Beth Tananbaum cancels her Hawaii holiday at the top of the pandemic. But Hotels.com will only give her a voucher for her accommodations — and it is about to expire. Can she get a refund?
Q: I booked a relatives vacation to Hawaii for May possibly of 2020. Then COVID-19 shut all the things down. Everybody refunded my money totally apart from Accommodations.com, which issued vouchers for the 3 rooms I had booked.
The vouchers expired before Hawaii even reopened. Then I gained an electronic mail that they had been extending the vouchers to this December. Hawaii didn’t reopen absolutely until eventually the end of July. I can not get to Hawaii just before December due to the fact some of my kids are in faculty.
I in no way agreed to a voucher, and I did not terminate my vacation by preference. I have spoken to the purchaser assistance reps at each Lodges.com and Expedia (which owns Resorts.com), who say the hotel denied my ask for for a refund since of the hotel’s policy.
The hotel statements that its plan is to totally refund consumers in this problem. I investigated, and it turns out that the resort under no circumstances even been given the cash from Resorts.com. It only receives the cash the working day before I check out in. Motels.com experienced my dollars.
I really feel that Accommodations.com has stolen my dollars. Can you support me get my $4,000 back again? — Beth Tananbaum, Plantsville, Conn.
A: You booked a nonrefundable reservation at the Outrigger Waikiki Seaside Vacation resort (terrific lodge, by the way). Nonrefundable usually means that you cannot get your income back again if you cancel your travel plans. But if the hotel cancels your reservation, you definitely are entitled to a refund.
You forwarded your paper trail concerning you, the lodge and Resorts.com. It appears to be like you contacted a earnings supervisor at the Outrigger, who opened a case with Expedia. As a outcome of that investigation, Expedia promised to difficulty a entire refund in just 7 to 10 days. But you under no circumstances acquired the funds.
Hawaii shut to tourism all through the early times of the pandemic. Most hotels canceled their bookings and issued refunds. So a thing went awry with your canceled holiday vacation. I feel Expedia’s guarantee to refund the revenue tends to make this an open up-and-shut case.
If you operate into a difficulty like this in the foreseeable future, you can constantly reach out to an executive at Expedia or Inns.com. I publish the names, quantities and electronic mail tackle of the Expedia and Lodges.com shopper service contacts” target=”_blank”>Expedia and Resorts.com shopper service contacts on my buyer advocacy internet site, Elliott.org.
I imagine speaking to the Outrigger’s earnings manager was an great strategy, due to the fact it led to opening a case with Expedia. You also retained a meticulous paper path and all of your receipts and information. Hotels.com claimed that Outrigger denied your assert for the reason that it is towards the hotel’s plan to refund a nonrefundable room. Having said that, an Outrigger consultant claimed the hotel did refund all resort guests.
It is evident that your circumstance experienced been taken around by some sort of automated system that despatched you vouchers you couldn’t potentially use. That’s all the far more reason to attempt to attain a human at Accommodations.com or Expedia.
I reached out to Expedia on your behalf. Individually, you also attained out to the Expedia executives. The enterprise reviewed your scenario and issued a refund.
