Missold a weekend break

principalsec

I recently purchased a 'Girlie break' for my mum, sister , daughter and myself. The occasion was my mums birthday, it was advertised as follows -

Enjoy a Girlie Getaway and relax and unwind with a one night Spa Break at a Barcel! Hotel from £89 per person.

Your spa break for two includes:
♦ 1 night stay in a double or twin bedroom
♦ Dinner for two in the restaurant
♦ Full English Breakfast
♦ Bathrobes and slippers
♦ Use of the hotel's leisure facilities*

*PLUS* 2 of the following 30 minute treatments per person:
♥ Back, neck & shoulder massage
♥ Mini pedicure
♥ Mini manicure
♥ Mini facial


Unfortunately, this is what we actually received-

Our Girlie Getaway at the Stirling Barcel! Hotel included.

Your spa break for two includes:
♦ 1 night stay in a double or twin bedroom
♦ Dinner for two in the restaurant
♦ Full English Breakfast
♦ No Bathrobes or slippers
♦ Use of the hotel's leisure facilities*

*PLUS* 2 of the following 30 minute treatments per person:
♥ No Back, neck & shoulder massage
♥ No Mini pedicure
♥ No Mini manicure
♥ Mini facial (1 half hour session between all 4 of us)

As you can see our break didn't quite go to plan, the hotel staff failed to offer any alternatives - Or different dates for the treatments.
Although we asked, on numerous occasions, for robes etc... They never turned up! We also asked to be informed of any treatment cancellations, this didn't happen - Although we know that there was a number of cancellations! The rooms were lacking in the basics i.e. towels!

I sent an email to the companies customer support department, who promptly responded and £100 was repaid on to my credit card, negotiations open, I replied by asking for at least £200. This latest email has been ignored!

I now want to ask for a ful refund £398 less the £100 repaid. Does anyone know where I stand on this matter?

maninthestreet

£100 refund sounds fair to me. You can't expect a full refund when you actually spent the night in the hotel.

Pollycat

I don't know where you stand legally but I doubt if you'll get a refund of the full amount because you DID receive:

♦ 1 night stay in a double or twin bedroom
♦ Dinner for two in the restaurant
♦ Full English Breakfast
♦ Use of the hotel's leisure facilities*

which has a value.

Was there anything in the brochure about some treatments maybe not being available at certain times/dates?

principalsec

There was nothing about treatments not being available!

Hintza

You have received 25% discount. Probably not going to get much more than than. Think you have done as well as can be expected and anymore will cost you a lot of time and hassle and could end in failure.

Take the money and run.

principalsec

I've already had the £100 repaid to my card, so I have nothing to loose intaking it to the end. Thanks for your comments guys, I'll keep you informed.

pinkshoes

I'd say you need to get proof of the cost of the items that you didn't get, and prove that it came to more than £100.

I'd say £100 sounds quite reasonable, although perhaps up to £125. Going for a full refund is inappropriate, as if you weren't happy, you should have walked out and demanded a refund on the spot, and gone home. You did receive a lot of the services, and staying overnight makes up a large proportion of this (say 50%) and the food makes up another chunk (say 25%), so a 25% refund is about right

DrScotsman

I think some of you are looking at this the wrong way. pinkshoes and most of you are spot on - legally. While the hotel are in breach of contract, it does seem difficult to quantify any losses above £100 (5 points to anyone who can). Legally is normally the angle I take on these things, however purely from a customer relations standpoint this is appalling, and principalsec should be appealing from this angle. There's got to be a good chunk of that £300-odd left that's pure profit to the hotel, and I think the OP deserves some more of it back.

btw pinkshoes, I agree with your point that the OP should have walked out - but only if the hotel was a reasonable distance from her home. A hotel knows a lot of its customers will travel a long distance and expect the facilities to be there, with little they can do if they're not.

principalsec

Dear All,

Thanks for your help, it just goes to show that this country has not yet gone to the dogs - Most of you were commenting in a fair and just manner, again thank you.

However, the good news - I have managed to get a 50% refund on the package using the advice from DrScotsman, thanks Doc! The hotel shot themselves in the foot by ignoring my communications, so the customer relations angle worked well, especially when I asked them for the UK Managing Directors email promising to copy them in when I sent my correspondence.


Thanks

DrScotsman

No problem, glad you got it sorted