[Junction 54] Won't Get Fooled Again - Editor's Column/Audio Note

Honestly, I can’t believe I fell for it. But the fact that I did makes me think it’s all the more important to talk about it. If I do, maybe a neighbor won’t fall victim to a similar scam. Or, if they do, at least they can know that they’ve got options.

Back in January, my mother was scheduled for a heart procedure. She lives down in Florida. Obviously, I wanted to be there, so I went to book a hotel room. One of the recommended nearby hotels was a Hampton Inn, so I searched online using Google.

I clicked the first available link, because it looked like the official Hampton Inn website. Looked official. It wasn’t. By the time I realized something was wrong, I had booked the room and I was immediately charged about $500 for a two-night stay.

That immediate charge freaked me out. I’m used to hotels giving guests until 24-48 hours before the booking date to cancel and then charging the full amount for the stay at checkout. Troubled, I tried to cancel right away.

After a series of increasingly frustrating phone calls, I discovered that the “non-official” Hampton Inn website actually belonged to a company called Getaroom.com. They insisted they couldn’t refund the charge because the hotel wouldn’t let them. Meanwhile, the hotel management told us they had nothing to do with Getaroom.com’s bookings or the refund process with them.

I did some digging and found others across the country had fallen prey to the no-refund sites set up by Getaroom.com. Several victims complained to the Better Business Bureau. Those complaints got great results, putting Getaroom.com on the spot and resulting in refunds.

I complained. I got my money back.

So, what you should take away from this is:

• Make sure hotel websites are legit before giving them your money.
• Don’t book with any site that holds a “no-refund” policy more than 48 hours before the booking date.
• Use resources like the Better Business Bureau to pressure bad actors to make things right again.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering: Mom pulled through just fine!