Description

On September 1, 2025, I went to the site of the Ellery Hotel in Northampton, MA to find the phone number in order to book a reservation for 2 nights. When someone answered the phone, I asked, "is this the Ellery hotel," to which the person replied, "yes." The reason I asked was because I had previously been routed to a third party booking agent from the online site and was very suspicious. I now understand that the person with [email protected] was impersonating the front desk staff at the Ellery Hotel. The rate seemed high ($386.99 USD) but because I needed to take this trip and the person said they were the front desk, I accepted the cost. I booked two nights and was sent a confirmation and receipt, which, I, unfortunately, left in my inbox and didn't look at. The night before checking out, I finally looked at the receipt because it had been sent to me again. The charges were ridiculous! Something called, "Tax & Recovery & Fees," was charged at the rate of $188.00/night! Hotel taxes in Massachusetts are at most, 11.7%! This was nearly 50%! Also, I was charged $112.12 for a Refund Protection Plan that I didn't authorize or even discuss with the agent. At that point, I went to the front desk at the hotel and was told that according to their records, my room cost was $309.37/night and that all they saw on their end was a charge from Expedia for $618.74. She explained that I had been scammed and that Expedia owns [email protected] but that it is hidden to customers. The Ellery Hotel saw a charge on my card for $618.74 for my stay while Expedia/[email protected] charged me $1262.09. I have been attempting to recover some of this fraudulent overcharging with [email protected]. They texted me that I would receive a refund of $290 in 2-10 business days, which I've read on BBB that they tell to everyone but don't actually make good on. Even if I had looked at the receipt immediately, I would still be in the same position. They defrauded me by pretending to be the front desk so that I had no idea I was booking with a 3rd party. In fact, I was deliberately trying to avoid that! I have opened a dispute with my Mastercard and will continue to pursue this. However, I just wanted to echo other warnings about [email protected]. They IMPERSONATE THE FRONT DESK and can even use a phone number with the same area code as the actual hotel, which is what happened to me.