A Layton grandfather traveled to New York City for his grandson's college graduation, only to learn his prepaid hotel reservation had been canceled, so he contacted the KSL Investigators.
HotelPlanner initially offered a $954.19 voucher instead of a cash refund. LAYTON — Ron Udy is not an architect. But with detailed models tucked around his apartment, let's just say, the apple did not fall far from the structural tree.
His grandson recently earned a master's degree in architecture from Columbia University in New York City. Udy booked a New York hotel room through the online travel agency HotelPlanner, paying $954.19 in advance. His paperwork showed the reservation status as "confirmed.
""They said, 'Oh, your reservation has been canceled,'" Udy said. Udy was told the reservation had been canceled that morning, less than 24 hours before he was scheduled to check in. Udy found another hotel room so he could attend the graduation. When he returned home, he contacted HotelPlanner, the company that had confirmed his original reservation.
Udy said the company initially refused to issue a cash refund. Instead, he was offered a $954.19 voucher that could be used for future travel booked through the company. When the company told him to take the voucher or leave it, Udy tried a third option: He contacted the KSL Investigators. Unlike airlines, which are covered by federal refund and compensation rules when certain travel disruptions occur, hotels do not have the same broad federal protections.
That often leaves travelers relying on the terms and conditions of their reservations. Many hotels and travel companies have contracts stating that customers who cancel outside a specified window are not entitled to refunds. The problem in Udy's case is that he said he did not cancel the reservation, but he has not been able to prove who did.
The KSL Investigators contacted HotelPlanner on Udy's behalf, asking who canceled his room and why the company was offering a voucher instead of a cash refund. About a day after the KSL Investigators contacted HotelPlanner, Udy said he received a new email from travel support stating, "Your refund is being processed.
" It may be a good ending for Udy, but he said more than two weeks have passed, and he is still waiting for the money to appear. For other travelers, Udy's experience offers a reminder: Third-party travel agents can sometimes save customers money, but they can also add another layer between travelers and the hotels they believe they have booked.
Before leaving for a trip, travelers may want to call the hotel directly and confirm that the hotel can see the reservation in its own system. The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written. Matt Gephardt has worked in television news for more than 20 years, and as a reporter since 2010.
He is now a consumer investigative reporter for KSL. You can find Matt on X at @KSLmatt or email him at matt@ksl.com. Sloan Schrage started as an “old man” intern with KSL TV in 2007. For the past ten years, he’s produced daily and investigative stories that impact safety, security and wallets of Utah consumers.
When he’s not at KSL, he’s either with his family or trying to repair cars with help from YouTube tutorials, or buying cameras or other photography gear that he’ll never use. Lien trap: Lehi couple says dispute with roofer leads to construction lien on home
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