Travelscape.com subsidiary of Expedia.com beware of reservation rules Internet

 Called Holiday Inn On the Beach Resort in Galveston, Texas to book a room for a reunion in October and was told that all rooms were booked. Went to Expedia.com to try to find a nearby hotel and they found Holiday Inn Seaspray Resort just down the road. I booked it with them. Unknown to me, it was booked through a third party, Travelscape.com.

I got a call from our reunion president and was told that there were rooms at the first hotel. He had the Holiday Inn reservation manager cancel my reservations at the second hotel and make new ones at the first hotel. Note that it is the same chain of hotels.

I called 1-888-205-3315 for Expedia.com and tried to convince them to transfer the request and money to Holiday Inn On the Beach Resort. Now began a 45 minute discussion with various English as a second language operators who had no clue what I was requesting. As it turns out, the money is encumbered and can not be returned or switched to the other hotel. When asked what happens to the money since the reservations have been cancelled by Holiday Inn I was told that it counted as a penalty and they could keep all $535.

Be aware of the reservation conditions as quoted by ESOL operators and never accept an absolute no refund policy. If enough people refuse to accept the policy they will change it. The only written notice I received was by email confirming my reservation along with the notice of no refund which, of course, was after my card was charged.

At this point, I am attempting to get the Holiday Inn reservation manager to renew the reservations at the second hotel, Holiday Inn Seaspray Resort. Wish me luck.