To warn you that Travelodge routinely 'overbook'!!

[badger2005]

We had booked to see a show, and ages ago I also booked a travelodge so we'd be right next to the venue. When we turned up ready to book into our travelodge (about 5.45pm) we were told that they had had to move us into a different travelodge in another place - miles from the venue!
This wasn't because of any kind of emergency - they just overbook on purpose apparently and you just get booted out even if you have booked a room in advance.
When we got back home, travelodge sent me an email asking for feedback, and I asked if I could have a refund. That seems to me like the absolute minimum - I booked into a hotel and they reneged on the booking - surely I should get a refund?! But they just blanked me. I don't know if I can get a refund - I'm guessing I will just be talking to a computer about it forever if I try.

I've found out since that not all hotel chains do this. I'm NEVER booking Travelodge again. Just warning you all!

It’s definitely a thing. Just because some of you have stayed in lots of hotels and never had a problem, just means you either arrived early enough, or enough people didn’t show up to their booked rooms.

I worked in a nice hotel that was always overbooked in high season. However it often wasn’t a problem, because people would cancel or not show up. Very occasionally there would be an issue and there weren’t enough rooms for all the customers. The hotel had an agreement with the huge (and never fully booked) hotel next door that we would send our surplus customers to them.

Was a bit rubbish because our hotel was nice and refurbished and the overflow one was still stuck in the 1970s.

If you accepted and stayed at the hotel other then no, of course you won’t get a refund because you still stayed in one of their hotels It doesn’t become free just because it wasn’t your first choice.

If you refused then of course you would.

You're just giving them the money really without them giving you the goods!

You did get “the goods”. You didn’t sleep on the street did you?! 😂

Also, if you all think this is the worst thing hotels do, you're in for a shock

OP complain to the Advertising Standards Authority about their ad campaign, as it is misleading surely?

I don't use them because I like some degree of comfort.

If we're going to be arriving anywhere after 8pm we always phone ahead. Just to be on the safe side.

Well no because if you incurred extra costs to use the other one, you are entitled to those too.

Wait - no, I didn't get the goods!
I chose, booked and paid for a particular hotel, to be close to where the show was. Staying in that hotel was the goods that I (thought I) bought.

It'll be in the T&C's that they can do this though. Have a look though as it'll probably also flag the process for recouping additional spends.

But that doesn't seem fair! We didn't have much choice except to stay at the other hotel. Does the fact that we stayed there mean that we all agreed that it was just as good? Why?

Thank you, okay I will try this. I'm kind of outraged though that the refund is not automatic. I feel like adding up the time I'm going to spend finding and completing this process and adding it to the amount I think they owe me!
But lesson number one, I will never book with them again! I know people are saying that all hotels do this, but I'm a bit sceptical. It reminds me of when people were like 'all politicians lie' to make one lying politician look okay.
All I know for sure is that travelodge definitely definitely do this, and then do not refund you (at least, they ask how you found the experience, and if you explain and ask for a refund, then they ignore you!).
Does anyone know of a hotel chain that does not do this? If so, then I will book with them instead.

You stayed there, so you accepted their alternative offer. You had the right to say no and look for another hotel.

You won’t get a refund because you stayed at one of their hotels. You also accepted the T&Cs with this in.

I’ve had this happen to me twice. Neither were Travelodge. Both were actually small indecent hotels/B&Bs and both before the allocated check in time so there was no option of getting there earlier. Once was with work when I was in field with no mobile signal and had to try to rearrange another room, they didn’t reallocate us. Once was with DH in London, we were in the Natural History museum, they tried to send us to a hostel for the same price but we managed to get another room, albeit much further out and much smaller. Both times we ended up in significantly worse accommodation. At least with a travelodge you get transferred to another travelodge and know the quality will be the same.

I was a reservation manager for two decades in 4 and 5 star hotels, they all overbook.

Really have to add this one I know its about a car but it still applies. Thats how commonly known it is.

Google who the ceo is and their email address and email them directly. Worked for me with premier inn recently. Refund was swiftly issued along with an apology email.

From Terms and conditions

1. We operate a relocation policy. If a room is unavailable on arrival (other than due to an event beyond our reasonable control – see paragraph J6 below) then we agree to either:

A) provide a room, and subject to availability any equivalent Extras which you have booked, in another Travelodge hotel and pay the reasonable cost of transport to that alternative hotel or any applicable car park charges; or B) provide a room in a third party hotel and pay the reasonable cost of transport to that alternative hotel or any applicable car park charges; or C) at your request or, if in our reasonable opinion there is no suitable alternative hotel accommodation available, cancel your booking and refund you any money you have paid in advance for the unavailable room(s) including related food & beverage Extras (all other Extras are non-refundable).

I suppose you could have argued that a different hotel would mean you would not get to the show on time. Then you would have had your money but no room at all.

Airlines overbook, too. In fact, they invented the process. Here’s how it works :

Hotels & airlines employ bright analysts who look at data on the number of people who book rooms / seats then, for whatever reason, don’t show up. Maybe they missed their flight. Maybe their meeting was cancelled. Maybe their train was hit by strikes. Maybe they or their child / granny/ dog were ill. Whatever, the result is an empty room or seat.

If the data shows that, on average, 5% of bookings don’t show up I should be able to overbook my hotel by 4% and get away with it so I take 104 bookings for my 100 room hotel. Most nights, 100 or fewer guests show up, so the revenue for the extra 4 rooms I sold is pure profit. Happy days.

Occasionally, however, more than 100 guests will show up so I have to accommodate the last ones to check in & don’t have room for at a different hotel, or on a different flight. Airlines usually offer these inconvenienced customers some sort of compensation, refund or goodwill gesture but maybe Travelodge are particularly stingy.

I am shocked by this, we've booked a travelodge for this weekend so will be checking is as early as possible!

Because it’s extra revenue.

If you have 100 rooms to sell, and history shows that 2 rooms normally don’t show up then you can sell 102 rooms and make money.

Did you book via credit card, take it up with credit card company

I had this earlier this year with a hotel booked through booking.com. They cancelled as I was travelling there. So my planned stay in a lovely old hotel with wood panelling etc was replaced with some modern ikea type place. Really frustrating.

Sadly, it is very very common for hotels to ocer book this. I have a friend who owns a relatively large hotel in a busy city and he has told me. Always book directly with the hotel, when booking advise them of your expected arrival time verbally and in writingaa and follow up with a phone call to both reception and bookings to confirm the time you will be arriving on the day of arrival. (I tend to ask for reception first and then ask to be transfered to bookings after). Also have an idea of the hotel phone number. There will be a switch board so the number may not be exact to the one online but very similar. The amount of people who do not answer when they call to confirm that you still plan to check in (admittedly later in the evening). I tend to solo travel alot so arriving at my hotel and not having a room would be a nightmare for me.

I remember the poor lady who had to sleep in her car, awful.

I used to go the darts in Surrey. It started at 11am and you can't check in the room til later so what most people did was park at the venue then get a cab to the travelodge later and pick the car the next day. One year it was absolute carnage as they didn't have enough rooms gor all the people who had all turned up at once. The next year they realised early they'd overbooked and called me to offer me a room at the other Travelodge that was nearby, we had friends staying at the same one so they agreed not to move us and moved someone else.

I work for a chain hotel and we regularly overbook. In fact I don't think I've known a hotel that doesn't, as a pp said we all help each other out with overbookings. The only exception is if there's an event on, you know that the chances of outbooking are zero.