National Park Reservations

I have used national Park reservation and feels like fool by its name. I thought like it is under real nation parks control, but it was not. it is unethical to pretends as if belong to a government entity and charging people to book a room. it will be better if someone else may not be fooled like me. Please help.

Review: I called on April 24th 2014 to cancel my reservation #[redacted]. I was told by [redacted] it was cancelled. I did not receive cancellation email. I emailed customer service on May 1 2014 to verify my reservation was canceled. I received an email on May 3rd saying it was never canceled, but they can not do anything until Monday. On Tuesday May 6th I had not received my cancelation email. So, I called again and was put on hold for 6 minutes while they checked to see if my reservation was canceled. After being on hold, I was told it was canceled and they would send a confirmation. At this point in time I have no faith my reservation has been canceled.

Also I am not even sure how I got on my reservation booked through NPR to begin with I was originally on the Alaska Denali Travel website when I submitted my reservation request. Next thing I know I am being booked through NPR with a 10 percent booking fee. Which I was never verbally told about. When I called to check on why I was charged $161.00 plus $125 deposit fee. I was told I was made aware of the booking fee when I made reservation. Which was not true and on the Alaska Denali Travel website it didn't say anything about a booking fee.

61Desired Settlement: Ideally I want my reservation canceled and a refund on my deposit of $125.00 plus the non-disclosed booking fee of $161.00

Business

Response:

This client submitted an online reservation request on March

14, 2014 for a 3 night stay on August 14, 2014 at Denali Backcountry Lodge.

Our

online reservation request form requires every customer to agree to our terms

and conditions in order to submit the request form. Our terms and conditions

state the following:

“National Park Reservations Terms and Conditions.

National Park Reservations provides lodging and activity

reservations both inside as well as in the gateway communities of the United States

National Parks. National Park Reservations is not an authorized concessionaire

of any National Park nor are we in any way affiliated with the National Park

Service of the Federal Government. National Park Reservations provides the

ability for its customers to make reservations through a toll-free telephone

number or by submitting an online request form.

For this service, National Park Reservations charges a 10%

non-refundable reservation fee based on the total dollar amount of

reservations made. This reservation fee will be billed separately to your

credit card and will be billed under the memo "National Park

Reservations". By using National Park Reservations, the customer

authorizes National Park Reservations to charge their credit card the 10% non-refundable

fee.

Customers using National Park Reservations to make lodging

and activity reservations agree to use our service, either by telephone or

email, to make any changes or cancellations to their reservations.

A National Park Reservations customer will receive an email

confirmation describing all reservations made, any deposits taken by the

lodging or activity provider, total cost of the lodging or activity, any

cancellation policies of the lodging or activity provider, as well as check in

times of the lodging or activity provider. Customers of National Park

Reservations agree to assume the responsibility of confirming the accuracy of

the reservations outlined on the email confirmation.

All Reservation Requests

will be personally handled by a National Park Specialist within 48 hours. We

will book your request if your requested lodge is available or contact you with

alternative lodging if it is not. You will receive an email confirmation

with reservation details & confirmation number within 24 hours after we

have successfully booked your requested reservation.

Customers submitting online requests agree to provide an

accurate billing address and payment choice. Once an individual submits an

online request, the request will be booked and an email confirmation sent

without further notification to the client. Online requests are not used to

check availability. To simply check availability, a customer should call

National Park Reservations toll free number. “

Our reservation system only accepts online requests from our

National Park Reservations website and again all customers must agree to the

terms and conditions to submit the form. The client agreed to our terms and

conditions when she submitted the online reservation. And the customer was fully

disclosed our 10% non-refundable reservation fee.

As every online request is personally handled by a National

Park Specialist, the client was contacted via phone by our agent who offered her

available room types and also advised of a discounted special promotional

offering by the lodge (50% off the 3rd night). Per the customer’s

request, we secured the room with the discounted rates.

The customer called us on April 24, 2014 to cancel this

reservation. On behalf of the customer, we processed the cancellation with the

lodge. However as it is the off-season and this lodge is currently closed until

June 16, 2014, cancellation processing can take up to 2 weeks. We emailed the

client on May 07, 2014 once we received confirmation of the cancellation from

the lodge.

This guest will receive a full refund of the deposit of

$125.00 as the reservation was cancelled outside the 45 days the lodge allows

for cancellations without incurring any penalties. The reservation service fee

in the amount of $161.00 will remain as a credit and can be reused towards our service

fee for a new reservations at all the National Parks in the US and Canada that

we serve.

National

Park Reservations goes to great lengths to disclose the fee we charge for our

service. Not only is the client’s agreement to our terms and conditions a

requirement for every online reservation request submission, but we have it dead

center on our homepage and we link to our terms in our main navigation

throughout our website. Moreover, we have a recording that plays when our

clients call us that cannot be bypassed and callers must listen to in full

before they can be connected with an agent. That recording states:

“National

Park Reservations is a full service reservation center for lodging and activity

reservations in and around our National Parks.

National

Park Reservation is not a park concessionaire, nor is it in any way affiliated

with the National Park Service of the Federal Government.

For

our reservation service, there is a 10% non-refundable fee based on the total

dollar amount for the reservations that you make.”

Please feel free to contact me

with if you have any further questions.

Best Regards,

Director of Operations

National Park Reservations

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received, your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Revdex.com,

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I was contacted by [redacted] with the National Park Reservations. She wanted to make amends for the poor customer service I received. She stated that due to the Lodge being closed for the season they had trouble getting in touch with the Lodge to cancel my reservation. They had to wait to hear from them. When ever I called or emailed to make sure my reservation was cancelled; I was told it was canceled, then I was told the computer systems were down for the weekend. I was never told that they were waiting on a response from the lodge.

