Finding accommodation while on vacation can be difficult, but reserving cheaper rooms through third-party booking websites may not always be the best option. A TikTok user named Karlie (@karlierodriguezzzz) went viral after sharing a video about her family’s negative experiences with one such website called BookARoom.com.
In her video, Karlie claims her mother unknowingly booked a room at a non-existent hotel. The TikTok features footage of her exhausted family sitting in front of a random storefront as they try to figure out how to fix their problem.
“Seriously, who uses BookARoom.com? What is that anyway?” Karlie wrote in the caption. Karlie also uses the hilarious “I wanna go home” TikTok sound as background music to illuminate the awkward situation.
TikTok users came to the video’s comments section to express their sympathy for Karlie and offer advice. A few TikTokers with ties to the hospitality industry pitched in.
“[My] Husband works for a hotel… please call the hotel immediately after booking with a third party to confirm. He’s seen this too many times,” commented one TikToker.
“DO NOT book through a third party. The hotel where I worked had 26 rooms and [on] EVERY busy weekend, Expedia overbooked us and people ran out of places to stay,” wrote another.
Another TikTok user also pointed out that the BookARoom.com website allegedly shut down after Karlie posted her video; However, this statement is up for debate. Some TikTokers believe that the URL is actually “Book-A-Room.com” with hyphens, while others believe that any website with a similar URL is fake. Despite the debate surrounding the site’s existence, TikTokers agree that the site sounds sketchy.
“If you google ‘BookARoom’ the second result tells you it’s a scam,” commented one TikTok user.
“Why are they on the sites without the URL tag blocking?” another said, referring to browsers’ built-in security features.
“Personally, I don’t allow my parents to do any online spending without my supervision,” chipped in another.
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