GetARoom.com has been hit with a class action lawsuit from customers who claim that the third-party hotel booking company engages in deceptive hotel booking methods and charges customers massive fees.
Plaintiffs Christian and Jonna Sander state that Consumer Club Inc. d/b/a GetARoom.com misleads consumers into thinking they are booking a room with the hotel itself and don’t disclose that they are a third-party vendor.
Sander says she made a reservation for a stay at the Scandic Patria hotel, thinking that she was on the hotel website. She paid $141.14 for the stay, which was the advertised rate.
When she received an email confirmation, the plaintiff learned that the reservation was booked through GetARoom.com and not the hotel itself.
“Upon information and belief, Plaintiffs believe that Defendant created a website to mimic or redirect them from the official website of the Scandic Patria in order to falsely induce Plaintiffs into reserving through Defendant instead of directly through the hotel,” the Get A Room class action lawsuit states.
In addition to fraudulently inducing the plaintiffs into booking a hotel reservation through its website, GetARoom.com also charged the plaintiffs a $100.76 in “Tax Recovery Charges & Service Fees,” which was not disclosed when the plaintiff was making the reservation.
The defendant is a middleman and takes reservations for hotel rooms from consumers in lieu of the customer booking a room directly with a hotel, claims the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs say when they contacted the defendant via telephone, Get A Room representatives identify themselves as the “reservations department.” In addition, when asked by customers if the number they dialed is the hotel, the representatives affirm that this is true, according to the plaintiffs.
Only after customers receive a confirmation of the reservation do the plaintiffs find out they have booked a room through GetARoom.com and not directly through the hotel, the plaintiffs allege.
The Get A Room class action claims that the defendants charge more for their rooms than what is originally quoted prior to booking.
Allegedly, when consumers try to cancel their reservation because they are paying more than what is quoted, they are told there is a “no cancellation policy” so the reservation cannot be canceled.
The plaintiff claims that Get A Room representatives do not tell consumers about the no cancellation policy while on the phone. In addition, when consumers are booking a room online, they have to agree to the cancellation policy, but nowhere does it state that the cancellation policy is a no cancellation policy, according to the GetARoom.com class action lawsuit.
Moreover, the plaintiffs state that if they contact the hotel to cancel their reservation, they are informed that if they booked their room directly with the hotel itself, they would have been able to cancel the reservation.
The GetARoom class action claims that there have been thousands of complaints about Consumer Club to the Better Business Bureau regarding their actions, but nothing has been done to fix the problems that the plaintiffs have encountered.
“Plaintiffs suffered an ascertainable loss as a result of Defendant’s omissions and/or misrepresentations associated with the cancellation policy and its purported ‘service’ fees,” the GetARoom.com class action lawsuit states.
Did you book a room through GetARoom.com? Let us know in the comments section below.
The plaintiffs are represented by Todd D. Carpenter and Katrina Carroll of Carlson Lynch LLP, Joseph G. Sauder and Joseph B. Kenney of Sauder Schelkopf LLC, and Daniel O. Herrera of Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel LLP.
The GetARoom.com Class Action Lawsuit is Christian and Jonna Sander v. Consumer Club Inc. d/b/a Gettaroom.com, Case No. 2:20-cv-01363, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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310 thoughts onGetARoom.com Class Action Alleges Deceptive Hotel Booking Methods
On 12/28/2021 I used my phone to book a room at the Hampton Inn. I thought I was on the Hampton Inn’s website. The website looked identical to the Hampton Inn. The price for the room was listed around $120 or so. After entering my credit card, it asked me to confirm the reservation. There was no total shown on my screen at this time. I hit confirm and the price jumped up to $222.84. I immediately called the phone number listed on the confirmation and asked that they cancel this reservation. The man from getaroom.com refused to cancel and told me “no one forced you to book it”. I asked to speak to a manager and he refused to get me a manager and said that a manager could not help me. I tried to explain that it was a mistake because I thought I was dealing directly with the Hampton Inn. We then asked the lady at the Hampton Inn how much the room should cost. She said it would only be $130. She also told me this happens frequently to their customers. Getaroom.com is very unprofessional, misleading and it feels very much like a scam. It was as if we were involved in a bait and switch. Now we are out $222.84 and we did not even use the room.
