Vacations made easy Charged us $250 a night for a filthy, uninhabitable hotel room Springfield Missouri

We booked a four night stay at the Leamington Hotel - Miami through Vacations Made Easy.  The hotel was one of only three they offered in the Miami area, and our first choice was full and the other was essentially in the Everglades so we couldn't stay there.  They represented that the hotel was a nice hotel with the usual amenities as well as free wifi and close proximity to the Port of Miami and reasonably close to the beaches and other attractions.  

When we checked in, we discoverd how awful the hotel actually was.  The hotel was grossly out of date and did not look like it had been repaired since 1960.  Our room was filthy.  There were stains on the sheets, the walls, the towels, the fixtures, and the carpet.  There were hairs in the shower.  The doors to the outside didn't lock properly and there was a hole in the door as well.  The door to the bathroom didn't have a knob at all.  There was no hot water.  The internet didn't work.  The television didn't work and when we complained, we discovered that to turn it on you had to stick something into the tv where the power button should have been to get it to turn on.  

Needless to say, we got out of there as soon as possible.  We explained this horrid situation to Vacations Made Easy and they refused to reimburse us for the hotel they had recommended.  At first, one of the representatives had promised to reimburse part of the amount but wanted to keep 25% as a cancellation fee and $250 for the night we had to stay there before we could find another hotel.  We rejected that offer.  Then, another representative said that they would reimburse use $230 directly, put another portion on a gift certificate and also charge the $250 for the one night.  We received that message via voicemail and tried to return the call to say that it was unacceptable.  Instead of getting through to anyone, our phone calls kept getting directed to a random voicemail box.  

Finally, after five hours of attempting to get through to someone, we finally got someone again.  I told the woman that we rejected the offer and wanted a full refund of the entire amount.  She refused.  When I told her that the only reason we were at the hotel was because it had been recommended by them and that I presumed they weren't in the business of recommending filthy, uninhabitable hotels she admitted that was their business plan.  She then refused to speak to me anymore.  Fortunately, we were able to get the charges reversed with our credit card company, but Vacations Made Easy was anything but.