Heather T.

I made a reservation on April 23,2020 on Booking.com for a July 17-19,2020 rental stay for my daughter's graduation. I thought I was placing that reservation directly with the property, "Indian Lady Lodge" but after pressing the confirm button on Booking.com, I was directed to a 3rd party vacation rental service called "Evolve". They noted in their fine print that if I cancel up to 30 days before the reservation I would forfeit a 30% deposit, but that was all. I canceled this reservation on June 4th, 2020 (two weeks before the 30 day deadline) because the University canceled the graduation ceremony due to Pennsylvania's strict Covid-19 re-opening mandates that wouldn't allow large gatherings. That cancelation was confirmed on my Booking.com app and was a full 13 days prior to the 30 day advance notice window for cancelations. There should NEVER have been an additional charge for the rest of the amount because the reservation was canceled in ample time. I received an email from Evolve on June 14th saying my card will be charged $218.15 on June 17th for my stay on July 17th. I then tried calling Evolve multiple times but they did not answer their phone. This booking was canceled and I followed their instructions of canceling through Booking.com. I even went so far as to call the sales department number who then panicked and transferred me to the other department where no one answered the phone again. I then contacted Booking.com for help telling them that in 2 days my credit card is supposed to be charged for a charge that should not happen. They did not really help me and told me to try to contact Evolve, which in fact, is an impossible task. Then on June 17th, our credit card was in fact charged the $218 that was the remaining balance on the reservation. I contacted Booking again and let them know that this was a false charge and should be removed. They finally contacted Evolve who told them that this was a "soft hold" for the reservation. There should be no hold-no pending charges-and no posted charges for this reservation because it was canceled on June 4th! This charge has gone through and posted on my credit card account and is blatant theft by Evolve who have thwarted all my attempts at trying to contact them. Booking.com has the power to reverse this charge but really hasn't followed through and I am seriously disappointed.