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Original poster

Would you respond to abusive email from hotel?

323 replies

digginforturnips · 13/07/2023 09:26

Stayed at a small guesthouse recently for two nights. The hotel had overbooked their cheapest rooms. They told us on arrival that we could either pay the £100 extra for an upgraded room, or they could cancel our reservation and find another hotel. There was no availability nearby. We were seriously unimpressed, but after a long journey had no real choice other than to say we’d pay. Owners actually seemed really nice other than that.

We checked out at 5am and did not pay the £100. Hotel has sent us 6 emails asking for the money, which I have ignored all of them. Then today I got a long and very angry email from them telling us how we are dishonest, untrustworthy, unhonourable people. They told us they would be leaving bad reviews of us, and they would be filing a complaint with the booking website.

What would you do? Would you email back? Contact the booking platform for advice?

OP posts:
pleasehelpwi3 · 14/07/2023 05:35

Campervangirl · 13/07/2023 10:29

I'd leave them a factual review on Tripadvisor or the like, warning future guests to be aware.
I'd also add the shitty email they sent, it shows what sort of people they are.
They should have upgraded you for free as it was their mistake, absolute cheeky fuckery on their part.
I take my hat off to you, op, for leaving without paying the extra!

This, word for word.
Had you paid by credit card you could have raised a Section 75 dispute, but I much prefer your style.

DaSilvaP · 14/07/2023 05:56

Given how some businesses operate, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it turned out that they are systematically overbooking the cheapest rooms on purpose.

Knowing full well that 99% of people arriving late in the day won't go looking for another accommodation when "forced to upgrade".

One of the oldest trick in the dishonest seller's book, known as "switch and bait".

ChillysWaterBottle · 14/07/2023 06:18

Haha good for you OP.

If you reply or leave a review don't put that you agreed to pay the £100 in writing.

sunglassesonthetable · 14/07/2023 06:38

No, it means more than that. Pity those who don't comprehend.

Likewise pity those who don't comprehend

contracts
switch and bait
terms and conditions

Or being sideswiped into agreeing something under duress by a hotel that doesn't follow good practice or understand the law

Keep clinging on to to your rock @ZeldaWillTellYourFortune

Zonder · 14/07/2023 06:46

Well done OP for standing your ground.

DJT86 · 14/07/2023 06:59

Ideally yes you should have stood your ground you booked a room and they therefore should have guaranteed it. The company they advertise on probably have contracts or something regarding this
It's was there error and therefore this shouldn't have happened
I think I would contact trading standards and see what you can find out but contact the company they advertised on first to discuss.

Lacucuracha · 14/07/2023 07:14
Season 5 What GIF by The Office

We checked out at 5am and did not pay the £100.

Rarely does a MN post surprise me anymore but I was surprised and delighted by this!

Well done for not paying.

Now leave them a bad review everywhere, what they did was despicable.

SamW98 · 14/07/2023 07:17

This is one of those threads that had it been in AIBU the vote would be about 98% YANBU with the sanctimonious 2% going on and on about how superior they are to everyone else and they find the same hard to believe that they’re the only ones who are honest etc etc etc

Luckyduc · 14/07/2023 07:17

A hotel made a booking error and have you a choice to either upgrade or be refunded so you could go somewhere else. They took the chance of losing money.
You however matched exactly the description they have called you in the email because you agreed on arrival to upgrade. I hope they learn next time to take 100.00 deposit which is returned on leaving.

SamW98 · 14/07/2023 07:20

sunglassesonthetable · 14/07/2023 06:38

No, it means more than that. Pity those who don't comprehend.

Likewise pity those who don't comprehend

contracts
switch and bait
terms and conditions

Or being sideswiped into agreeing something under duress by a hotel that doesn't follow good practice or understand the law

Keep clinging on to to your rock @ZeldaWillTellYourFortune

Or those who fail to comprehend that by rolling over and allow themselves to be scammed and wearing it as a dubious badge of honour, they are facilitating this practice to continue and leaving others at risk of being ripped off.

SirChenjins · 14/07/2023 07:21

No, they didn’t make a ‘booking error’ - they tried to scam the OP out of £100 using one of the oldest tricks in the hoteliers book. The only description that the OP matches is Not A Mug - unlike a handful of posters on here.

SirChenjins · 14/07/2023 07:21

That to @Luckyduc

Maverickess · 14/07/2023 07:23

This is out of order, if we end up with overbooked rooms, and it happens rarely but it does happen, the upgrade is free. And we don't tell the guest why because it makes us look a bit stupid - although many times it's a case of you're booking someone in to a room direct and before you can save it someone else has booked it online, thus you're overbooked. If you've got a proper booking system, it should be nigh on impossible to overbook rooms.
But you're still filling a room anyway and taking some revenue and hopefully getting a good review for a free upgrade.
I wouldn't have been paying either and leaving factual reviews, but with the mention of flights etc I'm thinking this was not in the UK and therefore different laws and practices may apply? Not saying it's right though.

