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My $90 hostel booking crumbled after midnight, now I call ahead
Booked a bed in Lisbon through a discount site, showed up at 11:30 PM and the front desk said they oversold and gave my spot away. No refund, no backup room, just a shrug and a phone number for another place 20 minutes away. That cab ran me $25 and the new place charged double. Now I always call the hostel directly the afternoon of my stay to confirm, even if it costs a few bucks in roaming fees. Has anyone else had a budget booking fall through like this, and do you trust the third party sites at all anymore?
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grace4191mo ago
Overselling is such a scam, right? I had a similar thing happen in Barcelona but with a tour, not a hostel. Booked a tapas walk through some app, showed up at the meeting point, and the guide just... didn't exist. Another group told me the company went belly up that morning (which, wild). Spent the night arguing with my bank instead of eating jamon, and now I'm the person who triple-checks every confirmation email like a crazy person. Calling ahead is smart, the cab ride alone would've made me lose it.
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margaret_flores171mo ago
Wow really? I gotta say I'm on the other side of this one! Those discount sites have saved me so much money over the years, and honestly a one time bad deal is just part of the game when you're chasing the cheapest price. Like you booked the absolute lowest rate possible and got exactly what you paid for, customer service costs extra at that price point.
Plus calling ahead only works if the person at the desk actually cares, half the time they're just a temp worker who doesn't know anything. I've had way more luck just showing up late and asking for a free upgrade or a better room when they're quiet, playing the nice tired traveler card usually gets me somewhere. Its not like the big hotels never oversell either, that's just how the whole industry works now.
I still use those apps all the time for hostels and budget spots, and I've only had maybe two issues out of dozens of bookings. That's a pretty solid record for saving like half the price every single time. The one time it did happen to me in Prague I just chilled in the lobby for a couple hours and they found me a bunk in a smaller room for free anyway.
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