To think this is bloody daft of the hotel?

[JurassicPark101]

I’ve booked a hotel for Friday night until Monday morning. Unfortunately due to childcare issues I found out today that I won’t be able to get there until Saturday morning now. It’s all been prepaid for and as it’s less than 7 days before the booking it’s completely non-refundable and can’t be rearranged.

I’m not too fussed about it being non-refundable, totally understand they probably wouldn’t be able to fill the room again at short notice. Anyway, I phone the hotel to let them know that I do still want the booking but that I won’t be arriving until about 9.30ish on the Saturday rather than the Friday afternoon as originally planned. Receptionist on phone says ‘that’s fine, thanks for letting us know. Just so you know you’re welcome to use the facilities but your room won’t be available until check in at 3pm.” I reiterate that I’ve already paid for the room (and breakfast and dinner which I won’t be having either) from Friday so it should be available when I get there at 9.30. Again “sorry, no but we can’t allow early check in under any circumstances at the moment. We’re totally fully booked and the cleaners just can’t get the rooms ready before this.”

I ask to speak to someone else as I assume she’s possibly new or young or thick as mince. She passes me over to another woman but I hear her say “can you speak to this lady, she won’t understand why she can’t check in at 9.30am”. I explain the situation again. New lady replies with “I empathise with your situation but as we are fully booked we simply can’t allow you to check in nearly 6 hours early”. I tell her that it’s not 6 hours early, it’s 18 hours late. Im booked from the Friday night. I’m paying for the Friday night but I can’t get there until Saturday morning. I’ve paid £145 for a room, dinner and breakfast and none of it will be used. If I was arriving on time, I would be able to return to my room at 9.30am if I chose to do so. She tell me that I'm not arriving on time though so the room won’t be ready until 3pm .

I ask if there’s a manager that I can email, or a head office as this is just bonkers. She gives me an email address. I write a very calm, concise email explaining that I’ll be getting there at 9.30 the day after I’m due to arrive. I’ve just had an email back (from the reception again) telling me that my room will be ready at 3pm and they hope I enjoy my stay.

How do I resolve this? They’re all mad. Aren’t they? I’m not going crazy in thinking I should be allowed in the room when I get there am I? It should be ready for 3pm on Friday so will still be ready at 9.30 on Saturday, surely?

@JurassicPark101

She’s all checked in and currently finishing off her dinner. I’m going to pick up the key from her tomorrow morning and I’m sure all will be well. Apparently you don’t need to go past reception to get to the room so there shouldn’t be any questions asked.

superb 🤣

@JurassicPark101 remind her to go and muss up your room a bit

they are 100% reselling your room

Hotels ALWAYS over book rooms based on no shows so you've just avoided them having to upgrade someone

It is however complete madness !! I'd be tempted to go on the Friday, check in and go home 😂

@redandwhite1

A) you might want to catch up on the thread and B) large hotels ALWAYS overbook, 20 rooms ones where you choose your individual room at time of booking, like the OP's hotel, do not.

@JurassicPark101

She’s all checked in and currently finishing off her dinner. I’m going to pick up the key from her tomorrow morning and I’m sure all will be well. Apparently you don’t need to go past reception to get to the room so there shouldn’t be any questions asked.

Fab!

[quote ImInStealthMode]@redandwhite1

A) you might want to catch up on the thread and B) large hotels ALWAYS overbook, 20 rooms ones where you choose your individual room at time of booking, like the OP's hotel, do not. [/quote]
Ooh have scrolled back a bit and seen 😂
Admit I didn't read all 471 posts!!!

Do a trust pilot review now and see if that helps. A one or two stars can sometimes prompt a company to respond quickly.

I’ve just read your solution. Awesome. Hope all went well and your friend enjoyed her dinner. A trust pilot review might still help you vent and alert the hotel to the silliness they are engaged in.

Checked in for update - Excellent
What stupidity!
I hope your friend enjoyed her supper
Definitely trustpilot - although maybe there are more idiots out there …

Excellent news!

On the upgrade for overbooking thing: I once checked in late for a fancy central London hotel I'd booked on a cheap ish internet deal. Got an amazing upgrade to a large 2 bedroom suite.

Always plan to check in later now when I can

Really hoping I'm not the first manager of a hotel to respond to this but here goes....

If you have informed them you are not staying Friday night so have cancelled the first night, they have every right to re sell the room for that evening and indeed say you can't check in to 3pm on Saturday because you are altering your booking that the terms and conditions are based on.

