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Original poster

Travel lodge. Am fucking fuming

577 replies

IAmNoAngel · 11/04/2018 01:05

I am currently bedding down in the car park of the travel lodge at Birch services on the M62 as the room I booked and paid for over a month ago has been double booked and there are no rooms left.

Am especially pissed off as have driven here straight after a 6.30 start this morning and a long day at work... in Nottingham. So a nice tiring drive as well.

I have stayed here a lot. I never will again. Cunts.

OP posts:
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8
MrsMaryMooFace · 11/04/2018 09:49

I think the fact that they couldn't refund you until this morning would have made me demand to stay in the building over night, be it in the lobby or wherever, and I would have demanded towels, blankets, pillows and a breakfast. I do hope you take this further OP

greenberet · 11/04/2018 09:50

It's not just TL - I had this with malmaison in London - turned up late 11.30 at night - no record of booking even though I had confirmation of booking through booking.com - initially said they were full - I wasn't going anywhere - they found me a room and after I complained they gave me a free weekend as this was not their normal level of customer service - having said this I have used malmaison elsewhere and they have not been as good.

Op think I would have set up camp in reception - absolutely disgusting behaviour - I'm adding my bit too for this to get on Mathew Wright 😂 Think you should have done live tweets through the night from your car - hope they let you use a bathroom and give you breakfast _ make a fuss Op only way to rule out dispicable customer service

SouthernComforts · 11/04/2018 09:51

Aw OP I wish I'd seen this you could have had my spare room I'm only 10 minutes away!

kateandme · 11/04/2018 09:53

take a pic of your car seat(bed) post it to their twitter with what happened.thatll soon get there attention.money back.claim etc.
so sorry for you.

DeloresJaneUmbridge · 11/04/2018 09:55

As others have said...this is common to most hotels.

The issue is not that they have done this but whether or not they followed their own policies and procedures with regards to the OP.

So if their policies say they should cover the cost of a taxi to the next closest hotel then they should honour this.

I'd get a hold of a copy of their policy with regards to overbooking and make sure they followed it to the letter.

SeraphinaDombegh · 11/04/2018 10:01

This happened to me and my two friends a few years ago. Booked a Travelodge in Sheffield city centre so we were within easy walking distance of the conference we were attending the next day. Arrived at 11pm to find they'd overbooked and no room for us. Got relocated to a hotel on the outskirts of Chesterfield! They did pay for us to have breakfast there but we were very pissed off as we then had a half hour drive back into Sheffield and were nearly late for start of conference. I don't stay in Travelodges any more.

notapizzaeater · 11/04/2018 10:03

The least they should have done is taxi you over to an alternative TL. Hope you get somewhere today

WindDoesNotBreakTheBendyTree · 11/04/2018 10:05

if their policies say they should cover the cost of a taxi to the next closest hotel then they should honour this.

That is in insufficiently robust policy to provide even adequate customer service though. At whatever the f888 time at night you just need to know the room you have already paid for is there for you.

Rachie1986 · 11/04/2018 10:05

Hope you get some answers OP x

Trinity66 · 11/04/2018 10:08

Agree with others about the double booking on purpose thing, they take your money anyway if you don't turn up so they want to get paid twice? that's very bad form

rosy71 · 11/04/2018 10:09

I don't see how they can double book a room if you've paid for it in advance. So what if people book then don't turn up if it's been paid for.

We once booked a family room in a travelodge and arrived to find we'd been given 2 doubles - one on the first floor and one several floors up. We'd been on the ferry and arrived late so I imagine something similar had happened. I had to share with ds2 and dp shared with ds1. It would have caused a huge problem for a single adult with 2 children.

ItsNachoCheese · 11/04/2018 10:13

Hope you raise merry hell and get a satisfying resolution

snowagain · 11/04/2018 10:13

@IAmNoAngel

When they find you another hotel, they should pay your taxi there if you couldn't drive.

But you have a car.....so why could you not drive to another hotel ? Confused

Double booking is a thing with them, (as it is with many others,) but they usually find you another hotel and pay for it, even if it cost 5 X what you paid for the Travelodge, AND they should pay for the taxi. They wouldn't leave you on outside. Probably did it because you were capable of driving to another hotel.

And yeah other hotels do it too. Not just The Travelodge.

Also airlines. Though they will get you on the next flight.

Think of the staff member on reception who have to tell people there is no room for them! I couldn't do that!

Awful money-grabbing policy, it really is! But I am still baffled as to why you couldn't drive to another hotel they offered you.

I hate this policy of theirs, but I don't believe they would leave someone on the car park .........

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 11/04/2018 10:14

Can anyone explain why they double book? They get paid if someone doesn't show up so what's the point of booking another person in a that room?

DGRossetti · 11/04/2018 10:16

.

Toomanytealights · 11/04/2018 10:20

Surely there should be a warning highlighting you may not get a room before paying.Confused

snowagain · 11/04/2018 10:20

Double-booking is to make more money @greatduckcookery.

It's a moneygrabbing policy that many companies have.

I still can't believe that the Travelodge would have left a lone woman on the car park though. It seems they did offer her somewhere, but she didn't want to drive to it.

I am not saying they are not at fault, but she is embellishing the story quite a bit for dramatic effect.

LimonViola · 11/04/2018 10:21

Greed.

They're a business that exists to make a profit, not providing a charitable service. So if they can make double the price of a room by double booking without putting enough customers off with the policy, they'll do it.

montenotte · 11/04/2018 10:21

All hotels do it, as do airlines.
I was bumped to another hotel at 2am after arriving at the Marriott in Glasgow. Simply put in a taxi... age 25 travelling alone... nice.... had phoned earlier to notify of late arrival etc too.

it is outrageous, but like airlines, they say they have to do it to be profitable Confused

PaddingtonLoverOfMarmalade · 11/04/2018 10:22

I would be very angry if this happened to me. Shocked that they didn't do more to help. As others have said, the responsibility lies with the managers who decided on this policy, not with the staff forced to implement it.

LimonViola · 11/04/2018 10:22

Good point snowagain. They did offer another room within the same city. If OP didn't feel up to driving due to tiredness she could have asked them to call her and pay for a taxi to it. It's still terrible to have double booked in the first place but OP had options it seems and chose to sleep in her car from what I can gather?

LimonViola · 11/04/2018 10:24

Simply put in a taxi... age 25 travelling alone... nice

I don't get the relevance of being 25, that's someone who has been an adult for years Confused

montenotte · 11/04/2018 10:24

odfod

are you seriously telling me you were as confident/capable at 35 or 45 as you were at 25?

BewareOfDragons · 11/04/2018 10:25

Dreadful treatment, OP.

Blow up their social media pages. Encourage others to chime in re their dreadful policy.

You've paid for a room. It should have been yours.

Nicknacky · 11/04/2018 10:26

What’s the problem with only being 25? How far away did they place you, there are loads of hotels near the Marriott.

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