Customer Service- Hotels.com

Hi-

I recently tried to change a reservation that we had for a week stay in the Dominican Republic. Due to an unforeseen issue, we are unable to get to the destination on the night we were supposed to check in (March, 4).

I called the actual hotel who said to me they were fine with allowing us to shorten the stay so as not to be charged for the first night and instead check-in the next day. They said to contact hotels.com and that we should have it credited from hotels as the res was booked online through Hotels.com.

It is becoming more clear that customer service is no such thing anymore. Service and helpful it is not. Service would have been..."We are sorry to hear that your plans changed and we'll do what we can to minimize the impact of the change. We will be happy to credit the one night". That would have been the right thing to do and it would have earned Hotels.com many more years of use from me, its customer. Considering the cost of our hotels.com booking was over $2000, it would have really made the difference.

Instead, we got what is more and more the norm these days which is the, "I am sorry there is really nothing I can do about this sir". I find this unfortunate and infuriating. Can you imagine what the world looks like when this is the answer people get when they ask for anyone's help?

I can't imagine customer service reps in this business having to go home each night realizing they have done nothing to truly trouble-shoot a problem and come up with a solution for a customer.

They just answer a phone, that is all. What a feeling of worthlessness. Maybe the reps don't care and its just a paycheck.

If this is the case then don't complain when all of your jobs are outsourced. We end up getting the same level of service.

Regards,

-R. Engler