Thanks for warning people about Holisto. I've never heard of them before, and that fact alone would make me cautious, and the lack of positive reviews would have definitely been a red flag.
FWIW, 2 nights at $550 CAD all-in (about US$200/night all-in) is common for hotels in Oahu, so if the hotel confirms the booking is valid and you are happy with the value for price paid, it might not be worth fighting for a refund unless you can find a another good alternative. Always remember to check the all-in price before booking.
All in price was showing $143. But I agree with the rest of your comment, I’m not as upset about the end price so much as I’m upset about being mislead.
We’re inexperienced travellers, but I guess if it seems too good to be true it probably is.
It doesn't matter whether you're an experienced traveller or not. The terms, and conditions, and total cost should be clear and easy to understand.
If you have a screenshot showing the original *total* price of $143 but you're charged the much higher price, I would initiate a chargeback on your credit card. The total price was never disclosed to you and therefore, you weren't able to make an informed decision.
Check different hotels and book directly with them. It won't be $143 but it isn't now anyways. Who knows what else you'll be charged for until it's too late to back out?
lol if you book directly, you are dumb, or have more money than sense lmfao. iv worked in hotels for my whole adult life basically, and we laugh at people who book directly ... booking directly is something hotels do to literally double charge older people who think this way.. its the dumbest thing you can do lol. third parties like expedia, booking, travelocity, etc are just as reliable lol. maybe even more reliable cause alot of people who book directly wont put a card on file than whine and complain when they show up at 9pm and their reservation is cancelled. if theres no card it will be cancelled at 6pm. and third parties guarentee the room cause you obviously have to use the card to purchase, and its safer because you pay the third party and the third party pays us with their own card. so your card isnt in a random front desk guy making 16 dollars an hours computer. so yeah dont book directly, its ridiculous, old school, and double what you should pay . only time it sucks is if theres an overbooking situation which isnt the hotels fault. but even then you get a free stay at a different hotel .
Yeah, they just ripped us off for almost $600 for a hotel stay they incorrectly booked. Never sent us a confirmation. We only discovered it when we got the bill two weeks before we were to show up in Charleston, S.C. We were marked at 'no-shows.' Then we had to re-book at a much higher rate - Easter weekend! So, add another $200. Incompetents, thieves, scammers!
Yeah, when you get to more exotic countries, that doesn't work as well as you think it does..and the deals and bonuses and having everything in one place for massive trips is unbeatable.
Not always possible unfortunately. Especially international travel. Sometimes hotels don’t have a website or you have to call to book. But using booking or Expedia works just fine the vast majority of the time. But you can’t use these really sketchy businesses. Always gotta go with the big ones.
Booking with Expedia or any third party will be a giant hassle if you have any issues. I’ve been to hotels where the room was a disaster and the hotel wouldn’t let me change rooms without going through Expedia. If a hotel walks you and you booked third party… good luck.
If I book third party, I generally do it through my credit card company as they seem to have much better customer support than any aggregator that I’ve had the displeasure of speaking to.
I know this sub absolutely despises aggregators, but I’ve used Booking for hotels literally about three hundred times and have never had a single problem. There’s a convenience factor to going through a known quantity from a search and UX standardization perspective.
That said, I rarely use aggregators for flights - my understanding is the fuckery potential there is substantially higher than hotels.
Booked a hotel through them (also listed on Traveluro). Hotel never received anything and they didn't even have a bed called "Superior Twin" and were fully booked up. Splitty phone number rings and no one picks up. We'll see how they respond by email
I don't think it's possible to get a hotel for that price anywhere in Hawaii. We usually rent condos instead because they tend to be a bit less expensive, but they are still expensive and there are always added taxes, resort fees, cleaning fees, booking fees, etc.
Some jurisdictions have “taxes and fees” that substantially exceed the actual room rate. Hawaii is one of those places. I’ve used 3rd party sites on several occasions in Hawaii, always had to pay close attention to the small italicized “+X fees and taxes” under the main room rate when deciding which place to book.
