Travel Lodge & online booking fiasco

[WelshCerys]

Booked travel lodge room for DS & friend for 3 nights later this month. Booked online - one room only at saver rate (non refundable); £1.50 cancellation fee (only in event death/illness) and breakfast for two. Grand total - £128.00. BUT after confirming online payment, TL message popped up - 3 rooms, all in the one name, for same period, breakfasts etc, had apparently been booked and coming on £400.00 would be debited from my account.

Mad panic, rang bank who said they could do nothing till the money had come up and then they might refund me and instigate an investigation with TL. Advised me to contact TL. Tried hard - you can't speak to anyone in customer services. Got through to the booking line who said hard luck, money will come out and I should challenge this next week when the virtual chat facility will be open again (actually, it appears to be open tomorrow, Saturday).

Googled TL and online booking and found, on the money.com website, pages of similar complaints. People who'd booked one night being charged for two - one room for two and so on. Now, I've three emails, each confirming a separate booking at £128.00. And one with the grand total figure.

I booked one room only - obviously - I didn't make a mistake but the messages from the money website are that TL are notoriously ruthless about refunding, esp in the area of saver rooms.

Any ideas how I could take to a real person at TL, any suggestons - all would be gratefully received. Thanks!

Poor you. Appalling is all I can say. Bad customer service really winds me up but thus is actually dishonesty!
Basically phone them and ask to speak to a supervisor. Don't take no for an answer. Threaten to sue them and call Watch Dog on them. Good luck

If the money is not showing as removed from your balance yet, cancel your debit card with the bank (just say you've lost it). This won't work if travel lodge have already processed payment.

Eg account balance £1000, available funds £1000 - cancel card.
Account balance £1000, available funds £600 - don't bother.

It's not an ideal scenario by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it means they can't take the payment out.

Thanks olimpia and Rock -

too late to cancel card as TL has already processed payment. Couldn't speak to anyone at TL (CS doesn't have real people to talk to and bookings contact centre hopelessly unhelpful) so went into the TL in my home town. Receptionist said this happens "all the time" and told me about a family who were similarly ripped off and in despair as they didn't have enough money in their account to cope with the irregular payment.

Going to have to 'chat' to someone online on Monday and once payment out showing on my bank statement, will ask bank to investigate.

TL have surpassed themselves - I have a horrible feeling that this could be a long fight. They have my money, under totally false pretenses and could be an age before they relinquish it. The emailed receipts to me, for the three rooms (I only booked one), all specified the same dates, name and time of payment. Clearly a massive error on TL's part - note to self: do not book saver, or any other , rooms online with TL again.