I booked a room for the La Quinta in Paso Robles thinking that I was on their website booking (I’ve booked directly from their website many many times). Somehow I ended up booking via reservations.com and I do not even know how I got to their site. It looked EXACTLY like the La Quinta site. Nowhere during the process did it say the reservation was non-refundable and non-changeable nor fully prepaid. Once I got the confirmation, I realized that it was not the hotel and that they had fully charged my card – INCLUDING 30% fee. I tried calling reservation.com and the customer service person in the Philippines literally just laughed at me and told me that “I must not know how to read”. I called the hotel directly and they also said there was nothing they could do but told me their systems show it was booked with Getaroom.com. I was given another number and called that number and was told it was non-refundable and non-changeable. Completely deceptive with 30% hidden fees, made to look like the hotel sites and you never know the reservation cannot be changed until you get the confirmation. I’m out over $1000 on this one. I cannot believe these companies are allowed to do business. Reservations.com is a publically traded company, how is this even possible. Clearly, all of these companies are intertwined in the massive deception
I booked a room at Holiday Inn and upon arrival was told that I had booked through get a room and they could not cancel even though they had a better room at a lower price. I paid Holiday Inn for the better room but get aroom would not refund anything, first claiming that it was the hotel’s policy then when told that the hotel denied that they just said it was their policy and I ended up paying for two rooms. this was January 31, 2022.
I booked a room and canceled it and they have still not refunded me even after the hotel gave a full credit. which they said would allow me to get credited.
Same bullshit stories I heard!
Can you say “FRAUD”!
Room listed for 158/night.
I was charged 228/night.
Lies, deception, misrepresentation!
Why haven’t they been stopped yet????!!!!
My experience was the same as many other customers here.
I booked a Hilton Hotel property thinking I was on the Hilton website. Exact same process happened to me. I’m a Hilton rewards member and so always book direct, the BookOnline.com site closely mimicked the Hilton web site and URL was purposely create to easily overlook it as a 3rd party.
I too did not find out this was a 3rd party until after the confirmation email and also an extra charge of $137.44.
I also did not find out BookOnline.com was related to GetARoom until I called Hilton Hotels directly. The Hotel managers stated a reservation a was made with an incorrect spelling of my last name (intentional? ) and using GetARoom (non BookOnline) and so my reservation was not found, took quite a long time working with the manager to find the reservation.
Finally, the reservation was for $535.44 (plus 137.44 bogus fee) and GetARoom only provided a partial payment of $145 to Hilton Hotels and keep the remaining $390 themselves … so no service was provide nor did Hilton Hotels ever receive the full reservation from GetARoom.com
The manager at the Hilton Hotel as well award of GetARoom fraudulent bookings and stated that they do not even understand how this firm operates and is able to make these types of reservations.
The hotel manager offered to refund the $145, when I called GetARoom they once again refused.
The hotel manage further stated that New Mexico covid regulations requires hotels to be cancel reservations for consumer.
I would like to join this class action if possible.
I also booked a room on what I thought was the hotel website. I clicked on “website” to the right and didn’t realize I was going to the getaroom site. They did not say it was prepaid and that I couldn’t cancel any unused days as I have numerous times at that hotel. I got an email from them which I missed because I was expecting one from the hotel itself. But when I found it it said “FREE CANCELATION” in red. The small print gave the details. So when I went to cancel the days I didn’t need due to finishing work earlier in that town, the hotel couldn’t cancel. I called getaroom and they told me if the hotel called them directly they could refund me minus a $161 fee. (I would be out $600 otherwise). The hotel manager called immediately for me and was told that there wouldn’t be a refund. I don’t remember signing anything saying I would agree to anything other than having to cancel the first night 48 hours ahead which is typical. The email is the first time I learned after the stay that I had no recourse.
I also booked rooms on the website which appeared to be the hotel’s direct website. Since I had used this hotel several times (Hampton Inn in Paris, Texas), I felt comfortable in booking. But, the email showed I booked through GetARoom with additional charges of $341+ for “fees”. I called them immediately and requested a cancellation and was told it was non-refundable & if I didn’t check in before midnight, I would be charged the full amount & subsequent nights cancelled. I did demand a supervisor & the supervisor finally offered me a 20% discount, but the discount would be credited to my credit card 3-5 days after I checked out. I’m not hopeful.
On Jan 28 I made a reservation unknowingly thru getaroom which they agreed to cancel
after speaking with the hotel manager on Jan29.
Both the hotel and getaroom told me the reservation was canceled without fees.
I even gave getaroom a satisfactory response for handling the cancellation.
Then on Feb 7, AFTER what would have been my stay; getaroom is billing me $439.25.
Apparently the hotel manager changed their mind about canceling
and directed getaroom to charge me AFTER the fact.
No one ever notified me that my cancellation was NOT cancelled as promised.