CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sisters Karen Metcalf and Sherri Splawn, along with their families, were left without power, water, or cell service after Hurricane Helene hit their Bostic Sunshine neighborhood in western North Carolina.
With Metcalf's mobility issues and Splawn's daughter in a wheelchair, they were desperate to find a safe place to stay, so they left for Charlotte.
"We really just needed to get out, find power, water and everything," Metcalf said. "So, we took off and headed for Charlotte, which was the closest available that we could find accommodations. So, on the way down here as we were driving, I was doing a search for hotels that would be affordable for the amount of time that we needed to stay. And so I found what looked like a good deal with the Holiday Inn Express."
Only once they checked in, they realized they had secured their room through a third-party booking platform.
"For three nights included taxes, fees, everything -- so we booked it because it said $155 a night," Splawn said. "I mean, I was OK with that. They ended up charging me $630 and some change and took every dollar out of my account."
"It didn't seem to matter that they took all the money that we would have used to continue to feed ourselves or anything like that," Metcalf added.
Having to fork over $165 more than expected for other fees, Splawn tried to reach customer service. She received subsequent emails from guestreservations.com and Priceline, suggesting multiple third parties were involved in the booking process.
Cosme Ojeda II from the Better Business Bureau explained, unfortunately a URL could be misleading when it resembles a hotel's website.
"In fact, we do try to educate the public as much as possible to take the variety of steps necessary before handing that credit card over to avoid these types of mistakes because we see them so often," Ojeda said.
Splawn tried to resolve things directly with the booking platform.
"I said, 'Well, I tell you what, just refund the money and we'll go down and book our hotel.' And she said, 'Absolutely not, you're not getting anything back.' She said everything is non-refundable," Splawn said. "I mean, this back gate that we went through that said Holiday Inn Express, truly wasn't Holiday Inn Express."
Metcalf said she's worried others trying to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Helene would have had a similar problem.
"There are so many people displaced right now because of this storm that I just know that this has happened to other people," Metcalf said. "So we really wanted to also get the word out to warn people to be aware and to watch for those backdoor traps on these websites when you're trying to book rooms."
Ojeda said the situation serves as a reminder to do your due diligence when searching for a hotel.
"Make sure that you're on the hotel's actual website -- check the URL, contact the hotel directly after you've made the reservation to make sure that it is what you thought it was," Ojeda said.
Splawn and Metcalf said they did ask the on-site hotel staff about their final cost. Splawn said their response was they couldn't do anything to reverse charges since it was booked through the third party site.
The women have since filed complaints with North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein and BBB on the third party booking website.
Contact Jane Monreal at jmonreal@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.