The first night of that booking is no longer room revenue its cancellation revenue - its not poor customer service or bonkers practise, cancelling Friday will have cost them revenue in other departments which will have been forecasted.

And actually seeing as you choose to book through third party and in doing so cost them 26 per cent of the cost of the reservation (lower if its a chain) they actually didn't have to take your call at all and could have told you to go through booking.com customer services which quite frankly would have been hell on earth.

But hey ho I'm glad your friend is enjoying herself nothing wrong with that, but everyone acting like you got one up on the man when hospitality is one of the most overworked/underpaid industries in the world and UK market is currently saturated with UK tourist whilst hotels are struggling everywhere to get staff - congratulations you've managed to outsmart a probably something receptionist on minimum wage. Just don't be a twat and ask housekeeping to change the bedding from your friend staying, it won't be down as a departure.

The first night of that booking is no longer room revenue its cancellation revenue - its not poor customer service or bonkers practise, cancelling Friday will have cost them revenue in other departments which will have been forecasted.

How when everything, including the meal, is paid for up front? Why should the hotel profit twice for the same room?

Are you saying that if someone was arriving on a late flight you wouldn't let them check in the following morning even though they had paid for the previous night?

@LouHotel Not a hotel manager but experienced reception / reservations / tour operator property manager here.

Granted my work has largely been in leisure rather than corporate hotels but I've never encountered a hotel that would take an advance notice 'booked & paid from Friday but now arriving early Saturday' as a cancellation of Friday night. As for revenue in other departments, OP could have checked in Friday and had an event to go to elsewhere so not spent an extra penny in-house anyway, or stayed for her pre-paid dinner but been tee-total and stuck to tap water. You can't forecast every penny of anticipated revenue.

The one hotel I worked in that might have done this was a city/train station hotel with a good amount of early morning departures. They'd have sold Friday night safe in the knowledge they'd have had a 7am depart turned round for OP arriving at 9.30.

As for OP choosing to book through a 3rd party, I always enquire directly with hotels I don't already work with for my own bookings, and am often quoted significantly more than the OTA rates. I'd happily book direct and save them the commission but not at 20/30% more for the same room.

I think the lesson we can take from this thread is that there is no industry standard for this situation. Different hotels, different markets, each does their own thing for better or for worse.

🥱
Really louhotel

OP already said that the third party booking was cheaper than direct with the hotel. Why should she pay extra to keep their profits higher? It’s not her responsibility to prop up the hotel if they aren’t capable of nimble pricing on their own site. She’s a repeat customer of many years who is being treated like an idiot.
QED absolutely right to pee in the front desk / set fire to the kettle or vice versa.

@JurassicPark101

susiebob if a guest phones up telling you what time they will be arriving the next day and explicitly saying that they’ll be expecting to be able to access their room at that time you’re saying the hotel would still resell it? That’s ridiculous!

The hotel will resell it, it's an opportunity the get double the amount for the same room

halztangz but it’s also completely ripping off a customer who still wants the room they booked. My Friday booking was 3pm until 11am Saturday. I wanted it from 9.30am Saturday. I hadn’t cancelled the room in anyway, I was just letting them know my arrival time.

louhotel I’ve already explained why I booked through booking.com - it’s cheaper, even when I phoned up to ask “it’s X amount via booking.com, what is the price if I book directly with you?” they still gave me a price of more than £25 per night extra if I wanted to book direct and would t let me pick the room like I could on booking.com

@LouHotel

Really hoping I'm not the first manager of a hotel to respond to this but here goes....

If you have informed them you are not staying Friday night so have cancelled the first night, they have every right to re sell the room for that evening and indeed say you can't check in to 3pm on Saturday because you are altering your booking that the terms and conditions are based on.

The first night of that booking is no longer room revenue its cancellation revenue - its not poor customer service or bonkers practise, cancelling Friday will have cost them revenue in other departments which will have been forecasted.

And actually seeing as you choose to book through third party and in doing so cost them 26 per cent of the cost of the reservation (lower if its a chain) they actually didn't have to take your call at all and could have told you to go through booking.com customer services which quite frankly would have been hell on earth.

But hey ho I'm glad your friend is enjoying herself nothing wrong with that, but everyone acting like you got one up on the man when hospitality is one of the most overworked/underpaid industries in the world and UK market is currently saturated with UK tourist whilst hotels are struggling everywhere to get staff - congratulations you've managed to outsmart a probably something receptionist on minimum wage. Just don't be a twat and ask housekeeping to change the bedding from your friend staying, it won't be down as a departure.

