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 ]