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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Should hotels be closed or exploiting us?

20 replies

PeterPanGoesWrong · 20/03/2020 15:48

Today I heard than an event I was expecting to be postponed, was actually postponed.

The vast majority of the group are staying at Butlins (yes it was a hen party) I booked what I considered to be the ‘best’ hotel in the area and today emailed them asking if I could reschedule. I got a really short snippy message back saying I need to talk to booking.com

Only issue is booking .com is crazy busy, obviously and I’ve not been able to talk to anyone either on the phone or on live chat. Even having been on hold since 11am
Am I being unreasonable to expect the hotel to actually deal with me?
Am I being unreasonable to expect to be able to reschedule?
Are they being unreasonable by asking for a £70 cancellation fee on a £90 room?
I really grumpy with this hotel, I didn’t want to cancel as I thought that funfair but I’m still criss with their ‘couldn’tcareless’ attitude.

OP posts:

VenusOfWillendorf · 20/03/2020 15:57

What were the booking conditions with booking.com?

You are bound by the conditions of sale. That's why some rooms are cheaper if you pay up front, or you can only cancel up to a certain date before - because you have no come-back if/when things change.

Sirzy · 20/03/2020 15:59

When your waiting to connect to the live chat on booking.com after a while a “you have been waiting a while would you like us to email your enquiry to one of our agents” type message comes up. I used this option and had a refund within 24 hours.

The hotel I had booked it was too close to change or cancel in theory but booking.com sorted it. Otherwise I would have paid because it’s no more their fault than mine!

McT123 · 20/03/2020 16:04

When you book through Booking.com your contract is with Booking.com and you should deal with them to cancel. There is only so much the hotel can do. Booking.com also take a big commission so I expect that a lot of hotels think that they should earn it!

Always book direct where you can - you usually get a better rate and you can deal with human beings when you want to cancel or change things.

TeenPlusTwenties · 20/03/2020 16:13

My DD's hotel is currently open but she is getting more cancellations than check-ins. Her pay has been reduced and we are expecting the hotel to be 'mothballed' sometime soon.

Please be as calm and patient as you can be. My DD is only 20 and is inexperienced. People like her up and down the country are doing the best they can, and she can only do what her company will let her do.

Drpeppered · 20/03/2020 16:17

If you paid through booking.com, I don’t think the hotel actually will have the money yet. So you will need to go through your original booker.

InTheSummerhouse · 20/03/2020 16:28

TeenPlusTwenties - good reminder. My DD is also young and in a customer-facing role. A lot of retail staff are young and are bearing the brunt of people's displeasure.

If you only lose £90 OP you will still be better off than most - but that is not much consolation. As others say deal with Booking.com as they are your contact. (PS - I hope you are not the bride. I feel so sorry for brides at the moment)

Hingeandbracket · 20/03/2020 16:31

Am I being unreasonable to expect the hotel to actually deal with me?
YABU Your should have booked direct if you wanted to deal direct.
Am I being unreasonable to expect to be able to reschedule?
YANBU but it's not an automatic right
Are they being unreasonable by asking for a £70 cancellation fee on a £90 room?
Not necessarily. You booked it and they have it available for you - they have held up their end of the bargain. If they can't sell the room to anyone else you should pay.
I really grumpy with this hotel, I didn’t want to cancel as I thought that funfair but I’m still criss with their ‘couldn’tcareless’ attitude.
Funfair?

Booking.com are supposed to handle the booking.

adaline · 20/03/2020 16:37

Am I being unreasonable to expect the hotel to actually deal with me?

Yes. If you book via a third party, they're who you need to deal with.

Am I being unreasonable to expect to be able to reschedule?

That entirely depends upon the terms of your booking. Some are cheaper and mean no cancellations or rescheduling, some are more expensive and allow you to change your mind. Which one was yours?

Are they being unreasonable by asking for a £70 cancellation fee on a £90 room?

If those were the conditions you booked under, then no, they're not being unreasonable. They are a business too and are bound by certain terms.

crapette · 20/03/2020 16:40

Funfair?

Hmmmm - which letter could you remove from that word to make it into a word that makes sense in the context of the sentence?

It's really not difficult.

ghostyslovesheets · 20/03/2020 16:41

YABU

I use Booking.com all the time - always go for rooms with free cancellation up to the day of travel - never had an issue (did cancel one hotel last summer that was pre paid and not refundable - didn't get a refund - as expected!) - it's worth paying a bit more for that option

BarbaraofSeville · 20/03/2020 16:50

That's the risk you take when you book a non cancellable room. I know no-one expected the coronavirus pandemic, but anything else could have happened - the bride and groom could have split up so no hen party for that reason.

When is the booking for? If it's more than a week or two away, you're probably best leaving it for now, as they'll be snowed under dealing with people who have bookings this week or next trying to cancel.

Could you see about moving your booking to later in the year and just having a little minibreak seeing as you made a point of booking a nice hotel? If it's near Butlins, it must be near the coast, so worth going to anyway when this all blows over.

Flymetothetoon · 20/03/2020 16:52

Do booking.com have to refund in the event of a hotel closing because of the pandemic? We have paid upfront for a 2 night stay next month in another part of the UK.

Booking.com emailed DH to tell him if he wanted to cancel the fee would be £140.00 (which happens to be the full cost of our stay)

We will not cancel because I assume that the hotel will have closed its doors by then so will they have to refund in those circumstances?

bridgetreilly · 20/03/2020 17:49

Yes, YABU. You need to deal with the people you made the booking with. The hotel can't do anything to help you and will be plenty busy enough dealing with their own customers.

Fairyliz · 20/03/2020 18:41

Have you got travel insurance? I have four nights in Rome paid for at Easter. Not going to get the money back from hotel as I booked the cheaper non refund rate. Hoping I can get money back through insurance

Original poster

PeterPanGoesWrong · 20/03/2020 23:10

@Sirzy, thank you sweetie, I will try again tomorrow, I did wander away today.

OP posts:

silencebeforethebleeps · 20/03/2020 23:27

I had a really good experience today with booking.com, I rang them directly to cancel a non-refundable room (not expecting a full refund) and they talked to the hotel for me and got me all my money back.

DieSchottin93 · 20/03/2020 23:28

A lot of hotels will have to pay commission to Booking.com (the hotel I work at is 15% commission) so unless the guest logs into their account to cancel it we still have to pay them the money. So when a guest phones asking to cancel a booking and we dare it was made via Booking.com, or any other Online Travel Agent, we advise them to log into their account and make any changes or cancellations from there. Also if you pay for the room when you book it the hotel can't usual take payment until the day of arrival. We get what's called a Virtual Credit Card with your card details and we can only charge it on the day you arrive. The hotel aren't being unreasonable to ask you to speak to Booking.com but given the circumstances they are obviously a lot busier than usual. Are you able to change the dates on your booking at all? You should be able to do this fairly easily.

gamerchick · 20/03/2020 23:48

While we're on about hotels, is this letter real? I'm agog at the callousness of it.

Sorry OP, I hope you get sorted.

Should hotels be closed or exploiting us?

crapette · 21/03/2020 09:07

@gamerchick Yes, that letter is very real. They are now clainming that it was an "administrative error" and should never have happened.

gamerchick · 21/03/2020 09:12

I hope they regret it did happen. Awful way to treat your staff.

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