Overpaid for holiday

That is so outrageous. I'd be fuming too. Happened to me once on air b n b. Luckily I noticed and didn't pay but reported the host and complained to Air B n B that the system should not allow that. It's a piss take.

Hold on…how long did you go away for? Is it possible you thought the price was for a two night stay and it turns out it was the nightly rate? As I’ve had this happen with booking.com before now - thought it was the price for the weekend when it was actually per night.

That’s not quite what would have happened though. It’s called dynamic pricing. It’s happened to me also. So basically you have the booking parked in your account as it were until you’re ready to pay so all the details including price are static because it’s been there for a while. It’s on you to check the latest quote. Which is why I always refresh before making the final payment. To me that’s just common sense given pricing varies depending on a number of factors including date of booking. It’s not like the vendor deliberately waits and doubles lol right before payment as that would be illegal. Surprised OP even questioning whether this can be queried given she’s been off and had the holiday now. She just needs to take it on the chin and put it down as a lesson learned.

She says that she's checked several other dates.

This is your mess up and you just have to suck it up.

You’ve been on the trip you can’t now ask for a refund partial or not!

You should have noticed during the booking process or immediately after. Who doesn’t double check the confirmation emails etc after booking a trip?

Yikes, I think you've been incredibly unlucky, but as others have said - nothing you can do about it now apart from suck up the extra cost.

If I was told after we'd been on a holiday that I actually owe the organiser double, I'd be saying tough luck.

It’s not really clear what happened and unfortunately she should have picked this up earlier before the trip not after. Most people are not booking a group trip a few days before the trip so that means this must have happened a few weeks if not months before the trip right?

OP has confirmed that she had a lot going on this and that so she didn’t check the email or notice extra payment on credit card etc so how then can we be sure she was paying attention when she booked the trip?

Next time she should make sure she checks the total amount which is usually right above the pay now button before she clicks pay. She should check the email confirmation and also share that email confirmation with the group so everyone has it and can also act as second eyes and call out any discrepancies or any potential issues with payment etc.

She should also keep an eye on her credit card, I can understand for small payments but you should notice substantial payments such as for a group trip.

And frankly it makes more sense for people to pay their share of things like accommodation after it’s booked instead of wait until after the trip. For food etc yeah makes sense to wait and share after but if you book accommodation weeks or month in advance they should pay their share then if not OP is bearing the cost of the interest payments until after the trip.

Sorry this is all on OP. If she’s too busy to pay attention then she should not volunteer to book group trips in the future.

I know airlines and cruises base their prices on availability and popularity and prices can change if you keep searching, but Airbnb and booking.com the price is set, though can change from one day to the next (I don’t mean for the same
date, but a Friday night stay may be more expensive than the Monday). I have a listing on both. What platform did you buy through? Seems that you misunderstood the price somehow. Anyway, you were informed at POS and probably received an email receipt, plus you have already done the trip. There are no grounds for a partial refund.

After you've used the service..... "sorry thought my hair cut was only £15 not £150, can I get a refund?"

Has this approach of going back and saying you didn't realise how much you paid and would like a refund worked for you before?!

We cruise a lot and fluid pricing is definitely a thing, one day cruise can be £1,000 and the next day way more. These companies must have some sort of system in place where they can see many people looking/enquiring about particular date and cost of holiday and this seems to put the price up, it’s always best also to clear your cookies online, as this also seems to increase prices for what you’ve searched.

It’s your mistake so ultimately you will have to pay it. You had the chance to check the price before you paid, when they sent the receipt, when you received your bank statement ,or before you went on the trip.

Tbh I think you have been scammed but given you paid it and went on the holiday there’s not a lot you can do other than perhaps mention it in your review.

Did your family know about the price increase before going away? If they agreed to go knowing it was more expensive then the increase should be split. If they didn’t know either because you hadn’t realised or didn’t tell them until it was too late, then yes the extra is on you.

I would be annoyed. Once i decide to put something in the online basket it’s because I have agreed with the amount. I don’t think the firm should be able to adjust the price after this point because it’s pretty obvious the price negotiation part of the deal is over.

The time to query it was on booking unfortunately. By paying and having the break you entered into an agreement with the provider. Was it on a room basis or cottage/villa rental? Did you under occupy and need to pay difference? I don’t think arguing now will get you far and you either need to agree extra with your friends or suck it up. Presumably you can leave feedback if you think the owner has sharp practice but do be sure of your facts.

