Need ideas on how to get a refund on a canceled hotel reservation

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Vash01

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This actually relates to my hotel reservation for worlds in Boston. I had made it on Trip Advisor in Nov. I didn't realize then that the actual company is 'getaroom'. It was supposed to be a fully refundable reservation if I canceled it before 3/30/16. I canceled it on Nov. 28, 2015. I waited for a couple of weeks for the refund (the amount was substantial), then I called them. First I was told to wait x number of days (more like roughly 2 weeks). It went way past it, so I called again. I was told that it CAN take up to 30 Business days. That sounds very unreasonable to me. I admit to not reading the fine print, but in the past I never had a problem getting a refund after canceling a reservation. I had never dealt with Getaroom though, and certainly won't in the future.

I checked with my bank for the 3rd time today, and no refund has come through. Today is Jan. 9th. I am going to call getaroom again. This sounds like an awfully long time to get a refund.

Anyone has a similar experience? What can I do at this point to get my refund? I am quite worried that I may never get it. My money is tied up. I will never make a reservation on getaroom again, but do I have a legal recourse, or is there a consumer protection agency that could help me? Can I contact Trip Advisor about this? I don't know if they have any power.

I would welcome ideas. I desperately need that money. I can't afford to lose such a large amount.
 
I always pay big amounts on AmEx just because they are so good about protecting me. I use Paypal a lot too and hope they are good about refunds if I ever need one -- they are supposed to be reliable. I never use debit. Good luck, Vash.
 
The reviews online for this company are terrible. :yikes: Two people did say they had better luck with their problems solved by sending an email, rather than calling.

Good luck.
 
I do have one other bit of advice. On a number of occasions, when I have not gotten refunds from lower level personnel, I have written directly to the company president. That has never failed me. And it is letters I have written, not emails. I just google who and where they are.
 
Sorry, I have no advice, but I hope everything works out okay and you don't have to go through too much more stress and aggravation.
 
I will try the email and if that doesn't work, I will write to the president of the company.

I also like Aceon's idea to at least try through my bank.
 
@vash I second that about calling your bank first. If that doesn't work, then try the e-mail and writing to the president of the company. Good luck with this, and keeping fingers crossed for you. :)
 
Call your bank, soon.
Even though most of the time, you have 60 days to dispute; you will get more action and feel better if you begin the process right away.
 
Do not ever use "getaroom.com" OR ANY 3-RD PARTY SITES. Getaroom is a legally registered company, and they list with other respectable travel sites (kayak, travelocity, travelzoo, etc) but they, are although not upfront scammers, have very questionable practices and very unfavorable terms for the "client" even if they advertise the "lowest rate"..... and "refunds" are hardly their only problem.

They overcharge, double book, book lesser value rooms, add their own booking fees and cancellation charges while claiming all sorts of excuses. it's not their negligence or lack of organization, it's all intentional. they don't have contracts with hotels they offer, unlike "booking.com", "hotels.com", "expedia.com" and other major reputable sites.

What they have is IATA registration number (as a tour company/travel agent) which is fairly easy to get. This IATA registration number, when input into any travel booking on hotel or airline site, gives "agent" commissions, which can be between 2% and 10% from the net room/ticket price. That is all the money an "IATA agent" can make from such bookings, unless an additional fee is negotiated with or accepted by an individual traveler or a group.

A person sitting at home, can register as travel agent, receive an IATA number, create a "booking website" (or rather copy major existing booking sites), and offer his/her services along with "expedia", "Kayak", etc...... You think you're dealing with a tour-company, but in fact there is only 1 person, in pajamas sitting on a couch...

I don't recommend using "lesser known booking sites", unless you have an American Express, or VISA (MC is on its way out soon), or other charge cards which at customer's complaint, and basic proof, IMMEDIATELY reverse the charges, and takes upon themselves to discuss the problem with the "vendor"/"svs provider".

Vash, i am not sure what you can do now, given you used your Debit Car and it has been more than 30 days since your last statement. If this was a "fraudulent charge", your bank could take firmer actions. But this is a cancellation refund, which involves "cancellation terms and conditions" and banks don't like to get involved in "cancellation" and "merchandise return" issues, because of "terms and conditions" issues on such transactions.

