mian11224

The very first time used them, and the hotel refused to honor the pre-paid reservation claimimg that they didn't have a contract with that company. Because the claim was made at the check-out, not when the voucher was presented, I'm giving Hotel-Board.com the benefit of a doubt, but after the original promise to help and a refund if need be, having difficulty now getting in touch.
Any experiences?

yk

It appears that this is a fraudulent company. There are various posts over on TripAdvisor forums with posters having the same problem as you did (ie, hotel had no record of booking via that website, posters had to pay for their hotel room, and had trouble getting refund from the website).

Do a google search and you can find those posts I mentioned above.

Perhaps you can file a complaint with Better Business Bureau?

yk

This thread over on TripAdvisor forum has multiple posters reporting the same issue as you had:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/58ls3a

mian11224

Thanks for the pointer, yk, I didn't find it before. However, there is nothing negative there, only questions and a very fair comment about suspicious positive posts.
Let me share my experience then: Hotel-Board is definitely some small operation, may even be a one-man Web show - but so is my travel agent. Considering that the other time I had a similar problem it was a hotel reservation in Paris made through Expedia - enough said. Hotel-Board got back to me, promised to get a refund within a couple of days. Getting a refund is not an issue because my bank is fully supportive in this case: the bank cannot argue with the hotel because I did stay there, but the pre-paid service was not provided.
I think the lesson here is to check with the hotel before the arrival that the reservation is valid.

yk

mian - if you read through all 7 pages of the link I posted (esp pages 5, 6 & 7), you'll see that several posters said they were scammed like the way you were.

mian11224

Yep, you're right, didn't notice the whole thread. Still, considering that I had similr experiences with a hotel reservation through Expedia and an airline reservation through Orbitz, the best thing is to check the reservation in advance to make sure it is valid. The oftentimes advice to deal with a hotel or an airline, especially, directly is not always possible and we have to deal with an intermidiary.
As for Hotel-Board in my case, opened up a dispute against their charge at the advice of my bank. At least shouldn't have a problem with that.

yk

I hope you get your money back.

Good advice re: checking with hotel prior to arrival, esp if booking is done via a third-party agency.

mian11224

Left an extended commentary at that thread to share the experience. However, as an afterthought: the hotel did have a reservation in my name. And that was the first time in my extensive travels that the pre-paid voucher was "not needed". I do give Hotel-Board at least some benefit of a doubt just because I dealt without any problems with similar outlets like Bookinhotels and had my share of problems with Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Czech Airlines and others. You want to have a bargain, you need to be prepared.

mian11224

Btw, got a full refund from Hotel-Board.com today. Still not convinced it was their fault.

yk

I'm glad it worked out! Thanks for reporting back.