Can a foreign hotel take legal action against you?

[Lilly1102]

I booked a hotel in Norway ages ago a life got in the way and I only got round to trying to cancel today. I thought it would’ve been a standard 3 day cancellation policy but when I checked today it’s 30 days!!! I know this is such a lesson to always read the fine print.

I sent a very polite email saying that actually, the reason I’m cancelling is due to a change of financial circumstances in the first place and asked politely if they could cancel my room and waive the fee (there’s still 2 weeks for someone to book).

The entire hotel stay would’ve been £2500 for a hotel in Norway and the hotel manager replied back saying everyone needs to adhere and pay and she offered me 4 months of £700 instalments.

They tried to take the money out today (ironically after I emailed to cancel) and it got declined because actually I’m maxed out on overdraft. I then ordered a new card with a new number in the hopes that they’ll never be successful in taking £2500+ out. I would be happy to pay a 1 nightly fee , that seems reasonable.

I’ve emailed them again apologising and saying I’m happy for them to ban me from their hotel list (it’s not really a chain) and I offered to pay some of it just not all (waiting for a response). It really has caused me great stress and anxiety because OBVIOUSLY if I knew they would charge the full amount within 30 days I would’ve cancelled sooner.

Tbh I’ve never heard of a 30 day cancellation policy before so this is new to me, I’ve only ever seen 3 days max.

i KNOW this is my fault and a lesson learnt but realistically, can a Norwegian hotel take legal action and will I get a bad mark on my credit score for this?

it’s causing me great monetary worry. I’m hoping the hotel manager sympathises because I’ve told her that I can’t even afford the monthly payment she’s offered me!

Just to kind of prove the point about the "standard 3 days" I have 14 separate hotel bookings on my booking.com (road trip!) and the cancellation terms vary from arrival day by 6pm to non refundable with everything in between, there's 72 hours, 5 working days, 2 weeks, and 28 days.

Independent hotels tend to be longer based on my experience

You are not being 'punished'. You are not a poor, tiny victim. You booked something they own which meant no one else could book it. Now you can't pay for it you want them to quietly disappear. Why should they. They are running a business. It is unlikely they will get a new booking at this late date. You have broken the contract therefore charges apply.

You must have bought the flights already, presumably it's Lapland, so where are you going to stay?

How did you book the hotel? Direct? Via a website booking company ?

Come on OP - I want to see the room you get for £625 per night!!!

I'm thinking it must be pretty spectacular. I hope the price includes breakfast

The hotel may not pursue you directly but potentially they will.sell the debt to a debt collecting agency. If that happens they will definitely pursue across borders. Personally I would say that it's likely to happen due to the amount and the clear fact that you ate in breach of their terms.and conditions. That would affect your credit score adversely.

Presumably she’s not suggesting the credit card has an overdraft. I read it as she’s maxed out her current account overdraft, therefore doesn’t want to use up £2500 of her credit card limit on this payment.

I know hoteliers would rather you booked directly as booking.com takes a percentage of each booking, but I really like it particularly for trips as it's always crystal clear what the cancellation policy is when you book, and often there is an option for a more generous cancellation period by paying a bit more. Generally these things aren't as clear on hotel websites.

Sorry this is a lesson in checking the cancellation policy whether it's a premier inn or £625 per night. You would have entered a contract. Policies can be from 24 hours to 2 months to no cancellation. Even if you don't pay up front you can still be liable. Usually pay more for the more generous options which is why they are more generous.

Can they? Yes.
Will they? Who knows?
Worst case scenario is they go to court and they win. You then prove that you can't afford to pay in full and you offer a payment plan. They'll have no real.choice but to accept.

I live in Germany and rented out my flat to an American who left without paying the last month's rent and there was an overpayment of €1300 due for gas and electricity. She ignored all my emails, so I registered the €2000+ debt with the police. I also notifed her of this by email. She told colleagues she was never coming back to Germany so i was SOL. We had been friendly enough when she moved in so I could see her profile on LinkedIn and saw she had been offered and accepted a job here. The next thing I knew was that the debt plus interest was deposited to my account. I guess she thought the 10+ years would cover the statute of limitations. Well, no!

