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.

Oh my God I am absolutely incandescent that that can happen to a lone female traveller. We have them as a preferred supplier on our hotel list for Work we're not allowed to use premiere in is which in my opinion are much better than travel lodges but apparently travel lodges are okay. I stayed in one in the arse end of London once whilst away for work I slept with my suitcase barricaded up against the door it was in such a shitty place to walk to practically in the dark on my own at night. I walked past premier inns on main roads to get there to which really pissed me off

Create merry hell

Sorry if I've missed it, but OP did you insist they book and pay for a taxi for you to the other hotel offered?

@flowery I hope they paid for every single taxi.

DaddyStepDaddy that is a disgusting comment.

It's incredibly poor form whether the traveller is alone or in a pair, a family, male or female imo. Individual characteristics don't come into it. A person has paid for and booked a room they've then been denied. That's what makes it wrong!

Poor OP. For the people saying she should have driven in the dark, with road closures, an unfamiliar area and exhausted...i hope you never advise that IRL. The police are very clear that you do not drive if tired, you sleep or at least nap for a while, so OP was doing the safest option.

I think DaddyStepDaddy means that if workers are paid minimum wage, they're unlikely to love the job and will therefore put in minimum effort i.e. they don't owe their employer any more than being there, initiative is optional. NOT that minimum wage workers are incapable of taking initiative.

OMG that's absolutely terrible

I would probably have refused to leave the building. They have stolen from you effectively, how dare they give away a room you've paid for. Take to Twitter OP, people need to know that Travellodge can't provide services they've taken money for or guarantee customer safety.

Poor staff having to deal with this nightmare scenario

So yes it would make a difference to their income, if they refund a £29 booking in favour of a £59 one.

Although the processing and hassle factor reduce the extra unless you do it quite a lot.

Anecdotally, TL seem to be bad for doing this on pre-pay bookings. Cheap chains like TL lack staffing. As the OP says - no manager available to cover two hotels so no-one authorised to take action or exercise independent thought.

All hotels do it on a small scale to fill late cancellations but the reality is a complete no show has to pay anyway so the hotel don't lose out. More expensive chains generally have better trained and more empowered staff to help.

Leaving a woman alone, to sleep in the car park or find their way across a bunch of road closures in the middle of the night is disgusting.

Hope you're ok OP and get some decent compensation!

Poor staff having to deal with this nightmare scenario

TBH, my sympathies are entirely with the OP.

Another here who will never, ever use a travel lodge now and will remember to tell anyone who considers it.

Glad you're ok op. I hope you get some compensation for this, totally appalling.

Clearly, very few people are aware of this practice. I'd like to see someone like Watchdog feature this and raise awareness. Maybe grill the CEO and watch him squirm.

But I also agree it should be made illegal to re-let a room that has been pre-paid (if it's being held without payment and you haven't shown by X time, fair game).

”flowery I hope they paid for every single taxi.”

Yes absolutely. To be fair they did fall over themselves to be helpful, and other than the issue occurring in the first place their customer service from staff on the ground was pretty good but there was a limited amount the staff could do to mitigate the gigantic inconvenience. Getting a response out of the manager in terms of compensation etc took a bit more pushing although we got there in the end.

Awful awful feeling though to arrive at your hotel at last after a long and hideous journey only to find your room isn’t available.

Just read this whole thread with utter disbelief.
Maybe somebody should judt email a link to this thread to the CEO so he can see the human cost of his company's policies?

I think DaddyStepDaddy means that if workers are paid minimum wage, they're unlikely to love the job and will therefore put in minimum effort i.e. they don't owe their employer any more than being there, initiative is optional. NOT that minimum wage workers are incapable of taking initiative.

I think Daddystepdaddy meant exactly what he said. That if you work minimum wage you "pretty much guarantee zero initiative." Apparently all minimum wage workers are half arsed monkeys. Nice.

I agree it's a disgusting comment.

Sorry for your situation, OP. Hope you get some compensation today. Safe journey to Kendal.

I agree. How can this be legal? How can you sell something to someone when it's already been sold to someone else?

lollipop- don't airlines do this all the time?

I didn't know they overbooked the rooms! This must be a regular occurrence then

It's happened to me. It seems to be when you arrive late and they've allocated all the rooms. After arriving at around 10.30pm we had to get back in the car and drive 20 miles back the way we'd come to a room they'd secured in another Travelodge. And then cover the same 20 miles the next morning.
In my case, at least we got a bed in the end and I was with dh, not on my own. We were both extremely irritated. In OPs position I would have been fuming as well.

Travelodge once rebooked my room AFTER I’D CHECKED IN! I went to dinner and returned, decided (thankfully) to stop at reception to book breakfast and the receptionist informed me he’d need to move me as he’d assigned someone else the room while I was out! When we’d first arrived we were given a room which we found someone else’s luggage in, so clearly major issues with there procedures. Thankfully they weren’t fully booked that night and after the first room I’d decided to take my overnight bag with me. Receptionist found it all hilarious.
This was 10 years ago and I’ve never been back.

Many years ago we were on a road trip staying in different hotels every night. We had pre paid vouchers and the night before one stay we had a message from the motel chain saying that they were moving us 75 miles away as the confirmed motel wasn't up to their ususual standards and they were removing people from this place for 'safety reasons'.

We didn't want to move 75 miles so I spend half a day trying to get another place but it was a Saturday night. Eventually I got somewhere. What the motel chain didn't know is that we had some friends a few days behind us staying in potentially the dodgy place. They checked in with no issues!

I made such a fuss when I got home and it transpires that someone had forgotton to book us in so they were trying to cover it up by pretending the hotel was not up to standard. I got the replacement hotel paid for, £200 in compensation and 2 of the motel vouchers refunded. I also got a call from the CEO of the company apologising which actually was good of him. Normally they get a mininion to do that sort of thing.

It was before the days of general use of mobiles so I was literally in phone boxes trying to get a replacement hotel

Although the processing and hassle factor reduce the extra unless you do it quite a lot.

It sounds as though they do do it quite a lot, and it's likely to be handled centrally rather than by individual reception staff. I daresay TL can run a script to refund all last night's bumps in one go, and send out a hollow apology in the same run!

@wonderstuff

WTAF?!

sorry, forgot to add we were in the US!. Agree with everyone. Prepaid hotels should not be over booked but I thought that with Travelodge and PI there is a choice between paying on check in and paying in advance and not getting a refund

Why are people suggesting this is no big deal as the hotels usually offer people an alternative hotel and a taxi to get there?

How much extra hassle and travelling time is this likely to involve? A massive deal especially late at night.

Waiting for taxi alone could take quite some time.

Ridiculous!