Southwest hotels-Nightmare experience booking room for elderly father

[jenniferpedroza]

I have been a rapid rewards member for 12 years and like to book my hotels through their site to earn points.  I will never use that site again.  I booked a room for my elderly father to attend my daughter's graduation ceremony.  I told him I would book it on my card to earn points and we would split the cost because on grad weekend for a 2 star hotel it was $452/night!  I booked 3 weeks in advance and plenty of rooms were available.  Hours later my dad called and said his doctor told him he shouldn't be traveling and to cancel the room.  Ofcourse through Southwest hotels it was non cancellable, even hours later even though directly through the hotel it was 100% refundable at the same rate.  I knew there was no way around this so I called to have it transferred to a different date and just assumed Southwest would be honest and adjust the rate accordingly.  Oh they transferred it all right, $452 for a $118 dollar room!  Even the hotel agrees with me they are price gouging my father as the hotel doesn't charge $452!  I have called/emailed, their call center is a nightmare and one person I finally spoke with (Dee was so rude, kept talking over me and hung up on me)! I'm so glad I handled this for my dad and he didnt' have to navigate this nightmare alone.  I then got an email saying they will price adjust.  Then got one 15 minutes later saying they made a mistake again and will not price adjust! What in the world?  I am done with Southwest hotels and Southwest forever.  My only recourse is fighting on my credit card, but guess what? It's a Southwest card.  

[bballflyer]

When you booked the room, did it say it was refundable and they wouldn't refund it, or did it say that it was not refundable?  I know when I have booked I am very careful to make sure to book refundable rooms, even if it costs a bit more. So far for me, it has been very clear on their website if it is or not.  I always compare it to the hotel prices directly.  More often than not, the refundable rate through SW hotels is cheaper than the non refundable rate through the hotel directly.  I do make sure to write down all my rooms and the cancel date in a spreadsheet so I don't miss any cancel dates and to make sure I have the booking ID. So far I have not had any issues.  If it were not for the points you earn toward companion fare, I probably would be booking with the hotel directly just because you earn hotel points and status, and it is all in one place; However, I don't think hotels are any more flexible if you book a non-refundable with them directly and as of today I have already earned companion fare for 2025 with the points I have received through hotel bookings. 

[dfwskier]

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@jenniferpedroza

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Sorry to hear of your troubles. You seem to know that SW airlines is a totally different company than SW hotels. There’s no point in giving up on the airline because the hotels part gave you a hard time., but you gotta do what you gotta do.

and you have a Chase credit card. The same charge  dispute rules will apply regardless of who the issuing bank is.

@jenniferpedroza

[05bardic]

To summarize, you booked a non-refundable room and you're angry because they won't give you a refund. You got an agent who was kind enough to let you move it to a future date (rare because non-refundable rooms are typically not changeable), yet you're still mad because they won't also give you a partial refund... on your non-refundable booking. 

[floridaguy]

File a written dispute with your credit card carrier.  State your case and I'm 95% certain you will be compensated.

Southwest should also kick in here as they are lending their name to an organization that has more complaints than there are grains of sand on the seashore.