Review: I made a reservation "a cabin" for Yosemite trip, but they gave us " a tent"and refuse to refund my money.I requested cancel due to they give us incorrect room type, but they didn't correct their mistake.they charged me $131.98 even if we never to Yosemite part.I want my money back, thanksDesired Settlement: I want my money back, $131.98 thanks

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,

Mr. [redacted] made a reservation through our website for Yosemite National Park, In his request he stated that having a private bathroom did not matter for his reservations. Before our agent confirmed his reservation he contacted Mr. [redacted] and went over what unit type was available and let Mr. [redacted] know the cancel policy for that reservation. Following the phone call from our reservation agent Mr. [redacted] was sent an email confirmation stating what was confirmed and other information about the property. On 7-1-13 We recieved a phone call from Mr. [redacted] and his credit card company, At National Park Reservations Reservations we do record all of our reservation calls to ensure customer care, a copy of the phone call between our reservation agent and Mr. [redacted] was offered to him and he declined. I have included all the notes in Mr. [redacted]s file for your review as well as the copy of the online request he filled out and the confirmation email.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or concerns.

Thank You,

National Park Reservations

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9605330, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]

Regards,

My experience with National Parks Reservation is completely negative. Their name suggests affiliation with the renown National Parks Service, however this company is just out to take advantage of naive customers who get dumped into their website when looking to make reservations online at a National Park hotel. The 10% non- refundable booking fee is criminal; I thought I was dealing directly with a hotel, who had no penalty for cancellation. When I cancelled my reservation the very next day, this company charged me 10% for my entire stay and refused to refund it.

Review: I was not familiar with the official park concessionaires and assumed that based on their logo and web design that U.S. Park Lodging was the way to find lodging in Yellowstone. Clearly that is their intent to deceive the customer. Yes, there is wording that they are not affiliated with the Park Service but I assumed that meant that the Park service did not run the lodging operation in the park. Everything about their web site is designed to deceive the customer. You have to provide your credit card before you know what your true options and costs are. I did think that was odd but didn't think I had a choice if I wanted to stay in the park. I assumed that they would let me know my options since they ask you to put down 3 and I could make a selection based on choice. I was surprised when they billed me more than $300 for one night. I cancelled within 24 hours only to be told the 10% fee was clearly stated.Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund. Ideally I would like to see them out of business.

Business

Response:

To the Revdex.com,

My name is [redacted] and I am the Director of Operations at National Park Reservations. I am responding to this complaint on behalf of [redacted], as she is currently on maternity leave.This client submitted an online reservation request on Aug

21, 2013 for a 1 night stay on Sept 1, 2013.

We booked her lodging at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel & Cabins, her first lodging

choice. The price range for that lodge was clearly shown as a nightly fee of

$142-$580. Client did not leave any

comments indicating an expectation of a lower nightly rate than the range

listed. The nightly rate for her lodge

and room type booked was $284.00 before tax and $322.06 after tax, well within

the cost per night range for that lodge.

Our online reservation request form requires every customer

to agree to our terms and conditions in order to submit the request form. Our

terms and conditions state the following:

“National Park Reservations Terms

and Conditions.

National Park Reservations provides

lodging and activity reservations both inside as well as in the gateway

communities of the United States National Parks. National Park Reservations is

not an authorized concessionaire of any National Park nor are we in any way

affiliated with the National Park Service of the Federal Government. National

Park Reservations provides the ability for its customers to make reservations

through a toll-free telephone number or by submitting an online request form.

For this service, National Park

Reservations charges a 10% non-refundable reservation fee based on the

total dollar amount of reservations made. This reservation fee will be billed

separately to your credit card and will be billed under the memo "National

Park Reservations". By using National Park Reservations, the customer

authorizes National Park Reservations to charge their credit card the 10%

non-refundable fee.

Customers using National Park

Reservations to make lodging and activity reservations agree to use our

service, either by telephone or email, to make any changes or cancellations to

their reservations.

A National Park Reservations

customer will receive an email confirmation describing all reservations made, any

deposits taken by the lodging or activity provider, total cost of the lodging

or activity, any cancellation policies of the lodging or activity provider, as

well as check in times of the lodging or activity provider. Customers of

National Park Reservations agree to assume the responsibility of confirming the

accuracy of the reservations outlined on the email confirmation.

All Reservation Requests will be personally handled by a

National Park Specialist within 48 hours. We will book your request if your

requested lodge is available or contact you with alternative lodging if it is

not. You will receive an email

confirmation with reservation details & confirmation number within 24 hours

after we have successfully booked your requested reservation.

Customers submitting online

requests agree to provide an accurate billing address and payment choice. Once

an individual submits an online request, the request will be booked and an

email confirmation sent without further notification to the client. Online requests

are not used to check availability. To simply check availability, a customer

should call National Park Reservations toll free number. “

After a client submits the online reservation request, the

very first lines of the confirmation page states the following:

“ All Reservation Requests will be

personally handled by a National Park Specialist within 48 hours. We will book

if your request is available or contact you if your request is not available. “

In addition, this guest submitted a second online reservation

request for another lodge at a different park for subsequent dates just 10

minutes after her first submission. The client agreed to our terms and conditions both times when

she submitted the two online reservation requests and was notified on the confirmation page that her request would be booked if available.

