Getaroom review: Mistaken hotel reservation

Outline of incident with getaroom.com:

At approximately 8:10 am Rome, Italy, time, 9/28/2023, I input into my iphone search: Apricot Hotel Istanbul Turkey. The site for this hotel came up - apricothotelreservations.com. I proceeded to make a reservation for a room at the rate of $132, with tax etc., $195.12.

Less than a minute later, I received a confirmation email from the hotel. It was then I learned that the hotel was NOT in Istanbul, Turkey, but was in Hanoi, Vietnam and was through getaroom.com, not apricothotelreservations.com.

I immediately called the 1-800 # to state that this must have been a mistake and that I needed to cancel the reservation immediately. (See Exhibit A)

The man on the phone said, “Oh, yes, I see the reservation. I am sorry. We all are human and make mistakes. But, I can only cancel it and you will not get a refund.” We talked for many minutes. I was trying to understand how I could enter Istanbul, Turkey in my iphone and end up getting a hotel in Vietnam. He kept saying it was human error, but I could not get a refund. I asked to speak to a manager, but the time in Allen, TX was 1 am, and there were no managers available. He said he would leave a message for the next available manager to call. (See Exhibit B)

We boarded the plane to Turkey from Rome, and while I was on the plane, Mary, a manager, had called from getaroom.com and left a message. Obviously, I could not take the call due to having my phone on Airplane Off.

I called immediately upon arriving in Istanbul, was put on hold for ½ hour and never got to speak to a manager because apparently they were all busy.

I tried again the next day (9/29/2023) - due to the time difference it was all I could do - and again was put on hold again for a long time and told the same thing - all managers were busy and someone would call me back. No one did.

Once back in the United States, on 9/30/2023, I called the 1-800# multiple times in hopes of resolving this issue. I was put on hold each time for approximately ½ hour.

The 6th time I called your 1-800 #, I talked to a very nice woman who suggested I call the Hanoi hotel directly. This was the first time anyone from getaroom.com had suggested that.

Also, the payment for the hotel was still considered pending as of 9/30/2023 and did not process until 10/3/2023.

Still having an International Plan on Verizon from my trip (or so I thought), I called the Apricot Hotel directly. I talked to a nice young man who said it was the middle of the night but he would pass my information on to the manager in the morning. He even emailed me to confirm my address so the manager could email me back. (See Exhibit C)

As you can see from the correspondence by 10/1/2023, I had still not heard from the manager. I waited one more day and called Hanoi again and spoke to the manager directly. (Exhibit C)

She said that because I had not called Apricot Hotel directly the day I booked the reservation in order to cancel, there was nothing she could do. She asked me WHY I had waited so long to speak with the hotel directly. I told her it is because the reservation confirmation says to call a 1-800# in Allen, TX to handle all problems. Then, she starts talking about another company named Agoda (?!) that I should have talked to. I had no idea who Agoda was and asked her how could I have spoken with them if I have never heard of them before.

She also stated that it was now October 3rd, 2023, and that the September 2023 reservations had all been processed and there was nothing she could do to help me. It was my fault that I hadn't called her hotel earlier. She also What’sApp me what she had said. (Exhibit D).

I felt so helpless. I had tried to do all that I could to cancel immediately but got the biggest run-around from your company.

I also got charged $77.19 from Verizon for the international call made to Hanoi, even though I had an international plan. Turns out, Vietnam is not covered in that international plan. That was yet another phone call I had to make - to Verizon - for 23 minutes, to understand why I was being billed $77.19. (See Exhibit E)

Finally, on 10/09/2023, Mary, the manager at Allen, TX, returned my calls/emails. She had no sympathy for me. In fact, she was very rude. She said I should have called immediately and that the best she could do was to give me a $50 check. I was outraged.

I would like the following monies refunded to me -

$195.12 hotel reservation

77.19 phone call to Hanoi

TOTAL AMT: $272.31

If anything, I would be pleased just to get my money back from the hotel reservation and somewhat of an apology for the work and trouble I have gone through to communicate with your company.