I am not sure what your bank can do. But you can try. In a nut-shell, as far as the bank situation, this is what you're dealing with (maybe it can help your argument with the bank why they should attempt to refund). Every bank is different, some offer their clients more help with recoveries, but in general, it works like this:

If you would have used a credit card with "Vendor X", then in order to collect money from your credit card company, Vendor X would have to have contract with your credit card provider, VISA, AM-EX, etc, and to follow the CC Company's policies and procedures. One of such policies implemented by the Credit Card Company, is that they reserve the right to withhold from the "Vendor" any disputed charges by the "client", and give both sides an opportunity to "state their case".

But when you use a Debit Card to pay for goods or services, it's like writing a cheque, only a different method. When you write company a cheque for "goods or services" and then "return or cancel", you have to get refund from the company directly. You can not come to the bank and say "I wrote a cheque, it was cashed, i returned/cancelled goods or service, and now i need you to reverse the transaction". The bank does not have mechanism to "reverse the transaction". They have NO AUTHORITY, on your word, to go into the "vendor's" bank account and take out the money to credit your account (unless it was fraud, like you cheques were stolen or illegally reproduced).

In such case only "vendor" can INITIATE a refund from their bank account to your bank account: by writing their own cheque and sending it to you, or by authorizing wire-transfer-like transaction from their account to your account. Your bank can not enforce it.

Same thing with Debit Card, the mechanics are slightly different, but the idea is the same. You bank can not go into your vendor's bank at take out the money, technically or LEGALLY.

You can also complain to Better Business Administration in the place of registration, here is their location:.

Getaroom, Inc.
3010 LBJ Freeway Suite 1550
Dallas Texas United States - 75234
Customer Care +1 800 468 3578

good luck!
 
Vash01 said:
Unfortunately I used my debit card. It's like paying cash- I know it was stupid.
Click to expand...

There should still be a process to dispute charges, so definitely contact your bank or see if there's something you can fill out on their website. I've disputed fradulent charges on my debit card before and got the money back. Obviously yours is not fraud, but there should still be a process.
 
meggonzo said:
There should still be a process to dispute charges, so definitely contact your bank or see if there's something you can fill out on their website. I've disputed fradulent charges on my debit card before and got the money back. Obviously yours is not fraud, but there should still be a process.
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Rarely so. Using Debit Card, and writing cheques, is basically a "cash transaction", which is authorized by the holder of the account, and banks can not be expected nor offer to collect refunds in cases of disputes. The only cases when banks may reverse the charges on Debit Cards and cheques if there was some form of fraud, or more exact "unathorized use" of card or cheque, and even then not all such charges can be reversed, like charges to a stolen card made PRIOR to client calling the bank to cancel the card.
 
I am sorry for the situation you are going through, Vash. I work for a hotel chain and we deal with issues like this all the time. Unfortunately, I am not at work so I don't know if the number we have is the same that you called.

I know it's a little late but like Tinami said, "never used a 3rd party site". The thing with these sites is that you don't book directly with the hotel but with these companies, therefore you have to go by their cancellation terms. What people may not know is that these 3rd party sites may send your reservation off to other travel companies to handle your reservation before it even gets to the hotel, and some of these travel companies are overseas. When this happens, it's a pain to get a refund because it has to go through all the channels before it gets back to you.

I wouldn't recommend booking with the companies that do have contracts with hotels such as Expedia because I know guests who have had issues getting refund from them even though they cancelled in time. Yes, the rates may be cheaper but there is/can be a hassle on refunds, room types booked, etc, with these reservations. I know for my company, we can't even touch reservations made through these sites because these companies want you to only deal with them and, trust me, people get upset about that too.

Please, don't think I am trying to make you feel bad about this as that is not my intention. I don't know how my post will come across but since working in the hotel industry, I've learned a lot about what to do and what not to do when it comes to reservations. I tell everyone I know when I hear they are planning on a trip.

I work tomorrow so I can try to get the number we have to see if it's the same as the one you had on file. If not, then you can try that number. I would also suggests the BBB or even the Attorney General (I believe that is the person who handles consumer issues) for your state. Sometimes these people can get things taken care of because these companies don't want them on their back.
 
@Vash01 - also try posting on all of their social media if they have any - follow ups for the moment, rather than angry posts, and progress from there. My sister does this successfully, and posts pretty much daily, until she gets a result, which usually only takes a couple of days.
 
Your bank will revoke the charge. You may have to push them to it, and they will charge you a fee for this service, maybe around $30 or so. But you have 60 days to revoke any debit or draft.
 
Great ideas. Thanks everyone. I will try everything possible to get my $1622 back. It's worth all the effort.
 
