worried. Finding another place took us several more hours and after that we had to check every day that our new hotel was able to guarantee us a place that night. Sometimes we had to change rooms and couldn’t fully relax the whole trip.” Hotels.com recognised Vince had grounds for complaint but he was disappointed when the company initially offered a $250 (£201) coupon towards future DREAM TRIP: An exciting trip to New York was spoiled for the Baker family bookings. But then the company, part of online travel giant Expedia, did meet the $971 (£800) cost of the rogue apartment and added an extra £138 to cover currency fluctuations.
Although this helped, the Bakers told Crusader they still felt they had lost out by having the distress to cope with and meet extra expenses incurred, such as the taxis, calls and a more expensive hotel. Vince explained: “When I booked in May for a five-night stay it looked lovely. The price was good and everything was confirmed.
“There were no reviews. In July though adverse reviews for the accommodation were being posted on the site. Having already reserved it I was unaware and there was no alert. In December our booking was confirmed again.”
Having booked successfully before through Hotels.com, Vince was sure he’d followed instructions correctly when he chose the option to pay the apartment provider directly.
We asked the company if it could review what went on and it did so very positively by offering £1,250 on top of the apartment refund, a sum the Bakers have accepted.
The family thanked Crusader for our efforts and in response to Vince’s concerns, Hotels.com confirmed it was no longer taking bookings for the apartment.
It added: “Globally, we partner with hundreds of thousands of hotels. We have local market experts and a support organisation that works closely with accommodation providers to ensure that the online information they provide us includes up-to-date images and descriptions.
“This customer’s booking was for a ‘pay at hotel’ reservation. At hotels this would usually mean payment at a reception desk – but for apartment accommodation this can differ according to the facilities they have and may include online payments.
“If a customer changes their mind about a booking, they are free to cancel. Hotels.com doesn’t charge for cancellations but some hotels may charge a fee. Before a customer cancels, they should check the hotel policy in their confirmation email.
“Customers can check against the property’s booking page to see if other customers have left reviews since their booking.
“In the event there is an issue, we have processes to find alternative accommodation for customers at no additional cost. We’re very sorry that this process didn’t work as it should have done in this instance.”