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??

I use Premier Inn a lot. Sometimes we book the non-refundable rooms as they are way cheaper - and if we can't travel, we have to suck up the cost.

In your case, it's not that you can't travel, it's that you don't want to. They are not profiteering. They are sticking to their clearly published T&C.

So, YABU.

Yabu. Why didnt you go and stay and go somewhere else in the area. Thats what id have done. A nice break away anyway.

Just to add, I live in Staffordshire about 15 miles from Alton Towers, there is loads to do here instead.

No yabu.
It even says it is not refundable so it's Cheaper!
They are nothing to do with Alton towers, they are not profiteering from this,it's nothing to do with them!
What a terrible thing to say. The way you have written your letter you would be though.

YABU. It's cheaper for a reason. We use them when we travel long-haul every year. If we can't make it, we'd claim against our travel insurance.

Yabu , unless you booked a package where the accommodation and travel was entirely dependant on the attraction, normal travel insurance probably wouldn't apply either. You could have paid more to insure the booking or got a flexible rate , but chose not to. You could have still travelled, used the rooms and visited other places in the area, but chose not to. Sorry this is down to you, not PI.

The problem is that if they refund in this instance, where do they draw the line for other instances? Illness for example or missing a train.

I think that's the risk you take when you book non-refundable tickets. It's really got nothing to do with the attraction being closed.

There are so many other things to do in this area - you're right in the middle of the country.

YABU.

Agree sunseeker66 - OP could have done the museums in Stoke or Drayton Manor, or driven down the motorway to West Midlands Safari Park, or to Gulliver's Kingdom if she really wanted rides.

you treat it as an unexpected weekend away in a new area or accept you lose the money.

This whole 'do the right thing' is laughable, too. They are not responsible for AT's fuck ups. The hotel is not associated with AT. And making it all about their 'profiteering' from a 'tragedy' that has FA to do with you is low.

AT should sort it out. That's a lot of money to write off!

YABU. It's not the hotel's fault AT was closed. If they were going to allow cancellations / rebookings on the non-flexible rate then why would anyone ever pay more for a flexible rate room?

As lots of others have said, why didn't you do something else in the area?

But AT were not directly involved in the op's booking. If they had prebooked park tickets they would get a refund or be valid at another time. The travel arrangements and accommodation were completely separate. Are they even refunding those with bookings at AT hotels?

'AT should sort it out. That's a lot of money to write off!'

Why? Premier Inn is a private business not connected to them. AT is not responsible for peoples' accommodation when they visit the park. LOL. That's why you have travel insurance and if you cannot afford that then you find a cheaper 'treat' for your kids than £232 in hotel, hundreds on tickets and attractions. I just bought annual cover for 4 worldwide incl. N. America, which is more expensive as healthcare is private there, and it was £49. It's even cheaper for UK and Europe.

The money did not have to be written off, either, the OP could have used to rooms and done something else.

AT will have the life sued out of it by the real victims of what appears to be a real cock up, quite rightly, it will be a miracle if they are still in business long-term after this.

Rugeley is miles from Alton towers anyway! But booking a non transferable room means just that really!

Another YABU from me too. We use Premier Inn a lot too; I'm always happy with their service and the one time I haven't been they refunded us under their goodnight guarantee thingy.

It's very clear when booking which is the refundable rate and which isn't, if you choose the non refundable one then you know you're taking a risk. We choose which one to go for depending on the event we are attending and risk if possible cancellation. But if we choose non refundable and we can't attend for some reason then it's our fault and we would be prepared to suck it up.

'I'm always happy with their service and the one time I haven't been they refunded us under their goodnight guarantee thingy.'

Yep. We found ourselves next to a wild stag party that ended up with police having to be called and the staff themselves approached us about a refund.

Another YABU - you weren't even booked into the nearest PI! There is loads of free/cheap things to do in the area so why you think it's a given that because AT was closed a different business should suddenly change it's terms and conditions (that you were aware of) is confusing

YABVU

I know you appear to have buggered orf OP

But Yabu from me too.

Whoever asked, yes AT Are refunding/transferring bookings for their own hotel b

Another YABU. We never book non-refundable, who knows what may happen?

YABVU
Tough.

Wow, still unanimous. YABU. You booked a non refundable room. The clue is in the name. Premier travels inns are great and give really good customer service. In this case, the customer is not always right.

Also cannot believe you did not go despite AT being closed. Very, very short sighted of you.

This has got to be the most ridiculous AIBU I've ever read.

Unbelievable how entitled some people are.