Lost $80 on a hostel booking I should have double checked

Last month I booked a hostel in Nashville through a third party site I'd never used before. The photos looked great and the price was $40 a night which seemed like a steal. When I showed up at 9pm, the place was closed down with a sign on the door saying they went out of business two weeks earlier. The third party site wouldn't refund me because they said the listing was active when I booked. Has anyone else gotten burned by booking through an unfamiliar site instead of just going direct?

2 comments

2 Comments

hunt.jana5d ago

Jumped into a similar mess with a sketchy booking site last year. The place I paid for turned out to be an abandoned building with a fake address. Those third party sites are ruthless about refunds once your money clears. I only use Booking.com or Hotels.com now and even then I call the hotel directly after to confirm. Really wish there was a way to flag these scams before we waste our cash.

parkerb754d ago

Man that sucks, I've been burned the same way. Best move I ever made was booking directly through the hotel's own website instead of those third party aggregators. Saved my butt when a "confirmed" reservation magically disappeared on arrival.