Orbitz hotel booking screwup
Jan 19, 2016, 4:34 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 55
Orbitz hotel booking screwup
Normally I usually book directly with a hotel, but there are cases where Orbitz and there coupon codes can make it worth booking through them. I've done it a couple times without issues at one specific hotel until this past trip. Moral of the story is to call the hotel directly and double check that Orbitz hasn't screwed up your reservation.
TLDR: Booked 2 night stay, canceled & refunded, booked 3 night stay, at checkin hotel sees canceled 2 night stay as still valid and was never told of 3 night stay (and third night is comepletely booked at hotel), Orbitz says 3 night stay is valid, finger pointing ensues between hotel and Orbitz. Hotel checks me in for 2 nights and eventually finds a room for third night the next day. Orbitz customer service is of no help and makes empty promises. Hotel instead saves the day. Hours fruitlessly wasted.
A few months ago, I booked a 2 night stay, canceled and rebooked it as 3 night stay (the 2 night stay was both charged and refunded correctly, the three night stay was also charged). Fast forward to checkin a few months later, the hotel front desk only sees a 2 night stay in their system as valid (though it's canceled from Orbitz point of view), but not the 3 night reservation Orbitz has as valid in my account. Note the hotel also mentioned they are sold out for the 3rd night.
After three hours of discussions between me, Orbitz, and the hotel - the only immediate resolution was to get checked in for 2 nights. Orbitz wasn't much help with saying the hotel couldn't make a room available and offered to find a room at a different hotel for the 3rd night (packing up for one night is inconvenient in itself).
Surprisingly the Orbitz rep made an offer to refund the entire reservation and have Orbitz pick up the first two nights even though I was staying at the hotel, but after transferring to a supervisor they backtracked and claimed the rep couldn't do that. The supervisor then refunded the third night, canceled the 3 night reservation, and gave me a token $100 voucher for the inconvenience and washed their hands of the screwup (and somehow would still bill the hotel for the canceled 2 night stay that I was checked in). Note that I did not get a refund for all 3 nights, just the third night which has already posted to my card.
In the end, the hotel was able to find a room for the third night after additional time at the front desk, though at a higher price than the original reservation. The $100 Orbitz voucher was a total wash given they clawed back their Orbucks from canceling the 3 night reservation and the higher third night price from the hotel. The hotel itself recovered far better from this fiasco than Orbitz (given that it's a ~400+/night hotel, I guess they should) - the front desk agent felt bad enough to comp us breakfast, and after finding a room for the third night were able to let us keep our current room.
Would I book through Orbitz again? I'm not sure given this past experience and how it soured the start to a long weekend vacation - even given how good their coupon codes are, having to deal with hours of hassle at checkin isn't worth it.
TLDR: Booked 2 night stay, canceled & refunded, booked 3 night stay, at checkin hotel sees canceled 2 night stay as still valid and was never told of 3 night stay (and third night is comepletely booked at hotel), Orbitz says 3 night stay is valid, finger pointing ensues between hotel and Orbitz. Hotel checks me in for 2 nights and eventually finds a room for third night the next day. Orbitz customer service is of no help and makes empty promises. Hotel instead saves the day. Hours fruitlessly wasted.
A few months ago, I booked a 2 night stay, canceled and rebooked it as 3 night stay (the 2 night stay was both charged and refunded correctly, the three night stay was also charged). Fast forward to checkin a few months later, the hotel front desk only sees a 2 night stay in their system as valid (though it's canceled from Orbitz point of view), but not the 3 night reservation Orbitz has as valid in my account. Note the hotel also mentioned they are sold out for the 3rd night.
After three hours of discussions between me, Orbitz, and the hotel - the only immediate resolution was to get checked in for 2 nights. Orbitz wasn't much help with saying the hotel couldn't make a room available and offered to find a room at a different hotel for the 3rd night (packing up for one night is inconvenient in itself).
Surprisingly the Orbitz rep made an offer to refund the entire reservation and have Orbitz pick up the first two nights even though I was staying at the hotel, but after transferring to a supervisor they backtracked and claimed the rep couldn't do that. The supervisor then refunded the third night, canceled the 3 night reservation, and gave me a token $100 voucher for the inconvenience and washed their hands of the screwup (and somehow would still bill the hotel for the canceled 2 night stay that I was checked in). Note that I did not get a refund for all 3 nights, just the third night which has already posted to my card.
In the end, the hotel was able to find a room for the third night after additional time at the front desk, though at a higher price than the original reservation. The $100 Orbitz voucher was a total wash given they clawed back their Orbucks from canceling the 3 night reservation and the higher third night price from the hotel. The hotel itself recovered far better from this fiasco than Orbitz (given that it's a ~400+/night hotel, I guess they should) - the front desk agent felt bad enough to comp us breakfast, and after finding a room for the third night were able to let us keep our current room.
Would I book through Orbitz again? I'm not sure given this past experience and how it soured the start to a long weekend vacation - even given how good their coupon codes are, having to deal with hours of hassle at checkin isn't worth it.
Jan 20, 2016, 1:47 am
#2
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: SEA
Programs: HH Silver
Posts: 2,400
Rather than not using Orbitz, I think a better solution is to call and confirm your reservation with the hotel BEFORE you travel. Always.
Working in the hotel industry, I cannot recall ever seeing a screw up by one of the OTA's. It is all done automatically. The screw up happens when the hotel inputs the information it automatically gets from the OTA into their system. Many things go wrong at this point. Wrong dates get entered, wrong reservations get cancelled, reservation information never gets entered at all, etc. Almost all hotels have low wage people with minimal training inputting the information into their system. Mistakes are common.
Really hate sticking up for the OTA's, because they cause hotel workers a lot of headaches, but in my experience, errors rarely if ever lie with them on hotel bookings.
Working in the hotel industry, I cannot recall ever seeing a screw up by one of the OTA's. It is all done automatically. The screw up happens when the hotel inputs the information it automatically gets from the OTA into their system. Many things go wrong at this point. Wrong dates get entered, wrong reservations get cancelled, reservation information never gets entered at all, etc. Almost all hotels have low wage people with minimal training inputting the information into their system. Mistakes are common.
Really hate sticking up for the OTA's, because they cause hotel workers a lot of headaches, but in my experience, errors rarely if ever lie with them on hotel bookings.
Jun 5, 2022, 3:18 pm
#3
Join Date: Jun 2022
Posts: 1
Same problem with flight
I had a similar problem with booking our international flight through Orbitz. There was a cancellation with the return, so I called Orbitz to get a new flight. They rebooked, sent me a confirmation email, etc. When I called Air Canada to select seats prior to the outbound flight, however, I was told that Orbitz had accidentally exchanged our family's round trip tickets for one-way and we were not actually booked on the return, despite the fact that Orbitz had sent me a confirmation with the return flight details. It has taken me many hours on the phone with Orbitz And Air Canada to try to get it resolved and it's still not fixed. Beware!