Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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:
BodegaSushi · 14/07/2023 08:44

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

Exactly!

Imagine announcing to the world that you're a mug 😂

Wheresthebeach · 14/07/2023 09:15

They should have given you a free upgrade. They are definitely trying it on. However, I would have fronted it out at the time. Would have asked them to write out that they were refusing a free upgrade, having not provided the service I'd paid for and got the manager to sign it. Once you start getting all 'put it in writing' these people tend to back down. I'd also would have mentioned trading standards, contracts and asked them to reconsider their position. But I can be very very arsy and I get that not everyone is comfortable with that.

I'd respond the the emails, telling them if they contact you again you will report them to whatever professional body they are members of/booking sites for abusive communication and trying to con you out of £100.

Elaina87 · 14/07/2023 09:16

Respond and say you'll be leaving them the bad reviews, this was their mistake and they tried to charge you for it.

sunglassesonthetable · 14/07/2023 09:19

That's a decent tip @Wheresthebeach .

NatashaDancing · 14/07/2023 09:54

Lacucuracha · 14/07/2023 07:24

The guest house owner has plopped on the thread 🤣

Show quote history

Yes, Indeed. No other reason for posting such nonsense.

NatashaDancing · 14/07/2023 10:05

Maverickess · 14/07/2023 07:38

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.

Show quote history

A hotel in Vienna upgraded me for nothing from a small twin bedded double room to a suite because, KLM lost our luggage and they felt sorry for us.

A hotel in Beijing upgraded my son and I for nothing for the first 3 nights of our 5 night stay because they'd overbooked (they moved us for the last 2 nights to what we had booked , fair enough).

A gorgeous hotel in central Geneva upgraded a friend and me from a shared twin bedded room to a room each. No charge. Not even sure why.

Thinking about this, I use the Radisson Blu chain fairly frequently. They often upgrade with no explanation or charge .

You can imagine the. glowing Trip Advisor reviews these hotels got from me.

Imisssleep2 · 14/07/2023 10:53

Firstly if they overbooked that's their issue, and should have upgraded you free of charge not asked for the difference to be paid. I would not pay it and would reply politely with above, tbh I don't think they have a leg to stand on, stand your ground.

Marchintospring · 14/07/2023 11:33

I don’t understand the logic of any hotel would charge in these circumstances given it was unlikely they would get a walk in for that room and it was their fault.
At least have a happy upgraded customer who then might spend on drinks/ food etc

Hence I also think scam.

pimlicopubber · 14/07/2023 11:49

They didn't have much choice, did they?
It sounds like a scam tactic.
I was once scammed in a similar way when I organised a trip for a group of friends - we arrived at our hotel late, only to be told there are no free rooms, but lucky us, they will relocate us to a different hotel next door, which turned out to be more expensive!
The "hotel" looked like a building site.
I was young at the time, smartphones were just becoming a thing, so didn't feel we had a choice but to accept.

MadamWhiteleigh · 14/07/2023 12:57

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.

Why should the hotel’s ‘booking error’ mean the OP has to be £100 out of pocket?

LoisPrice · 14/07/2023 14:54

MadamWhiteleigh · 14/07/2023 12:57

Why should the hotel’s ‘booking error’ mean the OP has to be £100 out of pocket?

Show quote history

It’s not an error, it’s a scam

youarrivestpropertyadtjen they inform you you need to pay another 100 to secure the room…

yeah right error my arse?

NatashaDancing · 14/07/2023 15:06

Well I've just checked into a Radisson Blu hotel and been upgraded. Nothing said other than I'm a member of their loyalty programme. The room is much bigger than the one I booked.

StaunchMomma · 14/07/2023 20:36

You paid for something in good faith. They messed up and double booked the item. That is THEIR mistake, THEIR problem and hence THEIR financial loss.

I bet they pull this trick on people all the time.

MumOfBoys6711 · 14/07/2023 21:11

This is a tricky one for me as my Mum owns a guest house. I believe if the booking is made via booking.com and there is an error on the part of the guest house (i.e. over booking) then they must find you alternative accommodation and cover any extra costs. But I don’t know if this is the case here. However, if their only offer was to provide you with an upgraded room for an extra £100 and you showed up anyway…well they’d be expecting you to pay the £100. You can’t just check into an upgraded room and not pay? I guess this is why you left at 5am so as to avoid seeing the owners? I’m interested to hear more…

Whenwillglorioussummercome · 14/07/2023 21:29

MumOfBoys6711 · 14/07/2023 21:11

This is a tricky one for me as my Mum owns a guest house. I believe if the booking is made via booking.com and there is an error on the part of the guest house (i.e. over booking) then they must find you alternative accommodation and cover any extra costs. But I don’t know if this is the case here. However, if their only offer was to provide you with an upgraded room for an extra £100 and you showed up anyway…well they’d be expecting you to pay the £100. You can’t just check into an upgraded room and not pay? I guess this is why you left at 5am so as to avoid seeing the owners? I’m interested to hear more…

They didn’t ‘show up anyway’. They weren’t told anything about the need to pay extra until they arrived and had no other options for the night.

cyncope · 14/07/2023 21:39

Total scam. The 'cheap room' the OP booked and paid for never existed.

