Premier Travel Inn profteering from Alton Towers closure

[TheGrocer]

Hi there
I have a new story you may be interested re Premier Travel Inn at Rugely profiting from many customers who had planned to visit Alton Towers last weekend 6/6 and 7/6.

I had pre booked a room at the Rugely Travel Inn using the Whitbread web site and booked 2 rooms under their lowest cost offer Non Flexaible Premier Saver Rate to £232. The sole purpose of driving myself and my 3 kids 300 miles each way to the Hotel was to treat the kids to a weekend break at Alton Towers. Im not currently working and so couldn’t afford to book the Alton Towers hotel or though now I wish I had.

After making the booking the terrible accident at Alton Towers occurred and the park announced it would be closed for several days while the investigation continued. On Friday 5/6 the Alton Towers web site announced it would not be open over the weekend and I therefore called the Hotel and the Customer Service line to try and re-arrange the booking due to the tragic accident and the fact the park would be closed. I met with a brick wall and blank refusal of any type of re-booking. I have attached my letter to them and their response and Im sure many families for the Premier Travel Inn hotels would have met with the same fate. While they hide behind the T&Cs of the booking they aren’t doing the RIGHT thing and its disgusting behaviour.

I have contacted BBC and Watchdog - Has anyone else been affected by this??? Thanks for reading

Whitbread Customer Services letter below and my original letter below that.:

Hi [name removed by MNHQ],

Thanks for your email.
Your reservation [removed by MNHQ] was booked under the Non Flexible Premier Saver rate.

Although we appreciate no one books a hotel room with the expectation to cancel or amend, the only reason we're able to offer these discounted rooms is by adhering to strict booking terms. This is why customers are informed at the time of booking that they will not be able to cancel or amend the reservation, once confirmed.

For these reasons, we regret that we would not be able to assist with your request on this occasion.

Please note that any pre-paid supplement charges for breakfast, meal deals etc will be refunded back to the card held on the booking.

Kind Regards
[name removed by MNHQ].
Email Support Team
Premier Inn - Central Reservations
Telephone: 0333 003 0025 (option 2)
Email: [email protected]
Write to us at: Oakley House, Oakley Road, Luton, LU4 9QH.

-----------------

Hello
I have contacted you today in relation to my reservation [removed by MNHQ] held in the name of [removed by MNHQ] for two room on the night of Friday 5/6/15 and Sat 6/6/15. The rooms were booked under the Premier Saver Rate at a total cost of £232 at your Rugely Hotel. The purpose of travelling 300 miles from my home in Kent with my children was to enjoy a weekend at Alton Towers. As you will know after the tragic events earlier this week the park has now announced that it will remain closed over the weekend thus making my trip a waste of time.
I contacted your reservations team and your guest relations team speaking to [name removed by MNHQ] to be told that nor change of reservation can be made! While I understand the T&Cs of the booking surely you have been inundated by customers who through no fault of their own have literally nowhere to go.

The team at Alton Towers have been great in breaking their T&Cs and re-issuing tickets etc. and to be honest it seems as if Whitbread is taking advantage of a situation which has been a personal tragedy for those involved in the accident. The two hotels closest to Alton towers appear fully booked when I made the booking and I’m sure over 50% of those staying over the weekend had planned to visit Alton Towers. Yes I know the T&Cs which have been quoted to me but come on Whitbread let’s look at this from the angle of what may be the right thing to do and prove that you have some feelings for the situation that I and many other families find themselves in. From a PR point of view you could take this two ways - one show your loyal customers some flexibility due to the problems that have beset the theme park or two you could provide some great local TV and radio negative press when they are contacted as the perception is your taking advantage of an unusual set of circumstances!

I’m not asking for a refund just the opportunity to rebook to an alternative date when they re-open?

Yours hoping you will do the RIGHT thing please??

Well that is pretty unanimous then.

Yabu. That's what travel insurance is for, or you could have booked a flexible rate. The hotel company won't be reimbursed for Alton Towers closure

YABVU.

It is not Premier Inn's fault that there was an accident at Alton Towers. Why should they lose money by allowing people to cancel non- refundable rooms.

You could have stayed in the hotel anyway and done something else e.g Drayton Manor, Waterworld etc. I that way you would not have lost out on a nice weekend away and the cost of your hotel rooms.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186377-d213636-Reviews-Cannock_Chase-Stafford_Staffordshire_England.html
Or Cannock Chase?

YABVVU BTW!

The flexible rate is £38 more for 2 rooms for 2 nights so not much more than you paid.

There are PIs near nearly every major attraction, thrir profit would be in the dirt if they refunded for every cancelled concert / flight / conference / park closure / etc!

YABU and shortsighted.

It's a shame the OP won't be back to see that his thread didn't go the way he expected.

Sorry OP another YABU.

Plenty of things to do in that area of the country other than go to Alton Towers. You'd have been better off shrugging off the disappointment, going anyway and enjoying a lovely family weekend away doing something else. Who knows you might have even enjoyed it. Shame you wasted the money on a room you decided not to use but that's not the hotel's fault.

YABU

Yup yabu.

YAB shockingly U.

Yabu

The thing is you could have booked that hotel for a lot of other reason than Alton Towers.
If one of your dcs had been ill, or a relative had died and you hadn't gone, do you think the hotel should also have been happy to refund/change the dates?

Unfortunatly, when you decide to take a non flexible room, then that's the risk you take.

Sorry if that also means your dcs won't be able to go at all :(

YABVU and surely its obvious that if you book non-flexible tickets, that's what you get and in no way is the hotel unreasonable. As for contacting Watchdog, you are just making yourself look ridiculous - they won't do anything about it because the hotel is in the right and you are wrong.

Sorry OP but I also agree that YABU. It is made very clear on these bookings that they cannot be changed in any way.

I booked with Travelodge to go to Paignton for 3 nights. There are supposed to be fireworks on the Tuesday for the Regatta but they have switched it to Thursday. I cannot amend my booking because it was a Saver Rate.

So it is just my tough luck now. We will still go and enjoy the other things we can do, but will have to miss the fireworks.

I do understand your frustration in this, but it is the chance that you take by making a non flexible booking. If you had made a flexible booking, it would have cost you more, but you could have cancelled it.

I always book a more expensive, flexible rate that I can cancel or amend if need be. Should I get a rebate of the difference because I haven't had to? No, of course not. You gamble with the likelihood of your plans being fucked up when you make the booking.

YABU

The distance between Rugeley and Drayton Manor Theme Park?
17 miles.

You are actually closer to that theme park than Alton Towers.

YABU. You knew when you booked what 'non flexible' meant, didn't you?

It's not the hotel's fault that the reason for your trip is no longer viable. What if you'd booked because you were visiting Auntie Gladys, but she ran off with the bingo caller the week beforehand - hotel's responsibility to refund? Course not.

YABsoooooU

HTH

YABU. Licsl hotels & b & bs have lost a lot of money in cancelled bookings/ loss of trade. It's going to be hard for some of them.

I always book saver rate but take the hit if something happens.

Anyway I'd have thought rugely was closer to Drayton Manor. You could have gone there.

It was non flexible, end of. YABU

YABVU. You got a cheap booking on the understanding it could not be changed or cancelled. You could also have it insured very cheaply.

Alton Towers is not the only thing in that area. There are plenty of very cheap or free things a family can do in the area and you could have found alternatives with very little research.

Not Premier Inns problem.

I had an Aunty Gladys. She ran off with a mechanic though!

Wow. 100 posts and not one person agrees with the OP even slightly. Surely that must be some sort of record, or at least a very rare sight on mumsnet?