Quick Summary If You Got Linked Here
I had an horrific experience with onetravel.com. To summarize:
1) I reserved a hotel with onetravel.com and this reservation was processed.
2) This reservation was then held due to payment issues. After a total of one hour on hold, this appeared resolved.
3) My reservation was confirmed, then rejected.
4) I never received a useful email reply, nor did anyone call me back as promised. Despite continual assurances that my business was valued, at no point over 3 days was I able to speak to a customer service representative in under 30 minutes.
5) Finally, after another 90 minutes on hold, I eventually learned that the hotel was full. As a final insult, I was hung up on when requesting detailed contact information with which to report the company to the BBB.

Full Story
Last Saturday, March 5th, I finished a book called The Cry Of The Halidon by Robert Ludlum. This book takes place in Jamaica, and it got me thinking of the Caribbean. I decided I wanted to go to Jamaica, and that night I booked a trip for March 22nd through March 29th. This is Easter Sunday, so a lot of stuff was booked up. I just wanted a decent hotel right on the beach, and not too far from other activites. I finally found something good, the Sunset Beach Resort & Spa, and booked through onetravel.com (link omitted to protect the reader). I also bought a plane ticket on hotwire.com, which was inexpensive but non-refundable.

On Tuesday, I received an email from OneTravel.com with subject line Hotel Cxd CC Decline XXXXXXXXXXX, stating that I needed to call them within 24 hours to provide proper payment info. I called, sat on hold for half an hour, and gave up. I shot them an email. Wednesday morning, I called again, sat on hold for half an hour. and finally got through. I was told they'd re-run my information, but their systems were down so they'd call me back. Later, I received a second email with subject Hotel Reservation Successfully Completed (XXXXXXXXXXX). Sounds great, right? Until I received a third email a couple hours later, with subject Hotel Cancelled Due to No Confirmation XXXXXXXXXXX. Fabulous, no? I sent a second email, as their hold line continually advises ("If you are unable to hold, please send an email to service@onetravel.com"), and received no reply within "2 business hours" as they claim.

So I called them up yet again, and sat on hold for 45 minutes. When I finally got through, I was told the hotel department was closed, and they'd call me back. I stated that I'd been told this before, and that I wanted a number to call someone directly (not sit on hold). I didn't get this, but I was assured I would receive a call back. Later that evening, I received two identical replies to my two emails. Both said the same thing: Please contact us at 1-800-929-2523. Incredible.

Cut to Thursday morning, when I'm awaiting a call. I received nothing, so at noon I called one final time. I sat on hold, this time for a full hour, before finally getting through. I was told my reservation was indeed cancelled, because the hotel had no availability. I then asked why they advertised availability on the site (when other hotels were clearly marked as booked), and I was told nothing was confirmed until they said it was. Nevermind that I received an email telling me my reservationw as sucessfully completed. I then asked to speak to a manager, and I was told one wasn't available. I then asked for the company's full contact information so I could report them to the Better Business Bureau, and I was referred to the website. I was pissed, but I was always polite. When I asked where on the site this was, I was hung up on.

So that's where I was at about 1 pm today - stuck with a plane ticket, no hotel, and incredibly pissed. I did a Google search and found a few complaints (and similar experiences of being told no managers were available, and then being hung up on), but nothing even close to what I've just described. So I'm putting this up as a warning. Do not use OneTravel.com. Do not use 11thhour.com. Do not use DiscountHotels.com. Do not use CheapSeats.com. At best, this company provides terrible customer service, and at worst they're actively ripping people off. At this point, I don't know or care. I just want to warn anyone and everyone off from using this service. Hopefully Google will pick up this page, and other people can avoid dealing with the hassles. Use Expedia, use Travelocity, use Cheaptickets, use Hotwire. Just do not use onetravel.com.

The end result here was that I called Sunset Beach directly, and of course they were full. They helpfully provided several other hotels to call, and I'll be staying at Doctor's Cave Beach Hotel, which looks nice enough and should be fun. In the future, I plan to use travel sites, but to then call the hotel directly and get the same rate - many hotels request that you do this, and few hotels will turn you down, as they save money by not paying the travel site. Hopefully, the trip will be great. But if nothing else, I've learned not to use onetravel.com, and I'm spreading the word as best I can.