Cancelon

Please note that I rarely write such lengthy reviews, but this was truly one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with, and I genuinely want to save anyone from going through what I went through.

I visited Ireland recently and had used Cancelon to book my hotel. I found out about the website through a Refinery29 article. Being deemed as one of the "best last minute hotel sites"," I decided to give it a go. I found a hotel room at a good rate, entered my details, and when approaching the payment page, it read: "to be collected at your stay." I received my confirmation email from Cancelon, and was ready for my trip.

Fast forward to the evening when I arrived at the hotel- my booking could not be found. The hotel staff was very kind and tried all different methods, but I told them that I would contact the Cancelon team. The number listed on their website did not work, so I spent half an hour on their website on a live chat with one of the representatives before someone finally called me. They informed me that my reservation never went through, because I had not made my payment on the Cancelon website. I told them that their website specifically indicated not to pay until I arrived at the hotel. Their response? "No, there is no way our website would've written that." I knew better than to argue aimlessly, so I simply forwarded them my confirmation email as we stayed on the line. His response this time: "Oh... I see. It must've been a technical error. You shouldn't have received that email." Though frustrated, I thought that fair enough, technical glitches do happen. I asked, "Okay, what can be done now, as this was a mistake from your website/company?" It was what happened next that infuriated me- he did not apologise for this situation that was caused by THEIR website, but rather, "You'll just have to book with the hotel. You did not pay on the website. That's why you didn't have a booking." My patience was being tested again and again, and at the end I said, "Alright, I will be writing a review about Cancelon, and I just want you to confirm that though this situation was caused by your website/company, your team is not taking any responsibility. Is this correct?" His response: "It was a technical error. You can go write the review. You did not pay, that's why there was no booking."

Absolutely. Speechless. I finally hung up the phone, went on Booking.com, and aha- the rate was even better that the one I had found on Cancelon. I will never be using Cancelon again, not only because of their so-called "technical glitch," but because they do not seem to even have a basic understanding of what it means to provide decent customer service. Please save your time and energy, and use other reputable travel booking websites. Good luck, fellow travellers!

Stay Away--I booked 50 weeks ago and fully paid for a beautiful 5 star hotel in a great location for my weekend away.
--I confirmed with Cancelon 3 weeks prior to my get away and was assured everything was good.
--4 days later cancelon emails me that I have been bumped from my hotel. They were setting me up in a Budget hotel miles away from my original location that I booked at paid for months in advance. I called the original hotel and they never had a reservation for me in the 1st place. I was not "bumped" as Cancelon stated.
--On January 28th I went to cancel our reservation as I had no desire to saty at this budget hotel while paying for a high end hotel. My cancellation date was Jan 28. I went to the website, went to my booking to cancel and kept being booted back to the mainpage. I sent cancelon an email
--Received response from cancelllon that I missed my cancellation date and there was nothing they could do even though I was booted off the site
--After several emails because when you call they are foreign, there is a language barrier, the office is extremely loud and they cannot help you anyways/ So after several emails they said I would get 50% back. Though I would take it, I was still not satisfied and stated as such.
---Now today I wake up to an email stating I will get no refund because I have checked into my hotel. I AM IN MY LIVING ROOM! I am not at my hotel. Such a scam.
Read and be warned, post after post decribes how unethical they are, Spend a little more money and use a reputable booking company. I have learned my lesson and it cost me hundreds of $'s.

***Dear Cancelon, In response to your response below. I have contacted you as well through your Website with all the details. I have yet to hear from you. Interesting that you respond to a bad review but not an email directly to you***

Not familiar with cancelon, this is first time, I would not choose them again