Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/01/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was on tour with **************** and we were booked at Canyon Lodge in *********** for two nights (8/6 -8/7), scheduled to depart on the morning of 8/8. On 8/7 my grandson and I tested positive for Covid and our tour manager managed to get us an additional night for $349 until I could find a way home. The tour left as schedule on 8/8 and after talking to my family, my son picked us up on 8/9.On 9/27/22, my credit card was charged by Canyon Lodge for $1,968.35! When I discovered this charge on 10/1/22, I called the number, *************, listed on my **** transaction page and left a message about the erroneous charge. On 10/11/22 since I had not heard back I sent an email from their website explaining the situation and as of today, 11/1/22 I have not heard anything regarding my situation. I want the $1,968.35 charge reserved and have the correct $349 charge made. Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated.Sincerely,********************** ******************

  Business Response

  Date: 11/08/2022

  Business Response:

  
  National Park Reservations does not have a client with this name and email address booked with our company.
  
  The phone number that they advise they have contacted is a direct number to Xanterra. They have booked direct with the concessionaire of the park.
  
  Operation Manager
  National Park Reservations

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/08/2022

   
  Complaint: 18343298
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The response is not acceptable.  I want the charge for $1,968.35 reversed and have the correct $349.00 charge.  Following is the info again.

  1-You don't have my email or name because I was part of the ***************** tour.  THEY paid for the two nights of 8/6 and 8/7.

  2-When my grandson and I tested positive for Covid, we were left behind by *****************.  I had to stay another night on my own while trying to figure out how to get out of Yellowstone.  I was supposed to be charged for ONE night (8/8) at the special rate of $349.99 given by the lodge manager, NOT $1,968.35!!

  3-The number I called *************) is the number listed on my bank statement showing the charge.

  How can you not even provide a name or phone number of someone who can resolve this issue.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

  Business Response

  Date: 11/18/2022

  This guest booked with ********, NOT our company.

  They need to contact ******** directly to get assistance. Xanterra would handle all group reservation for Canyon Lodge-we do not book group reservations.
  
  This is not our reservation. The charge that the guest attached is from Canyon Lodge-that IS NOT charged by our company, National Park Reservations.
  
  
  Operation Manager
  National Park Reservations

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/22/2022

  Complaint #********, Submitted 11/1/22 I'm writing to let you know that the above complaint has been resolved to my satisfaction.  After several phone calls I was directed to someone who was able to help me and my refund has been processed.  This complaint can now be closed. Sincerely, *********************
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/15/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The ******* Lodging Company handles reservations at ************ National Park. They charge a NON REFUNDABLE 10% fee on the full amount of your reservation. I canceled my reservation a few days after I made it, for which I was charged $133.94! The fact that this in non-refundable is buried in "terms and conditions," after you've filled out everything else required. This is deceptive and unheard of when booking lodging on a website. I disputed the credit card charge, which was denied, because the fee is disclosed deep in the site.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/20/2022

  Business Response:
  
  
  The client submitted an online reservation request form on our website. Our online reservation request form requires every client to agree to our terms and conditions in order to submit the request form.
  
  
  On Aug 29 2022, at 9:20 MST the client submitted an online request for a three-night stay in ************ National Park with an arrival date of Jan 20 2023. The client was booked as requested.
  
  
  The client submitted a complaint to the Better Business Bureau stating that National Park Reservations non-refundable fee is buried in "terms and conditions," after you've filled out everything else required.National Park Reservations goes to great lengths to disclose we are not affiliated with the National ************* nor a park concessionaire, as well as disclose the fee we charge for our service. We have our terms listed in the center of our homepage and a link to our terms in our main navigation throughout our website and yes, we require a box to be clicked after the client enters their information that asks that you only click the indicator box if they have read the terms and conditions.
  
  
  The client submitted a complaint to the Better Business Bureau stating that National Park Reservations did not disclose the 10%non-refundable reservation booking fee. National Park Reservations goes to great lengths to disclose we are not affiliated with the National ************* nor a park concessionaire, as well as disclose the fee we charge for our service. We have our terms listed in the center of our homepage and a link to our terms in our main navigation throughout our website. Our terms state:
  
  
  National Park Reservations provides lodging and activity reservations both inside as well as in the gateway communities of ***************** National Parks. National Park Reservations is not an authorized concessionaire of any National Park nor are we in any way affiliated with the National ************ of the ******************* 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.
  
  
  
  National Park Reservations charges a 10% non-refundable reservation fee based on the total dollar amount of reservations made. The 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 ********************** 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, any cancellation policies of the lodging or activity, as well as check in times of the lodging or activity. Customers of National Park Reservations agree to assume the responsibility of confirming the accuracy of the reservations outlined on the email confirmation.
  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 ********************** Park **********************'s 10% ******************** fee is a non-refundable fee.
  Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.
  
  
  Best Regards,
  
  
  *************************
  Operation Manager
  National Park Reservations
  ************
  
  
  
  Tell us why here...