You’re not being punished ffs!!

Nope. She said "They tried to take the money out today (ironically after I emailed to cancel) and it got declined because actually I’m maxed out on overdraft"

But she said she used a credit card to secure the booking, so why would her overdraft affect whether or not the hotel was able to take the payment?

We've just booked several hotels for next June and we have to cancel by a date in April to get out of it.
Personally, I think you are out of order, they are trying to run a business and employ people - 3 days notice my backside!

So obnoxious. My mum runs a small pub/hotel and clowns like this contribute to the constant stress and sleepless nights about keeping her staff employed and staying afloat.

She likely has an overdraft and significant credit card debt

The hotel we’re staying in for Feb half term has a 90 day cancellation (after which 50% is payable, with the percentage payable rising after that) but these terms are clearly set out on the booking confirmation email. I far prefer direct booking whenever possible as booking.com reservations have a habit of disappearing.

By nature, all of a hotel's customers live overseas so they definitely have ways of pursuing legal action. Otherwise anyone could theoretically book themselves into any hotel in the world, leave without paying the room bill and escape all consequences because it's in a foreign country. Or do what you did and cancel last minute or just never show up.

The most likely outcome is that they'll sell it onto a debt collection agency who will chase you for it. We forgot to pay for a road toll in Hungary once which was a genuine mistake as we never realised it in first place. Half a year later we had a letter from a debt collection company that clearly operates across borders as well.

Easy to confuse the terms "overdraft" with "credit limit" when you're this financially incontinent.

And yes, there are mechanisms for a debt incurred in Norway to be recovered from a UK citizen living in the UK. If the creditor thinks it's either financially worthwhile or worth proving the point.

Hi OP, I responded to someone else earlier but realised not quoted you so you may miss my post. And as a lot of people seem to think you can get away with it, I want to make sure you get the reality.

Under post-Brexit agreements, Norway and the U.K. agreed to enforce civil judgements, including debt judgements from their respective courts. The U.K. and Norway have a lot of post-Brexit agreements, arguably, Norway is the U.K.’s biggest success on the post-Brexit trade deal sphere. There is a lot of close collaboration.

From what I have witnessed, if your hotel booking is with a ‘boutique’ within the Nordic Hotels and Resorts Group, the hotel will seek a debt judgement against you for violation their terms. This debt judgement is fully enforceable in the U.K. and they will seek to recover. I can’t speak for other hotel groups as I pay my bill ( I highly recommend The Thief in Oslo). The payment plan offer was the first step towards seeking a debt judgement against you as they’re required by law to offer it. Your counter offer £50 per month will be rejected and the courts won’t side with you.

Moving on to your card cancellation, due to the authorisation you’ve likely set up, they will seek payment from your new card too. Cancelling doesn’t stop pre-existing authorisations so you cancelled your card for nothing.

If they’re going to charge you regardless, could you go after all? I assume you booked flights.

I have to say, it’s astonishing to me that you didn’t realise you couldn’t afford a £600 a night stay - not many people can!

I can’t speak for other hotel groups as I pay my bill ( I highly recommend The Thief in Oslo).

OP is the thief in Oslo 😄

Did they try to take the payment from your bank account or was it the credit card? I seem to remember something from Martin Lewis about payments taken from credit cards, even if a new card and number were issued - apparently to prevent fraud where people sign up for things, and then order a new card to avoid paying for it.

That usually happens when someone booked , booking.com try the payment under whatever terms you've booked and the payment is declined for whatever reason. The booking is automatically cancelled and they don't try again, nor do they tell the hotel why it's cancelled, it's just cancelled and people are pissed off to arrive and find their booking cancelled, especially if someone else has booked that room since and you're full 😬.
Had a few guests fall foul of this, it could be as simple as the bank wanting verification but you didn't get to it fast enough.
These 3rd party sites are convenient for customers right up until something doesn't go quite right, and then they become a nightmare to deal with on both sides.

Cancelling your card won't work if you have already authorised this transaction they will be able to take it from your new card as it's pre authorised

How were you getting there have you got flights booked?