Just a couple of quick notes on major developments:

1) Crain's New York Business Journal ran a front page story last week about Tourists getting taken in fake-hotel scams. WooGone.com is referenced and they used photos from the site. I'll have the article on the site today.

2) I just finished an interview with the Associated Press. Look for a story to go national within a few days.

3) We continue to work with government officials in NY on these matters. I believe heavy fines and jail time has been levied against WooGo Lincoln Center property managers/owners now. NYC officials continue to focus hard on solving the problem.

Even still, as progress is being made, the crimes continue.

Please, do NOT trust Expedia.com, Orbitz.com or Hotels.com -- they knowingly list these illegal & unsafe hotels.

WooGone.com has more details.

Thanks for the update! Its good to know that something is being done about this. Thanks again for all your effort.

Good for you, ibdkb. You really got the ball rolling.

Judging by what I've read here and on other forums like TripAdvisor.com, you've already saved countless travelers from getting fleeced by WooGo, just by getting the word out.

I'm hoping everybody concerned has taken your cue and contacted the New York Attorney General's office and the Federal Trade Commission to report their experiences with WooGo. The quick links that you've provided at the bottom of your site, WooGone.com, provide an easy way of doing this.

Thanks again ...

kelly, are you going to join us at the Atlanta GTG this Saturday? Hope so to see you and DW.

Congrats to you Kelly for not just blowing off a bad experience and getting in there and making a difference.

I admire you!

Thanks for the update Kelly, let us know where and when we can read the article!

Update - It's official! The WooGo Lincoln Center has vacated the West 63rd Street side of our apartment complex where all the rent controlled / stabilized tenants live as of July 2006. They faced hefty city fines after months of battles. They are starting to move tenants back in.
The WooGo Lincoln Center has officially moved it's illegal hotel operations to the West 64th St side where they are not in violation of rent control laws as those units are not covered. It is important to know that the WooGo Lincoln Center remains in violation of it's Certificate of Occupancy from the Dept of Buildings as it is still illegal to have a commercial hotel within this residential zone. It also is still in violation of fire safety laws.

Tourists - despite this half victory you should be aware that service is still very poor and the switch and bait scam does continue -
Thanks for all the support of Fodors forum members.

Ibdkb,

As a New Yorker, I am disgusted at this illegal activity which gives my city a bad name.

Please, if you have not already done so, take a look at www.nyc.gov, the City's official website which has links and e-mail for every city agency plus the mayor and city council.

AP article was in our Lansing, Mich. paper a few days ago. You are HOT! What a courageous and hard-working person you are. Many thanks.

The AP interview hit the Central NY papers last week - nice job!!

Does anyone have a link?

http://tinyurl.com/f2yg7

And the other side of the story is that the NYC Tenants Assoc is getting involved.

Since this is really aplou by the owners of the buildings to drive out legal tenants so they can flip the buildings from inexpensive rental units into tremendously more profitable condos. (They're hoping - along with lack of other services - to frighten many of the elderly tenants by bringing in rotating hordes of strangers while not providing the security/services you get in hotels.)

From John Raskin:

Dear Neighbor:

Thank you for helping make our June 15th Town Hall Meeting on Illegal Hotels such a success! Our campaign against illegal hotels in residential buildings is picking up steam, and we want to take this moment to report a couple of updates:

1) Town Hall Meeting Focuses Media, Government on Illegal Hotels

2) Councilmember Brewer, Mayor Bloomberg Score New Funding to Fight Problem

3) News Coverage of the Illegal Hotels Issue

1) Town Hall Meeting Focuses Media, Government on Illegal Hotels

More than 250 people from all over Manhattan attended our June 15th Town Hall meeting on illegal hotels! Tenants related their stories of landlord harassment, fearing for their safety and losing their neighbors to illegal hotel rooms. Elected officials turned out in droves to hear the tenants’ concerns and discuss their plans for addressing the issue, including State Senators Tom Duane and Liz Krueger, Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and Councilmembers Gale Brewer, Dan Garodnick and Rosie Mendez. Please see below for press coverage of the event and of the issue.

