thehotelcard.com The Hotel Card $50 Hotel Refund Scam Seattle, Washington
I went to one of those Time Share sales pitches this summer, which offered a free gift just for attending. After a high pressure sales meeting, we did not buy their time share, and they reluctantly gave us a couple free gifts. One of these gifts was a $50 "gift card" for www.thehotelcard.com, which is apparently somehow affiliated with Priceline.
Well in September I used the card to book a night's stay at a downtown Seattle hotel. The way this card works is you pay the full price up front, which is actually a bit more expensive than on other sites, and then within 3 weeks they are either supposed to mail you a check or credit your credit card account with the $50. Well it is now December, and I have not yet received my $50. I have been calling, leaving voicemail messages, and emailing them multiple times. It is impossible to get a hold of anyone, or get a response from these scammers.
I see that on this site other people have had issues with this company too. I hope we can all join together and do a class action lawsuit. I am also considering small claims court, and I believe that at this point I am entitled to more than my $50. There should be interested added on, as I could have had that money sitting in my own interest bearing savings account. Furthermore, this issue has cost me time and money in the form of postage and possible lawyer fees.