REIDSVILLE, NC -- A confirmation number. When we have one for a hotel room or rental car, we think we're golden. Our room or car will be waiting for us when we walk up to the check-in desk - right? Not necessarily. You have to read this tale Pastor Willie Sellars tells 2 Wants to Know's Lechelle Yates.
"I just want the people to know that a reservation is not a reservation when you go to Hilton," says Willie.
Willie attended a conference at Hilton's Raleigh Midtown location. He says he pre-paid in advance with a credit card, and got a confirmation number. But Willie said the desk person told him he didn't have a room because the previous guests extended their stay and the rest of the hotel was booked. "If I had already paid for my room, that was my room from the day I got there until the day I left," says Willie.
Willie says the hotel offered him a room at another location, but it was on the other side of the city and his conference started at 8 a.m. "That room would not have done me any good because I did not know my way around Raleigh." Hilton says it did offer him transportation but Willie disputes that.
In the end, Willie found another room near his conference on his own. And he never had to pay for the Hilton room but the aggravation was enough for him to want us to warn you.
So here's what you need to know. Legal Match says:
- If you pay with a credit or debit card, you have a guaranteed reservation.
- If the hotel doesn't have a room for you - like in Willie's case - the hotel has to do everything possible to find you a room. Even if it means getting you a room in another hotel. Even if it's not one of theirs.
- And don't miss this: If the new room is more expensive than the old room, the hotel has to pay the difference.
- And if it costs you money to get to that room, say a taxi fare, they have to pay for that too.
