Non-cancellation policy from hotel - how can I appeal to their 'better nature' (whilst knowing I haven't a hope in hell)

[oopslateagain]

We were planning on going on a lovely holiday tomorrow, touring Scotland and staying in several hotels for two weeks. We had booked two rooms in each hotel, one for DH DD and me, and one for my parents. In the last week my dad has had to go to hospital and is now undergoing tests for possible prostate cancer, obviously he now has to stay home for his hospital appointments etc. He's gutted he and mum are going to miss the holiday. DH and I have decided to go ahead and go, DD is really looking forward to it after the stress of her GCSE's and if we need to, we can always cut the holiday short.

I've managed to cancel some of the bookings but we booked three stays in Premier Inns and these bookings are non-cancellable. I phoned Premier Inn, and they confirmed this, but said I would be able to get a refund on the breakfasts we'd booked - better than nothing, I suppose.

I'm wondering if we have any chance of any kind of refund, if we write to the head office explaining the situation. I figure it's worth a try but haven't a clue how to word the letter, any help would be very much appreciated.

Did they have travel insurance?

Or - was it paid for on credit card - might be worth checking with card provider?

No insurance - we are driving and had booked all the hotels individually. I checked with Mastercard, we aren't covered.

We do stay in Premier Inns a few times a year, we do understand that we chose the non-cancellation type of booking, but we're hoping they can do something - either a partial refund or maybe some vouchers towards future stays - because the rooms will be unused, so no hot water, bedlinens, towels or cleaning will be needed.

Just really unsure how to put that across in a letter.

You can ask politely and hope for a goodwill gesture, but there is no reason that they should. Good luck though

I wouldn't dwell on the reduced cost etc - cleaning will be budgeted on a per hotel not per room basis. Loyal customer, ten stays with you in last year or whatever, unavoidable circumstances, would it be possible to get a voucher or discount against new booking once parents have recovered.

I don't think that will get you anywhere, a lower priced no-cancellations tariff is an industry standard and fully publicised up-front. You won't catch many flies with that kind of vinegar....

Would your daughter not like to use the room ,that way you all get a bit of privacy and at least you aren't wasting your money .

I'd just let your daughter use the room on those nights.

I'd allow your 16yo dd to have the second room. Nice treat for her after exams.

Babybarrister they won't re-let the room because they can't/won't cancel our booking - so in effect we still have the room, even though nobody is staying there. It was all set out very clearly when we booked.

I'll try TheDoctrineofAllans approach - worth a shot. I will ask DD if she wants the separate room, but I think we'll definitely lose out any chance of discounts if she does.

Err, OP, if they have the chance they will relet the room, I'm sure that'll be in the T&C somewhere.

They won't. Premier Inn booking systems won't cancel the original booking, whcih means the room is off the system and can't be rebooked. At all.
It will be empty. This is the whole point of the lower price for a room you can't cancel, it cuts their admin costs significantly.

Wow, didn't know that!

Would DD like to take a friend, OP?

Well, we're home. As we couldn't cancel, DD decided she'd rather like a room on her own - she was under threats to make sure she kept the TV and music very quiet! I think she appreciated the 'space' after the lovely (but small) family rooms in the B&B's with DH and me.