I’m sorry but this is on you and for you to cover the extra. It’s really crap on the part of the holiday company, and if it had been before the trip I’d have said to push and push and push to either get a partial refund or cancel the trip for a full refund. But you’ve already been on the trip now so it’s a bit late. I can’t understand how you couldn’t have noticed that double the amount of what you’d expected to pay had come out of your account until after you’d been on the trip.
But you can’t ask your friends to pay double what had been agreed you’d all pay because you didn’t notice this until after your trip.

Eesh. That's really shitty, OP. Of the booking site. But also a really big wake up call for you to check your credit card bill.
If you had noticed within a cancellation period, I believe the site would have had to refund. At the least the owner may have been willing to negotiate.
Once you have been on the holiday then I am not surprised they won't budge.
How sure are you that the price only changed after your final check and was it before or after entering card details? Could it be linked to number of guests for example?
I would definitely mention it in a review. And would not be volunteering to book any group holidays in future.
If I was in your group, I would likely offer to pay towards the extra cost. If I was you, I would probably expect to suck up the extra.

Well, it’s a good learning point about demand-led pricing. I wouldn’t have thought it could trigger on so few clicks, but I guess it can…

Perhaps just one person should look at the website and then share screenshots with others? But most people do like to see things for themselves.

But I am a bit staggered that you didn’t even notice at the time. I enjoy a high household income but still whenever I book expensive tickets or anything I am staring at that basket like a scientist for days!

And why have you left it so long to collect the money from your friends? Even with good friends that is asking for issues, as the psychology of paying for something is so different before an exciting trip or lovely meal compared to afterwards when all the enjoyment has passed and people are presented with the bill. Or were you happy to wave your hand airily and be all: ‘Oh don’t worry, we can sort it out afterwards…’ As you have discovered, the potential for that to backfire is huge. Isn’t there a saying, ‘Don’t pick up the bill unless you are prepared to pay it’?

You may be able to persuade your friends to meet the cost of part of it (split the difference?) but fundamentally this was your mistake. Sorry.

Though if I were your friend OP I would pay - as mistakes happen and it’s a headache booking and paying for the accommodation for a massive group.

It doesn’t sound like they are willing to though and there’s not much you can do about that.

Do you have an email trail of any quotes? Anything that shows evidence of the last minute double in price? It is something I’d be querying with the holiday company as to how this can happen at the last minute.

Did you tell your friends about the new cost before the trip? If you did and they still happily went, with the view of it just be a mistake and sorting it when back, then I think they owe you

If you didnt notice until back or didn't mention until back, then I think you have to absorb the cost... As they haven't had a choice in putting it right before the trip, whereas if you had checked either before clicking pay or straight after, then the issue could have been sorted before hand

You cant give people a price, pay double then either not notice or not say anything until after the chance of putting it right has passed

It would show you the details to confirm. It won’t have just doubled without any warning. She’s just not checked before clicking confirm.

Similar happened to my friend with Butlins. She priced up the stay, saved the quote and messaged us all the cost. Once everyone had agreed and she went to pay, the cost had significantly increased despite her using the saved quote reference and account. Fortunately for us she noticed and queried it and they said the figure on the quote wasn’t “guaranteed”. Sounded like a scam to me.

Unfortunately as you have already been I think you have to absorb the error, however as others have said I’d be leaving reviews warning people of this. It also sounds a bit like a scam.

Surely you check before pressing confirm. I don't see if the price had doubled how you didn't notice before clicking pay.
I think if you had noticed before the holiday then maybe you could have asked or looked at the cancellation policy, but as you have been on the trip I don't think there is much you can do.
I also disagree with leaving a bad review based on this. A lot of holiday companies do this sort of thing with prices being based on supply and demand. We all know how companies inflate their prices for school holidays, yet many still pay it as there is no choice, which companies know.
I think it would be nice if others contributed to the cost, but ultimately I think it's your mistake and most people would have noticed this sooner.

Sorry this has happened to you op , however if my friend told me ‘ I’m booking the ‘villa’ it’s £400 per family, then after the trip said actually it’s £800. I wouldn’t pay. However good the friend was, because I probably couldn’t afford it and it wasn’t what I’d agreed. If id known it was ‘£800’ before hand I would have said no and it would have been back to the drawing board looking for another ‘villa’ . I would definitely query it again as per pp suggestions though. I suppose it’s a bit different if all your friends are minted and you’re not , but still!

But they've all been on the holiday already! Isn't it a bit late now to be comlaining.

The complaints and request for refund should come as soon as you've booked and realised the error, not after you all get back from the holiday!

It's like buying food in a restaurant, paying up front, eating it all and then a week later complaining you thought the prices were half what they a to were and can you have a refund!