Cancelon 

"DON'T BOOK THROUGH HOTEL CANCELON PLEASE". THIS NOT A REAL COMPANY. THE COMPANY IS A FRAUD, THEY SHOULD NOT EVEN BE IN BUSINESS!!!! I Booked thru TripAdvisor and they were the Booking agency, I arrived at the Hotel with no room that evening and they told me they had been book solid for the last 2 weeks. And now Hotel Cancelon as there called will not refund my money, they keep giving me the excuse that there investigating the matter, like 5 times I've been in contact with them. With no Refund!!!!!

CANCELLATION FEE CHARGED FOR RESERVATION WITH "FLEXIBLE CANCELLATION" POLICY BEWARE THE FINE PRINT. I booked a hotel through Cancelon with a flexible cancellation before a certain date. None of the important information one would want to know about this booking site is anywhere on the pages you are using to make the booking, like the fact that you will receive a "voucher" and only be confirmed for your hotel a few days prior to your stay. The site's inventory is actually from sellers listing their non-cancel-able hotel rooms for re-sale. Your card will be charged instantly. The "flexible cancellation" policy actually comes with a cancellation fee that is not written anywhere on the booking pages (it is hidden behind a link on the listing page). All important information about what a user can expect from a booking site should be made clear to the user at point of sale, not only in the fine print or behind a link. Not happy with this experience.

This is a scam! Do not book a room with this website. When you make a reservation (and your credit card is immediately charged) you are not guaranteed a room at the hotel you booked. In fact, the hotel I needed to stay at for a convention was actually sold out. When I called the hotel, they informed me my reservation was actually canceled the day after I booked it. Cancelon never informed me of this. I have called them numerous times (and have been left on hold for over 30 minutes with nobody ever picking up), sent emails and requested a call back on their contact form. Cancelon has made no attempt to contact me. I have filed a dispute with my credit card company. Save yourself a lot of time and hassle and book your room elsewhere. Never again!

So this isn't a review of an particular experience with Cancelon. I only found the site today, and thought it was a great idea. A kind of stubhub for hotels. Unfortunately, it appears that it hasn't been beta tested before being released to the public. When you reserve a hotel, you don't need to have to wait until the last minute to be told if your reservation is good. You definitely don't want to roll up at your hotel to find no reservation. Cancelon, if you can fix these fundamental flaws in your service, and actually give a damn about people who find themselves in the situations mentioned above, then I may look again. For now, I'm sticking with reputable sites.

If you’re reading this review you’re trying to sort through all of the great/awful reviews like I did. Here’s one you need to read.

Here’s the process as I see it.
1) You prepay for the hotel through Cancelon.
2) You receive an email confirmation of your payment from Cancelon almost immediately. This email is not detailed or itemized, its just a record that you paid for something.
3) You receive an email “voucher” from Cancelon almost immediately that you ultimately will show your hotel as proof of prepayment (which is worthless to the hotel unless the hotel has confirmed the reservation with Cancelon). You wait (painfully) until one of two things happen, the first, the hotel confirms the reservation in which case, you’re golden, you win. Or two, the hotel never confirms in which case (according to the reviews I read) you will be refunded (within a couple weeks) after filing a complaint.
---Note: The latest you will know whether your hotel has confirmed is 24 hours before your intended check-in. I booked directly with the hotel originally, so my plan was to hold onto the original reservation just in case the Cancelon reservation was not confirmed. I planned to watch for the Cancelon confirmation of reservation with my fingers on the phone to dial up the hotel to cancel exactly 24 hours in advance. (All I can hope is that this 24 hours is based on the time zone that the hotel is in??)
---Note: Think of this like hotel gambling. You’re prepaying for a not cancel-able reservation. This means that no matter what, if you need to change/cancel your reservation, you lose. In my case, I chose to gamble on a two-night stay in Dallas, my price directly through hotel would have been $356.50, hotel taxes included, I paid $298, taxes included for my Cancelon voucher. This was over $50 in savings for a two-night stay. So, my gambling gains would be a max of $58.50, assuming I win.
---Note: I noticed in the Cancelon FAQS (much later) that taxes and hotel fees are not included in the Voucher, even though I specifically verified that there was what I thought was hotel taxes included on the fees I paid for when I booked through Cancelon. I’m currently on hold (current hold time is 16+ minutes) with Cancelon to get an itemized invoice for verification. I guess the longer I’m on hold, the more detailed this review gets.
---Update: Customer Service was decent and sent my detailed invoice almost immediately. So if you want one, skip email and just call them and wait the 17 minutes. The invoice does show a line item called taxes and fees. So, two night hotel - $249 + taxes & fees - $49 = $298 total paid. Now – the question is, what taxes did I pay? The 15% hotel tax, or sales tax plus a Cancelon fee? If I have to pay the hotel tax at check in to the hotel, the price goes right back up to close what I would have paid the hotel directly ($342.70 vs. $356.50) Cancelon savings of $13.80. In which case – SAVE YOURSELF SOME PAIN AND SUFFERING AND JUST PAY DIRECT.
---Note: Customer service also told me not to worry, I’ll get the hotel confirmation by 4pm today.
--- I’ll post another review after 4pm today, and another after I check in tomorrow in Dallas assuming I arrive as scheduled after the blizzard that’s hitting Wisconsin today and tomorrow. To all reading this- send prayers and luck!

