Travel Troubleshooter: No rain check from Hotwire
Jennifer Holland prepays for a hotel room on Hotwire.com. But a severe storm threatens to wash out her vacation. Holland wants the travel site to give her a rain check, but it won't, insisting its rooms are nonrefundable. She checks in, but finds her room is unusable. What, if anything, does Hotwire owe her? Jennifer Holland, Lake Mary, Florida and should have -- also enlisted the help of Hotwire, who acted as your travel agent when you booked your room, and is supposed to be your advocate. American Express was correct to deny your dispute. But Hotwire should have contacted the hotel when you called it, to find out if it was still accepting guests. I mean, how hard would it have been for the phone agent to look up the weather report and determine that the hotel is about to be ransacked by the mother of all storms? I contacted Hotwire on your behalf, and it issued a voucher the equivalent of one night's stay at a different hotel. A spokesman also said Hotwire no longer sells rooms at The Ocean Club Beach Resort because the property is undergoing "extensive" renovations. |
