5-star accommodation misrepresented by broker
techguy81
Posts: 86 Forumite
Looking for some advice regarding the misrepresentation of supposedly 5-star accommodation I booked.
Back in April, via TripAdvisor I found and booked what was advertised as a 5-star room in central London. The booking was via a broker and the room was supposedly at 70% off. I specifically remember it was advertised as being around £250 when the normal price was £850. The paperwork I received from the broker gives the accommodation details as "(hotel name removed for privacy) - 5 Star".
However, upon checking into the hotel last weekend, I was confused to discover it had a different name to that stated on the paperwork. Apparently the accommodation I thought I had booked was in fact luxury suites next door, and my room was actually in the hotel owned by the same company, but under a different name and only 4-star. The normal price for these rooms is around £250, so I can only deduce there was no £850 room in the first place and I certainly wasn't saving 70% as I was led to believe. Unfortunately I didn't screenshot the offer and it has long since disappeared off TripAdvisor so I may have some difficulty proving this, but I do possess a screenshot of the brokers webpage which shows the alleged luxury 5-star accommodation and the price I paid. And all my official paperwork states 5-star accommodation.
Just wondering if I have any grounds to put in a claim for a refund or compensation, and how to go about doing it? I have successfully used the Small Claims Court before, but not sure where I stand legally on this one.
Back in April, via TripAdvisor I found and booked what was advertised as a 5-star room in central London. The booking was via a broker and the room was supposedly at 70% off. I specifically remember it was advertised as being around £250 when the normal price was £850. The paperwork I received from the broker gives the accommodation details as "(hotel name removed for privacy) - 5 Star".
However, upon checking into the hotel last weekend, I was confused to discover it had a different name to that stated on the paperwork. Apparently the accommodation I thought I had booked was in fact luxury suites next door, and my room was actually in the hotel owned by the same company, but under a different name and only 4-star. The normal price for these rooms is around £250, so I can only deduce there was no £850 room in the first place and I certainly wasn't saving 70% as I was led to believe. Unfortunately I didn't screenshot the offer and it has long since disappeared off TripAdvisor so I may have some difficulty proving this, but I do possess a screenshot of the brokers webpage which shows the alleged luxury 5-star accommodation and the price I paid. And all my official paperwork states 5-star accommodation.
Just wondering if I have any grounds to put in a claim for a refund or compensation, and how to go about doing it? I have successfully used the Small Claims Court before, but not sure where I stand legally on this one.
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Comments
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If you can provide a link to the current page on Tripadvisor then it may be possible to find a cached page from April showing the offer.0
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So what is your actual complaint?
What was actually missing from your stay that was confirmed in your booking email?
Who gave the hotel the star rating? Private company or the actual hotel?0 -
This link may or may not help
http://www.touristnetuk.com/uk/ratings.asp0 -
shaun - I've tried the Wayback Machine but unfortunately it hasn't captured the offer.
Daytona - we didn't realise until after we'd checked in when we noticed the header on the invoice stated a different hotel name. When we looked it up on Google, we could only find references alluding to its 4-star status. It is part of the same chain so everything else looked right up until that point. We didn't want to kick up a fuss because it was quite late in the day, we had a show to get to and wanted to relax and enjoy ourselves.
Rogue, my complaint is I booked a 5-star room at a massively discounted price, but got 4-star at a different address, albeit next door,and the accommodation name and address is different on the paperwork. I was led to believe I was making a serious saving for a superior room, but got a standard room at the standard rate. As for the star rating for the hotel we actually stayed in, it is not clear from their own website what it is, I can't find it anywhere. However Google and numerous big name brokers seem to think it's 4-star.0 -
Daytona - we didn't realise until after we'd checked in when we noticed the header on the invoice stated a different hotel name. When we looked it up on Google, we could only find references alluding to its 4-star status. It is part of the same chain so everything else looked right up until that point. We didn't want to kick up a fuss because it was quite late in the day, we had a show to get to and wanted to relax and enjoy ourselves.
But mentioning the issue as soon as you realised it may have elicited "oh I'm terribly sorry sir, we've put you in the wrong room. If you can give us five minutes we'll put that right".0 -
Do the luxury suites not have their own check in? I'm confused as to why you would check in somewhere with a different name.
It's difficult to know what has happened without the name of the hotel and the broker.0 -
You need to complain on the day to give them a chance top put things right. It's been nearly 3 months and you stayed where you were put.
A complaint may well get you some discount vouchers but apart from that you are on a sticky wicket
You do know all this 70% off rubbish is just to get you in the door right?0 -
IAmWales - fair enough, the accommodation booked was Taj 51 Buckingham Gate, but the room we were given was in St James' Court at 54 Buckingham Gate. Both are owned by the Taj company, so the branding was the same.
wealdroam, the room type we were given by the broker was called 'Classic', when we looked it up it became clear that Taj 51 does not have any rooms called 'Classic' but St James' Court does. At that point it became clear that this was either a mistake or deliberate ploy by the broker. My beef is with the broker, not the Taj company, so I had no inclination to kick off at them on the night.0 -
You need to complain on the day to give them a chance top put things right. It's been nearly 3 months and you stayed where you were put.
A complaint may well get you some discount vouchers but apart from that you are on a sticky wicket
You do know all this 70% off rubbish is just to get you in the door right?
I booked the room 3 months ago, stayed there last weekend. And surely advertising a room 70% off when it has never been that price is false advertising?0 -
IAmWales - fair enough, the accommodation booked was Taj 51 Buckingham Gate, but the room we were given was in St James' Court at 54 Buckingham Gate. Both are owned by the Taj company, so the branding was the same.
wealdroam, the room type we were given by the broker was called 'Classic', when we looked it up it became clear that Taj 51 does not have any rooms called 'Classic' but St James' Court does. At that point it became clear that this was either a mistake or deliberate ploy by the broker. My beef is with the broker, not the Taj company, so I had no inclination to kick off at them on the night.
So you got the exact room you booked, with the same company, but just in a different section of their hotel.
You paid the price you was happy to pay. RRP's are over inflated and used to make people think they are getting a good deal, however you was happy with the price you paid.
As for * ratings, they are only a guide. I could open up Rogue Hotels tomorrow and give it a 5* rating - means nothing.0
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