This is not turning related but it is Symposium related.

IF YOU BOOKED THE GALT HOTEL THROUGH TRAVELOCITY, READ ON.

I admit to being a procrastinator. So, when it came time to get a
reservation for the Symposium, the only avenue open was via Travelocity
-- somebody posted to this forum that they had rooms. So, I booked
through them and their confirmation said that my credit card had been
charged and this was a PREPAID reservation. I assume others did the same.

My wife did the check in duties and gave them our credit card for
incidental charges -- restaurant, parking, etc.

On the morning of check out, there was a copy of the bill which had been
put under the door of the room and it showed that they had charged us
for the room and all associated taxes -- remember that I had already
paid Travelocity.

It was pretty clear there was a mistake -- the first line on the bill
was my name and the second line was "Travelocity.com". On the way to
the trade show area (I was there as a vendor), I stopped at the front
desk and pointed out the error. I was told that it would be corrected.
A week or so later I received a bill from the hotel in the mail and
the charges were still there.

I called the Travelocity VIP Priority Service (yep, that's what they
call it) and told them what had happened. I was told that this was
normal and that the hotel would automatically refund the money to my
credit card. I knew that was a lie since I've done this before but let
it ride.

When I received my credit card statement and there was no refund, I
called the Travelocity VIP Priority Service again. This time I was told
that what had happened was not normal and that I would need to fax or
snail-mail proof that I had been double charged, etc. I offered to send
the documents as attachments to an email but was told that they cannot
do it that way (I thought fax was dead!). I told them that it seemed a
lot faster and easier for me just to dispute the charge on my credit
card and let them sort it out without me. They hoped that I wouldn't do
that. So much for Travelocity's guarantee of great customer service and
swift problem resolution.

Then I called the hotel. It took four tries, 2 extended hold times and
three hang-ups before I got through to the right person -- explaining
the problem each time.

The hotel acknowledged the error and agreed to refund not only the hotel
charges but also the parking and several small restaurant charges --
about $40.00 total. I was told that their computers were down the
morning we were checking out and that was the reason for the confusion.

So, if you booked through Travelocity, make sure that you take a good
look at your credit card statements -- I bet I'm not the only one
affected by this problem.

Now, some interesting stuff -- at least to me... I got to see what
Travelocity was charged so I could compare it with what they charged me.

I was charged $111.09/day for the room. They were charged $87.20.

Additionally..

I was charged $19.58/day in taxes and fees. They were charged $13.07/day.

Bill Rubenstein
Stubby Lathe USA

Additionally..

I was charged $19.58/day in taxes and fees. They were charged $13.07/day.

Bill Rubenstein
Stubby Lathe USA

Bill,
I'm really impressed :-) with all the negative stories about Gault House in
addition to my negative experiences. Travelocity is another story. Thanks
for sharing.

Isn't the tax/fee thing neat? Another of those S&H kind of padded charges
thinking the consumer won't count that as part of "what it cost for a
......". Did this start with car dealers or did they follow others?

The symposium was great and a tribute to a lot of volunteer effort. Nice to
put faces with names, too. AAW is full of ladies and gentlemen in the truest
sense.

I think it's a shame that so much sincere effort should be smudged with the
bad tastes of such a lousy facility. We've got some outstanding people in
AAW and I'm sure they'll learn from all this and do what they can for the
future.

TomNie

In article ,
Bill Rubenstein wrote:

This is not turning related but it is Symposium related.

IF YOU BOOKED THE GALT HOTEL THROUGH TRAVELOCITY, READ ON.
.....

Bill Rubenstein
Stubby Lathe USA

Sounds like another reason that many are glad they couldn't get into the
Galt House

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This posting address is a spam-trap and seldom read
RV and Camping FAQ can be found at
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It is hard to know. It may be that I owed additional taxes -- some they
paid to the hotel and some they had to pay directly to the various
governments because I paid a retail price higher than they did. I
haven't done the math yet and it is too late to get it right tonight.
Maybe tomorrow.

To cover their back sides, they call it taxes and fees. Remember that
your phone bill frequently has line items which they try to get you to
think of as tax but, in fact, they are not.

I forgot to say that I received a satisfaction survey from Travelocity
which I have not yet filled out. Maybe this is a good time to do it.

Bill

Glenn-Nashville, GA wrote:
My math shows you paying 17% in tax and Traveloicity paying 14% tax.
Isn't this illegal?

Ok, I've completed their satisfaction survey! I suspect that they will
surmise that I wasn't satisfied from my answers.

Bill

Bill Rubenstein wrote:
It is hard to know. It may be that I owed additional taxes -- some they
paid to the hotel and some they had to pay directly to the various
governments because I paid a retail price higher than they did. I
haven't done the math yet and it is too late to get it right tonight.
Maybe tomorrow.

To cover their back sides, they call it taxes and fees. Remember that
your phone bill frequently has line items which they try to get you to
think of as tax but, in fact, they are not.

I forgot to say that I received a satisfaction survey from Travelocity
which I have not yet filled out. Maybe this is a good time to do it.

Bill

Glenn-Nashville, GA wrote:
My math shows you paying 17% in tax and Traveloicity paying 14% tax.
Isn't this illegal?

I got a satisfaction survey from the Galt. I blasted them for very poor
service. I had to go to main desk, after waiting for towels for two
hours, etc, etc. I asked them if they had the courage to answer my
complaints. Got a nice memo and apology and a CREDIT to bank account
for one night's stay plus the 15% tax. It took three days but the money
is there.

Bill in WNC mountains

Hi Bill

I am beginning to suspect that this is becoming a common practice. It
would be an easy way for the hotel to bump up there numbers. If the
room is booked a few months before the stay half the customers will
not notice they have been double billed and it cost nothing to try. If
you should notice they don't seem all that sorry for there error. I
had the same story with Orbits and Marriott last year. Marriott
credited my card after only 2 calls.

Walt A


On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 04:09:03 GMT, Bill Rubenstein
wrote:

Ok, I've completed their satisfaction survey! I suspect that they will
surmise that I wasn't satisfied from my answers.

Bill

Bill Rubenstein wrote:
It is hard to know. It may be that I owed additional taxes -- some they
paid to the hotel and some they had to pay directly to the various
governments because I paid a retail price higher than they did. I
haven't done the math yet and it is too late to get it right tonight.
Maybe tomorrow.

To cover their back sides, they call it taxes and fees. Remember that
your phone bill frequently has line items which they try to get you to
think of as tax but, in fact, they are not.

I forgot to say that I received a satisfaction survey from Travelocity
which I have not yet filled out. Maybe this is a good time to do it.

Bill

Glenn-Nashville, GA wrote:
My math shows you paying 17% in tax and Traveloicity paying 14% tax.
Isn't this illegal?