The above-mentioned travel accommodations company is drawing red flags from area associations, businesses, and the BBB.
The Spokane Regional CVB issued a warning to its members that, for the past few weeks, Hotel-Systems.com has been calling Spokane and surrounds businesses offering them to link to their web site www.downtownspokanehotels.com
The red flags that BBB sees regarding this offer are the following:
1) The 526 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA address displayed on the Spokane hotels web site is merely a flat top parking lot and is not an official business location.
2) The Spokane hotels web site is utilizing text directly taken from the official CVB "Visit Spokane" site without prior authorization and/or permission from Spokane CVB.
3) The Spokane Regional CVB has attempted to contact Hotel-Systems.com without success. There is no local contact. The person contacting area businesses via email cannot be reached by phone.
At the time of this post, BBB is also unable to ascertain where this company is actually located.
When BBB researched 800#s connected with the offer, information online shows that the same 800# is being utilized by a variety of travel accommodation reservation centers for a variety of entities, including Travelocity.
BBB ADVICE
Intralink sharing is a viable and effective way for companies to network in sharing information about products and services. However, it pays to research and do your homework to know what type of entity you are dealing with FIRST, prior to engaging in such practices.
Before ever doing business like this via phone only, know exactly who you are dealing with first. Look up company reports and search online prior to giving anyone permission to link to your site and vice versa.
If you have any questions about the activities of the above group, please contact Spokane CVB. If you have concerns about having done business with this group, you are welcome to file a formal complaint with BBB for resolve, but you must have a viable address in order to do so. BBB's can't process complaints without an address for the company to whom you are referring.