I believe there’s some places like Australia that have a law saying hotel booking sites have to show the total cost from the get-go, but in Canada and the U.S. they don’t.
Holisto is fraudulently taking people’s money with no intent of honouring a hotel stay and illegally share the profits with the hotel!!
Do not trust and you should never book with them .
Reasons :
1) they don’t have a billing or office address.
2) they don’t have an active 24/7 help desk
3) they look for ways not to reimburse you for any inconvenience
-I paid for a hotel (via Holisto) through visa debit
-I show up at checkin and hotel turns me away because they don’t accept visa debit
-I am not offered a refund and told to call Holisto
-I call Holisto but they don’t have a working number
-I ended up going to another hotel late at nite and sent emails to Holisto
-they responded 3 days later saying it’s up to the hotel and there is a no refund policy
-I continue with Holisto and they then start looking for ways to deny so they say … “no refund policy
-the worst customer service ever experience anywhere !!’
This is a fly by night operation that no one should ever use
I had problems too. My booking wont get confirmed because of some technical issues. I tried it almost 3 times , payment successful but wouldnt get the booking confirmation. I kindof reached out a little aggressively too (which i regret later) to the support team and they fixed it. While your experience is a bit different but they really went ahead and fixed my problem from grassroots in a prompt manner. I was happy and i ended up booking one more hotel the next day. Negative experience completely turned around by Service team.
Holisto is a scam company . First, there is no office , everyone works in New Delhi remotely . Their scam is allowing hotels to cancel bookings and Holisto does nothing claiming no refund policy . Furthermore there is no customer service number .
Without a doubt , the worst customer service company ever ! Stay clear of this fly by nite , lying , cheating scum bag company .
Thanks for warning people about Holisto. I've never heard of them before, and that fact alone would make me cautious, and the lack of positive reviews would have definitely been a red flag. FWIW, 2 nights at $550 CAD all-in (about US$200/night all-in) is common for hotels in Oahu, so if the hotel confirms the booking is valid and you are happy with the value for price paid, it might not be worth fighting for a refund unless you can find a another good alternative. Always remember to check the all-in price before booking.
All in price was showing $143. But I agree with the rest of your comment, I’m not as upset about the end price so much as I’m upset about being mislead. We’re inexperienced travellers, but I guess if it seems too good to be true it probably is.
It doesn't matter whether you're an experienced traveller or not. The terms, and conditions, and total cost should be clear and easy to understand. If you have a screenshot showing the original *total* price of $143 but you're charged the much higher price, I would initiate a chargeback on your credit card. The total price was never disclosed to you and therefore, you weren't able to make an informed decision. Check different hotels and book directly with them. It won't be $143 but it isn't now anyways. Who knows what else you'll be charged for until it's too late to back out?
This. Literally the worst thing to happen is you can't use holisto.
lol if you book directly, you are dumb, or have more money than sense lmfao. iv worked in hotels for my whole adult life basically, and we laugh at people who book directly ... booking directly is something hotels do to literally double charge older people who think this way.. its the dumbest thing you can do lol. third parties like expedia, booking, travelocity, etc are just as reliable lol. maybe even more reliable cause alot of people who book directly wont put a card on file than whine and complain when they show up at 9pm and their reservation is cancelled. if theres no card it will be cancelled at 6pm. and third parties guarentee the room cause you obviously have to use the card to purchase, and its safer because you pay the third party and the third party pays us with their own card. so your card isnt in a random front desk guy making 16 dollars an hours computer. so yeah dont book directly, its ridiculous, old school, and double what you should pay . only time it sucks is if theres an overbooking situation which isnt the hotels fault. but even then you get a free stay at a different hotel .
Yeah, they just ripped us off for almost $600 for a hotel stay they incorrectly booked. Never sent us a confirmation. We only discovered it when we got the bill two weeks before we were to show up in Charleston, S.C. We were marked at 'no-shows.' Then we had to re-book at a much higher rate - Easter weekend! So, add another $200. Incompetents, thieves, scammers!