On Aug 22, 2013, she cancelled Lake Yellowstone Hotel &

Cabins reservation online. However her second reservation remains active. National

Park Reservations goes to great lengths to disclose the fee we charge for our

service. Not only is the client’s agreement

to our terms and conditions a requirement for every online reservation request

submission, but we have it dead center on our homepage and we link to our terms

in our main navigation throughout our website. Moreover, we have a recording

that plays when our clients call us that cannot be bypassed and callers must

listen to in full before they can be connected with an agent. That recording

states:

“National Park Reservations is a full service reservation center

for lodging and activity reservations in and around our National Parks.

National Park Reservation is not a park concessionaire, nor is it

in any way affiliated with the National Park Service of the Federal Government.

For our reservation service, there is a 10% non-refundable fee

based on the total dollar amount for the reservations that you make.”Please feel free to contact me with if you have any further

questions.

Best Regards,

Director of

Operations

National

Park Reservations[redacted]

Review: misleading website looks like an official national park hotel reservation site. I sent request for reservation to find out availability/price of the hotel August and gave them the credit card info. they advertised room starting at 120s+ and asked for multiple choices if the lower price hotel not available. they reserved the more expensive rooms and charged 10% fee ($57.45) despite I called within 24 hrs to cancel. The person I spoke to on the phone said he could not cancel or wave the fee. I asked if he could let a supervisor know to do it and he told me a supervisor will get in touch with me usually within 24 hours. I never heard from anyone and my credit card was charged for this $57.45Desired Settlement: refund $57.45. a credit for future service is not acceptable because I will not do business with a deceptive merchant

Business

Response:

Review: This company depicts itself as the official site for the National Parks when it is actually a private entity. They charge 10% of the reservation price- non-refundable! When you actually figure out they are NOT who they state they are- apparently it's too late to cancel the reservation and the 10% fee they collect. In my opinion, this is false advertising and extortion. I have never made an online reservation which demanded a 10% non-refundable fee. It is NOT good business and I cannot believe the Revdex.com would accept a company under these conditions. DEFINITELY false advertising (not the OFFICIAL National Parks Reservation site!)DEFINITELY unreasonable to charge a 10% non-refundable charge for TAKING a reservation (I cancelled a few minutes after making the reservation when I realized they were not the OFFICIAL site for fear they are not even authorized to take reservations. I was charged $171.13 which is Non-refundable even though the reservation was made for next year. Ridiculous,not fair, not forthright, not official- definitely BAD BUSINESS!!Desired Settlement: I would like my money for the 10% refunded and I would like to see this business retract this business practice. AT THE LEAST, they should have a sub-page which states, "Your credit card will be charged ________ (whatever the 10% cost is) which is non-refundable" before you finish the reservation. I will be calling my credit card company as well to see what I can do on my end.

Business

Response:

This client submitted an online reservation request form on September 29th, 2013 at 8:49pm MT for a 3 night stay at the Ahwahnee Hotel with an arrival date of Sept 25, 2014. The client submitted a cancellation request at 10:47pm MT the same day.

Googled Yellowstone, and thought I was talking to a reservation agency that just booked/owned for Yellowstone NP (like any other hotel chain's reservation center). Booked a $379 per night cabin (that's all that was left) for 7 nights and the agent reads off a disclaimer as fast as she could about booking/cancelling fees, etc.. I'm no rookie, have done a lot of travelling! I'm excited to go and all I really hear is 10% booking fee. I later get a credit card bill for a booking fee for 10% of the ENTIRE STAY!!! Over $250 just to have someone BOOK ME A ROOM! How can any business get away with this?? It's all smoke and mirrors and trickery and I couldn't do a thing about it because they RECORDED me saying "yes" to the reservation. VERY underhanded business practise!!

Review: This company calls themselves "National Park Service" reservations - deceptive in representing themselves as representatives of the US National Park Service. They actually have FREE lodging booking which I thought I was using. This company charged me $123 to book two hotel rooms at the [redacted] in August. The wording of the woman on the phone suggested the 10% of the lodging cost was non-refundable if I CANCELLED...it did not suggest that it was an ENTIRELY SEPARATE CHARGE. When the reservation was complete she did not say - "your charges will be XXX$ for the room and XXXX$ for my booking fee...do you agree". I would have said no - who would ever say yes to paying that kind of fee when it can be done free through the legal park service site. This is deceptive and there are many Revdex.com complaints against them. There are also numerous complaints throughout the internet.Desired Settlement: Refund the $123 booking fee and cancel my reservation #[redacted] and #[redacted]. This is a shameful company and I would rather book this through a reputable company that does not charge me to make a reservation. I cannot believe they are allowed to remain in business and no one has shut them down yet.

Business

Response:

This client called us to book lodging for [redacted] on April

19, 2014 for a 2 night stay on August 12, 2014. Every client that

calls into National Park Reservations is required to listen through a

full-disclosure recorded message that cannot be by- passed prior to being

connected to a reservation agent. This recorded message states the following:

“National Park Reservations is a full

service reservation center for lodging and activity reservations in and around

our National Parks.

National Park Reservation is not a

park concessionaire, nor is it in any way affiliated with the National Park

Service of the Federal Government.

For our reservation service, there is

a 10% non-refundable fee based on the total dollar amount for the reservations

that you make.”

This client was told of our 10% reservation service and clearly told

we are not affiliated with the National Park Service at the beginning of the

call. We have a full contact press path that timestamps the guests call

progression within our phone system. The contact press path for this client

confirms at 3:40:50pm on 4/19/2014 our full recorded disclosure was played for

this client. I have attached the screen shot of our contact press path for your

review.

In addition, I am confirming the client was told of our

non-refundable 10% reservation fee at time of booking over the phone by our

agent. I have also attached the full

calllog for your review.

