xcalibir

Hey guys,

I have an issue. I booked two nights at a hotel on an OTA but it went out of business and apparently the hotel never received payment for the booking and told me that the OTA never paid them. What recourse do I have? Should I initiate a chargeback? What would I tell them? Does the hotel have to honor it?

Thanks

Yoshi212

Where is the hotel and OTA located?

You should start a chargeback and make arrangement with the hotel for those two nights at the negotiated rate. In good faith they should honor the rate with you paying the full amount to them. If they aren't willing...start a fight/negotiate. Depending on where the hotel is located you may have consumer protections.

tatterdema

In most cases, the hotel does not receive the payment until the guest checks out. You should contact the OTA, as they are the ones with your money. Probably a chargeback is what you will end up having to do.

I doubt the hotel is under any obligation to honor it if it was a scam OTA. Anyone can start a website and pretend to sell rooms to any hotel. A good example is craigslist. Many fake rental agencies renting apartments that they have no right to. If you get duped by them, the apartment owner is not under any obligation to return the money they never received, or honor a rental price they never agreed to.

danielonn

The Online Travel Agent is like a Brick and Mortar agent except they do business online and submit the payment to the vendor. If the hotel goes out of business you need to call the OTA to ask for a replacement hotel for around the cost of the hotel that you booked and ask them to transfer the funds to the new booking or just cancel it and rebook you during the same call.

The OTA should also be aware of the hotel going out of business. In some instances the new owner may pickup the old bookings pending there is availability or the OTA may be able to transfer you to the new hotel under new owners and have them enter it into their new reservation system and ask if there are any discounts since its a new hotel perhaps you will get a lower rate, upgraded room or included breakfast.

Good luck and I hope it works out for you. Please keep us posted.

tatterdema

Interesting. Different takes on the OP's post. I take it as the OTA went out of business. Hopefully it works out for him, and he will come back to let us know.