Lacucuracha · 14/07/2023 07:24

Luckyduc · 14/07/2023 07:17

A hotel made a booking error and have you a choice to either upgrade or be refunded so you could go somewhere else. They took the chance of losing money.
You however matched exactly the description they have called you in the email because you agreed on arrival to upgrade. I hope they learn next time to take 100.00 deposit which is returned on leaving.

The guest house owner has plopped on the thread 🤣

DrSbaitso · 14/07/2023 07:27

And we don't tell the guest why because it makes us look a bit stupid

We know it's because you overbooked, but we don't mind - free upgrade! Returning customer!

sunglassesonthetable · 14/07/2023 07:30

A hotel made a booking error and have you a choice to either upgrade or be refunded so you could go somewhere else. They took the chance of losing money.
You however matched exactly the description they have called you in the email because you agreed on arrival to upgrade. I hope they learn next time to take 100.00 deposit which is returned on leaving.

A hotel failed to have the room you had prebooked and prepaid for available.

There was no other local availability.

The only thing they offered you was to pay more to stay at the hotel.

😂😂😂

Yep they're either scammers or totally incompetent or very new to the hotel business.

SamW98 · 14/07/2023 07:31

SirChenjins · 14/07/2023 07:21

No, they didn’t make a ‘booking error’ - they tried to scam the OP out of £100 using one of the oldest tricks in the hoteliers book. The only description that the OP matches is Not A Mug - unlike a handful of posters on here.

I can’t believe after 10 pages and numerous mentions of this being an old scam that people are still calling it a booking error.

As many PP’s have said, in the case of a genuine error, the hotel will always offer a free upgrade.

Againstmachine · 14/07/2023 07:31

Luckyduc · 14/07/2023 07:17

A hotel made a booking error and have you a choice to either upgrade or be refunded so you could go somewhere else. They took the chance of losing money.
You however matched exactly the description they have called you in the email because you agreed on arrival to upgrade. I hope they learn next time to take 100.00 deposit which is returned on leaving.

If they made a booking error, any decent business would upgrade to one of their other rooms Free of charge.

They tried to make money out of their 'error' and it backfired.

The hotel are a bunch of scammers, the OP booked and paid for a room which she got, she doesn't owe them anything.

Maverickess · 14/07/2023 07:38

DrSbaitso · 14/07/2023 07:27

And we don't tell the guest why because it makes us look a bit stupid

We know it's because you overbooked, but we don't mind - free upgrade! Returning customer!

Not always, we sometimes take rooms out of service for deep cleans or maintenance and upgrade for free or because that's the only room on a particular floor and we'll upgrade and then we can 'shut' that particular floor as in turn the hall lights and heating off.
Or because someone is a returning guest, or they've got married or similar, and we're not going to sell all the upgrade rooms anyway and there's still some available to book, and I'd say those circumstances are more common than overbooking where I work anyway because the system won't allow a straight overbook.

sunglassesonthetable · 14/07/2023 07:49

They tried to make money out of their 'error' and it backfired.

This

Honestly a small hotel making a genuine error would have still been taking some money for empty rooms if they had upgraded the OP.

And 'an error' ( so twee ) for the hotel is a gigantic shit show fuck up for someone who has pre paid and faces the night on the pavement because nothing else is available.

itsgettingweird · 14/07/2023 07:55

Tell them your also more than happy to leave a review of them.

Something like:

Hotel overbooked us. Offered us no room or £100 to upgrade on our arrival. We took room but refused to pay as their fault they overbooked. Since then all we've reviewed is abuse.

Wouldn't recommend this hotel.

See how they like that?!

PrinnyPree · 14/07/2023 08:27

Anaemiafog · 13/07/2023 10:09

You did agree when you arrived though.

Hardly a bloody choice when you're already there ready to check in and being told give us an extra £100 for our cock up or you have no-where to sleep tonight. CFers.

Mikimoto · 14/07/2023 08:36

Total bait/switch and definitely worth reporting to anyone and everyone/booking site/their own site if they have reviews/TA.

Whenwillglorioussummercome · 14/07/2023 08:37

I am a bit gobsmacked at some of these replies.

I very much believe in keeping my word. But I see that as null and void when someone is behaving dishonestly towards me. Because honesty is a contract between two people and that contract is broken as soon as one person lies.

No reputable hotel, chain or individual, would charge someone for an upgrade in this situation. As many posters have already said, it’s a known scam.

NCTDN · 14/07/2023 08:37

Op have you heard any more?