In the call, the disclosure is made about 4 minutes and 41 seconds

into the call. Here is the transcription of the conversation between our agent

and customer.

Agent – “The deposit policy is going to be a 1 night

deposit for each room. That deposit is refundable up until 14 days prior to

arrival. We do charge a 10% non-refundable but transferrable fee based on the

total of the reservation. Our fee can be transferred to any park in the

United States or Canada up to 1 year if you need to cancel or change the

reservation.”

Client – “Ok that sounds great. Ok good. Good.”

This client was told by our agent as well as through a recorded

message at the beginning of the call we charge a 10% non-refundable reservation

fee. Only after a client gives verbal confirmation do we continue booking the

reservation.

National Park Reservations goes to great lengths to disclose who we

are and the fee we charge for our service. Not only do we require every

client calling us to listen in-full to our recorded message that cannot be

bypassed, but our agents again disclose our reservation fee at the time of

booking. Furthermore, on our National Park Reservations website, our terms and

conditions is dead center on the homepage and we link to our terms in the main

navigation throughout the site.

Sincerely,

Director of Operations

National Park Reservations

Review: If National Park Reservations is not the company that advertises itself as "U.S. Park Lodging", lists a toll-free number of ###-###-#### and maintains a website at [redacted], then I apologize, and please disregard this complaint. This company I'm describing, despite being the top website displayed when one conducts Google searches using the word "Yellowstone," gives no contact or location information.My wife and I were looking to book a room in the Old Faithful Snow lodge in Yellowstone National Park for two nights. My wife, who is not a native English speaker, did a Google search for "Yellowstone", "Yellowstone lodging" or something to that effect, and when the top result displayed was [redacted], she clicked on the link and then immediately called the ###-###-#### number. The Reservation Specialist, "[redacted]" checked availability, likely through the [redacted] Parks and Resorts website ([redacted] and began booking a room for 2 nights. My wife then handed me the phone so "[redacted]" could take my credit card information. "[redacted]" quickly told me that her company was "not a concessionaire" and not affiliated with the federal government. She said that I would be charged a nonrefundable 10% reservation fee, and quoted me a price of ~$571. I immediately asked whether the TAXES AND FEES WOULD BE THE SAME IF I BOOKED ONLINE, and "[redacted]" said "YES." Shortly after booking, I went to h[redacted] and found that [redacted] Parks and Resorts does not charge a 10% reservation fee to book online, making the price ~$520. I called ###-###-####, and spoke with a "[redacted]." He agreed to cancel my reservation, but refused to cancel the 10% fee, which amounts to ~$51. When I confronted him about the deceptive answer "[redacted]" had given me regarding online booking being the same price, his response was that booking on HIS COMPANY'S WEBSITE would have cost the same as booking over the phone.Desired Settlement: A full refund of the ~$51 reservation fee. "[redacted]" was extremely deceptive regarding my inquiry into the cost of booking a room for 2 nights at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Also, "[redacted]" gave a very rehearsed-sounding and rude answer when I confronted him, making me suspect he gets many such complaints. This is essentially a 10% charge for no added value. One can easily book the same hotel room online, in the exact same way "U.S. Park Lodging" booked it and not pay an extra 10%.

Business

Response:

To the

Revdex.com,

My name

is [redacted] and I am the Director of Operations at National Park Reservations.

I am responding to this complaint on behalf of [redacted] as she

is currently on maternity leave.

This

client called us to book lodging for Yellowstone National Park on Aug 25, 2013

for a 2 night stay on Oct 13, 2013. Every client that calls into US

Park Lodging is required to listen through a full-disclosure recorded message

that cannot be by passed prior to being connected to a reservation agent. This

recorded message states the following:

“Thank

you for calling U.S. Park Lodging.

U.S. Park Lodging is a full service

reservation center for lodging and activity reservations in and around our

National Parks.

U.S. Park Lodging is not a park

concessionaire, nor is it in any way affiliated with the National Park Service

of the Federal Government.

For our reservation service there is a 10%

non-refundable fee based on the total dollar amount of the reservation that you

make.”

This

client was told of our 10% reservation service fee at the beginning of the

call. In addition, US Park Lodging recites the following disclosure during the call

prior to booking every reservation. This is the full disclosure that we recite:

“_____________ is a lodging

facility located within _____________ National Park. ________________ is

operated by the concessionaire, Xanterra Parks & Resorts.

Xanterra Parks and Resorts will charge and equal to one (1) night per room

reserved to your credit card as a deposit. You will have

fourty-eight (48) hours prior to your arrival to cancel or change your

reservations with no penalty from the hotel. All of the Xanterra Parks &

Resorts terms and conditions for ______________ apply to this reservation and a

complete copy will be provided to you in a confirmation email. Xanterra Parks

& Resorts maintains a reservation center allowing customers to book

directly for _________________. The lodging rates Xanterra Parks & Resorts

charges for ____________ are set according to the National Park Service.

Xanterra Parks & Resorts do not charge any additional booking fees to

reserve lodging. Our service, US Park Lodging, is a travel agency booking

lodging for ________________. For this service, US Park Lodging charges a 10%

non refundable reservation fee based on the total dollar amount of your

reservation. This fee is non refundable but can be transferred for up to one

(1) year if you need to change or cancel and can be used for any national park

in the United States or Canada. Customers using US Park Loging to make their

lodging reservations in _______________ agree to use our service to make all

cancellations and/or changes to their reservations.

Do you understand everything I

have explained to you? Would you like to continue booking the reservation?”

