Beware Venere.com

I just encountered a problem with using Venere and wondered if this is a common problem: I booked a triple room at the Europe Saint Severin in Paris on Friday for 80 euros per night for a weekend in March. I received an email confirmation from Venere for the 80 euros/night. This morning (Monday) I received an email from the Europe Saint Severin that said %26quot;we regret informing you that the credit card details were incorrect, and we cancelled your room, call venere.com to make new reservations%26quot; I called venere.com and they said they were cancelled, and now it is 175 euros/night. I called Venere%26#39;s business office, and asked them what was going on. I just received an email from Venere that said I was cancelled because the room rate was put in incorrectly, they apologize, but they won%26#39;t honor that rate.

Is this common practice in Europe or with Venere? I%26#39;m concerned now that I made other reservations with european travel sites, I have confirmations, but does that mean I actually have a room?

Thanks, debby

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That%26#39;s why I don%26#39;t use venere anymore: you can%26#39;t rely on your confirmation. It happened me 2 times that I made a booking through venere and then received an e-mail (the first time 2 days after I booked my flight !) informing that the room wasn%26#39;t available anymore (though I%26#39;ve already given my credit card number).... I now use frequently another website (nyceParis. com) which is not so big as venere and has not so much choice, but with which I%26#39;ve never had any problem. Anyway you should look on your booking confirmations if the phone number of the hotels where you have your other reservations is mentionned and call directly the hotels to be sure...

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hi sorry to here of this i would put all this in writing and insist they honour the 80 euros good luck

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Your situation sounds a bit like an unintentional or careless computer error or mis-communication. The venere.com site lists the rate for a Triple room at the HÔTEL EUROPE SAINT SÉVERIN-- http://www.hotel-paris-severin.com/ --at 175 € per night for a weekend period during March, 2007. The hotel%26#39;s own web site tends to confirm this by listing its regular rack rate for a Triple between 160-220 €, with Single rack rates in the 80-135 € range. So the 80€ per night confirmation you received. Was 80€ per night for a Triple at the Europe Saint Séverin, the same rate that appeared on the venere.com on-line reservation form when your completed it?

Venere is simply a very LARGE internet %26#39;..booking/reservations agent..%26#39; for this hotel. More than likely, when Venere processed and confirmed your reservation with the hotel itself, the error became apparent. While it might have been %26#39;..politic..%26#39; for Venere to make arrangements to honor your reservation with the hotel, at the pre-confirmed rate.....when the error was discovered, they are under no obligation to do so....and both the hotel and Venere made a good-faith effort to correct and explain the error as soon as it came to their attention.

Given the hundreds of on-line reservations requests that a firm like Venere must process per day, an occasioal error should not be thought uncommon. I don%26#39;t recall any similar reports (on this or other travel forums) regarding any %26#39;.pattern..%26#39; of misrepresentation or error by Venere....though like yours, they must surely occur from time to time. It is unfortunate that your %26#39;..bargain rate..%26#39; was not to be....but these things do occasionally happpen. It is also a confirmation of the old adage, %26quot;...if something %26#39;..looks too good to be true..%26#39;---it usually is..%26quot;.

Frankly, in comparing the on-line rates offered by venere.com and those of a direct reservation through the hotel itself, it tends to confirm my belief, that while checking various on-line hotel reservations services is still a good idea for information and comparative pricing purposes; that dealing directly with a hotel (when possible...and may often %26#39;match%26#39; the best discounted internet rate you discover) is still the best course.

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I guess I am used to the USA way of doing things; Expedia, Orbitz have very good rates, not the rates advertised on the individual hotel websites. Also, the Europe Saint Severin lied in the email when stating my credit card information was incorrect, They just wanted to cancel the reservation because of their error. I called my credit card company to make sure everything was okay; in fact%26#39;,my credit card agent said in US you must honor that rate if they sent out written confirmation, which Venere did at 80/euros per night.. ... And yes it did state %26quot;80 euros/night%26quot; on the confirmation.

Venere did tell the truth in the end (their email) but why should I feel like I am to blame for seeing a good deal?

I love Tripadvisor it has helped me on numerous trips across the world, but from this point on, I am sticking with US based booking systems and I recommend other patrons of Tripadvisor do the same. deb

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We are also going in March but we got our hotel through Hotwire. He got the Paris Hilton for $119 plus tax US. Just a thought.

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Thanks for the tip, I was making the reservations for my daughter and 2 friends (all 20 year olds) - with Hotwire you can only reserve for 2 people (I think) if anyone can recommend a nice affordable hotel with triples, that would be great! -deb

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Deb, one incident doesn%26#39;t mean that all non-Americans are thiefs and liars and can%26#39;t be trusted while all Americans are automatically wonderful. Boycotting all non-American sites seems like an extreme over-reaction to me.

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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;if anyone can recommend a nice affordable hotel with triples%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

Check out any of these (amongst others)---

FAMILIA HÔTEL (2-star) 13 rue des Ecoles (btwn rue Monge %26amp; rue d%26#39; Arras), 75005, Metro: Maubert-Mutualité--

http://www.hotel-paris-familia.com/

http://familiahotel.com/

HÔTEL SAINT JACQUES (2-star) 35 rue des Ecoles (at rue des Carmes),75005, Metro: Maubert-Mutualité--

http://www.hotel-saintjacques.com/

HÔTEL des CARMES (2-star)--5 rue des Carmes (At rue des Ecoles)75005, Metro: Maubert-Mutualité--

http://www.hoteldescarmesparis.com/

GRAND HÔTEL des BALCONS (2-star)--3 rue Casimir Delavigne (btwn: rue Monsieur Le Prince %26amp; Place de l%26#39;Odéon)

75006, Metro: Odéon--

http://paris-hotel-grandbalcons.com/

HÔTEL MICHELET ODÉON (2-star)--6 Place de l%26#39;Odéon (at rue Rotrou) 75006, Metro:Odéon--

http://www.hotelmicheletodeon.com/

And though a very basic (but clean and well managed...if a bit %26#39;quirky%26#39;%26#39; and perhaps %26#39;frayed-around-the-edges%26#39;) hotel in a GREAT location in the 63m3--

HÔTEL SAINT ANDRÉ des ARTS (1-star)--66 rue Saint André des Arts (at rue André Mazet) 75006, Metro: Odéon--

www.123france.com/123/en/hotel.php?id_hot=486

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I didn%26#39;t mean that only american sites are good. I just know LEGALLY american sites have to honor their printed confirmations. Venere does not honor their written confirmations. It is a fact. -deb

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I think you were just unlucky, and hope it all sorts itself out in the end.

I%26#39;ve been booking accommodation on line for many years and have used an agency once only when I didn%26#39;t know any better. Sure I use these sites to research places then contact the hotel direct and negotiate a price. This has worked everywhere I%26#39;ve travelled including New Zealand , a dozen or more European cities and a dozen or more US cities.

I somehow feel more confident doing the booking myself: the older I get the less trusting I become!