Beth Trach was really looking forward to her mid-week March getaway at a Massachusetts inn and spa.
"I booked it through Hotels.com," Trach said. "I got a great deal and everything was good and then Gov. [Charlie] Baker announced schools are closed and all the dominoes just fell."
Baker closed schools and prohibited large gatherings on March 15, 2020. Trach's reservation was for March 17-19. She said the inn called her and asked if she wanted to cancel.
"I said, 'Can I get a refund?'" said Trach. "They said, 'Of course you can get a refund, looks like you booked through Hotels.com, you'll have to cancel it through them but we'll absolutely refund everything, we'll make a note of it on our end.'"
Trach said she canceled the reservation online as instructed by the inn, and when she didn't get her refund, she tried reaching out to Hotels.com. But she says she couldn't reach anyone by phone or online chat.
"Finally, I saw that they had posted a notice saying that they were refunding people for travel from March 20 through April, which is awesome," said Trach. "Except my travel was booked the 17th through the 19th, and it felt like because we lived in Massachusetts and had gotten on the ball really fast with social distancing, I was somehow being punished for that, for doing the right thing."
Trach reached out to NBC10 Boston Responds for help, and when we contacted Hotels.com, they agreed to refund her money.
Hotels.com told us they are continuing to update their policies. In a statement, the company said:
We understand we have customers in a situation like Ms. Trach who are outside of our current waiver from March 21 -April 30. We are working with our hotel partners to help resolve stays that are outside this window and are following with customers directly if we can reach a resolution with our partner. We so appreciate the patience as our customer care teams are working as quickly as possible with these unprecedented volumes.
"My full bill for two nights was $212 and change," said Trach. "I had gotten an amazing deal, but $212 and change in a family with two teens, that is groceries."
If you are having a problem with a consumer issue right now, reach out to us at NBC10 Boston Responds on our website, or give us a call at 1-888-521-NEWS. We will get back to you.