The client was told that we were not the park concessionaire and

we are a travel agency that charges a 10% non-refundable reservation fee. Only

after the client gave his verbal confirmation that the client understood our

terms and conditions and wanted to continue booking the reservation did we

process the lodging reservation.

The answer to the question asked by the client “whether the TAXES

and FEES would be the same if I booked online” is a definitive yes. The

lodging rates for this lodge is set by the National Park Service and does not

change, which we fully disclosed. Further, our reservation service fee remains

the same whether the client booked over the phone with our agent or booked

online via our online reservation request.

The client called later that day and spoke with our customer

service agent to cancel his reservation. Per the client’s request, the customer

service agent cancelled the reservation. The client was again told our 10%

reservation fee was non-refundable but will remain as a credit and can be

reused up to one year from the booking date.

US Park

Lodging goes to great lengths to disclose who we are and the fee we charge for

our service. Not only do we require every client calling us to listen

in-full to our recorded message that cannot be bypassed, but our agents again

recite a full-disclosure on who we are and our terms and conditions at

the time of booking. Furthermore, on our US Park Lodging website, our terms and

conditions is dead center on the homepage and we link to our terms in the main

navigation throughout the site.

Please feel free to contact me

with if you have any further questions.

Best Regards,

Director of Operations

National Park Reservations

###-###-####

Review: This company falsely portrays itself as a national park reservation site. They are not affiliated with them in any way. I was told that they made reservations in Yellowstone but at the time it was full. I found out later that they do not have properties in Yellowstone at all and go through the REAL Yellowstone website to book reservations for you then charge you 10% of your bill. This company is very deceptive. I was told by 3 different people that they had properties in Yellowstone. They do not. I ended up booking a site outside of the park and the agent got the wrong nights. When I called to cancel they would not return my money. Many people have complained about this company to Yellowstone. They are a scam do not use them.Desired Settlement: I would like m money refunded. I have contacted this company and they refused. I a have also contacted my bank.

Business

Response:

This client contacted our office on June 1st 2013 requesting reservations in or near Yellowstone as well as the Grand Teton National Park. I show we did make her 2 reservations, 1 for outside the west gate of Yellowstone and also 1 for the Grand Teton Park. When contact our office there is a prompt that is played an must be listened to prior to speaking with a reservation agent that prompt states the following information.

National Park Reservations provides lodging and

activity reservations both inside as well as in the gateway communities

of the United States National Parks. National Park Reservations is not

an authorized concessionaire of any National Park nor are we in any way

affiliated with the National Park Service of the Federal Government.

National Park Reservations provides the ability for its customers to

make reservations through a toll-free telephone number or by submitting

an online request form.

For this service, National Park Reservations charges a

10% non-refundable reservation fee based on the total dollar amount of

reservations made. This reservation fee will be billed separately to

your credit card and will be billed under the memo "National Park

Reservations". By using National Park Reservations, the customer

authorizes National Park Reservations to charge their credit card the

10% non-refundable fee.

We do record all of our phone calls and I have included the customers phone call for both properties stating our information as well booking the lodging on the correct dates. At NPR we do our very best for our clients and I do believe we earn our fees. As you may see this customer called our office 3 times and was helped by several agents.

Review: I made a reservation on-line for Yosemite (summer, 2014 - 2 rooms, totaling over $1000), thinking I would make the initial reservation and as next summer approaches, figure out how many people in the family are coming and drop a room if necessary. I believed I was on the official National Park site because that site I booked on came up first and looked like the the official governmental site. When I received my credit card statement, I was charged $439 (a non-refundable fee, I just learned, for me typing my information in.) I understand a business charging a fee for setting up a fishing trip that requires coordinating with a 3rd party provider or doing something else that requires some amount of work but charging over $400 for nothing is unconscionable.Desired Settlement: Refund - I would be willing to pay a $25 fee for them making the booking

Business

Response:

This client made a reservation through our website nationalparkreservations.com on July 10,2013 for July of 2014 at Yosemite National Park. When making reservations through our website a client must state that they have read an do agree to our terms and conditions before the reservation information can be excepted. I have included a copy of the online terms that the customer did agree to when booking her reservations online.

National Park Reservations provides lodging and activity reservations

both inside as well as in the gateway communities of the United States

National Parks. National Park Reservations is not an authorized

concessionaire of any National Park nor are we in any way affiliated

with the National Park Service of the Federal Government. National Park

Reservations provides the ability for its customers to make reservations

through a toll-free telephone number or by submitting an online request

form.

For this service, National Park Reservations charges a 10%

non-refundable reservation fee based on the total dollar amount of

reservations made. This reservation fee will be billed separately to

your credit card and will be billed under the memo "National Park

Reservations". By using National Park Reservations, the customer

authorizes National Park Reservations to charge their credit card the

10% non-refundable fee.

Customers using National Park Reservations to make lodging and

activity reservations agree to use our service, either by telephone or

email, to make any changes or cancellations to their reservations.

A National Park Reservations customer will receive an email

confirmation describing all reservations made, any deposits taken by the

lodging or activity provider, total cost of the lodging or activity,

any cancellation policies of the lodging or activity provider, as well

as check in times of the lodging or activity provider. Customers of

National Park Reservations agree to assume the responsibility of

confirming the accuracy of the reservations outlined on the email

confirmation.

All Reservation Requests will be personally handled by a National Park

Specialist within 48 hours. We will book your request if your requested

lodge is available or contact you with alternative lodging if it is not.

You will receive an email confirmation with reservation details &

confirmation number within 24 hours after we have successfully booked

your requested reservation.

