Q: We booked a room at the Oasis at Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos through Hotels.com in January 2020, for accommodations in early April 2020. When we booked the reservation, we could not reserve the same room for our entire stay, so we made two separate reservations.
We had to cancel because of the pandemic. I emailed the hotel numerous times to resolve this, and the company finally issued a refund for one of the reservations, but not the other. I asked why, and they could not give me a straight answer.
I reached out to Hotels.com, and they responded that they would issue a voucher for the same hotel. I did not want this and just wanted a refund. I went back and forth with them for a while on this and have not received my refund.
Hotels.com now says my voucher has expired, and they can’t do anything else for me regarding this. None of this adds up. Can you please get my $1,632 back? — Michelle Sprekelmeyer, Costa Mesa, California
A: Hotels.com should have refunded your stay three years ago. I think you’ve just broken the record for the longest wait for a refund.
Pandemic refunds were confusing. But the confusion started before the outbreak.
Splitting a reservation means more paperwork and more of a chance that something can go wrong. If that ever happens to you again, it’s better to find a way to make a single reservation.
Hotels.com should have helped you from the start. Asking the Oasis for a refund would have been your backup plan, not step one. Hotels.com is your online agent, and it should have taken care of you.
If the regular customer service channels don’t work, you could have reached out to an executive. I publish the names, numbers and emails of the Hotels.com customer service managers on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.
I contacted Hotels.com on your behalf.
“We regret that it took longer than usual to resolve the problem with the property,” a representative told me.
Hotels.com issued a full refund.
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