For October 2011, I planned a 6-night trip to New York City, and needed to travel on a budget, so decided to look for hotels in Queens rather than Manhattan. This Ramada came up as one of the better candidates, thanks to its proximity to a number of subway trains directly serving Manhattan.
I booked this hotel via Ramada Corporate website, but after reading many negative feedbacks here at TripAdvisor as well as a few other travel websites, I canceled 44 minutes after booking. The stated cancellation policy allowed for no-penalty cancellation up until 3PM before my planned arrival date. I received proper cancellation confirmation from the Ramada Corporate website.
Nevertheless I was charged TWICE for the no-show one-night charge. I immediately called the property, but the female manager with accented English would outright refuse to help me, telling me to simply call Ramada Corporate. Ramada Corporate was very surprised to hear that the hotel would not even deal with me for the charge dispute, and started to look into this matter, and I eventually disputed the charge directly with my credit card company.
One of the charges was dropped, but the other charge still remains, and the hotel maintains that I was a no-show. I have submitted proof of cancellation policy and cancellation confirmation to my credit card issuer, and the fight still goes on at this time.
My New York City visit was eventually shortened to 4 nights, and booked at a different property with far better location and customer service.
Needless to say, I will never book here again, and I will never recommend a property that breaks its own policies and helps itself to my money.
- Ramada Hotel Queens
- Ramada Hotel Jamaica
