Dear American Express Customer Care:

I am writing to you to tell the whole story and the reasons why I am disputing this claim (Dispute Reference Number:).  There are several reasons why I am disputing the charges and I am not sure how much information was taken down during the several calls that I have made about this dispute.

My mom, sister, and I were planing a trip to Lake City, FL for a wedding on October 26, 2013.  The date was September 30, 2013 around one o’clock.  Counting the day I was making the arrangements this was 27 days in advance.  I had the day off so I was the one doing the research looking for a hotel that was dog friendly considering each one of us would be bringing a small dog.  I Googled pet friendly hotel.  Google returned a list of pet friendly hotels in the area.  However, you needed to do the booking through a third party.  I do not like dealing with third parties.  I wanted to deal with the hotel directly.  I Googled Holiday Inn and Hotel and Suites, Lake City, FL.  A 1-800 number came through the search and I believed this was the number to the front desk at the said hotel.  I called and the person picked up the phone and said Hi, this is John.  How can I help you?  There was no reference to the name of the business.  I was still under the assumption that I was talking to the front desk at the said hotel.  I told the man I was looking to make a reservation from the 24th through the 26th of October with a King size bed and there would also be a small dog.  He said, ok, and I asked what the price would be.  He told me that there would be a one time $25 charge for the pet and the total would be $376.26 for three nights with a king.  I was ok with the price.  I told the man the situation of me having the day off and I was the one doing the leg work for the other members of my family.  I have heard where sometime the hotel can put a 24hour hold on rooms where I could have my mother and sister call the hotel with their billing information.  The man said he could not hold the rooms and this was a sale price that was being offered.  He stated that what could be done is at check-in my mother and sister could pay their portion of the bill.  It sounded good, almost like splitting the restaurant bill.  I gave the man the dates for the other two rooms and informed him that each of these rooms would also be having a small dog accompanying them.  He informed me that these two rooms for two nights with a dog would be $261.75 each.  I thought that was also a fare price.  I gave the man my billing information to reserve the three rooms.  Once again, I thought that I was dealing with the front desk at the said hotel.  I was unaware that I was booking these rooms through Tsp Ean Travel US.

Around four o’clock I was checking my email and noticed that I had not received a confirmation email from the Holiday Inn and Hotel and Suites.  I did not remember what number I had called early so I re-Googled the hotel.  This time I was actual talking to the front desk of the hotel and at this point I was still unaware that I was talking to a third party earlier in the day.  I told them that I had reserved three rooms around one o’clock but I had yet to receive a confirmation number.  When they looked up my information is when I found out that I had not made this reservation with the hotel.  The front desk was not able to provide much information as to whom I had made this reservation with and given my billing information to.  At this time I was making several calls trying to figure out what happened.  This is how I have made reservation many times throughout my life.  I have never had a problem.  I did not know how I was going to find out who I made this reservation with.  I called the front desk back.  This time I wrote the number down and asked if I was speaking to the front desk at the said hotel.  Somehow this line was intercepted or the web site was.  I told my story to the front desk and the girl working there stated that she has had several customers come in unaware that they had made and paid for their reservation with a third party.  I was not the first person she had heard this from.  She stated that she was going to inform someone of this because some where something had been hacked or was very misleading to customers.  She put me in touch with guest relations.  At this point Noelle Nelson helped me find a contact number so I could call the business that I made this reservation with and get the confirmation information that my mom, sister and I would need.  This whole process took over two hours and I have included Noelle Nelson report from September 30, 2013.  I called for this information after I received notification that I was being re-billed for these charges.

A little after six o’clock at night I was finally able to contact the company that I made this reservation with.  I asked the girl to send me a confirmation of the three reservations that I had made early in the day.  I asked her to stay on the line until I was able to confirm that they were in my email box because I have spent the last two plus hours trying to track down this information.  As the emails came in I opened them and read in the highlighted section at the top “This is a non-refundable reservation and cannot be changed or canceled.”  WHAT?  I was never informed of this earlier.  This was the first time that I had been given any information on this.  This was also the first time that I was informed that I had already been charged for these rooms.  I would have never agreed to this.  I was very upset and asked to speak to a manager right then.  I told him I wanted to cancel these reservations and I wanted I full refund.  He told me he could not do this as it was against policy.  WHAT?  How can you up hold a policy that the customer was never informed about?  I was never told this information.  I did not agree to this.  I wanted my money back.  This is the same day that I made the reservation and the manager just kept saying that this was their policy and he could not give me a refund.  I on the other hand kept saying how can you enforce a policy that I was not told about? I also was not told that I was paying for this reservation up front.  I thought I was giving my billing information to hold the room like most reservations.  This is more like a booking.  I asked to speak to his boss and he said they were not taking calls at this time and someone would call me within five days.  I never received a phone call form this company.  As I looked closer at the reservations I noticed that none of the rooms said anything about a pet.  How is the hotel going to know that I paid for this service since it is not on my itinerary?  At this point I was told that would be an extra fee that I would have to book through the hotel.  What?  I was not told this either.  So, the price that I was given on the rooms is not accurate.  Not if there is going to be an additional charge by the hotel for pet friendly rooms and what if the hotel does not have three pet friendly rooms available for the weekend of October 25th and 26th.  I was and still am extremely unhappy with this entire transaction.  After getting off the phone I called American Express and ask them not to pay this bill.  I would not be staying at this hotel and would not be paying this bill.  I was informed that I would have to wait three days before I could file a dispute.  This was all done on September 30, 2013 twenty seven days before the reservation.

In the beginning, when I had talked to the hotel and they had informed me that I had not made the reservation with them.  They also had told me they could not make changes to it.  As October 24th got closer and closer and I had yet to here from you, American Express.  I felt I had an obligation to at least let the hotel know that I would not be staying there.  At least this way if they were at capacity they would be able to let someone stay in these rooms.  I did this as a complete courtesy and I am glad I did.  I have provided the information that the hotel gave me on October 21st.  I tried to cancel and requested a refund from Tsp Ean Travel US the day this transaction was made.  I also called you, American Express, the day of this transaction.  For Tsp Ean Travel US to say they have no record of a request to cancel is a big lie.  For Tsp Ean Travel US to say I agreed to all the terms and conditions at the time of the booking is also very untruthful.  I did not even know that I was talking to someone outside of the Holiday Inn and Hotel and Suites.  I was not aware that this so called “booking” was being paid for up front and in full.  I was also not aware that this “booking” was a non-refundable reservation that could not be changed or canceled.  I was also not aware that the price I was given was not including a pet fee when I had clearly stated that each room would be having a small dog accompanying its owners.  I hope this is clear and to the point.

Something else that I think should be looked into further which I think is more than a coincidence is the day after this transaction my credit card was used fraudulently.

  At this time I believe that I should have taken more action in the beginning but the facts were so overwhelming in the crookedness of this company I am surprised that I was re-billed for these charges.  My only explanation is that the full facts were not laid out before you which is what I’m hoping to do today.  I have been a loyal customer of American Express for close to three years.  I have never had a late payment.  I always pay my bill in full.  I am very meticulous and hope this matter is looked at in more detail.  Tsp Ean Travel US simply stating that I did not try to cancel when this dispute was file with you, American Express, weeks before the reservation should have been a clear indications that I had tried.  I also had told this information over the phone when disputing these charges for a number of reasons.  I am not happy about being recharged and believe these charges should have been dropped back on September 30, 2013.  I believe I am justified in asking for a full refund.

Thank you,

American Express Card holder since 1/2011