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.

Yes InspMorse - you did eve tally post the mention of Ancoats but prior to that post, you were not helpfully posting images of maps to hotels that were "closer" with the implication that that the OP should somehow a) have known that they were there and b) that she should then have forced the staff at the Birch Travelodge to put her up at one of them

I used to live in Bolton, so know parts of Manchester, but no way would I have wanted to find my way, tired, in the middle of the night, to another hotel, let alone one in the wrong direction to my ultimate destination. Nor would I want to have an argument, tired, in the middle of the night, with reception staff who don't actually necessarily have the authority to help. Even though I am an assertive individual, I too would probably have decided, "Stuff it" (and not just on safety grounds) and saved my assertiveness for the morning when I would be refreshed and able to deal with managers rather than receptionists.

This is what twitter is for. Name and shame.'

PLEASE don't use twitter for endless fucking customer service whinges.

such a naff thing

i think hotel was utterly shit
OP was incredibly weedy not to drive to another hotel

But there you are

I wouldn’t get in a taxi alone in the wee small hours either, unless there was a female driver. I don’t feel safe in taxis, too many bad experiences.( I have no idea what Uber is either btw, although I know it is some sort of taxi thing, I don’t know how it works and I thought they’d had issues with sexual assaults on passengers ?) .

I have no idea what I would do in this situation, but the op is clear she wasn’t fit to drive. Travelodge have acted appallingly .

I don't think the hotel could be expected to anticipate that an adult woman would refuse to use a taxi service on her own, to be fair. So if someone chooses not to do that, fine, down to them. But it's not something anyone can realistically use in their complaint against the hotel.

The Ancoats hotel is in the centre of Manchester and doesn't have it's own car park, if the OP had driven there herself she would have had to find a public car park and walk there, and I think we all agree that it's not a good idea to go walking around strange cities alone at 2 am.

.

I don't think the hotel could be expected to anticipate that an adult woman would refuse to use a taxi service on her own, to be fair.

If you work for Travelodge, you're not helping here.

By the same token, I don't think the OP could be expected to anticipate that Travelodge would be this shit. To be fair.

Or is your post to suggest they should ?????

No, I don't work for travel lodge as you'd see quite clearly if you read any of my earlier posts on this thread!

It isn’t weedy to drive when you know you are too tired. I was in a car with my Dad driving when he briefly nodded off . Middle of the day, but it was a long journey and we’d been in stop start jams for ages. Luckily for others and for us, we were in very slow moving traffic and so it was a tiny bump. Driving when you are too tired can kill. Not risking this is sensible, people die every year from stupid, careless people driving when exhausted. I am stunned that so many people on this thread think the op should have driven when she is clearly stating she was too tired and thus unsafe to drive.

from arriving at the hotel to finding there is no room - BOOM hit by incredible tiredness

and not going in a taxi either - just fussy

Ohhhh goody!

It was sensible not to drive. If you've ever been so tired before you have to pull over asap because you simply can't carry on, it's terrifying. I think a lot of PP are from posters who'd have rather got a cab to another hotel than kipped in the car.

It's unforgivable if TL try to claim they won't refund because you refused their alternative hotel, and you mustn't let them get away with it. You booked a room at that hotel, you didn't book a room at any hotel within a set radius. you are definitely owed a refund plus compensation!

On the guardian article I mentioned earlier they only gave compensation when they took it to the paper so you might have to do that in order to get anywhere.

If everyone affected by this complained and got a refund and compensation I doubt it'd be financially viable to keep over booking actually!

Sleeping in a stationary car doesn't carry the risk of veering off into other vehicles and pedestrians though, does it? 😂

well no.
but I can't wait to hear the other side of the story *

This is one of those threads where poor OP is now off getting on with her life while the rest of us are dissecting a bloody hotel's terms and conditions lol. Still, it's been enlightening. I will definitely check T&Cs in future before booking somewhere, more out of principle than fear of it happening.

On the guardian article I mentioned earlier they only gave compensation when they took it to the paper so you might have to do that in order to get anywhere.

Or a court ...

lol at Limon.

I think it is quite a over dramatic thread

I think it needs to go to the European Court of Human Rights at the very least

interesting how the car was safe to sleep in not drive in

Well theres a fundamental if somewhat obvious difference between the 2!

I will definitely check T&Cs in future before booking somewhere, more out of principle than fear of it happening.

T&Cs are not the word of our Lord - and still wouldn't be if they were carved on stone.

Courts can - and have - thrown T&Cs out of the window, if they are manifestly unfair.

OP might be advised to contact their Trading Standards office.

Having reflected on this, I am further intrigued by TLs assertion that double booking would not have (been allowed to) affected disabled guests. Which does on the face of it sound like they treat disabled guests differently to able-bodied ones. (Or, to reverse it, they treat able bodied guests differently to disabled ones)

Or more usefully, the Times on Saturday has a column in it's weekend travel section called 'Do Not Put Up with This' and every week they feature 2 or 3 complaints exactly like this sort of thing and the newspaper intervenes and get a resolution for the victims.

A lone woman being given the choice of a hotel miles out of her way without a taxi being provided, which is against company policy is bread and butter to them.

But that would be only after the hotel has failed to respond adequately to a formal written complaint. I would be expecting something above a refund tbh. A couple of free nights in a Travelodge of your choosing in addition to a refund, an apology and 'we will take steps to prevent a reoccurence' would be at about the level, but it is understandable that teh OP wouldn't want to stay with TL again.

No, to be fair, chucking a woman out at 1am who had a confirmed and paid for booking is absolutely awful behaviour.

Whether the op should or should not have driven is a different subject matter, it doesn't take away from the fact a lone woman was chucked out at 1am due to the hotels policy to double sell rooms, and then when staff were told she was uncomfortable to drive at that time of the morning on roads she didn't know, with many diversions, told there would be no taxi to help her, just to fuck off basically.

Oh and to put the cherry on the cake, told no refund till the next day, so if she had no money in her account and wished to find herself another hotel, she couldn't have done because they had her money.

Can't work out if the post from a DM reporter is a joke