Question: I am writing to you in frustration over how Orbitz has misled me and now will not even admit to its obvious mistake.
I recently booked our annual vacation through Orbitz at Barcelo Maya Palace in Cancun, Mexico, because the resort sounded beautiful and the hotel is new with rooms described as excellent by most visitors.
When we arrived at the resort, we were told that we didn’t have reservations. After much confusion, they told us we were supposed to be at the Barcelo Maya Beach Hotel, the oldest and lowest-rated hotel in this complex.
I immediately contacted Orbitz customer service and spent more than an hour trying to get this resolved. After speaking with several people, I finally was connected to a supervisor, who told me that she could upgrade us to the Barcelo Maya Place Hotel for an additional $2,000, and if I could provide her proof that we were booked at the hotel, they would reimburse us.
Though I was very upset that my family and I were forced to stay at a hotel that we did not choose or want, we tried to make the best of the remaining time there.
After our return, I contacted Orbitz repeatedly to try to resolve this. They have offered me a $75 voucher and now say that the reason my confirmation says the Barcelo Maya Palace is because this is the logo of the resort complex and has nothing to do with my selection. Why do they send confirmation if it means nothing? This is so frustrating. Can you please help or give me any advice? — Donna Savic, Louisville, Ky.
Answer: If Orbitz promised you a room at the Barcelo Maya Palace Hotel, then that’s what you should have received.
I reviewed your e-mailed confirmation. It says your hotel is the Barcelo Maya Palace within the Barcelo Riviera Maya All Inclusive Complex. Any reasonable person would conclude you were staying at the nice hotel — not the dump.
The burden should have been on Orbitz to find a copy of your confirmation and verify that you had been booked at the wrong hotel. I can’t believe the online agency would ask you to spend an extra $2,000 and offer to refund it only if you could prove it made a mistake.
Did Orbitz try to deceive you when you booked your Cancun vacation? I doubt it. This kind of mix-up isn’t uncommon. I recall another case with Orbitz, where a guest believed he was staying at a Reno, Nevada resort but ended up being sent to an adjacent property, where he checked into what he called the “worst hotel room I’ve ever seen.” When I asked about his reservation, Orbitz not only refunded the full price of his stay, it also dropped the hotel from its reservations system.
There are two ways you could have avoided this. First, you could have phoned the hotel to confirm your reservation. That’s always a good idea when you’re booking through a third party, because reservations can get lost. You’d probably be surprised by how many hotels still handle their reservations by fax.
Second, you could have applied the “too-good-to-be-true” litmus test to your resort. Was the price so low that something didn’t seem right? For example, if you’re getting a brand-new, highly-rated, all-inclusive resort in Mexico for $59 a night, you might want to double-check to make sure you’re getting what you think you’re getting.
I contacted Orbitz on your behalf. It apologized for the “disappointing experience” and refunded you $135 for the phone calls you made from Mexico. It also changed the amount of your voucher from $75 to $200.
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow…the compensation seems less than adequate. The *confirmation* from Orbitz says “Barcelo Maya Palace” but they make Ms. Savic stay at the “Barcelo Maya Beach,” but they still keep her $2000 upgrade and offer her a lousy $335 in compensation?
As far as the “too good to be true” litmus test (1) I’ve had friends who were inexperienced with international travel who were surprised at how expensive things in Mexico can be. They assume because it uses the Peso that everything is “cheap.” It comes as a shock that things in the tourist areas are on par with prices in the US. (2) In the current economy I have seen some bizarrely low prices out there. Granted they usually have some very specific terms, but its not unthinkable that Ms Savic may have thought she caught a “recession special.”
Granted, I don’t know how experienced a traveler Ms. Savic is, but an inexperienced one could have easily been taken advantage of in this situation.
Um… sorry, but $200? She should be getting a refund of $2000.
To the other commenters, if you read the mail, she did not pay the 2000$, nor did she stay at the fancier hotel.
“Though I was very upset that my family and I were forced to stay at a hotel that we did not choose or want, we tried to make the best of the remaining time there.”
Doesn’t appear that the previous two readers comprehended the situation. The people in the article didn’t pay $2000 to upgrade and stayed at the “dumpy” hotel and made the best of it. $59 per night should have alerted that something was wrong. Recomfirming reservations with any travel supplier is a must!!
