Thank you for all the helpful info and for those who believe we should have known better…I’ll be sympathetic if you ever get taken in..it does happen!!

On the one hand, I can understand a for-profit outfit not wanting to trumpet in giant, bright red letters at the top of its homepage that a visitor to the site using the service there is going to pay a fee — even when the fee is entirely reasonable.

On the other hand, when you need a magnifying glass rivaling a low-powered microscope to read that information because its written in letters measured by the micron, I *do* have a problem with it, especially when the type doesn’t contrast sharply with the background and surroundings. And I have that problem even when the fee is completely within reason.

Announce it clearly right up front somewhere, or at the very least (as you mention), put a link — prominently — to the page where the fee is spelled out. Spelled out clearly and obviously, and not buried in Paragraph 278 of the page.

This is especially important when something changes, particularly if the change is not to a traveler’s advantage. For instance, some years ago there was a new domestic airline here in Thailand that had a few regional destinations as well. In an effort to generate customers, the airline offered a few truly great deals, the prices advertised in newspapers and at its website prominently and obviously. The fares shown were all-inclusive.

A few months along I saw a newspaper ad for yet another such promotion for a domestic flight to a city I’ve never visited and would like to. So, I went online to book the flight. After wading through several pages of filling in stuff, I got to the fare page to be charged to my card; it was nearly four times the advertised “price” — which, as it turned out, was NOT all-inclusive. I went back to the homepage and went on the hunt, and found there was an almost invisible faint gray asterik next to the price (which was in very large, bright, day-glo dark pink numbers. At the bottom of the page, in tiny type I could barely make out, was a notice that the price was the “air fare” only, not taxes, airport surcharges, fuel surcharges, blah blah blah.

The airline was within the Thai law, and I imagine it would have been with most other countries’ laws as well. But in my view, it was a pretty brazen step.

Also, when I think of an “air fare,” I think of the total price: the amount I’m going to fork over to the airline (or hotel, restaurant, etc.), not some base price then +++.

Take a restaurant meal, for instance. Say I order a steak with a baked potato, a veggie, and a salad. If the menu says $12.95, then that plus tax (and sometimes a service charge) are what I expect to pay. I *don’t* expect to get a bill saying “steak – $12.95, baked potato – $1.95, veggie – $1.95, salad – $1.95, condiments for everything – $2.95, TOTAL: $21.75+++. ” And that’s exactly what airlines sometimes do, as well as other operators in the tourism industry.

Just a thought –

That seems pretty plain and simple to me!!! Call the phone number.. it states the EXACT SAME THING before you even get to talk to someone!!

Judy: if you KNEW that the national park service does not charge a fee then why would you honestly continue to submit the online form? Did you call the company and talk to a supervisor?? Did you receive any help from them? Did you receive your reservation fee back? Sounds like to me that you just want to blame someone for your stupidity. I would never give my credit card information to check availability. I can’t speak for you but I did graduate high school. :)

When I called and spoke to John, he told me..3 times..well you signed the disclaimer…you signed the disclaimer… you do not get your money back if you cancel. Period. For no reason. I explained that I did not authorize a FOR FEE BROKER TO HUSTLE ME OUT OF $500.00 TO BOOK A RESERVATION THAT IS FREE TO BOOK ON THE SITE RIGHT ABOVE HIM… He would not even listen. That tells me that he is not a legitamate company. He is a crook. He is capitalizing on the fact that reservations must be made with a click of a mouse. The world is trying to book reservations now. These people know this. They are capitalizing on the hustle. /

I was only interested in checking availability. I didn’t understand why they wanted my C/C info. but thought that they could not complete the transaction unless that week was available. The internet allowed this transaction to process, even though I received a call later to explain that they did not have that week available and asked if I wanted to reserve a week in July. Because I thought I was dealing with the delaware concessionaire who books with no charge, I said yes at this point. This sealed my fate.

When I received my M/C bill I noticed the charge and thought they had double billed me for the one night’s deposit. That’s when I called them, and they have a recorded message that says they are not an official site, not affiliated with the official site..and no matter what happens with your reservation, ie… your room is not available when you get there… your room is booked at a different hotel than you wanted..etc…. they now have your money. NON REFUNDABLE FEE. THEY ARE A SCHLOCKER, THEY ARE CREATING A SECONDARY MARKET FOR PUBLICLY OWNED NATIONAL PARKS. Forcing the American public to pay an extra fee to stay at public park’s hotels. They spend their time booking reservations that the public could have had for free. Now the public will eventually be paying broker fees and high dollar amounts, just to stay in a hotel room…that doesn’t even have air conditioning in publicly funded national parks….. Can you say Soviet Union????? We need to file class action law suits. These people are getting rich off of this… There are lots of complaints posted. … The fact that they will not refund tells me that they are crooks. What company does not refund after 3 weeks???? I did not cancel 8 months later. What service did they provide for me???? They hustled a week from the national parks service from an american tax payer!!!!

The snail mail address for National Park Reservations is: P.O. Box 427
Whitefish, Montana 59937.

If you need to serve a legal complaint/lawsuit, the physical address is: 6475 Highway 93 South, Ste 23, Whitefish, Montana 59937

For anyone who has been duped into paying the fee, you can forget about getting any cooperation from NPR. The best solution is to dispute the charge with your credit card company. Without a signature, NPR has no recourse and you’ll be refunded your money by the credit card company. It’s as simple as calling the toll-free phone number on the back of your card. Like so many people have already said, you can usually tell if you’re dealing directly with the National Park Service or an authorized concessioner by simply taking a close look at the site. A dot gov (.gov) is official, and no concessioner charges any fees to make a reservation. If you see a fee, move on to another website. You can access the official lodging provider websites to any national park by visiting http://www.nps.gov. From there, you’ll be able to follow the appropriate links to the official provider of lodging reservations for the park of interest.