hotwire.com Bait and switched hotel rooms Nationwide
So I made the terrible mistake of booking a hotel room in London via hotwire. I was bait and switched with promises of a 4-star, brand-name hotel such as "Omni, Hilton, Westin, Intercontinental or similar" discounted from $180 per night to $124 per night. Most of the brand-name, 4-star hotels in the area ran around $180 a night, so it seemed legit. After booking, we were put into a no-name, self-described "budget hotel" with TERRIBLE reviews on every website I could find it. Fact was, it was only listed on a few websites, that's how obscure it is.
After calling hotwire, they told me it was listed as 4-star on their website and that I should "give it a chance" because my reservation was non-refundable even 30 minutes after I booked. The hotel isn't even listed their website, so I find that peculiar. You can't look at any reviews what-so-ever. Hotwire's parent company, Expedia, only listed it a 3.4 based on customer reviews and those reviews all mentioned it being cheap place to stay that wasn't a hostel. The hotel's website even lists the hotel at a much lower rate than what the I paid.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Tyg
Pahrump,Nevada,
USA
DIY
#2General Comment
Mon, February 06, 2017
When you DIY YOU get to deal with the outcome!! While the web has been one of mankinds great achievments, it HAS killed a few businesses. One of those business is TRAVEL AGENCIES!!! Back before the web, if YOU wanted to travel, you went into a travel agency and PLANNED YOUR TRIP!!! I know this as I went to classes to BE a travel agent way back when. There was A LOT that they had to learn. It wasnt just, oh this country and this country and that country. The classes went into demographics. Crime statistics, cost of living, ect. Not only did we have to learn about where ppl wanted to go, but you had to GO to these locations so YOU could speak about them.
Now that the web makes EVERYTHING available to us, YOU THINK your quilified enough to be your own agent. THIS is the cost of that hubris. Maybe instead of trying to do someone elses job, YOU can GO TO A TRAVEL AGENCY and see if you can get better prices. When you do it yourself there is ZERO recourse when a situation arises. Such as the one YOU faced. Firstly, just be happy YOU got away with ONLY paying the pitance you did. Secondly, YOU CHOSE TO GO CHEAP!!! THAT is on YOU!!! YOUR CHOICE!!! No one else held a gun to your head and MADE you either go to THAT website or pick THAT particular hotel. Lastly, THIS IS THE COST OF YOUR EGO!!!!
Live with it or change it. If YOU continue to attempt to do ANOTHER job, YOU get to deal with the consequences of doing so. Im sure YOU do your main job quite well, but YOU are no travel agent!!! Maybe the best course or action would be to take some free advice and just go to a travel agency. This way IF you get a bad hotel your TRAVEL AGENT can get you a better one by contacting REAL PEOPLE that they have made friends with over the course of thier job. Have YOU become so reliant on that funny box that shows you pretty pictures? Have YOU become so dependant on the web that YOU cant change? while the web is a great resource, its ONLY a resource.
Its a TOOL and NOTHING MORE!!! Maybe realize that YOU are NOT so busy that YOU cant take 30 mins of your life and check out a reputable agency. Trust me, finding a GREAT agent will go a long way towards YOUR piece of mind when travelling. My family used to just call our agent and tell them what and when we wanted to travel and it was NEVER too expensive. YOU think your saving money but the reality is your NOT!!! Travel agents get even DEEPER discounts then you can find on the web. FYI: When hotels dont sell out through reservations they START by putting rooms on the web. But travel agents get even BIGGER discounts!!! But YOU know best I guess.