Overall, consistently, the online agencies leave their customers high and dry with poor customer service!
This clearly speaks for the folly of buying hotel rooms via a 3rd party website. Either book directly with the hotel, or utilize a real physical travel agency that deals with professional tour operators with clout and who will give you a voucher for a product upon which they will stand by.
It does not appear she took the upgrade. She says they offered to upgrade her for $2000 but she says she stayed BMB and not BMP.
But I am confused… did she pay for the BMB or the BMP? Was this a pricing error?
I don’t think she paid the $2000, I think she stayed in the other hotel
Even after rereading the article, I’m uncertain as to whether or not Ms. Savic actually paid the $2000 and moved to the more expensive property.
Wow, Orbitz messed up on this one. It seems to be a pretty convincing case that Orbitz advertised one hotel and gave her another. How many people would actually know that the hotel you paid for isn’t the one you’ll actually sleep in? Andd their compensation is insulting.
On a side note, how many times have people called to confirm a reservation? Most people would call the number listed on their reservation as opposed to getting on the web and looking up the number themselves. When it’s the wrong hotel, it wouldn’t be easy to pick it up. (Especially when Orbitz insists that more then one hotel is covered by that name.) Oh, and I’ve had hotels specifically list on the reservations confirmation that there should be no ‘confirmation calls’. I’ve also been walked after making that confirmation call, so it’s not as foolproof as it sounds.
Another reason not to do business with Orbitz or other online travel sites. Many times, I will check out these sites to see what they have available and then go to the property’s website or phone the property to see if I can do as well or better on my own. If I make the reservation directly, it eliminates the booking fees and makes me a customer of the hotel, not of the third party booking service. When something goes wrong, I have been able to successfully make my case to management. They can’t send me back to Expedia, Travelocity, etc. to correct a third party error.
Wow. $200 seems unconscionably low for botching a reservation this bad. I also think your advice was missing one key piece of information:
The confirmation says “Maya Palace” not “Maya Beach.” It’s clearly fraud, and she has proof of it — therefore the traveler ought to file a challenge with her credit card company.
This story just ensured I’ll never use Orbitz to book a hotel.
Are there any good travel stories about Mexico? I’ve never been there, but all I hear is crime, being put in bad properties, etc.
Bill- My wife and I just had a great experience staying about twenty minutes south of Cancun, and we booked through Orbitz. So it can happen. But who wants to hear about that? No one cares when a plane takes off and lands safely, right?
The worst hotel I ever stayed in was a Days Inn in Morganton, N.C., booked through Orbitz. It was supposed to be a three-star property. Oh, please. It was an old hotel, with doors on the outside, and the saddest excuse for “continental breakfast” I’ve ever seen. We had a choice of coffee or orange juice, and boxed doughnuts. That was it. The only reason we stayed is because it was pouring down rain in buckets (remains of Hurricane Ivan), and it was reasonably sanitary. I’ll check prices on Orbitz to get an overview, but I’ll never book through them again. Ever.
This is a common occurance with resorts in Mexico…What happens is that you purchase a stay at a resort based on the advertising for their top of the link accomodations, only to find out that when you get there, it’s the old bait and switch routine!
While this has never happened to me personally, I’ve read about this happening to All Inclusive resorts and timeshares all the time on timeshare boards…A hotel offers some rooms as timeshare trades only to find that when you get there they don’t have any rooms at the “nice” resort listed in the book, but suprisingly enough, they have plenty in the shack out back in the alley.
Man, but to get taken like that must really suck!
Ed
You state that the Savic’s were booked into the Barcelo Maya Palace – the hotel they wanted. Orbitz shuttled them to a much cheaper hotel. Why then is Orbitz “off the hook” by refunding $135 and giving a voucher for $200? Seems to me they should have refunded the entire hotel price.
You state that, “I can’t believe the online agency would ask you to spend an extra $2,000…”. Do you not think this is what happened?
You want the Savic’s to take responsibility for the fact that they were “shuttled”, because they should have phoned the hotel to confirm the reservation. With a reputable travel agency, you don’t need to follow up on their work. He also could have avoided all this by making the reservation directly with the hotel. Seems to me Orbitz, et. al. in effect “take the money and run”.
I, personally, do not book with an on-line agency. I’ll either do it myself or employ a knowledgeable travel agent.