Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Original poster

Can a foreign hotel take legal action against you?

158 replies

Lilly1102 · 09/12/2024 18:21

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!

OP posts:
Aintnobodygottime · 13/12/2024 07:52

That’s not how hotels I’ve used work. Payment on arrival or check in, regardless of cancellation terms.

Aintnobodygottime · 13/12/2024 08:15

Sorry, that should say arrival or check out.

Nic834 · 13/12/2024 12:03

Aintnobodygottime · 13/12/2024 07:52

That’s not how hotels I’ve used work. Payment on arrival or check in, regardless of cancellation terms.

I’ve mainly used booking sites or the hotel website, I either book with full cancellation or without. If I book without full cancellation (usually cheaper) then they will automatically take payment on a certain date, with full cancellation they will just take it on check out.

It sounds like the hotel were meant to take full payment at 30 days before and that’s probably why they then tried taking it after they realised they hadn’t done so after they saw the first email.

But no harm done as they haven’t taken any payment and they will sell the room again.

Wot23 · 13/12/2024 17:30

bottom line is OP needs to find out whether the contract is made under English or Norwegian law and then decide how much of a gambler they are....

No one can say if the hotel will take them to court (under the relevant jurisdiction) for the sum involved as it is not trivial, but nor is it commercially sizeable.

OP undoubtedly owes the money having failed to adhere to the cancellation notice period of the contract. If under English law, the hotel having now been made aware of the desire to cancel, should make "reasonable" efforts to mitigate their losses by re-advertising the room. But if they can't successfully rebook it, then that does not absolve the OP from financial liability nonetheless.

cancelling the payment card obviously stops the hotel from now taking the money directly, but has no bearing on the potential for losing a court case.

HospitalitySux · 13/12/2024 18:26

Nic834 · 13/12/2024 07:29

Just wanted to say that if hotels and other travel providers have a cancellation policy they usually ask for a deposit on booking and full payment ahead of that cancellation deadline. If one does not make the full payment or the hotel is unable to take payment via the credit card given on the booking by this deadline the booking is cancelled by the hotel. If they offer free cancellation then they will usually ask for the payment on check out so do not charge you ahead of time.

The hotel failed to try and take payment from you before the 30 day deadline with the credit card provided at the point of booking or contact you when that payment method failed at which point the booking could have been cancelled by them. They probably realised the mistake of not taking the credit card payment at the 30 day marker when you emailed to cancel and thus tried to take it at that point but failed.

I realise they might be an independent hotel etc. but I personally think you are not totally to blame here. Yes out of fairness if you knew you couldn’t go you should have told them earlier, but they should have tried to take payment earlier too and cancelled the booking if they failed to take payment. That is why those deadlines exist so they either get paid or they release the room which allows enough time for a new booking. They have failed to do this at the 30 day marker and then tried to rectify their mistake by making you pay regardless of the fact they could sell the room again.

Please don’t feel bad, it was mistakes on both sides and it’s amicably sorted now!

Plus Norway at Christmas in Northern Lights season with two weeks to go, I think they’ll have no problem selling the room!

Show quote history

Booking.com do this (explained in a pp) and if they can't take the money on the deadline then they cancel the booking. No ifs or buts, cancelled.
We've had this happen a few times, and the problem with sticking so rigidly to your T's&C's is customer satisfaction, or rather lack of it. People get very stroppy when this happens, despite having booked under those terms and them being clear, if they're waiting for payday, or have forgotten to cancel, or the bank refused the transaction for any number of reasons, suddenly you're the bad guy for cancelling a booking they wanted and inflexible, not customer friendly, awkward, ridiculous, you should have rang them, you should have tried harder, they're going to leave you a review etc etc.
Customers don't like it, it's as simple as that, so a degree of flexibility is needed to keep them happy and feeling like they're the ones in charge and not the business.
A lot of people complain when a business does stick to the T's&C's, and they fall foul of that through their own actions (like OP when they told her she had to pay) yet also blame the business when they are flexible with those T's&C's and lose out because of it.
It's a no win situation really, because you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Nic834 · 13/12/2024 18:39

HospitalitySux · 13/12/2024 18:26

Booking.com do this (explained in a pp) and if they can't take the money on the deadline then they cancel the booking. No ifs or buts, cancelled.
We've had this happen a few times, and the problem with sticking so rigidly to your T's&C's is customer satisfaction, or rather lack of it. People get very stroppy when this happens, despite having booked under those terms and them being clear, if they're waiting for payday, or have forgotten to cancel, or the bank refused the transaction for any number of reasons, suddenly you're the bad guy for cancelling a booking they wanted and inflexible, not customer friendly, awkward, ridiculous, you should have rang them, you should have tried harder, they're going to leave you a review etc etc.
Customers don't like it, it's as simple as that, so a degree of flexibility is needed to keep them happy and feeling like they're the ones in charge and not the business.
A lot of people complain when a business does stick to the T's&C's, and they fall foul of that through their own actions (like OP when they told her she had to pay) yet also blame the business when they are flexible with those T's&C's and lose out because of it.
It's a no win situation really, because you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Show quote history

Sounds like being caught between a rock and a hard place! Don’t know what the answer is really!

DrewHormordr · 09/05/2025 23:33

No they won’t come after you it will cost them ten times that amount. I worked in a number of hotels in Norway as a student. It’s the same as when guests take bath robes, towels, speciality brandy glasses, bedding, rugs- yes they really do! and one man even took an ornamental brass coat hook that he had to unscrew off the wall!
Take my word for it they have insurance and usually bump
up the claim anyway. Sorry if my English is poor. Daisy

12DaisiesTwit · 03/08/2025 23:39

PullTheBricksDown · 09/12/2024 21:36

You can't afford the monthly instalments but you could afford to book it with the prospect of paying it all in one go? 🤔 That's what I'm thinking so it's probably also what the hotel manager is thinking.

She said a change in circumstances happened. Possibly a large unexpected bill?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page