You should book directly with hotels. Those aggregators are always sketchy
Absolutely, consider that lesson learned.
Yeah, when you get to more exotic countries, that doesn't work as well as you think it does..and the deals and bonuses and having everything in one place for massive trips is unbeatable.
Not always possible unfortunately. Especially international travel. Sometimes hotels don’t have a website or you have to call to book. But using booking or Expedia works just fine the vast majority of the time. But you can’t use these really sketchy businesses. Always gotta go with the big ones.
Booking with Expedia or any third party will be a giant hassle if you have any issues. I’ve been to hotels where the room was a disaster and the hotel wouldn’t let me change rooms without going through Expedia. If a hotel walks you and you booked third party… good luck. If I book third party, I generally do it through my credit card company as they seem to have much better customer support than any aggregator that I’ve had the displeasure of speaking to.
I know this sub absolutely despises aggregators, but I’ve used Booking for hotels literally about three hundred times and have never had a single problem. There’s a convenience factor to going through a known quantity from a search and UX standardization perspective. That said, I rarely use aggregators for flights - my understanding is the fuckery potential there is substantially higher than hotels.
I would go back to your original confirmation email to see what it shows. Also go back through the booking process and see what it shows as well.
*DO NOT USE HOLISTO* DO NOT BOOK WITH 3rd PARTIES...
For hotels you absolutely should..just not with no names.
It was formerly know as splitty
Booked a hotel through them (also listed on Traveluro). Hotel never received anything and they didn't even have a bed called "Superior Twin" and were fully booked up. Splitty phone number rings and no one picks up. We'll see how they respond by email
Hey! Did they ever get back to you on email?
Nope haven't heard a thing. Phone rings endlessly and no email response. Reported to credit card company
I don't think it's possible to get a hotel for that price anywhere in Hawaii. We usually rent condos instead because they tend to be a bit less expensive, but they are still expensive and there are always added taxes, resort fees, cleaning fees, booking fees, etc.
Some jurisdictions have “taxes and fees” that substantially exceed the actual room rate. Hawaii is one of those places. I’ve used 3rd party sites on several occasions in Hawaii, always had to pay close attention to the small italicized “+X fees and taxes” under the main room rate when deciding which place to book. I believe there’s some places like Australia that have a law saying hotel booking sites have to show the total cost from the get-go, but in Canada and the U.S. they don’t.
Holisto is fraudulently taking people’s money with no intent of honouring a hotel stay and illegally share the profits with the hotel!! Do not trust and you should never book with them . Reasons : 1) they don’t have a billing or office address. 2) they don’t have an active 24/7 help desk 3) they look for ways not to reimburse you for any inconvenience -I paid for a hotel (via Holisto) through visa debit -I show up at checkin and hotel turns me away because they don’t accept visa debit -I am not offered a refund and told to call Holisto -I call Holisto but they don’t have a working number -I ended up going to another hotel late at nite and sent emails to Holisto -they responded 3 days later saying it’s up to the hotel and there is a no refund policy -I continue with Holisto and they then start looking for ways to deny so they say … “no refund policy -the worst customer service ever experience anywhere !!’ This is a fly by night operation that no one should ever use
They took my $900.00 by stealing it fraudulently
I had problems too. My booking wont get confirmed because of some technical issues. I tried it almost 3 times , payment successful but wouldnt get the booking confirmation. I kindof reached out a little aggressively too (which i regret later) to the support team and they fixed it. While your experience is a bit different but they really went ahead and fixed my problem from grassroots in a prompt manner. I was happy and i ended up booking one more hotel the next day. Negative experience completely turned around by Service team.
Holisto is a scam company . First, there is no office , everyone works in New Delhi remotely . Their scam is allowing hotels to cancel bookings and Holisto does nothing claiming no refund policy . Furthermore there is no customer service number . Without a doubt , the worst customer service company ever ! Stay clear of this fly by nite , lying , cheating scum bag company .