Hello everyone, sadly I had to cancel my December-January trip at the last minute because of an unexpected health problem. I was planning to leave on the 26th and cancelled my reservation on the 23rd.

Unfortunately I have no wonderful adventure to tell you about, but in the attempt to be faithful to this board, I do want to report on a Bancotel problem.

I made my reservation online and ordered my bancotel coupons over the phone on Dec 4th. If I recall correctly they were having problems with their site server; there was no security assurance, pages would not refresh correctly, and I didn't feel comfortable purchasing coupons on line. (Although my hotel reservation went through ok.) On that same day a charge was posted and paid on my debit card. I was assured that I would receive my coupons by mail at my USA address, since I wasn't leaving until the 26th. I called the week prior to my departure since I hadn't received the coupons.

The problem was that they had no record whatsoever of my purchase. My online reservation was ok, but since they never sent me an email confirming my purchase, I didn't have the purchase confirmation number. I was assured that I would receive an email and I never did. (Now that I think about it ... should have gotten that number over the phone ... DUH, my bad!!!)

Well, the two staff members who paid attention to my case were extremely nice and assured me that my coupons would be at the hotel when I arrived and that the matter would be resolved. I was told that they've had a problem in the past when US clients have attempted to claim a purchase when they hadn't in fact purchased coupons, so they wanted to track my purchase with their accountants. Of course, many businesses were then on a holiday schedule and have been until today ... so I am still waiting.

Since I ended up having no need for the coupons and the rates are going to go up during the next quarter, I am owed a refund. I was told it wouldn't be a problem ...

They have been extremely cordial and prompt in their responses to me, either by phone or email. In fact, the one who is in charge of international accounts has given me a lot of personal attention. Still, I went ahead and issued a dispute notice with my bank, because he can't control what the accountants do and who knows how long it will take to clear the paper trail.

I would like to know if anyone has had similar bad luck with bancotel. It seems like a great service and I'd like to take advantage of it in the future, but I'm a little wary.

I will let you all know when the matter has been resolved.

Churrito (who hopes to be in Madrid this Spring!!!)

[ 01-08-2002: Message edited by: churrocaliente ]

[ 01-08-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Hola Churrito,
I'm so sorry you could not make it. I hope you are feeling better.

Well, in response to your post. I had a wonderful experience with Bancotel. I ordered 2 talonarios on December 13, they told me that I would receive them on December 17. Like you I forgot to print out my confirmation number, so I gave them a call and the young man gave me the number over the phone!

But, the 17th came and went and no talonarios. since I was leaving on the 19th I was getting nervous. So, I called and they assured me that if the talonarios were not delivered before the 18th that they would cancel them and reissue another set and have them waiting for me at the Hotel Suecia.
Fortunately at 3:00 p.m. on the 18th the U.P.S. truck came by with my talonarios, I was a happy camper. By 5:30 p.m. our time, a Bancotel representative called me to verify if I had received the talonarios. I was impressed with the followup. Apparently the U.P.S. people screwed up, and sent my parcel to Lake City, thus the extra day.

I bought my third talonario at Halcon Viajes, they issed a voucher and I used that to pay for the Husa Princesa. At the Princesa they accepted the voucher without any problems.

I strongly recommend the Bancotel program to anyone interested in staying in Hotels and Paradores. The service from Protel, the home company was excellent. When I go next Fall I will use them again. Except I wont be such a procastinator and order them at least ten days before my flight!
Booklady

Thanks booklady for your input. I think that if I had gone to Spain the coupons would've been at the hotel. The phone attendant practically begged me not to worry.

You know ... I didn't think they'd try to send them UPS!!! Well, never mind the fact that my charge doesn't appear ... that's still a problem. But I live in a building with a security intercom and since my name doesn't appear there, UPS may have been thrown off. However I never saw any UPS labels stuck to the door.

I still have not heard from them and I hope it works out because in spite of this problem it seems like a great deal.I think it's a great service. I'd love to get the $225 back so I can apply it next time I go sometime this Spring.


Churrito

I have been reading all the posts about Bancotel and coupons used for hotels. In one messae was the website but the site is in Spanish. Could someone tell me in 25 works or less what these coupons are, why I would use them and for what kind of hotels. We have been lucky finding great places to stay
from travelers on this site, Why Bancotel?.

Good question, sabalagirl! I don't think this has been mentioned before.

Oddly enough, there's no link to Bancotel's English-language version site ( www.bancotel.com ) on the Spanish-language site ( www.bancotel.es ). But there you go!

If you do a SEARCH in this forum using the keyword BANCOTEL you'll find one or two lonnnnng threads regarding their hotel coupons and feedback about the company. Good luck!

Saludos, MadridMan

Some travel agencies in Spain charge a fee to issue the talonarios. Be sure to ask. Also, some travel agencies sell individual coupons, which is really convenient bcs. sometimes you don't need all 5 coupons. AND, one more thing: always, if you are interested in a hotel, feel free to ask them if they will take the coupons directly, on dates other than those listed on the bancotel website. This worked for me at the Palace... i just said hey, i want to stay on during a weeknite, will you take the coupons then? Sure! they said!

I recommend simply buying them in Spain. In both Madrid (Sol) and Barcelona (Las Ramblas), travel agencies were everywhere. Before my trip, I was a little nervous about doing it, but it was extremely simple and painless. You get a voucher at the travel agency and your talonario at the hotel. No credit card security or delivery worries.

Hey everyone, I am happy to report that Bancotel finally credited my bank account on the 18th. The reason they gave for having lost track of my purchase is that they changed servers (servidores?) around the time that I made the purchase. However I made the purchase by phone (not online), precisely because there were indeed server problems with the website. Maybe the whole reservation/purchase system is locked into the site? Who knows. The important thing is that I got my money back and that they followed up. case closed!

Eric that sounds like a good idea esp. since you can make the reservation ahead of time and provided the agency doesn't charge extra.

Churrito