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“Neither Hotels.com nor Days Inn are willing to do anything but take our money”

August 24, 2009

oakhurstDays Inn isn’t having a good day.

This morning I reported on Charles McGovern, the Days Inn guest who booked a room at the wrong Days Inn and ended up losing $220. I’ve just wrapped up another Days Inn case that involves the loss of almost the same amount of money.

But that’s where the similarities end.


Corinne Fennessy reserved a room at a Days Inn in Oakhurst, Calif., through Hotels.com. She picks up the story:

The hotel required that the reservation be prepaid, so I charged it to my account. I read the hotel cancellation policy, which stated that cancellations had to be made by 4 p.m. the day before the reservation.

Our plans changed while we were in California, and I had to cancel the reservation. I called at 8 a.m. on Aug. 7th to let them know that we were canceling our reservation for the next day. I requested a cancellation number, but they wouldn’t give us one because we had booked the hotel through an agent.

I tried to get in touch with the agent, but was unsuccessful, so I called Days Inn back again to make sure they understood that we were canceling our reservation. After I told them again that we were canceling our reservation, I was put on hold, and then eight minutes later, the line went dead.

You know what happens next, don’t you?

Fennessy returned home, only to find that her reservation hadn’t been canceled and that she was being charged as a “no-show.”

I called customer service for Days Inn, but they chose to believe what the Oakhurst hotel staff told them instead of the truth. We went through such a difficult time trying to make those calls to cancel our reservation. I had told Days Inn we wouldn’t be coming more than 24 hours in advance — twice, in two separate calls. I feel that they should refund our room charge of $207.

If there is anything you can do to help us, I would be very grateful. Neither Hotels.com nor Days Inn are willing to do anything but take our money.

So what went wrong here? Everything.

Fennessy should have secured a cancellation number — a point I tried to make in a recent column.

But Days Inn shouldn’t have hung up on a customer, either. Also, why couldn’t Fennessy get through to Hotels.com? Doesn’t it have a 24-hour “800″ number for its guests?

Everyone dropped the proverbial ball, but the buck stops with Days Inn, because Fennessy notified it by phone twice that she intended to cancel her reservation. Hotels.com really has no excuse for being inaccessible.

I contacted Hotels.com on her behalf and it refunded her $207.

Next time, I might try canceling the room by email or using the Hotels.com site.

(Photo of Oakhurst, Calif. by Daleberts/Flickr Creative Commons)

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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11 comments

  • http://cestbeth.com Beth

    Amazing! I can’t believe how many people don’t know to get a cancellation number, preferably in writing by canceling via a website, if at all possible! And save that cancellation number for a while!

  • Alan Fiermonte

    Hotels.com is not a travel agent (it may be referred to as one). It is an automated reservations booking platform with call center support. Let’s try to call animals what they are…and then people will stop being confused between hippos and rhinos. Or crocs and gators. Taxonomy is everything in travel these days.

  • Rich Roberts

    As you know, hotels.com purchases accommodations from many companies and remarkets them to the public, adding its own fee. When you make a booking with hotels.com, you’re actually purchasing the room from them, not the supplier, in this case Days Inn. Therefore, the customer should contact hotels.com to cancel the room. Here is the language from the hotels.com Web site: “You can change or cancel your lodging booking online or by calling (800) 297-4120. You may still be subject to change and cancellation fees that our lodging suppliers impose and require us to pass on, as indicated in the rules and restrictions for the reservation.”

  • Anne

    I work for a hotel that deals with Hotels.com. Whenever a guest calls to cancel I direct them to Hotels.com. I do this for several reasons. The first is that I have no way of knowing what the cancellation policy Hotels.com has for their reservation. It could be non-refundable even though it is within the hotel’s permitted cancellation period.I would not be doing the guest a favor to tell them “Ok, it’s canceled. Your cancellation number is X.” if Hotels.com does not allow them to cancel. Which leads to the second point. I don’t have the guest’s money. Hotels.com has it. We bill them after the guest checks out but they charge at the time of reservation. I cannot return that money. So, offering a cancellation number would be a meaningless formality.
    What I do is tell the guest she must cancel through Hotels.com. I explain that she is within my hotel’s cancellation period and I would be happy to cancel for her but she needs her travel agent’s approval because they are the only ones that can refund her. I give my name and tell her that if they balk she can explain that she already spoke with me and that I am happy to speak with them. The often do call, ask for me and ask if I said I would cancel. I say yes, ask them to fax me a copy of the cancellation and I notify the guest that I have spoken with them and have a written confirmation that they canceled on their end and send a written confirmation that we show the reservation canceled in our system as well. If you do not have BOTH cancellations then you may not be canceled.

  • http://www.cutcat.com Regina

    But she did try to get a cancellation number and they refused to give her one. That’s a red flag. This why I don’t use third-party booking sites. I have used Priceline and Hotwire, but they are nonrefundable, and I have been willing to take that risk when I know it is extremely unlikely that I will have to cancel. Other sites like Expedia, Orbitz and hotels.com claim that they will help you if you have a problem, but I don’t think it’s true based on what I’ve read.

  • Rich Roberts

    Regina: It appears that this customer called either the hotel directly or the Days Inn reservations center to cancel this room, not hotels.com. Neither would be able to cancel a reservation booked through hotels.com. Third-party sites like hotels.com offer some great deals, and they’re a great way to comparison shop, but ultimately you’re safer when you book directly with the brand. If this customer had done so, she could have canceled either by contacting the hotel or the Days Inn reservations center directly. Everyone should heed Chris’ advice and always request a confirmation number.

  • http://www.roamingtales.com Caitlin (Roaming Tales)

    Until I started reading this blog, I’d never heard of a “cancellation number”. I am new to the US. Is it a US thing or something that is done around the world?

  • Bela Fleck

    You can’t always cancel via the web when you’re on the road. An internet connection is not always available. But even if there was internet available, there’s no excuse for her not being able to get the cancellation number (which is merely a confirmation number, like a reservation number) over the phone. There’s no reason why she shouldn’t have been able to reach Hotels.com by phone while on the road.

  • Carver Farrow

    @Rich

    I think you missed the part where she tried to call hotels.com. She used the term agent.

    I do agree though that these 3rd party sites should really be the last place to book, not the first. Unfortunately, people like us who read travel blogs are more knowledgeable about travel. Many people who are very occasional travelers may not understand this.

    When I first started travelers exetnsively in 1999. I didn’t have the sophistication to understand the pitfalls of Priceline /hotwire and Hotels.com and the like. Today, I don’t even bother.

  • J. Constant

    Simple solution! Boycot places like this. Today’s economic situation & the competition out there BOYCOT! They’ll get the message
    Also, I always try to go straight to the hotel chain when making reservations. Most of the time just as cheap & easier to do.

  • DN

    Car Rentals and Hotels are the only ones I book directly, because they have more flexible cancellation policies (unless you get the advanced purchase/non-refundable rates). I do use Expedia and Orbitz to find out what hotels are in the area, though.

    Regardless of whether you’re an experienced traveler or a newbie, it makes sense that you need some sort of cancellation number to prove that you canceled the order. When I return an item at the store (let’s say Home Depot), I bring my receipt and the item, and I get a return receipt from the store showing the credit back to my card. That’s my proof that I returned the item. If I don’t see the credit on my credit card statement, I can use this proof to show that I deserve the credit I was promised.

    In the same way, if I buy an iPod from Best Buy, I can’t go to the Apple Store and return it. I have to go back to Best Buy. How is this not logical?

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