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I am planning to visit Yosemite Park in May. I looked at the official site for hotels. When I was ready to book I went back on the net and thought I went to the same site. I ended up at National Park Reservation that sounds official. I followed the instructions for getting a reservation. It said I needed to list my 3 choices for housing and dates. I got a call saying that there was a cancellation at the Curry Village and that it was available immediately. I asked if others were available, but was told they are booked up way in advance. I was quoted a price and that I need to pay a 50% deposit. I thought it was all legitimate. I even told others that I was lucky to get a reservation. I thought it was slightly strange to having everything booked in this economic climate. I was putting info into my garmin for the trip and went to the official site to get address. I decided to check on availablity for the fun of it and if anything was open in the hotel I preferred. I was amazed to find out that all the hotels were available most days in May. I called to change reservation and was told my original reservation was not through them, but through a private company that charged a fee for the reservation. I went to the website. It looked official. I did not see anything about a fee or that they were not official reservation service. If it is there, it is not easily apparent. I went to my confirmation and it did see that there was a fee at the bottom. I hadn't read that before. I called the cancellation number and message did state that they were not the official site and they charged a fee. It would have been nice to know that before making the reservation. I submitted cancellation through the on-line system too. I never talked to anyone except the person who called me. I feel pretty dumb about being suckered in. I have had other problems with bigger companies that this. It almost seems like normal for business to deceive or defraud people. Everyone needs to closely look at bills and credit cards. I continually find charges that have been not authorized or wanted.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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The Site mimics the look of the National Parks but is not tied to the park system and charges a 10% fee for a reservation you can make yourself. You can call ( if you can find the number) the Park Lodge itself. I addtion they said I put down for a hotel I know I did not select and had no plans on even going near. Never Never Never Never Never use National Park Reservations.
Other than for advertising purposes, National Park Reservations, Inc. (NPR) does not appear to be interested in the condition of the properties they represent. Customer satisfaction does not appear to be their priority, even though NPR charges the vacationer 10% of the total reservation fee just to make the reservation. The service I received from NPR could have been satisfactory with minimal effort on their part. From NPR, I rented a vacation home for a week’s stay in June 2013 near Shenandoah National Park. National Parks Reservations is a private company. They are not an authorized concessionaire of any National Park nor are they in any way affiliated with the National Park Service of the Federal Government. They make reservations on behalf of their “customers” around the United States National Parks. NPR is only a middleman between the vacationer and the property owner, like LionCrowCabins.com.
To start with in addition to providing the property address, NPR could improve their service by providing the vacationer with a phone number for the on-site property manager. NPR told me the address they gave me was for the rental office and someone would be there when we arrived. With the help of a GSP, I found the “rental office”; it was a personal residence and the only one there was a big angry dog. After knocking on several other doors in rural mountain Virginia, and stopping a car in the road to ask for assistance, one of the local residents called the property manager to let him know we were looking for him. If I had a phone number, my first impression of the property would have been much more positive.
While the property appeared very nice, it has some construction flaws. For example, in order to turn on the main light in master bed room, a total of three different switches have to be on. It took several days before I figured this out. Light switches are minor compared to flooding. When it rains, and it rains often in Virginia, the property can flood, and it flooded during our stay. After discovering an inch of water throughout the down stairs master bedroom and bath, we called the property manager. “I know what the problem is” were his first words after being told. If the property manager knew the property could flood when it rains, the property should never have been offered for rent until the problem was fixed.
After we got back home, we called NPR to complain about the flooding and our dissatisfaction with their service. NPR said they would investigate our accusations and get back in touch with us. Only the property manager from Lion Crow Cabins called us. No one from NPR has contacted us regarding our stay, despite the fact that we had a contract with them and paid them a fee.
There are many other vacation rental property that are much nicer and much closer to Shenandoah National Park. If you rent from National Park Reservations, Inc. or Lion Crow Cabins, beware; you might be very disappointed.
Stay away from National Parks Reservations. They provide a reservation service for a 10% premium that you don't need to pay if you reserve directly with the property. And once they have your money, you will never never get it back. That's their business model: trick people and keep the money, even if you lose their business.
Totally agree that these thieves appear to get away with fraud and theft. We were charged $110 for the privilege of having them make reservations at Grand Canyon. Website appears to mimic National Parks govt websites. Be aware. No affiliation whatsoever. These crooks suck consumers in every day. Beware.