Customers submitting online requests agree to provide an accurate

billing address and payment choice. Once an individual submits an online

request, the request will be booked and an email confirmation sent

without further notification to the client. Online requests are not used

to check availability. To simply check availability, a customer should

call National Park Reservations toll free number.

National Park Reservations is not responsible for rate changes made

by the specific lodging or activity provider. National Park

Reservations will not be responsible for loss due to specific action of a

lodge or activity provider or by acts of God. Customers using National

Park Reservations should be aware that the park concessionaire will

directly accept a credit card for reservations, and will impose no fee

for doing so. Although National Park Reservations will assist our

clients in receiving a refund of any deposits given to a lodge or

activity provider, customer understands and agrees that National Park

Reservations 10% reservation fee is a non-refundable fee.

The very same terms and conditions are played when a client is contacting our office via phone and I do show several times where this customer has contacted our office by phone to try an change her reservations from rooms to a suite an also to drop 1 of her rooms. At NPR we go to great lengths for our clients and we also do our very best to let them know that we charge fees for our services. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Review: On March 20, 2013 I went online to make vacation reservations and got ripped off for $416 ! This was a non-refundable fee for making the reservations. I had made reservations online many times before and had never run into this situation. Heres my story: I wanted to make reservations at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley. I went to my GOOGLE home page and entered Yosemite. The first site listed was NationalParksReservations.com. First Warning: Sites pay GOOGLE to be listed first, I knew this, but the site looked official.Because I entered Yosemite as my search term, when I select this imposter site, it bypassed their home page and sent me directly to their Yosemite page. (Their home page has a disclaimer on it. However, I would suggest that the majority of people enter the name of the park for which they want to make reservations.) I entered the data needed to make the reservations. The dates and rooms I wanted were available so I submitted my request. Having done this several times before, I knew that my credit card would be charged one nights rate for each room I reserved. The site never told me that I was being charged or how much they were charging me to make these reservations. This rip off site charges 10% of your total stay for all rooms reserved. It wasnt until several days later when I checked my credit card to see if the deposits had been posted to my account when I found a strange charge for $416. After some research and phone calls I found that I had been RIPPED OFF! Since the primary disclaimer is on their home page, they should send everyone to their home page first. They should also be required to show exactly what you will be charged for their service prior to submitting your order. Once you have submitted your order it is too late.Desired Settlement: Require that all users of this site be sent to the site's home page first and not allow them to bypass this page with their disclaimer and require them to show the cost of their service prior to submitting your order.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,

This client made a reservation through our website- nationalparkreservations.com when making reservations through our website in order for us to recieve and process your reservation you must state that you have infact read our terms and you do agree to them. Please view the terms below. Our online form clearly states not to use the form to check for availability and to call our toll free number at any time if you have any questions.

Our Terms

I booked some rooms at Glacier Park lodge thru the national parks reservations site.
Just like the others, I thought it was a reservation service of the national park, not a third party that makes their living on duping people out of 10% for booking a room.
This is charged separately and in addition to the cost of the rooms and non refundable.
Of course, the 10% fee is in small print on purpose. I was duped like the others who have posted complaints. BE AWARE. DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE. THE WEB SITE LOOKS GOOD BUT IT IS NOT WHAT IT APPEARS TO BE. WHAT A RIPOFF. Sept 2015

Review: I was planing a vacation at Yellowstone National Park, I did a search on Google for "Yellowstone". The first site listed was www.USParkLodging.com/Yellowstone. I visited the website and found a lodge that I was interested in so I filled out the online form and left my phone number. The next day, an agent called me and booked the lodges for me. A few days later, I found there are a non-refundable 10% reservation fee appeared on my credit card. It was a total surprise to me because that agent didn't mention anything about the reservation fee. I called them. They claimed the term is listed inside the link at the bottom of their main their website. And it should be my responsibility to read those fine prints buried in this hidden place. They also argued the agent who booked my reservation should have informed me about the 10% surcharge. Then I asked for the phone records. They came back to me saying they lost it.The website www.usparklodging.com clearly attempts to mislead consumers by representing itself in a manner that suggests it's an official site. The fact that the website address includes "U.S." in it is further support of this fact. This is a totally scammed website.Desired Settlement: I would like to refund the 10% reservation fee, which is $63.80 in total

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,

When making reservations through our website in order for U.S. Park Lodging to receive and process your reservation you must state that you have read and do agree to our terms and conditions. I have included a copy of those terms for review, please note- the terms state that you can book directly with the National Park Concessionaires.

US Park Lodging Terms and Conditions.

US Park Lodging provides lodging and activity reservations both

inside as well as in the gateway communities of the United States

National Parks. US Park Lodging is not an authorized concessionaire of

any National Park nor are we in any way affiliated with the National

Park Service of the Federal Government. US Park Lodging provides the

ability for its customers to make reservations through a toll-free

telephone number or by submitting an online request form.

US Park Lodging charges a 10% non-refundable reservation fee based

on the total dollar amount of reservations made. This reservation fee

will be billed separately to your credit card and will be billed under

the memo "US Park Lodging". By using US Park Lodging, the customer

authorizes US Park Lodging to charge their credit card the 10%

non-refundable fee.

Customers using US Park Lodging to make lodging and activity

reservations agree to use our service, either by telephone or email, to

make any changes or cancellations to their reservations.

A US Park Lodging customer will receive an email confirmation

describing all reservations made, any deposits taken by the lodging or

activity provider, total cost of the lodging or activity, any

cancellation policies of the lodging or activity provider, as well as

check in times of the lodging or activity provider. Customers of US Park

Lodging agree to assume the responsibility of confirming the accuracy

of the reservations outlined on the email confirmation.

