Travel lodge. Am fucking fuming

[IAmNoAngel]

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.

Just to answer a pp, I was too tired to drive and the receptionist was not allowed to authorise a paid taxi.

There are 3 other Travellodges 7-10 mins away from Birch.
I can't believe they were all full.

This company is out of order overbooking but I do not understand why OP slept in her car when she could have driven 7-10 mins to another one.

Because driving tired is dangerous and stupid!

Surely driving the next day after sleeping in a car is pretty dangerous too? That's why I think a taxi to one of the other Travelodges close by who'd been wise.

Sorry, I meant to also add that if they have a policy of overbooking then they jolly well should ensure that the receptionist has the authority to arrange a paid-for cab!

Yep, if they're going to pursue this unnecessarily greedy policy, then they should ensure that they always have someone on hand who is able to do refunds/book taxi/book rooms at local rival hotels.

If there are other options within 7-10 mins then she could have driven there. It wasn’t 50 mikes down the motorway.

She had options, she has chosen to sleep in the car.

Appalling, I would have bedded down in the reception area and threatened to send a sad face selfie to the DM !

After reading this I dont think I'd ever book into a travel lodge again and I will be telling everyone I know about this.

Hideous customer service from travel lodge. You deserve to be compensated.

But you should have driven to the other hotel - even if you needed to have a rest for an hour first. No way would I have stayed alone all night in a TL car park. You put yourself at unnecessary risk and your complaint to TL would have been just as valid.

Because driving tired is dangerous and stupid!

Yes, I suppose she could have been at the point of absolute exhaustion, almost collapsing with fatigue when she arrived at the first Travelodge.

For the people saying they’re going to boycott Travelodge, every remotely similar hotel does this too. If you travel enough and regularly arrive after most other guests, you’ll experience it often enough. If you haven’t you’re either travelling to places that are very rarely fully booked, or you’re just extremely lucky.

I can’t say I’ve ever found it a problem. Free cab ride and you’re sorted.

Ridiculous policy from the company given the room has been paid for.
However I do think you’ve been a bit of a martyr here.

@LimonViola

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?

Yep that is what happened from what I can see.

Makes for a better story and garners more faux outrage from people if you embellish the story a bit though!.

@montenotte

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

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limonviola

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

Same here ... I know people as young as 18-20 who were backpacking around Europe alone. To suggest someone is being treated badly by being put into a taxi ALONE to travel somewhere, at the age of 25 is laughable to the extreme!

@montenotte

ODFOD

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

You know what, YOU can just FOD.

I was living alone in PARIS when I was 21. And I know many people (some as young as 18,) who travel alone, abroad AND within the UK, and live alone, and walk or cycle alone, Jesus fucking wept, what is WRONG with you?!

As I said, to suggest it is an appalling way to treat a 25 year old ADULT, because you have popped them into a taxi to 'travel on their own' is a fucking joke!

You need to try harder than that!

Yes, I suppose she could have been at the point of absolute exhaustion, almost collapsing with fatigue when she arrived at the first Travelodge.

I'm guessing you don't drive, because that isn't what being too tired to drive means. It's when you're tired enough to doubt you could concentrate properly i.e. regular tiredness/in need of sleep. Exhaustion to the point of collapse is a long way beyond 'too tired to drive safely'.

The two closest travelodges.
OP said that the nearest one (on opposite carriageway at Birch was full so these are the next two.

Did they ring round for you OP?

InspMorse

*Because driving tired is dangerous and stupid!

Yes, I suppose she could have been at the point of absolute exhaustion, almost collapsing with fatigue when she arrived at the first Travelodge.*

Disingenuous or ignorant?

You absolutely do not have to be "at the point of absolute exhaustion, almost collapsing with fatigue" to fall asleep at the wheel, esp a micro sleep for 10 seconds - all it takes to lose control and kill yourself and other people.

Anyone who feels too tired to drive, is. Long before they are at the point of absolute exhaustion.

I agree it's appalling to give away a room that someone has actually paid for in full but it's obviously quite common practice so no point railing against it as a policy.

Premier Inn did similar to our friends when we all met for a night in London. But at least they found and paid for a local alternative as well as refunding the first room and paying for the taxi to take them there.

The problem here is how it was managed by reception staff - or rather how TL equips its staff to manage the policy. They shouldn't have bumped a guest who had actually called on the day to announce late arrival, and they should be authorised to pay for taxis if they're going to be turning people away late at night.

Sorry you had such a shit night, OP. I hope you get through your day ok and get a satisfactory conclusion from TL.

Sorry not read entire thread but social media by far your best option into shaming them to do something- hope you took photo of sleeping in car and posted to Twitter etc- this will almost certainly force them into serious action.

Here...

I would have done the same at 1am after a 630am start, that is a long day and my judgement would definitely be impaired by that point.

She asked for a taxi and was refused. She was not given another confirmed booking nearby so could have got to another hotel and had the same result.

A few hours sleep in the car with a coat is infinitely preferable to causing a fatal pile up.

When ds was a baby we arrived at 7pm at a hotel belonging to a different chain to find that we didn't have a room because several of their rooms had been trashed the night before. They said there was no room in their sister hotels and refused to get involved in booking anywhere else for us. We drove the 4 hours home. When we later complained we were offered a free night for another time but we never used them again.

There wasn’t a free cab ride though
There wasn’t a close alternative room probably because of the match
I would imagine there was a time and route factored into OPs onward journey that a big unexpected detour would derail
As a Pp mentioned 5 minutes in a cab at midnight can be 25 minutes or more in rush hour
Oh and she’d already paid for the convenience of turning up late to check in straight to bed

Can anyone explain why they double book?

It's to cover them being able to offer rooms so cheaply. Some of the room rates are ridiculously low, they won't cover costs, so they have to make "excess" profits elsewhere to cover it. No different than the likes of Easyjet/Ryanair etc selling seats at £9.99 when the true "cost" will be several times higher. It's all about cross-subsidising in these pile it high and sell it cheap businesses.

InspMorse

Your map makes it look quick and simple but are you aware of the ongoing roadworks in that area that involve overnight closures, diversions, etc. The motorway around Manchester isn't a nice place to be at the best of times, but in the dark at night with roadworks and diversions isn't something you'd do when you're tired.

@Crowd "I know it sucks and I feel for you OP but they've done what they can."

??!!! I'm really interested to hear more on this view. I don't get on what planet this is okay.

I had to organise a trip with elderly parents once and all the chain hotels I called said "ultimately they can't 100% guarantee a room" and when pushed, said it was due to overbooking. it's one thing if a room floods, another thing entirely when a pre-paid booking is not guaranteed.

consumer legislation seems AWOL when it comes to travel.

You know the comment from the 25 year old does show how infantalised some young adults are (and 25 is just about a YA). Imagine the coping skills required to go Eurorailing, travel to work in both Canada and Australia with no job or accommodation in place, all without the internet. I did them all well before the age of 25, and at the time it really wasn't a big deal, I wasn't even seen as particularly adventurous. Now getting put in a taxi alone in the middle of Glasgow is a traumatic experience. I really am getting old, haha.