Just a way to get people to book, and then charge them extra on arrival when they can't say no.

casaluis · 15/07/2023 05:24

I'm only guessing as to what the poster meant here, but in the UK what the hotel has done is actually illegal per the consumer rights act. If they've booked and paid for a room and the room is not available, the hotel is legally obliged to resolve, e.g. if they had to book elsewhere the hotel legally needed to pay any difference in cost. Hence why most hotels would give a more expensive room free of charge to avoid losing the money paid and having to foot the difference elsewhere. But if it's in another country, there could be different laws.

NatashaDancing · 15/07/2023 07:33

MumOfBoys6711 · 14/07/2023 21:11

This is a tricky one for me as my Mum owns a guest house. I believe if the booking is made via booking.com and there is an error on the part of the guest house (i.e. over booking) then they must find you alternative accommodation and cover any extra costs. But I don’t know if this is the case here. However, if their only offer was to provide you with an upgraded room for an extra £100 and you showed up anyway…well they’d be expecting you to pay the £100. You can’t just check into an upgraded room and not pay? I guess this is why you left at 5am so as to avoid seeing the owners? I’m interested to hear more…

The only "tricky" thing here is the hotel's blatant scam. The hotel had entered into a contract with the OP to provide a room at price £x. They tried to brake that contract.

casaluis is correct.

sugarandcream · 15/07/2023 09:52

This is not tricky at all. The law is clear and it does not favour the hotel owner. As a customer you do not owe the owner anything, you are their customer and they are your servant. I say this as someone who rented out rooms in our family home to holidaymakers. The sooner you realise that it is strictly a business relationship, the better.

It's been quite amusing reading a few posters get uppity and sanctimonious about 'lying' or not paying. I can presume this is because they are either uneducated or financially illiterate. There is little surprise that some people stay poor.

SamW98 · 15/07/2023 10:28

sugarandcream · 15/07/2023 09:52

This is not tricky at all. The law is clear and it does not favour the hotel owner. As a customer you do not owe the owner anything, you are their customer and they are your servant. I say this as someone who rented out rooms in our family home to holidaymakers. The sooner you realise that it is strictly a business relationship, the better.

It's been quite amusing reading a few posters get uppity and sanctimonious about 'lying' or not paying. I can presume this is because they are either uneducated or financially illiterate. There is little surprise that some people stay poor.

It’s quite shocking how many on here so sanctimonious about facilitating law breaking and wearing their gullibility as a badge of honour.

Wonder how many of them have won the Nigerian lottery recently 🤣

NatashaDancing · 15/07/2023 10:42

NatashaDancing · 15/07/2023 07:33

The only "tricky" thing here is the hotel's blatant scam. The hotel had entered into a contract with the OP to provide a room at price £x. They tried to brake that contract.

casaluis is correct.

Show quote history

Oh fgs break, break, break.

ButterCrackers · 15/07/2023 10:58

I stayed in a family run hotel last Christmas time. I’d booked a small no frills single room. I got there, checked in no problems, got to the room and it was really luxurious and a double. I immediately went back to reception. They said that they had mixed up my booking from the start and had allocated this room to me by their mistake. There were no singles left to reallocate to me. I was concerned about the price difference and they said, as no single rooms were left, because of their booking mix up, and because they honoured my booking there was no extra cost to me. They’d included two breakfasts as well as good will even though my booking was for no breakfast. I said thank you for the room but declined the breakfasts because it was too much but that I appreciated their kindness. I’ll be going back to that hotel every time, for the small single room I’ll book, because they treated me so well. I has to be due to the contract you make with the hotel but I didn’t think of this until reading through the thread here. The hotel treated me well and I felt valued and I’ll be going back so they’ve kept my custom.

confusde · 15/07/2023 12:24

Haven’t read the whole thread but I’m surprised they didn’t charge you before checking in? That’s what the norm is usually.

NatashaDancing · 15/07/2023 12:30

confusde · 15/07/2023 12:24

Haven’t read the whole thread but I’m surprised they didn’t charge you before checking in? That’s what the norm is usually.

Duplicitous and thick?

misssunshine4040 · 15/07/2023 16:33

confusde · 15/07/2023 12:24

Haven’t read the whole thread but I’m surprised they didn’t charge you before checking in? That’s what the norm is usually.

It's really not unless you have an advance purchase booking.
Most places allow pay on arrival for guests that book a flexible rate