Online requests made Monday - Friday between 8:00am - 3:00pm MST,

will be replied to by 6:30pm MST that same day. Online reservation

requests made after this time will be responded to within 24 hours.

Online requests made between 3:00pm Friday - Sunday will be responded to

by Monday at 6:00pm MST. Customers submitting online requests will

provide an accurate billing address and payment choice. Once an

individual submits an online request, the request will be booked and an

email confirmation sent without further notification to the client.

Online requests are not used to check availability. To simply check

availability, a customer should call US Park Lodging using our toll free

number or by submitting an online request form.

Grant Village is a lodging facility operated by Xanterra Parks &

Resorts. When reserving a property run by Xanterra Parks & Resorts, a

room deposit equal to one night per room reserved will be billed

immediately to your credit card. All cancellations must be made by

4:00pm PST at least 48 hours in advance of the scheduled arrival date.

Cancellations and changes made within 48 hours of the arrival date will

result in forfeiture of the entire deposit. Properties not run by

Xanterra Parks and Resorts will have different deposit and cancellation

policies so please be sure to check your confirmation email to verify

the policies for each lodging facility. Xanterra Parks & Resorts

maintains a reservations center allowing customers to book directly for

Grant Village. The lodging rates Xanterra Parks & Resorts charges

are set in cooperation with the National Park Service. Xanterra Parks

& Resorts does not charge any additional booking fees to reserve

lodging.

US Park Lodging is not responsible for rate changes made by the

specific lodging or activity provider. US Park Lodging will not be

responsible for loss due to specific action of a lodge or activity

provider or by acts of God. Customers using US Park Lodging should be

aware that the park concessionaire will directly accept a credit card

for reservations, and will impose no fee for doing so. Although US Park

Lodging will assist our clients in receiving a refund of any deposits

given to a lodge or activity provider, customer understands and agrees

that US Park Lodging 10% reservation fee is a non-refundable fee.

When our reservation specialist contacted the client it was only to confirm lodging of his choice, Our fees are also shown in the reservation email confirmation the client received at the time of booking. I have also included a copy of the email confirmation. We do our very best to state that we charge fees for our services and I do have many repeat clients that value our services I apologize that this one did not however, a service was provided. I do also show the calls from the customer and we will be more than happy to send copies of the phones via email.

Operations Manager

US Park Lodging

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9559953, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I went to that website and filled in my phone number for reservation. An agent from that website called me to book the reservation for me. She didn't inform me the 10% non-refundable reservation fee on the phone when I made the reservation. The credit card payment I have authorized is the total amount she told me which only includes the hotel charge. Only when I received the confirmation email, I saw the additional 10% charge.

They didn't disclose the complete information to the customers. And when I contacted them regarding the issue, I asked to get access to the phone record for my reservation which will clearly show I was got informed. And they claimed that they couldn't find it. They don't have my authorization to charge the additional 10% reservation.

Regards,

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,

This client did infact make a reservation through our website U.S. Park Lodging and the reason for the call to the client was to state that the 3 choices of lodging they had chosen were sold out and did offer another property that the customer did agree to. At that time the customer had already filled out the reservation form giving not only there phone number but also there credit card number to confirm the reservation. When filling out that reservation form it clearly states that we charge a fee for our services. I have included a copy of the reservation form from the client.

customer approved Lodging at Canyon Lodge- MM

I also show this client has several active reservations with us for Yellowstone as well as the Teton National Park.

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9559953, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The online form asks me to input my info such as phone number, credit card number and intended travel dates so an agent will contact me for hotel reservation. There is no total amount for how much the total cost is that I have authorized the website to charge on my credit card. The next day, an agent called me and made the reservation. She told me the total cost for hotels over the phone (which didn't include the 10% reservation fee) and I only authorized that amount for my credit card charge. She didn't mention the 10% surcharge at all, and I didn't authorize that amount billed to my credit card.

Customers sometime give out the credit card number as for security deposit but the total charge should be authorized by the customers not by the merchandise.

Regards,

Review: This company should be required to admit they are not an official representative or service vendor for the National Parks Service. During the reservation process they failed to disclose a $50 early departure fee charged by the hotel where they booked our reservation for a fee ($45). After email exchanges we were informed they could not possibly cover all the fees a hotel might charge a guest. We were notified of the fee in an email confirmation.

We would not have made the reservation had we known about the fee ahead of time. Bad on us for not thinking to ask. This complaint serves to document our request that when paying a Fee to a travels service they should be required to disclose all contingents of the property.Desired Settlement: Refund or at least a change in disclosure policy.

Business

Response:

This customer submitted an online reservation request on Aug

14, 2014 for a 3 night stay at Sequoia / Kings Canyon National Park arriving

Aug 17th, 2014. As the guest was seeking rooms just 3 days from the

arrival date, lodging inside the park was limited. Our National Park Specialist

reached out to the customer and the customer approved booking at Comfort Inn

& Suites Sequoia Kings Canyon.

The confirmation email that was sent to the customer disclosed

the following in the Lodge Policies section – ‘There is an early departure fee of $50.00.’

If the guest would have called us within 24 hours of the booking,

we would have been able to cancel the reservation without a fee. As the guest

requested an early departure during their stay at the lodge, they did incur the $50.00 early

departure fee.

We cannot refund the early departure fee as we did not

charge this amount to the client. However, we are rolling out changes to our

disclosure policy for this lodge. We are adding this $50.00 early departure fee

on the lodge policies page for Comfort Inn & Suites Sequoia Kings Canyon on

our website. Further this fee will be disclosed by our National Park Specialist

at the time of booking to all future bookings.

