Is this disability discrimination?

[Disabilitydiscrimination]

I have to have a night in a city but when I looked the only place I could afford was a youth hostel.
I booked and then emailed them to say I would need to have a bottom bunk due to disability. I explained I could do stairs but can't negotiate ladders which I'd need to for a top bunk. They took ages to reply and when they finally did they basically said they would try their best but couldn't guarantee it.

I genuinely don't understand why with several weeks notice they can't do this. Bunks are allocated so just allocate a bottom bunk. I could understand if it was last minute but it wasn't.

Is this disability discrimination?

I don't go away often and have learnt that next time I should check these things before booking but I really didn't think it would be a problem.

@Disabilitydiscrimination i just had another brain wave. Is the conference in a university town? Sometimes university halls are rented out cheap in the holidays etc. I've done it myself. You'd have to go through the university themselves to book it. Have a Google!

Too expensive unfortunately.

You want it to be discrimination you have deceit is so nothing anyone says will make a difference

It is not discrimination but you don't care

Yes, they are a part of a very large chain.

Then there is accessible accommodation but it is fully booked. So that's not discrimination.

This

No, what I want is to be able to do something that the vast majority of people could do without any issues.

Yes I think it's discrimination cancel and rebook right away and state you are require accessibility.

That's a good idea. I'll take a look. Thank you.

So all the bottom bunks are booke?
I don't see why thats discrimination

They haven't said all their bottom bunks were booked.

What is the cancellation policy of the bed and the conference? Can you not contact them again 48 hours before and see if they can then reserve it?

Or an air bnb bed?

I'd ask them this specific question.

Bunks are assigned on arrival / check in not time of booking. Otherwise the OP could have just reserved a bottom bunk on booking!

They could accommodate OP, they just can't be arsed.

The ignorant ableism on this thread is infuriating, I'm so sorry you have to deal with this on the daily OP.

They've just repeated that they can't guarantee it and a bed will be allocated on arrival.

It's non refundable.

I'm not sure about whether the conference is refundable or not - I will need to look into this when I get to work on Monday.

I have. They have just said they can't guarantee a bottom bunk.

You've had some harsh replies OP, I'm sorry. Which city is it? If there's anyone local in the thread then might be able to suggest somewhere to stay.

Thank you so much for being understanding. Not many people are these days.

It is absolutely disability discrimination. They have a duty to make a reasonable adjustment, in this case it’s allocating a bottom bunk to OP whereas presumably it usually would be first come, first served. It’s a minor adjustment and no way can they say it is unreasonable.

Call them/email them again OP and make it clear you are making the request because of a disability requirement, if they give you the same answer just go higher up.

I don't understand why everyone is giving you such a hard time. People should make reasonable accommodations for those with disabilities even if they have the temerity to want to go to a conference or are unable to afford more expensive lodgings.

I think you're in the right and I would try again - find the director (on companies house) or manager and put the request in writing along with some evidence. They'll almost certainly reconsider.

They know it's disability related but won't do anything to guarantee a bottom bunk. I'm going to speak to their head office about getting a refund.

I'd speak to citizens advice also

Put it in a email. Tell them if they don’t allocate you a bottom bunk they are in breach of the Equality Act. It isn’t about treating everyone the same (i.e first come first served) as they have a duty to make reasonable, in this case a very minor, adjustment.

I don’t think it’s discriminatory.

They didn’t deny you service because you’re disabled, they said they couldn’t guarantee a request would be possible to fulfil. I guess it would be the same if a non-disabled person asked for a lower bunk bed.

Reasonable adjustments doesn’t mean fulfilling all requests, only adjustments that are possible to make considering the business size and business model. It depends on the circumstances.

If all the lower bunk beds are booked they can’t really do anything about it.

I think asking for a refund is reasonable.

P.S. I have a disability, just for context.