EXHIBIT A -

Confirmation of Apricot Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam

Confirmation of Apricot Hotel in Vietnam

EXHIBIT B -

Emails from getaroom.com that are in response to my phone calls. I never heard from anyone until October 9, 2023.

Customer Care

Thu, Sep 28, 1:11 AM

to me

Thank you for contacting Customer Care. It has been our pleasure to assist you today and look forward to supporting future travel plans. Please feel free to reply to this email, if you have additional question.

Kind regards,

Navarro C.

Customer Care

Customer Care

Thu, Sep 28, 10:23 AM

to me

Thank you for contacting Customer Care. We are pleased to assist you today and look forward to supporting your future travel plans. Please feel free to reply to this email if you have additional questions.

Kind Regards,

Timisha G.

Customer Care

Customer Care

Thu, Sep 28, 11:32 AM

to me

Thank you for contacting Customer Care. It has been our pleasure to assist you today and look forward to supporting future travel plans. Please feel free to reply to this email if you have additional questions.

Reference Case # CN04185033

Warm Regards,

Josett H

Customer care

Laurie

Thu, Sep 28, 11:42 AM

to Customer

Please call me at [protected]. I have additional questions and would like to talk to a supervisor. I have made 4 attempts at calling your offices and have not been connected to a supervisor.

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 28, 2023, at 7:32 PM, Customer Care wrote:

 Thank you for contacting Customer Care. It has been our pleasure to assist you today and look forward to supporting future travel plans. Please feel free to reply to this email if you have additional questions.

Customer Care

Sat, Sep 30, 1:28 PM

to me

Thank you for contacting Customer Care. It has been our pleasure to assist you today and look forward to supporting future travel plans. Please feel free to reply to this email if you have additional questions

Kind Regards,

Alexzandra.B

Laurie Koshgarian

Sat, Sep 30, 9:08 PM

to Customer

You did NOTHING to help me. So, it was NOT my pleasure working with you today.

--

Laurie Jo Koshgarian

Customer Care

Tue, Oct 3, 12:35 PM

to me

Thank you for contacting Customer Care. We are pleased to assist you today and look forward to supporting your future travel plans. Please feel free to reply to this email if you have additional questions.

#CN04185033

Kind Regards,

Addison.G

Customer Care

Laurie

Tue, Oct 3, 11:28 PM

to Customer

No one ever contacted me today. As usual.

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 3, 2023, at 12:35 PM, Customer Care wrote:

Laurie

Wed, Oct 4, 7:23 AM

to Customer

Just to let you know, as I expected, no one has ever contacted me from your company.

Laurie

Sent from my iPhone

dm

Sat, Sep 30, 2023 at 11:26 AM

To: "[protected]@gmail.com"

EXHIBIT C -

Dear Ms. Laurie,

Thank you for letting me know your problem. I send this email to confirm your email address to be able to solve this trouble with you.

Front Office

Nguyen Dang Huy

136 Hang Trong Street, Hoan Kiem Dist., Hanoi, Vietnam

Tel : + [protected]/EX :6100 | Fax: + [protected]

Mobile: +84 (0) [protected]

Email: [protected]@apricothotels.com

Web: www.apricothotels.com

EXHIBIT C -

Laurie Koshgarian

Sat, Sep 30, 2023 at 9:15 PM

To: dm

I have not heard from your manager. Should I call?

[Quoted text hidden]

--

Laurie Jo Koshgarian

Laurie Koshgarian

Sun, Oct 1, 2023 at 10:29 AM

To: dm

I still have not received an email from your manager.

-Laurie

[Quoted text hidden]

--

Laurie Jo Koshgarian

EXHIBIT D -

Pictures won't attach to this document for some reason.

EXHIBIT E -

Verizon charge for calling Hanoi, Vietnam:

One-time charges & credits $157.19

$100 1 Month Intl Monthly Plan $100.00

Sep 15 - Oct 14

20% - feature discount -$20.00

Sep 15 - Oct 14

International minutes - landline $77.19