Hotelwiz--Not a legitimate business
I made a seemingly normal hotel reservation in July though Hotelwiz. This is a merchant that pops up when searching for hotels on Google, by the way. However, I immediately realized that the website had defaulted to a two night reservation when I only needed one. So after reviewing the confirmation email, I immediately emailed back asking to change it to one night only. I received an automated response that someone would be in touch. The next day, I received an email from someone name "Kenneth" at Travelerhelpdesk.com. I had been making a few reservations at the time and did not realize exactly what it was in regards to, since all the email said was, and I quote: " Hi dear James, Greetings from hotelwiz! Please find the price for one night stay! *******@travelerhelpdesk.com" Followed by a price with the name of the hotel. So what does that even mean? I very clearly asked to cancel one night and leave the other. Did they do it? Would I be here writing this if they did? But that's not all. A few days later, I replied to the email, writing: "Hi Kenneth, Just wanted to make sure this modification was finalized? I didn't see a refund in my account yet so just wasn't sure. Thanks" I never received any response to this email at all. Eventually, a few more days passed, and on August 16 I called them and they told me at that point it was too late to cancel. Too late to cancel? I *tried* to cancel within 30 minutes of making the booking. The booking confirmation email also stated free cancellation before August 16. And they told me that they did not cancel over email because I "did not accept the price for a 1 night stay." The email never asked me to take any action at all, yet despite that I still emailed back to confirm they had cancelled. Did they do it? Of course not. Too much trouble. Nevertheless, I contacted the hotel directly to let them know I wouldn't be there on the first night. They made note of it, but of course cannot cancel it on their end. Afterward, I began a months-long battle going back and forth with their customer service and a charge dispute for the price of one night through Visa and Capitalone. Ultimately, capitalone claimed Visa would not refund me because "the merchant did not accept the dispute." I don't know what merchant, let alone one as awful as Hotelwiz would, but go on. Later, Capitalone mailed me a copy of the response they had received from Hotelwiz, including a supposed copy of the hotel confirmation email. This one, however, had been FORGED to state that the booking was non-refundable. Not non-cancellable after August 16, as the original stated, but non-refundable, period. I called capitalone to inform them of this. Did they care? Of course not. I have no doubt this is a common "business practice" by illegitimate businesses such as these. Hotelwiz violated their own cancellation policies, never mind that they failed to properly communicate with me and ignored my email. Nothing about this merchant is legitimate. You might as well be ordering from a shady guy in an alley.