Costly mistake....WWYD?

[Superunsure]

Group of 6 friends going away on a city break. One friend offered to book the hotel. All done- everyone transferred their share. Met up with this friend as sharing kid's lifts last week...seemed very upset and distracted, when asked what was up said ‘ don’t worry I've just made a stupid mistake!’. Continued to say, ‘I’m only going to tell you so please don’t let on to the others, but just had an email welcoming us to the hotel tomorrow!’ She realised she'd booked for the wrong month and just before I saw her she had quickly rebooked for the correct dates. Original booking on a saver rate so she is out of pocket about £500.

Doesn't want me to share info with the other 4. I think she should tell everyone, yes it's another £80 each but I don’t think she should have to bear the brunt. Don't want to go behind her back as that may upset her but when I suggested on a message again that she let them know she says she just want to forget it. The problem is she and I won’t forget it, and it may affect the weekend i.e. costs whilst there etc. so WWYD?

Wouldn't the hotel allow her to change the dates? That's unusual, I would expect to pay an extra booking fee etc, but for the hotel not to allow her to do this is really mean.

Oh jeez, that really is a costly mistake! Is there the option of cancelling the booking altogether and finding a different package/hotel that costs the original amount?

Did she phone the hotel when she realised her mistake? I know it was a saver rate but surely they appreciate that mistake do happen.

I changed the night on a non-cancellable hotel in the summer. It was booked on Booking.com but i contacted the hotel direct to change the date.

At least you didn't turn up at the hotel and there was no room. My DH had that happen twice - he's not allowed to book hotels any more!

If I booked the wrong date I would neither ask nor want the rest of the party to pay for my mistake.

That's really odd, did she call the hotel to explain? Seems bizarre a hotel wouldn't let her change it.

If I booked the wrong date I would neither ask nor want the rest of the party to pay for my mistake.

^I agree

No but neither would I want to be down to the tune of £500!

I would totally pay the extra £80, everyone makes mistakes - what kind of friend would leave her paying the full fee (not you OP, because I know you want to)

If I was her I’d be ringing the hotel and begging but she’s right not to ask the extra cost from the others and you would be wrong to go against what she wants.

If you feel so strongly just pay her your £80

Hardly unusual that s hotel wouldn’t try and recoup the money for a missed group booking, essentially a group didn’t turn up so they have lost income. A rebooking fee and extra expense is standard. It was a silly mistake that could have easily been avoided if she had taken the time to check the booking instead of rushing in. However I would tell the group after all your friends, for a genuine mistake i would understand.... it would need to be a bloody good hotel though.

I stupidly did this too. Booked the Sunday night instead of the Saturday night for a group of 3 couples. After speaking to the hotel and changing the booking (luckily hey had space) I stumped up the extra few hundred quid and never breathed a word to our friends. Yes it was an expensive mistake but it was a mistake I made and therefore I had to suck it up!

OP, this is quite a big mistake for your friend to make. Was she trying to save money for the group by booking a SAVER rate - then goes the dates wrong? Or was the saver rate (£80?) was everybody paid?

I book with Premier Inn quite often and there's a saver rate there - along with a non-cancellation rate which is quite a bit higher. I usually choose the saver rate because I'm sure of the dates.

I don't think you can break her confidence and nor can you expect anybody but your friend to pay the difference without causing bad feeling in your group. It's difficult.

I imagine the OP booked at a fixed, No Amendments price, usually at a considerable saving. In my experience this is usually clear on the website. A hard lesson but the hotel has no responsibility for this.

I think I would transfer my share of the extra money to her account.

It’s not really that mean of the hotel given the erroneous booking was for tomorrow. I imagine very few would be able to resell the room at that short notice.

But what rate did everybody actually pay?

That sucks.

But no, the others shouldn't chip in, and we've seen enough threads on here where some CF tries to railroad everyone else into paying for their mistake that you should just be thankful that you have a nice if slightly incompetent friend.

I think it would make things far worse if you betray her confidence - suspect she just needs you to be sympathetic.

Hotels normally allow you to change booking with a possible fee but not full cost.

(When I say “tomorrow” I mean “the next day”. I didn’t realise the conversation happened last week)

Possibly just give your friend your share?

Did she call the hotel? I've been able to move and change bookings before even if they are a non-refundable rate.

It's tough but it was clearly her mistake so not really fair that everybody else would have to pay for it.

I’d want to know if she was my friend and i’d pay the extra £80.

It might be that she would rather take the hit than be embarrassed about her mistake. You shouldn't break her confidence.

depends on the full cost of the break but I would explain it to the rest of the group & see what they say. Some might stump up the extra money, some might not - what's the worst that can happen ?? If I was in their shoes I would probably help out - maybe not the full cost but maybe half, just depends on what the full cost was originally.

I did this with circus tickets. Not as pricey obviously but I was down £40. I just had to suck it up.

I'm not sure what to suggest. The friend is probably trying to prevent bad feeling but will probably not enjoy the trip at all.