No, this is incorrect. She didn't 'cancel' - merely pointed out she wouldn't be physically present for the paid for room and paid for meal. The only impact on the business from her absence would have been less laundry, and a better bottom line on food (plus a potential negative impact on upsells like alcohol). I get it's a tough industry; but double selling accommodation sucks.

@JurassicPark101

halztangz but it’s also completely ripping off a customer who still wants the room they booked. My Friday booking was 3pm until 11am Saturday. I wanted it from 9.30am Saturday. I hadn’t cancelled the room in anyway, I was just letting them know my arrival time.

I agree. I don't think hotels should do it but I get why they do

@LouHotel

Really hoping I'm not the first manager of a hotel to respond to this but here goes....

If you have informed them you are not staying Friday night so have cancelled the first night, they have every right to re sell the room for that evening and indeed say you can't check in to 3pm on Saturday because you are altering your booking that the terms and conditions are based on.

The first night of that booking is no longer room revenue its cancellation revenue - its not poor customer service or bonkers practise, cancelling Friday will have cost them revenue in other departments which will have been forecasted.

And actually seeing as you choose to book through third party and in doing so cost them 26 per cent of the cost of the reservation (lower if its a chain) they actually didn't have to take your call at all and could have told you to go through booking.com customer services which quite frankly would have been hell on earth.

But hey ho I'm glad your friend is enjoying herself nothing wrong with that, but everyone acting like you got one up on the man when hospitality is one of the most overworked/underpaid industries in the world and UK market is currently saturated with UK tourist whilst hotels are struggling everywhere to get staff - congratulations you've managed to outsmart a probably something receptionist on minimum wage. Just don't be a twat and ask housekeeping to change the bedding from your friend staying, it won't be down as a departure.

I'm interested. If I have paid for a room but am not physically present overnight - so don't use electricity, hot water, tea bags, toiletries, need bedding changed - what would you be projecting I spend money on normally that would counteract this and turn this into a loss for the hotel? (Meal was paid for already too)

I raised the fact you booked through booking.com isn't about the price its about the aspect that you then amended directly via the hotel which (granted i bet you regretted that call in the end) isn't correct, part of paying out commission to third parties is they then 'manage' that booking until arrival for amendments, cancellations ect... they actually had the right to say if you didn't arrive Friday night they would cancel the entire booking allowing them to create cancellation revenue and resell a room but that's hard-core.

Whether the word cancelled was used or not, saying your not arriving on the booked day of your terms and conditions is cancelling as its altering the booking - their occupancy which they are likely targeted on is then affected.

Depending on how nice you were on the phone i probably would have pre checked you in on the Friday but if a hotel wasn't making budget that weekend how they responded isn't dim.

I've probably had enough entitled guest (which I'm not saying you are) to last a lifetime this summer but people on this thread questioning the intelligence of hospitality staff in this current climate has really pissed me off.

So if I book a room and invite 12 people to occupy it, I'm helping the hotel by increasing the 'occupancy which they are likely targeted on [?]'?

they actually had the right to say if you didn't arrive Friday night they would cancel the entire booking allowing them to create cancellation revenue and resell a room but that's hard-core.
OP does it state this in the small print somewhere when you paid for the booking?

@LouHotel you sound computer says no lady.
If someone has prepaid for the whole stay, but doesn’t turn up on time, why would you resell the room? They room is blocked under their name for the time they fully paid.
The T&C can write anything they want but ultimately if someone rented something for x amount of days, it is booked for them, under their name, and shouldn’t be sold again as it’s already sold. Sounds like cheating and scanning.

@LouHotel

I raised the fact you booked through booking.com isn't about the price its about the aspect that you then amended directly via the hotel which (granted i bet you regretted that call in the end) isn't correct, part of paying out commission to third parties is they then 'manage' that booking until arrival for amendments, cancellations ect... they actually had the right to say if you didn't arrive Friday night they would cancel the entire booking allowing them to create cancellation revenue and resell a room but that's hard-core.

Whether the word cancelled was used or not, saying your not arriving on the booked day of your terms and conditions is cancelling as its altering the booking - their occupancy which they are likely targeted on is then affected.

Depending on how nice you were on the phone i probably would have pre checked you in on the Friday but if a hotel wasn't making budget that weekend how they responded isn't dim.

I've probably had enough entitled guest (which I'm not saying you are) to last a lifetime this summer but people on this thread questioning the intelligence of hospitality staff in this current climate has really pissed me off.

But how is any of this the customers problem? You sound like a complete jobsworth.