----4:02pm Update, Been on hold with Cancelon for 20 minutes after not receiving the hotel booking confirmation 24 hours before check in. I'm on hold now for another 6+ minutes while the Cancelon rep contacts the hotel for the booking I should have received the email for already.
----4:16pm Update, they are saying that the hotel has privacy rules and will not share the confirmation number (because its the one under my original reservation). There is no confirmation coming from the hotel for my Cancelon booking and it does not seem like they are going to stand behind that 24 hour booking confirmation. I have asked to speak with a supervisor but was advised that he wont be able to help me either.

Worst experience ever.

They went above and beyond to help me with changing my reservation. Every interaction was very personal and I truly felt like they cared. By far, the best customer service I've experienced from an online company.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! Cautionary tale below.
I made a reservation for the Gem Hotel in Chelsea, NY. The listing stated that the Superior Double room I requested had 1 or 2 beds (implying that it could be either). When I called the hotel directly to request it be 2 beds, they said they do not have ANY rooms that have 2 beds in them (nor have they ever). I never would have booked that hotel if I was not able to have the possibility of 2 beds.
I tried the Cancelon support number and though my call was "very important", I was on hold forever and gave up. Then when I went to their website ("Support 24/7") to send a message, though I repeatedly clicked "Send", the screen never changed, so I guess their portal does not work either.
I got on a chat with a representative, who, after hearing my situation, had me on hold for 8 minutes and then replied "thank you for your patience". I asked if he had cancelled the booking and refunded me, and (3 minutes later) the reply was, "your booking is confirmed".
Seriously! After another 20 minutes of useless back and forth (including a screenshot from me of the mis-represented information from their site) I requested a manager call me. Was told one would call "when they were available", so no idea if this will happen today or tomorrow or ever.

Booked a trip to Secrets, Los Cabos - the booking’ process went smoothly, the accommodations were beautiful and comfortable, and we enjoyed a wonderful vacation experiencing golf, awesome’ food, pretty’ pools/views, and amazing’ shows! Thank You Cancelon!

Last night I booked a 2 night stay in Pam Springs and mistakingly used the wrong dates. I immediately called costumer service to shift the dates by 2 days. They told me non refundable also meant non amendable!!! I didn’t want a refund only to shift dates by two days. I just received an email that the hotel couldn’t accommodate my request. That was not true. The hotel does have rooms just not at what I reserved for. I told them I’d be happy to pay the new rate so I did lose over $200. This is such a SCAM!! Why Trip Advisor would ever be associated with this befuddles me. Don't use either website!!!

i booked the southern sun hotel in cape town a week ago , my card was debited in full and i received a confirmation from cancelon. i just called the hotel and they dont any such reservation and they saying the hotel is full - what do i do now ????? i need to stay at this hotel on this date.

Hotel is run down and older furniture with comfortable beds. Location is close to the convention center so no need to drive. Booked with cancelon and they charged me a 10 dollar resort fee which the hotel does not have or charge any of there guests. Beware of hidden charges when booking with them. There is no breakfast no pool in winter which means no resort!
Cancelon has responded and is not telling the truth as I have booked this hotel for less through other sites and no extra fees were added. There is no pool no breakfast no newspapers only free parking and poor internet. That is NOT a resort! Just a company adding fees onto a advertised low price.

I had made a reservation for 3 nights and it turned out I could save some money by staying with family the last night. Since I bought the package through a trivago search, I was doubtful I could amend the reservation and still get the same price.