National Park Reservations goes through great lengths to

disclose who we are. Dead center on the

homepage of our website, we clearly state we are not affiliated with the National

Park Service nor are the park concessionaire. We also disclose who we are on

our terms and conditions page that is easily accessible from our main navigation

throughout our website. Furthermore the client’s agreement to our terms and conditions,

which also outlines who we are, is a requirement for every online reservation

request submission. Moreover, we have a recording that plays when our clients

call us that cannot be bypassed and callers must listen to in full before they

can be connected with an agent. That recording states:

“National

Park Reservations is a full service reservation center for lodging and activity

reservations in and around our National Parks.

National

Park Reservation is not a park concessionaire, nor is it in any way affiliated with

the National Park Service of the Federal Government.

For

our reservation service, there is a 10% non-refundable fee based on the total

dollar amount for the reservations that you make.”

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further

questions

Director of Operations

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business' response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

Revdex.com,

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

The fact that they will be changing their disclosure policy when booking as well as making a change to the website so other patrons can avoid our unpleasant experience will suffice.

Review: My family and I are planning a week-long vacation to [redacted] next August. We've stayed at the [redacted] lodges before and it has always been a wonderful experience. I knew the rooms book up quickly, though, so I decided to try and reserve as soon as possible. During an internet search, I found the National Park Reservations phone number and called and asked about our preferred hotel, the [redacted]. She said she only had a couple rooms left, and the hotel always sells out. I decided I better book the rooms right away then cancel if needed. I do remember asking about the cancellation policy and the agent saying the hotel doesn't charge a cancellation fee if you cancel within the first 30 days. I felt secure in making the reservation because I thought the name, National Park Reservations, indicated I was booking through the [redacted]. Two days later when I called to cancel the reservation, I discovered that my credit card would still be charged $371 or 10 percent of our hotel fee. I was shocked! When I called to complain, the National Park Reservations agent said he reviewed my call and the agent had told me about this nonrefundable fee and there was nothing he could do to reimburse me. As we were talking I started searching online and discovered all the Revdex.com complaints against this company, written by others who were duped in a similar manner. I asked him about the complaints and he said yes, he was well aware of them, but all those people had been warned as I had. Today I called the [redacted] hotel and the real [redacted] agent, [redacted], knew all about National Park Reservations and the 10 percent scam. I asked her to check the room availability for the dates of our stay in August and she said the hotel had lots of rooms (10 or more) still available for each day of our stay. That directly contradicts the National Park Reservations agent, who was obviously trying to pressure me into booking immediately by telling me they were almost sold out.Desired Settlement: I would like to be reimbursed the $371. Furthermore, I think this company should be required to change its name so people are not duped into believing that it's somehow affiliated with the NPS.

Business

Response:

This

client called us to book lodging at the [redacted] on November

16, 2013 for a 7 night stay on Aug 2, 2014 for 2 rooms. Every client that

calls into National Park Reservations is required to listen through a

full-disclosure recorded message that cannot be bypassed prior to being

connected to a reservation agent. The recorded message states the following:

“National

Park Reservations is a full service reservation center for lodging and activity

reservations in and around our National Parks.

National

Park Reservation is not a park concessionaire, nor is it in any way affiliated

with the [redacted] of the Federal Government.

For

our reservation service, there is a 10% non-refundable fee based on the total

dollar amount for the reservations that you make.”

This

client was told of our non-refundable 10% reservation service fee at the

beginning of the call. In addition, we went over our policy again at the time

of booking over the phone.

The

[redacted] hotel offers 86 rooms with over 12 room types, a highly

sought out hotel located inside [redacted] National Park. Because this client desired

to book 7 consecutive nights and 2 rooms, our reservation agent accurately

represented limited availability for those dates requested. On November 20,

2013, only 6 rooms were available with only 2 room types (one room left for a standard

queen room type and 5 rooms left for a 1 double 1 twin room type) at [redacted] Hotel for the client’s requested

reservation.

The

client called to cancel her reservation on November 18, 2013. At the time of

cancellation, the client requested consideration for a refund of her

non-refundable reservation service fee. The reservation agent submitted her

request for approval and informed her it would take 3-5 business days for a

resolution.

As the client filed a complaint with Revdex.com on November 18, 2013, we were not

given the opportunity to review and resolve her reservation issue prior to this

complaint.

When

we contacted the client to resolve the matter, the client admitted she made a

mistake and did not fully understand the recorded message nor the second

disclosure of our 10% reservation fee our agent went over with her at the time

of booking. She said she regretted booking because she could not afford the reservation

at [redacted]. We have since made every effort to reach a resolution with this client. We deeply regret the client did not give us the opportunity to resolve her concerns before escalating to the Revdex.com.

National

Park Reservations goes to great lengths to disclose the fee we charge for our

service. Not only do we have a recording that plays when our clients call us

that cannot be bypassed and callers must listen to in full before they can be

connected with an agent and a second time go over our service fee at the time

of booking the reservation, but we have it dead center on our homepage and we

link to our terms in our main navigation throughout our website.

Please feel free to contact

me with if you have any further questions.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Hello [redacted],

I am sending you this note as you requested, confirming that I did receive a refund check from National Park Reservations for $371.11. I am also copying one of my contacts at the Revdex.com.

Thank you,

their website pretends to help the customer find lodging in national parks but they do not tell you until the last page that you will be booked without confirming with you about the room rate or place. the charge is automatically issued to your credit card and if you catch it they willstill charge you a 10% of the booking price to cancel even though you did not approved for that reservation to begin with.

it's a scam