kayjaytd

Used otel.com to book a hotel because they advertise No Booking Fees, No Cancellation Fees. Booked it no fees but needed to cancel and done this after just 10 hours of booking and was advised cannot cancel, even though my travel iis in 6 weeks. After lengthy discussions with 5 different Customer Service people, they will not give any kind of refund. Surely this is false advertising?? Any ideas what I can do??

newtome

Otel.com clearly marks the HOTEL's cancellation fees when oyu book. You need to click on the hotel's cancellation fees to see what fees will be assessed. You obviously chose a hotel that penalizes you for cancelling.

Improviser

Caveat empor always applies. It would appear that you did not read the fine print. As newtome points out, you need to check the HOTEL's policy, not just Otel's policy.

I have never heard of anyone else saying OTEL did not allow them to cancel without paying.

Rastaguytoday

Classic first post on Fodors and it's a complaint about something.

Methinks the OP didn't do what all bookers of third parties should do, read the fine print.

Improviser

What is it with people who join travel forums with the sole intention of bad mouthing some company?

kayjaytd

'Bad mouthing' as you call it. No giving others my experience and asking for advise. When a Company advertises on their web site No Booking Fees and No Cancellation Fees, I expect exactly that. But thank you for you kind words and sound advice

kayjaytd

Just seen other posts 'bad mouthing' otel.com on Fodor and others have also mentioned no refunds given!!! When I cancelled I got an email stating the monies will be refunded within 10 days but Customer Service said I would get no refund. Do not feel this is fair when they clearly advertise 'No Fees'

Rastaguytoday

kayjaytd - If you didn't read the fine print....

To paraphrase improviser, it's caveat emptor.

kayjaytd

Rastaguytoday - thank you but If the fine print says one thing why do they advertise another???

Improviser

YOU ARE NOT LISTENING. Otel is only respsonsible for refunding THEIR fees. They are not responsible for the hotel's policy on cancellations.

Now, are you saying Otel is not refunding their own fees? Or is it the hotel that is not refunding your money? Clarify.

Otel, do not charge a fee, they get paid commission by the hotel. So they cannot refund a fee they do not charge. It is the hotel cost that you are talking about, not any fee from Otel.

Otel can advertise, 'no fee, no cancellation charge' as they do not in fact charge a fee and do not charge you if you cancel. Is English not your first language? If so, then that might explain your misunderstanding of what a fee is and what a room cost is.

They are not advertising anything about the hotel's policy, only their OWN policy regarding any fee THEY charge.

Why did you use Otel? Answer because it was cheap. Caveat emptor. Why did you not book directly with the hotel? Why did you not use a travel agent?

People always want something for nothing and then cry when something unexpected happens. If you want to be your own booking agent, blame your booking agent (YOU) for not knowing what the cancellation would cost you.

2globalnomads

The fine print is a scam, too, so it does not make them any better. Sounds almost as bad as all insurance companies.

@OP

Thanks for the warning, will avoid them!

suze

Why not book directly with the hotel?

Myer

I would never deal with a company that hopes to get you to their web site as a result of a typo.

Improviser

What typo?

schmerl

I think Myer is referring to the legit site hotel.com.....a typo for someone trying to get to that site would be otel.com

Improviser

Ah, of course schmerf. You are probably right. It never occurred to me. Nowadays there are so many sites with an address that is really just a set of initials, I never considered that 'otel' was a short form of 'hotel'.

I thought it stood for something like 'Only The E-smart aLlowed'. (Best I could come up with on short notice.)

Otel_comStaff

Dear Sir or Madam ,

Thank you for your message and for bringing this to our attention.

I’m very sorry to hear that you are unhappy with our service.
Could you send me an e mail to me with details of your problem. mail adress is [email protected]

I will await your clarification so I can assist you.

Best Regards,
Merve A.