Nonetheless, I logged on to their support chat and was taken care of completely. I still got the original deal rate, and they were able to send a refund for the night I canceled. No hassle, no extra fees or anything. I honestly thought I would get nowhere, but was pleasantly surprised by the accommodation they made for me.

10/10 would use again!

Booked a room at the Local Embassy Suites because of construction at my residence. Received confirmation and my credit card was charged for the two rooms I booked through this service. When I arrived at the Embassy Suites tired from dealing with contractor and family, I stated I had a reservation and presented my print out. Embassy Suites did not have my alleged reservation. After a very helpful Embassy Suites employee checked with Cancelon and it was determined that I did not have a reservation. Cancelon did nothing to rectify the situation, but did refund my payment. This level of service doesn't even deserve one star it was pitiful. My family was tired and we were forced to wait over an hour while this mess was sorted out. Use this booking service at your own peril.

Worst experience ever!! Never use Cancelon!
No reservation was done at the hotel although they had withdrawn my money!!
I contacted them through email but got no reply
SCAMM!!!

I will never use your Trivago or Cancelon again for any type of booking. I paid for a booking to stay at Circus Circus through Trivago/Cancelon. When we arrived to the hotel was told i had to pay additional fees. My $400 booking ended up costing $600.

Am I victim of a scam? Most probably

I used Trivago to book a room. Trivago web site has directed me to Cancelon.

On January 2, Cancelon has charged my credit card USD858.00 for a room booking from January 5.

neither the hotel nor I received a confirmation for tomorrow’s booking. By reviewing Cancelon reputation on the net I am afraid being a victim of a fraud by Cancelon/Trivago? This is the opinion of the hotel

I wish that I could give this company ZERO stars. They are horrible at communicating and did not once tell us an estimated check in time. What made things worse is that I paid so much money to be told that my room has two double beds for my wife and I. NOWHERE IN THE CONFIRMATION did it say that I requested or stated that I have a double bed. When I contacted the company, they told me that the bed type “wasn’t guaranteed on this booking.” What kind of fraud is this??? Good luck trying to contact their main line because you are guaranteed to wait forever on the phone with a bunch of unhelpful reps. What an embarrassment of a company.

Arrived in Costa Rica and were assigned a room that looked nothing like the one we ordered from Cancelon through TripAdvisor. In fact, the room we were given was not even listed as an option to reserve by TripAdvisor or Cancelon. On arrival, we were assigned a dark room with neighbors on each side and no view instead of the lovely, standalone, standard bungalow with a view of the volcano we had ordered. I pulled up the reservation on my laptop and the hotel agreed Cancelon made a mistake in assigning us the wrong room, and agreed not to charge us for the room. The hotel called Cancelon and confirmed the error. Cancelon wrote back no problem, we will not get charged for the room as the hotel agrees the mistake was Cancelon's. Went ahead and booked the bungalow we wanted with the hotel directly (AND at less cost than the lousy room Cancelon gave us!). Upon returning to the US, suddenly Cancelon forgot they made an error, forgot that they agreed to refund the charge, and forgot we have this all in writing. Of course this takes hours of time with the credit card company to resolve. Very frustrating to have a disreputable vendor interfere with vacation plans during and after a nice trip. I would not use Cancelon OR TripAdvisor for hotel bookings again, and TripAdvisor needs to stop doing business with Cancelon. TripAdvisor, please read all these horrible reviews. Cancelon is too unreliable to allow TripAdvisor to associate with them..

Buyer beware
Do not use cancelon repeat DO NOT USE CANCELON !!!!
I booked hotel thru other sight only to find they used third party CANCELON, big mistake.
After booking I called hotel direct to find out they did not have my reservation and I could have gotten room cheaper by direct booking.
When you get confirmation from Cancelon they give you invoice number not hotel reservation number.
After much email back and forth with Cancelon I recieved a hotel reservation confirmation number, just prior to hotel stay.
NOW the BUYER BEWARE SCAM.
The hotel charged additional resort fee and taxes not
Included or disclosed in Cancelon bill
Finally DON’T USE CANCELON

I gave you one star because I have no choice at this time, if I could have done better you wouldn't get a star, customer service was deplorable, third party contract, false advertisement, and false information, you advertised a private room and bathroom and then changed to a dormitory, I was give the run around when I was trying to dispute the situation. I didn't not stay at the Blue Moon Boutique because I refused to sleep into a room with three other female who I didn't know (strangers) that's not cool. Very misleading advertisement.