Even though TripAdvisor isn't liable for the missing refund, I would still contact them and tell them what happened - and tell them that you are so disgusted by what happened that you may never use TripAdvisor again. Hopefully they don't want their own reputation ruined by a sleazy sub-contractor. TripAdvisor may not give you a refund themselves, but they might take the situation to Getaroom and, um, "encourage" Getaroom to do the right thing.
 
Vash01 said:
Great ideas. Thanks everyone. I will try everything possible to get my $1622 back. It's worth all the effort.
Click to expand...
If you plan to attempt solving the issue through your bank, have as much back up as you can, all the print-outs of a) cancellation policy from the site, b) your notification of the cancellation (high-light the date on your cancellation and on the policy, to show you're in the right time frame), c) Getaroom's emails where they reply to you about the dates or time-frame in which refund will be issued and sent, also highlight the dates and numbers.

Good luck!
 
SHARPIE said:
I got burnt by a site like this for 2009 TEB, I didn't cancel the room, they did!
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That happened to me the first (and so far only) time I used one of those sites (I think it was Expedia or Travelocity, in 2002) to make a hotel reservation. We showed up and the woman said that the computer was showing the res had been canceled. Uh, what?! Fortunately, they weren't sold out and she just said, oh, it's OK, we can give you a room, and it was for the same price I booked, but scary to think what would have happened if the hotel was full and there was a big event in town. So I haven't used one of those sites since.

Hope you get your refund, Vash.
 
Tinami Amori said:
Rarely so. Using Debit Card, and writing cheques, is basically a "cash transaction", which is authorized by the holder of the account, and banks can not be expected nor offer to collect refunds in cases of disputes. The only cases when banks may reverse the charges on Debit Cards and cheques if there was some form of fraud.
Click to expand...

If a vendor refuses to issue a refund, and the refund request is made within the timelines given at the time of the purchase, that's not just a "dispute". That could definitely be considered a form of fraud, because the vendor isn't honoring the terms of the deal.
 
Last edited:
Sorry for the late reply but I just got off work. I did talk to one of my supervisor about Trip Advisor and Getaroom and he couldn't find the phone number. We just updated our information page for the employees and the phone numbers for all these companies from Expedia to Trip Advisor were removed, and I don't know when it will be updated. My supervisor thought this number may work (617-670-6300) for Trip Advisor. I think the number that Tinami provided for Getaroom is the correct number.

Off topic, but I see where people said that they had their reservations cancelled for no reason. One reason why reservations get cancelled by these companies is that the money you paid for the room does not get sent to the proper sources, such as another company that is actually handling your booking, and when they don't get their money they will cancel the room. Oh, the stuff that I can tell you about booking on these sites and how the reservations end up at the hotel may make you think twice about using these sites.
 
I made a start by posting my experience on the facebook for TripAdvisor and Getaroom. Will try to write to their president tomorrow. I couldn't find an email address for either site. Will contact my bank about a possible fraud by Getaroom. I will also call the phone numbers posted in this thread. It's been about 6 weeks since I canceled my hotel reservation.

In the past, I had good experiences with Hotels.com (many times) and Booking.com (recent). That's why I didn't think twice before making reservations on Trip Advisor. I thought it was safe. I was a little surprised that when the reservation was confirmed, it came from a different company (getaroom).
 
Update:

Last night (very late) I posted my experience on Facebook pages of Getaroom and Tripadvisor. This morning I got a response from Getaroom, apologizing and saying that they will ask their customer service department to look into this.

I think I should still contact them by phone and a letter. Of course it feels good to get a quick response but it's not a guarantee. I do need to make my bank aware of what's going on, just in case I don't get the refund within 60 days of the debit card charge.
 
Vash, here is the telephone number for their Accounting Department in Texas: (214) 276-1200 ext 202.

Be firm, no emotions, just facts, have all your documents ready, with dates, and information, and start by saying "Before we proceed with legal actions and possible fraud charges, I would like to make one more attempt to resolve this issue, and speak to a manager who can resolve this issue".
 
Tinami Amori said:
Vash, here is the telephone number for their Accounting Department in Texas: (214) 276-1200 ext 202.

Be firm, no emotions, just facts, have all your documents ready, with dates, and information, and start by saying "Before we proceed with legal actions and possible fraud charges, I would like to make one more attempt to resolve this issue, and speak to a manager who can resolve this issue".
Click to expand...

I called that number yesterday, and asked for accounting. Nobody answered so I left a voice mail to call me within 24 hours. No response yet.

I went ahead and posted another message on their facebook. Got the same standard response.

I am going to contact a local TV station that helps consumers that run into these types of problems. I am going to try everything possible.
 
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