Hotel cancelled non refundable stay, refusing to tell me if I’m eligible for a refund

[SomethingInTheAirToday]

I had a Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy hotel room booked for a trip next year. Out of the blue yesterday I got an email to say it had been cancelled by Marriott Bonvoy as I booked through them and they could not honour the booking.

They didn’t mention a refund in the email, I’ve DMed them on Twitter and they’ve said that if I’m eligible for a refund they’ll be processing it. But they won’t tell me if I am, or how long it will take.

im mainly posting for traffic to be honest, what do I do? I have travel insurance through my bank so I’m guessing that if they don’t refund me I claim on that? But shouldn’t they be refunding me as they’re the ones cancelling?

ugh

Don't stress. I'm sure the refund is being processed. They've probably got a lot to get through!

This scenario is specifically covered by the Consumer Rights Act (trader cancelling the contract but saying they can keep the fee), so just sit tight. I'm sure they'll refund you!

if after contacting them once more (send an email if you haven’t) go for a chargeback instead they cancelled not you

Give it a bit more time

@SomethingInTheAirToday - you’re eligible because they cancelled. Just for future reference, if you pay for something and a supplier doesn’t provide it, you are entitled to a refund (unless the cancellation is somehow connected to you or something you have done, where the position may be different). Suppliers cannot just keep your money if they’re not going to provide what you paid for.

100% yes they should be refunding you.

Do you have the T&Cs from your original booking. It should mention that you will get your money back if they fail to honour your booking. You will get the money back, unfortunately it may take a bit of time.

They’re going bankrupt apparently and all hotels are shutting down 9am today. So I think getting my money back will be a long shot.

Try calling them OP. Sometimes it's easier to just speak to a human. Number is 00800 1927 1927 (you can verify this online at the Marriot website so you know I haven't given you a fake number). The double zero at the start threw me a bit but I just tried it and it worked.

As others have said, they cancelled it, not you, so you are eligible for a refund. But I know you'll want that confirmed by them. And the sooner they process it, the sooner you'll be able to book new accommodation.

Given you booked through Marriott who are not going bankrupt, you will almost certainly get your money back.

They’re going bankrupt apparently and all hotels are shutting down 9am today. So I think getting my money back will be a long shot

Yep, unfortunately. You will be on a very long list of creditors. It will depend on the order the receivers put creditors in and how much they can claw back to disburse to creditors. That really sucks.

I'm not clear - did you book through Sonder or directly with Marriot?

They were one and the same when I booked. All my confirmations have Marriott Bonvoy on them and my email states I should contact them.

I’m going to contact my bank I think

They cancelled not you so a refund should be processed.

Talk to the bank/method through which you paid too so they know.

If you're in the UK I think a small claims court would decide on a case like this, but I'd give them a few days to see if the refund is forthcoming.

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/marriott-brands/portfolio/sonderfaqs.mi

The issue is I booked on the Sonder website. Which masqueraded as a Marriott Bonvoy website at the time.

Sonder might be, but your booking is with Marriot. Marriot has dropped their deal with Sonder, but they owe you a refund, there is no doubt about that. They should also offer you the option to rebook through another of their hotels, which might be why they don't mention the refund just yet.

Their next cheapest hotel in Milan is €500 a night! I can’t afford to rebook with them unless they comp the stay which they won’t

If you've paid of course you're eligible for a refund.
If they don't process the refund within a reasonable time scale, just contact your bank - as long as they have proof that you paid and that you won't receive what you paid for they will refund you.

Sorry I got confused your OP said it was cancelled my MB as you booked through them.

Well now I’m not sure! The app shows it as an MB booking and the links in my booking email point to MB, so I think I must have booked through them?

When you hopefully get your money back, can you look for Airbnb rather than a hotel, if hotels are so much?

I’ve booked an Airbnb but that’s still costing more. I locked it in because I knew there’d be hundreds of people doing the same thing. There’s an event on that weekend so accommodation is already more expensive

I wouldn't worry until they've told you in no uncertain terms you're not getting a refund. You're just worrying yourself when they've told you if you're entitled to one you'll get one, and I can't see why you wouldn't be entitled to one

Slightly off topic and sorry you are going through this, but we booked a Marriot Hotel last year but I never understood all the "by Sonder" stuff. Got loads and loads of stupid emails (not) explaining the situation from both sides and then requests for confirmation data and setting up new accounts. It was quite baffling. What even are/were Sonder?