Hotels.com won't ask hotel for proof of stay
 

To cut a long series of emails short, a hotel I booked via Hotels.com said I did not have a reservation when called to confirm. Hotels.com was contacted regarding this matter, who then contacted the said hotel, who later claimed I stayed at the hotel. When Hotels.com contacted the hotel again for clarification, no response was forthcoming. This, Hotels.com claims, is the end of the matter, stating that "their hands are tied". When asked to pursue this matter, with my advice to demand my passport number from the said hotel (a copy of guest's passport must be taken by hotel), Hotels.com will not pursue the matter.
What would forumites suggest to do next?

You did not receive what you paid for and have attempted to deal with both the travel agent and the hotel.

File a chargeback with your credit card, briefly describing what happened.

Thank you.

Yes, and OP should file a complaint with the BBB

Is it a past reservation, or just confirming a future reservation?

If it's a future reservation, the hotel might not have your name/reservation yet. The ota (hotels.com) might just have a block of rooms booked in the hotel, and will transmit the name/details night before stay

If it's a past reservation and you had to pay a second time to hotel because they didn't have your original reservation... Then yeah, charge back one of them

- This.

OP - Please clarify what you are talking about. It sounds as if you have already completed the journey and did not stay at the hotel and simply want your money back. If that is the case, why on earth are you involving yourself in telling hotels.com how to run its business? All you need to have done is to have asked for your money back and when told "no" initiated a chargeback.

If the issue is that the journey has not yet started and you have called the property, the likelihood is that the property does not yet have your name.

Beware that the chargeback dispute sounds as though it may well fail here and you may well be stuck. All it will take is hotels.com responding that it has checked and that you did stay at the property.

More than just "sounds like", my post was definite in that the journey had already been completed.
Not a good idea to try alternative means until one has established good evidence of a failure on a company's part to address a legitimate concern. After a string of emails, I have proof of such failure.
Your post is contradictory, in that you can't fathom why a more immediate step was not taken, then predict difficulty in claiming compensation without "paper trail"-type evidence arising from a too hasty change in tactic.
Now having this "paper trail", constituting Hotels.com noncompliance in seeking irrefutable evidence of my stay, I doubt their response that "it has checked and that you did stay at the property" will be recognized.

Hotel knowingly takes payment for stay that did not occur but claims you stayed = fraud and/or theft. You may wish to complain to law enforcement as well.

As a service to forum members, please name the venue so we don't get stung also.

Thanks for editing your OP to clarify what was far from clear before.

My post is not contradictory in the least.

I have simply pointed out that you face a perhaps insurmountable problem.

You, rather than hotels.com will need to gather the paper to demonstrate that you did not stay at the property and you will likely find that difficult as the property has as little incentive to be truthful with you as it does hotels.com.

if its a nonrefundable contract, or OP didn't abide by cancellation rules... doesn't really matter?

well, i'm still confused by what OP is saying...


past stay... OP booked via hotels.com, but the host hotel refused to allow OP to check in because they can't find the reservation?

and then, host hotel lied to hotels.com and said that OP did stay? OP eventually stayed somewhere else out of pocket?

did OP actually attempt to check in physically, and host hotel refused?

The editing was just one word; changing "then" to "later", where the original was correct, where the change simply adding clarity. I suggest you stop make comment based on guesswork.
Your post was contradictory.
Proof of not staying? You have to be kidding me? Logic determines the proof of stay lies with the hotel, in that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. I urge you to refrain from posting counterproductive advice.
You should take guidance from the succinct reply from Doc Savage, which should have ended the thread.

I can understand the hotel keeping prepayment on a no show, but to first claim no reservation under my name, then (later) claiming I did stay when approached by Hotels.com, without providing evidence that should be available, is indeed fraud. Accordingly, I will take this further, but not until my complaint is exhausted, due to the possibility, though remote, of a "misunderstanding". Further action includes naming the hotel here, but in the interim, it is a small hotel that is unlikely to impact FTers.

OP, where did you stay?

From what I understand, you booked a hotel through hotels.com. You went to said to hotel to check-in and they claimed "no reservation."

You complained to hotels.com who checked with the hotel who then said that you had indeed stayed with them, closing your complaint with hotels.com.

Do I have that right?

Did you then lay out additional money to stay elsewhere OR to stay in the exact same hotel?

I still don't understand what the OP's problem is. Was OP charged for a stay that never occurred? Did OP pay twice for the same stay? Did OP try to cancel, was told that no reservation existed, and yet was charged as a no show?

Please let us know what your issue is. I understand that you are trying to get the hotel to provide proof of a stay, but what I don't see is what harm you suffered and are trying to get a resolution to. Thanks!

I'm not sure how it works with Iphiones - but, with Android, you can log into Google Maps and see where you have been based on GPS. Could be proof of where you were.

Also - do you have a receipt from the hotel that you actually did stay in?