Travres Travel Res US Reservation Fraud  Internet

I attempted to book a hotel and one of the first results on the google search took me to a site with a phone number that appeared in red numbers (the first thing you notice, intended to trick you). I booked my reservation and everything seemed fine, I was given a confirmation number. However, when I got to my hotel and gave that number there was no record of my reservation.

I phoned my credit card company, and they gave me a phone number associated with the charge on my credit card. They charge your credit card right away, as opposed to using the card to secure the reservation, which I believe is the normal way to do this. I called the number, and an automated telephone system gave me five different options, none of which allowed me to speak to a real person. The hotel clerk then went on the internet and found out the way to actually speak to a real person. To speak to a real person, select option two and then when they ask for the itinerary number you have to hit the # sign several times (it took me 3). Then you will be able to speak to a real person. 

I talked to a real person at this point. I gave them my confirmation number, and then they phoned the hotel and gave a different, real confirmation number to the hotel and the hotel was able to see the reservation. They try to make out that the hotel had the reservation all along, which they did but they gave me a different confirmation number which was of no use to me. The number they gave was much longer than the ones that work with the hotel's system. After this was sorted out, they said they would give a 15% discount (though it is too early at this point to know if they actually have). 

The hotel requested a faxed copy of the reservation from them. They were resistant, claiming that it was not required. They even claimed to have sent it, but the clerk did not receive it. I had to actually hand my phone to the clerk so they could talk to the representative. Eventually a supervisor of Travres came on and they did send a fax receipt after much prodding. Upon inspection of the receipt, it looks like they book through Expedia.

This whole ordeal took over 2 hours to sort out. I don't entirely remember the specifics of how I got to the phone number to book, but I believe it was either a Google paid ad (the ones that appear at the top of a google search with a pale yellow background) or it was a popup on a legitmate booking site, with the Travres number in big red font to catch your attention.