2) Councilmember Brewer, Mayor Bloomberg Score New Funding to Fight Problem

In a tight budget year, Councilmember Gale Brewer and Mayor Bloomberg worked together to find funding for a new inspector who can focus exclusively on illegal tourist hotels in residential buildings. Thanks to Councilmember Brewer and Mayor Bloomberg, our community will now have a point person who can coordinate investigations and tackle some of these buildings head-on. It’s just one step of many necessary to resolve the problem, but it’s a significant move and it shows that the City is taking our concerns seriously.

Thanks also go to Speaker Quinn and to the many elected officials who have joined the Illegal Hotels Working Group and signed on their support for the budget request: Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Borough President Scott Stringer, State Senators Tom Duane, Liz Krueger and Eric Schneiderman, Assembly Members Deborah Glick, Richard Gottfried, Pete Grannis, Sylvia Friedman, Daniel O’Donnell, and Linda Rosenthal, and Councilmembers Inez Dickens, Dan Garodnick, Alan Gerson, Robert Jackson, Jessica Lappin, Melissa Mark Viverito and Rosie Mendez. Find out who represents you at: http://www.cmap.nypirg.org/netmaps/M....asp?cmd=start

and send them a note of thanks!

3) News Coverage of the Illegal Hotels Issue

Our campaign against illegal hotels has garnered a great deal of press in recent weeks. Please see below for articles from:

-Crain’s New York Business

-The Associated Press, printed in newspapers across the country

And see http://woogone.com/#news for a clip of television news coverage.

Thanks for all your work on the illegal hotels issue. If we keep up the pressure like this, we can turn back the tide and reclaim residential buildings for real New York tenants!

Best,

John Raskin
Community Organizer
Housing Conservation Coordinators

=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>

(that's 4 gold stars!!)

Wow!

Good for you Kelly and thanks!

I just noticed a woogo.com ad on one of my favorite blogs, www.curbed.com

icky...

I am one of the many people who have been cheated by Woogo. I booked an apartment for a week in Lincoln Centre NY i late june 2006 via Hotel.com
Having seen the terrible references on Trip Advisor I cancelled my reservation three days before arrival. I got a return mail from Whoogo Sales that I would have my money refunded within 21 days.(2280 US-dollars). Almost two month later I stil havent got my money. Woogo cant tell mee when iŽll get them.
They say they have problems with installing new software.
I would like to know if anybody have similar experiences and if anybody is about to proceed against woogo.

Get an attorney to write a letter stating if money is not returned within 14 days you will sue. Then - if necessary, do so.

These people are in so much trouble that at this point only lawyers will make them read somethiing.

Hello all yep I to have been jibbed by WOOGO.. I booked accomadation with Woogo.com for NYC on the 11th of May 2006, but cancelled several weeks later on the 21st of June. The companies policy stated that I would receive a refund, minus a cancellation fee within 21 days. However it has now been over 2 months, Firstly they apologied for the delay and stated it was an oversight and my refund would occur in the next week that was on the 20th of July. no refund arrived. Then on the 13th of August they said it was a software problem.... (Yep you guys have heard that one before)still no refund. The problem was fixed And I was assured a refund within the next 2 weeks that was an email dated 5th Sept, still 2 weeks later no refund. Rather an email apologiesing for having made an error and possibly double charging my account!!! Taking further money out without permission!!! An error they will rectify in a few days, but still no refund.... This I beleive amounts to out right theft , and illegal business practices. Clearly I am not alone in being robbed by this so called reputable company . I trully hope you can put a stop to their illegal business practices. This is one of the last emails sent.Thank you for your call in relation to your stay with WooGo.
I regret for such a delay in your getting your refund and the inconveniences that you encountered. I fully appreciate your concerns. It is customary that our clients are refunded in time but unfortunately we had got some technical problems with the procedure of refunding our clients. The problem has been already solved and our finance department started the process of refunding.
You will be refunded within two weeks.
Your refund amount is 1299.66USD Victor
no refund just the following Due to accounting errors we might have double charged your credit card. This amount will be refunded to your card in the next few days.Please feel free to use this email as a confirmation from us to your credit card company, i.e. Visa, Mastercard, etc that we agree for this amount to be refunded to your card by a way of a charge back from your Credit Card company.