Hotel says double booked 4 days before departure - what are our rights?

Blue264

finallycruising wrote: »

In fact, yesterday PM we called to give them our mobile number as we were going out and they didn't seem that bothered about taking it. That seems to indicate to me that they're not actively doing anything, more just sitting back and waiting to see if a cancellation emerges. It's very unsettling when you've been looking forward to a break.

I fully appreciate that this is very unsettling for you.
I would expect any reservations agent worth their salt to be doing all they can to rectify this behind the scenes and I most definately would not expect them to commit to anything until they have something solid to offer you.
It would be very bad practice to talk about lots of alternatives to you until they are absolutely sure that they are available.

I would say to you, call them again today. Stay as calm as humanly possible. Get the name of the manager who is seeking an alternative for you (this scenario often falls to a travel manager to rectify) but please be aware that they may not be in work today.

One thing I would also like you to bear in mind is that when this situation occurs before the guest actually arriving, you can guarantee that the error is down to the hotel themselves overbooking. It's an agents nightmare, but hotels do phone us to say that they have overbooked and that they are rejecting the booking even though they have given us a confirmation reference and, in some cases, even taken full payment for the reservation.
So please remember that the agent you will end up talking to is most likely doing their utmost to pacify you, find you a suitable alternative hotel and also kicking off big style at the hotel that has put them in this situation in the hope that they will rectify the matter (as is their responsibility).

I'm not sure how long your holiday is for, but if it would guarantee that you are given superior accomodation, would you be prepared to split your stay and have one week at one hotel and the second week at another?

I sincerely hope that you get this rectified to your satisfaction.

Blue264

Warrington-Mike wrote: »

The problem they and you have is Tossa is a small resort with very few hotels, let alone 4 star hotels. Have you tried rining the hotel and asking why they chose to overbook you??

With respect, I don't believe that will help matters and will only incur an expensive phone call for someone who is already stressed out by this.
Also, chances are that the hotel staff will not be aware of the guest's name as they will not show up on their inhouse reservations system as having a booking.
Something like this will be being dealt with at a management level and there are supplier contracts involved between the hotel and the agent. If the hotel have done this on a few occassions, their contract with the agent company will be under review.

finallycruising

Blue264 wrote: »

I'm not sure how long your holiday is for, but if it would guarantee that you are given superior accomodation, would you be prepared to split your stay and have one week at one hotel and the second week at another?

I suggested that on my first contact but was told 'I'm not sure we can do that'.

Called again this morning and, once through the recorded speil, it range for about 8 minutes before being answered by somebody in sales. He's explained the department I wanted was extremely busy but took my details to email to them. Maybe an internal email will take priority?! He then gave me his name and told me to call him back in an hour if nobody returns my call. Twenty minutes to go......

finallycruising

....and it continues. They have not yet made one call to us. I called him back after an hour and he said the other department were 'on it'. I realise that lowcostbeds.com have been put in this situation by the hotel but I find the extreme lack of communication - even if it's just to reassure us they haven't forgotten about us - unprofessional in the extreme.

finallycruising

It's now gone 5pm on the day before travel and they've still not had the decency to call .... So I called, again, and they say they're still waiting for their agent in the resort to come up with something.

They also say that even if they haven't sorted it by our departure time, we should just turn up at original hotel that was booked to await further instructions.

Is this normal? Would you travel on this basis?

mad_rich

finallycruising wrote: »

we should just turn up at original hotel that was booked to await further instructions.

Is this normal? Would you travel on this basis?

Well I certainly wouldn't abandon my holiday, if that's what you mean.

There's always the possibility that by the time they've got you standing in the foyer (rather than on the end of a phone line), they will be able to magically find a room for you in their overbooked hotel - possibly at the expense of some other poor soul . If they don't, make sure they pay for a taxi to your replacement accommodation

finallycruising

mad_rich wrote: »

Well I certainly wouldn't abandon my holiday, if that's what you mean.

Well it had crossed my mind in a selfish, petulant way.

Having just searched Google, most people have posted good things about lowcostbeds.com, though I did find a couple of comments about people not getting the accomodation they'd booked and paid for. According to the documentation they are acting as retail agent for Viajes Olympic Costa Brava. So I guess they're the ones who are not coming up with the goods.

finallycruising

Just thought I'd add a postscript to this thread to tie things up. On the morning of departure I finally got to talk to someone who appeared to be able and willing to do something, though their assertion that I'd 'left it a bit late' only seemed to confirm that the previous people I'd spoken to had fobbed me off and done absolutely nothing.

The manager called my mobile when I was travelling to Gatwick to say he believed he'd found a 4 star hotel for us but we'd have to wait while he got confirmation. No more calls were received so we called when we arrived in Barcelona. The hotel was confirmed - of course, no access to internet to check it out at this point - and, barring some lost calls on the mobile and multiple attampts to get through to the permanantly engaged number in the UK, we obtained the address when half-way to the resort.

On arrival we found ourselves at the replacement 4 star hotel - and directly opposite the the 3 star that was previously offered! Upshot was that the 4 star was the sister hotel of the 3 star and all meals were taken in the 3 star.

While it was better (quieter) than the original replacement, it was not on a par with the hotel we booked. My daughter referred to the pool as a puddle! I felt it was rather disingenuous. Obviously the star rating in Spain bears no relation to the food served! Many people in the hotel had been booked elsewhere but had ended up there.

Apart from the obvious failings of the original hotel in overbooking, the way the issue was handled prior to departure showed complete contempt for us, their customer, and ultimately, we didn't get the type of holiday we'd booked.

sadiejp

I know this will be of no great use to you but i work for a large hotel chain (associated with Paris Hilton) and our company has an over booking policy of a percentage of the rooms. Like almost all other hotel companies, we overbook some of our hotels because we know that a percentage of our customers make a reservation but then do not arrive to check-in. While we are aware that overbooking might sound negative, it allows us to accommodate customers who would otherwise not be able to make a reservation once availability at the hotel has been booked up. In these instances, we calculate the level of overbooking through computer forecasting (based on historical data) to ensure that we can be as accurate as possible. Our aim is to make sure that people who arrive to fulfil their booking are allocated their rooms, while also ensuring that rooms that would have been left empty due to other customers not arriving are also used.

Regards