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/20/2022

   
  Complaint: 18229787
  
  I am rejecting this response because: This adheres to the letter, not spirit of the law. All that is indicated as clear and obvious is not. If you go through the process of requesting a reservation, none of this shows up, and the cancelation policy seems normal. Only when you receive a confirmation of your request do the caveats appear, by which time you thought that the process was completed without restrictions. The process is designed to be deceptive and obscure, because no other reservation site on the internet that I've encountered charges a non-refundable fee to book a room. This is literally unheard of. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/03/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 9/22/2022 I went online to book lodging at ********************* in *********** National Park. I searched for "*********************". I then clicked on nationalparkreservations.com and booked 3 nights, thinking I was on the actual lodge site. After booking the nights, I realized that this was not the actual lodge site and that they charged a 10% fee ($91.18 in my case) that was non-refundable. I immediately cancelled the reservation and contacted National Park Reservations company to refund the fee. They submitted my request to their customer service and I later received an email saying that it was non-refundable.Their website is highly deceptive. Yes, they do state in very fine print that there is a 10% non-refundable fee and I should know better. They do NOT include the 10% fee in the total charges shown on the credit card page however. And they place their ****** link ABOVE the actual lodge's link.I would like to get a refund but even more importantly, these guys should be shut down as they provide no real service!Thank you.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/08/2022

  Business Response:
  
  
  The client submitted an online reservation request form on our website. Our online reservation request form requires every client to agree to our terms and conditions in order to submit the request form.
  
  
  On September 22 2022, at 14:04 MST the client submitted an online request for a three-night stay at ********************* with an arrival date of August 08 2023.The client was booked exactly as requested and was sent a confirming email.
  
  
  We are not solely responsible for placement on ****** but you can scroll and there are hundreds of ways to book for the parks and locations-that is why we ask that an indicator box is only clicked if the terms were read.
  
  
  
  
  Our terms state:
  
  
  National Park Reservations provides lodging and activity reservations both inside as well as in the gateway communities of ***************** National Parks. National Park Reservations is not an authorized concessionaire of any National Park nor are we in any way affiliated with the National ************ of the ******************* 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.
  
  
  
  National Park Reservations charges a 10%non-refundable reservation fee based on the total dollar amount of reservations made. The 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 ********************** 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, any cancellation policies of the lodging or activity, as well as check in times of the lodging or activity. Customers of National Park Reservations agree to assume the responsibility of confirming the accuracy of the reservations outlined on the email confirmation.
  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 ********************** Park **********************'s 10%******************** fee is a non-refundable fee.
  Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.
  
  
  Best Regards,
  Operation Manager
  National Park Reservations
  ************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/08/2022

   
  Complaint: 18160634
  
  I am rejecting this response because their answer does not acknowledge  1) that their website is deceptive in that it appears to be affiliated with the National ************* 2) the 10% fee is not included on the summary of charges page totals, 3) the notification that they provided appears in a very small font, and 4) the fee is exorbitant in that it is 10% of the ***** booking amount.   If any fee was justified it should be a fixed fee for the booking.   I also contacted the company immediately upon realizing the deception and filed a request for refund.  The refund was denied after a few days.  I then called back and asked for the corporate office and was told there was no corporate office.

  Yes, they did print that information on the website and I should have known better and been more thoughtful in my booking.   It still remains that the website is deceptive and does not in fact provide any added value service.  Their service and business model is to divert traffic from the lodging actual source to their website and collect a fee for doing so.   A true case of buyer beware.   These kind of businesses are purely scams and should not be in business preying on consumers.

  Thank you Better Business Bureau for following up on my complaint.  I hope this helps prevent other folks from falling for this as I did.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/22/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On Jan 30 2021 I reserved a condo and paid $775, for 5 days at ************************* . On august 11 my partner fell and had emergency surgery , broken hip , and not drive or travel **** weeks , I was told o had to pay , and additional $775 was put on my card . I asked if we could use it the following year and told no. We have a letter from dr and hospital . We are both senior citizens and travel to the national parks to visit and hike. We have been to over 10 parks. This is WRONG

  Business Response

  Date: 08/26/2022

  Business Response:
  
  
  The client has submitted a BBB for charges that are not from our company.
  
  The client booked reservations through our service for ************************* for arrival date Aug 25 2022.
  
  
  The ************************* has a cancellation policy that reads: $20.00 any time cancel fee / Winter:90 days forfeiture of 50%, 30 days full forfeit / Summer: 30 days forfeiture of 50%, 14 days full forfeit.
  
  
  The client called to cancel the reservation on Aug 12 2022 which was inside of the lodges 14 day policy. We contacted the lodge and spoke to their front desk agent,******, to see if they could make any exception for the guest. ****** advised that she needed to speak to her manager, ****** because she had no authorization to refund the guest. ****** called us back to advise that ****** said that no waiver would be made. We advised the guest of the properties decision and she then asked if she could try to change dates to 2023. We reached back out to ****** to see if a date change could be granted and she advised that since this reservation was inside the cancel policy, they could neither cancel without penalty nor move to 2023.
  
