GalaHotels.com has anyone used this site?
Comments
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Hello All...
Well, As far as I can tell, the Gala Hotel booking website is legit – BUT the only time that I tried to use it, it was extremely frustrating to use, and I was unable to book on it... I'd traveled back to Bangkok from Koh Chang in Thailand in the evening, and had just one night to stay before returning home on my long overseas flight near noon the next day... I did not have any advance booked room, however a Hotel that I had used before along the airport Link Skytrain (Nasa Vegas) had very competitive rates only when booked on-line (one can just book from an Internet Cafe nearby)... I searched on-line for the best rate which was at Gala (about 15 % better than Agoda)... Also, one is able to even book the same evening (which was necessary for me)... The booking started quite smoothly & routine until the time of payment by credit card... The very "final" step involved "verification" of my credit card (I had already entered the security digits from the back and my card was definitely OK)... So I was waiting & waiting while the screen told me "transaction pending"...After about 20 minutes or so, I contacted Gala via their customer service chat utility... I learned that Gala has one final step where they contact the credit card company, which then phones the card holder at their home to verify... Whaaaaa??? How can they do that when I am on vacation on the other side of the globe??? So the result was no booking possible (except by paying a 15-20% higher rate at the hotel desk!!! So, since I was already near the Airport Link Skytrain, and I only needed an overnight bed (for about 12 hours, I decided to just go to the airport and sleep there
– which I did, with no problems... My verdict on Gala Hotels on-line booking system is that it can be very frustrating to use... They do Not have a North American contact number, closest English one is country code 44 (England) – and later I also learned that their headquarters are in Turkey... I then tried phoning them from home, but I had to wait a Very long time without response, so I just ended that wasted long distance call... Those were my 2 frustrating experiences with Gala Hotels... I later learned that my card was not charged 0 -
Also, one is able to even book the same evening (which was necessary for me)... The booking started quite smoothly & routine until the time of payment by credit card... The very "final" step involved "verification" of my credit card (I had already entered the security digits from the back and my card was definitely OK)... So I was waiting & waiting while the screen told me "transaction pending"...After about 20 minutes or so, I contacted Gala via their customer service chat utility... I learned that Gala has one final step where they contact the credit card company, which then phones the card holder at their home to verify... Whaaaaa??? How can they do that when I am on vacation on the other side of the globe??? So the result was no booking possible (except by paying a 15-20% higher rate at the hotel desk!!!
I suspect this happened because it was a "same day" booking, the credit card fraud rate is a lot higher on such bookings so they would make additional checks. Still, not exactly a smooth process given that they do accept same day bookings, but as you say, your card was not charged.0 -
It looks like troubles are continuing with this company.
On Feb 22nd I booked through their website a hotel in Gothenburg for next June. I got immediately a confirmation, and I payed my reservation in advance.
The next day I got an e-mail cancelling my reservation and saying I would get the refund automatically.
Today, March 15th, after many e-mails and pone calls on which I have been told the refund was made on March 3rd, I still have received NO money back.
Totally unreliable folks!0 -
Last week i made a reservation with Gala for a hotel in Santorini in which i was part of a wedding party.
I paid in full and I paid in full which came out of my account immediately and received the confirmations, I was asked to email back acceptance of the no cancellation policy which I did. 3 days later I received another email which said that my reservation was cancelled due to lost availability, I tried to call the number for most of the day and could not get through, it gives you options then hangs up on you right away.
I got in contact by replying to the email then they called me. The lady on the phone was calling from Turkey and was rude and dismissive, didn’t want to listen to what I was saying or my questions and didn’t apologise once, she said there was nothing they could do and it was the hotel and there was lack of availability.
I contacted the hotel and they said it was not them who had cancelled the booking.
I then used the website live chat, it seemed like an illiterate child speaking on the other side they wanted to call me again but I said I wanted a UK number to call.
After speaking to them in the UK they told me it was because the price of the hotel had gone up so they moved me into a different hotel that was the correct price for what I had paid. Even though I had paid in full – surely this is illegal?
The customer service rep agreed this was wrong but said that “ he couldn’t do anything”
A few days passed and I went back on the website to check and they are still selling the hotel rooms at a higher price – even though they said there was no availability, again I have just been back onto live chat and waited 40 mins for someone to get back to me. I explained the situation and they relied with “ you already called us” they simply do not care.
