We booked 2 nights at the Yosemite Lodge, for which we were immediately charged almost $700. When we arrived at the Lodge, after a 7 hour drive, we were told there was no booking and the voucher Otel.com had emailed us was a fraud. In fact, we were the second guest that day to arive with an Otel.com voucher that was fraudulent. Unfortunately, there were no rooms available at the Lodge or anywhere within 2 hours of Yosemite. The manager of the hotel got some guy on the phone at Otel.com who told them that we had been rebooked at a Quality Inn 3 hours away in Modesto for the same reasonable price of $700 (the quality inn is generally priced at a fraction of that amount). When I got on the phone with the guy and asked him for his contact information, he promised to email it to me or my wife; that was a lie, as we never heard from him again. I asked the guy what happened to the room they allegedly booked. He said the Yosemite Lodge was overbooked an wouldnt honor it. I was with the general manager of the Lodge who confirmed that this was an outright lie; Otel.com (or its local agency GTA) had never even attempted to book a room.
So, the scam is clear. Take a huge fee for booking a luxury room, then claim it was overbooked and keep the huge fee for placing you in some crappy, cheap motel no where close. We obviously didnt drive to Modesto, but I doubt there was a confirmed room there either.
I did tell the guy on the phone to reverse the $700 credit card charge. As you might imagine, that was never done.
What governmental agency can I report these crooks to? And their vegas-based travel agency, GTA?
Otel.com Reviews
We booked 2 nights at the Yosemite Lodge, for which we were immediately charged almost $700. When we arrived at the Lodge, after a 7 hour drive, we were told there was no booking and the voucher Otel.com had emailed us was a fraud. In fact, we were the second guest that day to arive with an Otel.com voucher that was fraudulent. Unfortunately, there were no rooms available at the Lodge or anywhere within 2 hours of Yosemite. The manager of the hotel got some guy on the phone at Otel.com who told them that we had been rebooked at a Quality Inn 3 hours away in Modesto for the same reasonable price of $700 (the quality inn is generally priced at a fraction of that amount). When I got on the phone with the guy and asked him for his contact information, he promised to email it to me or my wife; that was a lie, as we never heard from him again. I asked the guy what happened to the room they allegedly booked. He said the Yosemite Lodge was overbooked an wouldnt honor it. I was with the general manager of the Lodge who confirmed that this was an outright lie; Otel.com (or its local agency GTA) had never even attempted to book a room.
So, the scam is clear. Take a huge fee for booking a luxury room, then claim it was overbooked and keep the huge fee for placing you in some crappy, cheap motel no where close. We obviously didnt drive to Modesto, but I doubt there was a confirmed room there either.
I did tell the guy on the phone to reverse the $700 credit card charge. As you might imagine, that was never done.
What governmental agency can I report these crooks to? And their vegas-based travel agency, GTA?