Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Beware of gtahotels.com!!!

I'm new to Flyertalk and I just want to advise futur clients of gtahotels of how this company deals with their clients. We recently (roughly 50 or so friends and family) booked a 13 nights accomodation thru gtahotels which offered us an unbelievable deal. Some of us even called directly the company to verify that the pricing was accurate and their sales rep. told us it was. We received a confirmation # from GTA and from the hotel we booked directly. GTA took our full payment from our credit card the same day. Two weeks later, they sent us an e-mail saying that they cancelled our reservations because there was no room available at the hotel... but we did have a room confirmation from the hotel directly. When we called GTA the sales rep. told us that in fact the rooms were available but that the real problem was in the price we paid for our accomodations... they would be loosing too much money since we were 170 who booked at this rate. They told us that they were experiencing technical difficulties with their system. They are now offering us cost minus 5% which would increase the price of our accomodation to 1500$ higher than what we originally paid..what a joke!!! Since this offer, they are no longer responding to our e-mails. Their web site clearly states:" Upon submitting the booking form, you will be given a confirmation number, as well as a link to an electronic voucher. You will also receive an e-mail showing your booking information. Your booking with us will then be confirmed and we will not change your accommodation or the rate – we guarantee it. " I don't know if they don't read their terms and conditions but it's very frustrating to see that a company of this magnitude can leave their customers without any accomodation and simply be OK with the way they dealt with this situation. I can certainly say that they ruined our vaction and the vacation of many others. So before booking with GTAHOTELS, be advised that their terms and conditions do not mean anything and they cannot be trusted.

Wow another first post wonder warning us about something.

Carfully placed in the circular file.

Ah, rookie mistakes. They called in.

I have used gtahotels only once, but it went without a hitch. Their email communication was confusing.

I used them a couple of times and saved money. Only problem was getting a printed voucher while traveling. It was solved by emailing it to the kindly desk clerks email address upon hotel arrival.

MisterNice

We recently (roughly 50 or so friends and family) booked a 13 nights accomodation thru gtahotels which offered us an unbelievable deal.

If it sounds too good to be true.....

work2travl, welcome to FlyerTalk. Have you tried contacting the Hotel directly? Most Hotels will give special rates for large groups. You don't have to try and get cheaper rates through 3rd party sites. My company holds training classes throughout the USA, and we routinely get deep discounts with only 15-20 rooms. There are other details we also work out, but you should be able to directly contact the hotel, and negotiate a discounted rate with the people who work with group sales.

Have they refunded the amount back onto your CC yet? If not, take it up with your CC Company, and don't let if fester.

Thanks for your comments everyone! Yes, we actually did receive our money back on our cc (which I'm very thankfull for). We are actually dealing with a lawyer right now and have posted complaints with the BBB and with the FTC. My main objective right now is to make sure that this doesn't happen again and that the company does follow their terms and conditions as posted on their web site. What protection do we have as consummers if they can do whatever they want and cancel accomodations as they wish? Thanks also on the group discount comment I will look into it ;).

FYI: Otel.com (http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3327251-10607057) - it's the alias of gtahotels.com with CHEAPER prices and 5% cash back loyality programm. Sometimes Otel.com (http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3327251-10607057) provides very attractive offers. I've booked the hotels by the Otel.com (http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3327251-10607057) more that 10 times in Europe and I can strongly recommend it.

BUT everytime FIRSTLY check the price by http://www.hotelscombined.com/ (http://www.hotelscombined.com/?label=f&languageCode=en&a_aid=11803) - it's guarantee that you'll find the best offer!

FYI: Otel.com (http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3327251-10607057) - it's the alias of gtahotels.com with CHEAPER prices and 5% cash back loyality programm. Sometimes Otel.com (http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3327251-10607057) provides very attractive offers. I've booked the hotels by the Otel.com (http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3327251-10607057) more that 10 times in Europe and I can strongly recommend it.

BUT everytime FIRSTLY check the price by http://www.hotelscombined.com/ (http://www.hotelscombined.com/?label=f&languageCode=en&a_aid=11803) - it's guarantee that you'll find the best offer!

OMG!!!! You just saved me $1535 for my stay in Chicago in Aug!!!! Got the Holiday Inn on west Harrison for $490 for the 5 days I plan on being out there. I now shall go and build an alter in your honor! ^^^^
EDIT: Hmmm according to the hotel I was trying to get the lower rate at the hotel-board.com website is a "bidding" website so they will not honor the lower rate. Looks like the hotel will not be getting my money then. BOOOOO!

EDIT: Hmmm according to the hotel I was trying to get the lower rate at the hotel-board.com website is a "bidding" website so they will not honor the lower rate. Looks like the hotel will not be getting my money then. BOOOOO!

You May want to read this before you get too excited.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g274707-i96-k1865028-Hotel_Board_com_are_they_good-Prague_Bohemia.html

I promptly cancelled my booking with them, refund nowhere to be seen yet.

Hi and thank you all for your posts both negative and positive. I am not going to reply directly to Work To Travel as I was aware of his case at the beginning of the year and this was resolved.

Pre paid accommodation vouchers can be accessed 24/7 and printed, plus after the check out date you can acces your invoice online.

We are proud to be one of the top online providers of discounted hotel bookings. Spanning over 3 continents, we have offices and call centres in Turkey, the Philippines and the USA. We are also members of the BBB(Better Business Bureau) and have a A+ rating with them.

Security – Gtahotels has the highest security measures in place and as well as being Verisign secured and being members of the authenticated Payment Program which has been developed by Visa -3D Secure. Gtahotels are proud to have achieved and comply with the PCI DSS standards as set out by Visa and MasterCard.

I would like to reassure you that we are a well established and reputable company. I personally have worked for gtahotels.com for the past 8.5 years and we have helped millions of satisfied clients to get the hotel that they want at the best prices.

http://www.gtahotels.com/customercare/testimonials.php

Caroline
Customer Care Manager
caroline@gtahotels.com