  The client then advised the reason for cancellation was due to an injury /surgery for one of the party. She said she was going to send the property a doctors note to try and sway them. She CC'ed us on the email but the email address that she listed for the property was incorrect and not a complete email address (whitefishmountainresort@************ ) we forwarded the information to the correct email address. ******, the manager of the property reached out to advise that he was contacting the guest directly to discuss the forfeited amount.
  
  It is unfortunate that this client submitted a BBB for our company when we have only tried to assist her in obtaining a refund for a reservation that she canceled inside of a lodge policy.
  
  
  Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.
  
  
  Best Regards,
  
  
  *************************
  Operation Manager
  National Park Reservations
  ************
  ******************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/27/2022

   
  Complaint: 17752751
  
  I am rejecting this response because:In good faith I put $775.00 on Jan. 30, 2021, to stay at the whitemountain resort.  I called immediately when my partner had her accident.  She is emailing me the letter from her ******* *********** I feel that charging me another $775 on August 26th is wrong, $1500 dollars wasted from two senior citizens who travel to national parks yearly.  We can not afford this, never had an issue before and have visited over 10 parks the last several years. If National Park makes reservations for White******** resort there should be some recourse.  I have also contacted **************** and you should be hearing from them.  Also sent written notive to White ******** and National Park in DC. I believe we should get a minimum of $750.00 returned.  

  Thank you BBB for you assistance in this important issue.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/05/2022

  Please drop this complaint. they have canceled their charge for the resort, due to letter I sent and **************** contacting.  Thank you for your help.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/17/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was looking at reservations on a National Park website and somehow my computer got redirected to NationalParkReservations.com. I thought this was a legitimate website. The website was confusing and would not let me book the exact night so I called the ***** number listed. The person that answered the phone spoke very quickly and made my reservation, speaking very fast. I felt nervous but thought it was a legitimate website so I provided my credit card number. As soon as I hung up the phone my credit card was charged multiple charges that didn't make any sense. I Googled NationalParkReservations.com and see there is an alert on the BBB website for the business. This business charges and additional 10% fee above the cost for the reservation and they added additional fees for each person. I did not understand what was being said on the phone call when I made my reservations and this is a clearly a deceptive practice simply to ******* consumers out of their money. After reading the email that was sent, detailing the "terms and agreement", that I DID NOT HEAR OR AGREE TO, the language in the email confirms this is a *******. I expect a full refund and I am a social media influencer on several travel forums. I will be posting about this business and advising travelers NOT to fall for this *******. This is a total SCAM. I will also be contacting ******* producers as I have a relationship with them about travel shows. Again, consumers BEWARE and BE WARNED.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/22/2022

  Business Response:
  
  
  The client submitted an online reservation request form on our website. Our online reservation request form requires every client to agree to our terms and conditions in order to submit the request form.
  
  
  On July 12 2022, at 7:25 MST the client submitted an online request for a one-night stay at *********** National Park with an arrival date of Aug 07 2022. The client then called in to add nights and was advised that **************** did not have additional night available. She was given options at other locations and booked Snake River Park Cabins for the additional nights.
  
  
  The client agreed to our terms online and when she called, she also listened to our full disclosure on our automated system, which you can not by pass.
  
  
  The client claims that she was directed to our site from a National Park web site, she was advised by phone that there is no possible way that the National ************ web site directed her to ours. She has been refunded our fees, regardless, and if she would have responded to calls or emails,she would have been aware of the refund. The client still holds reservations with our company.
  
  
  Our terms state:
  
  
  National Park Reservations provides lodging and activity reservations both inside as well as in the gateway communities of ***************** National Parks. National Park Reservations is not an authorized concessionaire of any National Park nor are we in any way affiliated with the National ************ of the ******************* 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.
  
  
  
  National Park Reservations charges a 10%non-refundable reservation fee based on the total dollar amount of reservations made. The 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 ********************** 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, any cancellation policies of the lodging or activity, as well as check in times of the lodging or activity. Customers of National Park Reservations agree to assume the responsibility of confirming the accuracy of the reservations outlined on the email confirmation.
  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 ********************** Park **********************'s 10%******************** fee is a non-refundable fee.
   Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.
  Best Regards,
  
  
  
  Operation Manager
  National Park Reservations
  ************
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/23/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  This business remains hostile toward consumers as evident in their response to my complaint. The business manager called me and was openly hostile towards me on the phone, falsely stating that they were going to give me a refund prior to my submitting this BBB complaint and filing a dispute with my credit card. When speaking to the busines manager she was verbally rude and dismissive towards me and even stated that if I had responded to her email prior to submitting this complaint, she planned on giving me a full refund. This statement is an outright lie, as the email stated no refund would be given. 

  The business has sketchy wording on their website, leading consumers to think the 10% non-refundable fee is part of the reservation costs, not on TOP of the reservation costs. While I appreciate the business manager agreeing to refund the fees due to my disputing the charges with my credit card, I will believe it when I see it. She was rude and her tone of voice was dismissive and insulting. Word of mouth does ALOT for this type of businesses and I will be sure to warn fellow travelers to beware of the deceptive practices of this company. 

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