Apparently my payment had been refunded but there is still no sign of that yet.
My advice would be to not book with Gala Hotels what so ever!
I am now left out of the hotel that the rest of teh wedding party are staying in! Discusting company and customer service!0 -
I've booked a London Hotel via gala even though all other websites and the hotel said it was full, to check I then rang hotel to confirm they had received the booking and I had a room reserved..all was ok and confirmed. No problem...Gala seem to have been operating for a number of years now and seem to be able to get rooms booked even when the hotel itself says they're full up... Maybe I'm doubling up with someone..? .I'll come back if there are any issues with the booking at the end of this month...meanwhile I'll just be ringing the hotel tomorrow to get their booking reference number for me, just to be sure...0
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I've booked a London Hotel via gala even though all other websites and the hotel said it was full, to check I then rang hotel to confirm they had received the booking and I had a room reserved..all was ok and confirmed. No problem...Gala seem to have been operating for a number of years now and seem to be able to get rooms booked even when the hotel itself says they're full up... Maybe I'm doubling up with someone..? .I'll come back if there are any issues with the booking at the end of this month...meanwhile I'll just be ringing the hotel tomorrow to get their booking reference number for me, just to be sure...
They will have contracted an allocation block of rooms and will have booked you from that allotment. Perfectly fine. Have a nice break.0 -
I booked an pre-paid for the full amount for a room using Gala hotels, I then tried to call to amend the date none of their numbers work, I did a Google search and found plenty negative reviews online, in regards to them being a fraudulent company, I also called and checked with the hotel I had booked on Gala's website and they have no record of this booking. Do not use this company, it's a SCAM0
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I booked an pre-paid for the full amount for a room using Gala hotels, I then tried to call to amend the date none of their numbers work, I did a Google search and found plenty negative reviews online, in regards to them being a fraudulent company, I also called and checked with the hotel I had booked on Gala's website and they have no record of this booking. Do not use this company, it's a SCAM0
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I booked this hotel with Gala Hotels and although during the booking it was clear I would receive my voucher immediately. This was not the case, I did not receive my voucher. Therefore I phoned the hotel to ensure the booking was successful and I was told they had no conformation for this booking. When I phoned gala hotels about this, they said it can take a maximum of 3 days for the booking to be sent to the hotel, and assured me there was no problem and they would contact me when it had gone through. They didn't. I waited 3 days and the hotel still hadn't received my booking so I phoned again and explained this. They finally sent the voucher through and told me they had also sent conformation to the hotel, except when I again contacted the hotel they still hadn't received anything. The hotel then contacted gala hotels and the never got back to them and they had no luck tracking down my booking.
Today I phoned again, and I was disgusted with the agents attitude towards me. He was rude, he raised his voice at me and wasn't helpful at all at sorting this out. Throughout this entire situation, I have remained calm but as you can imagine my patience was running out. They have taken my money, told me i have a hotel booked when in fact i don't. The gentleman on the phone refused to give me the contact details of the supplier, so I could call myself, and he also refused to explain to me why and how my booking has been dealt with so poorly.
I terminated the phone call because I refuse to be spoken to with so much disrespect.0 -
If you book with Gala make sure you use a credit card as if you want a refund you may need to get your credit card company to step in for you. Foolishly booked a hotel room in Athens through this company. At the time there was no confirmation email confirming my booking like you would get with other reputable sites and they also asked for payment up front which I found odd but the booking was showing up on my account on their site. I then found a much better deal so cancelled my room (free cancellation) with Gala over 10 days ago. Again no confirmation email to say it was cancelled. So they obviously try not put anything in writing to their customers. What I didnt realise was that hidden in the T&Cs it does say refund will take up to 21 days. Why does it take 21 days is what i would like to know! Ive raised a couple of tickets with their customer service department to try speed up the refund and got apologies for the delay in processing the refund however looking at the reviews below this is a stock answer they give out to all people wanting their money back. I've informed the fraud department at my credit card company who will step in and recover the money if its not back in my account 21 days after my cancellation. Really not sure if this is all just a scam but wanted to warn potential users of this site of the pitfalls in doing so. It's also worth noting that a lot of the excellent and good reviews on TrustPilot are for the hotels people stay in and nothing to do with Gala Hotels. Take these out and their excellent rating would not be at 44%! Will update this post to advise on the outcome.0
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