Hotel is trying to charge for Breakfast after we have checkout?

Kayss2000

We have just got back from a 3 night stay at the Headlands cottages in Newquay, Cornwall.

We booked online for a self catering 3 night stay, when they sent our confirmation it had on it that breakfast was included.

So the first morning we arrived at the breakfast room in the main hotel, We were told that this was a mistake and that this should not be on our confirmation and it was an new computer system error, we were then told that they would honour the mistake.

We carried on having breakfast for the other 2 mornings and on the last morning we were again approached to say that we would be charged for the 2 days breakfast and they were only allowing us to have breakfast on the first morning.

Then we went to checkout and were told that we had nothing to pay and were free to go.

3 days after our break we have just received in the post a very rude letter telling us that in 7 days they will be charging our credit card (which we used to booked on) £119.00 for the breakfast for the last 2 days.

1) Can they do this ?
2) Can we stop them taking money from our credit card ?

RadoJo

When they said they would honour breakfast on the first day, did they actually say that they would offer you free breakfast for the other two days as well? To be honest, at £59.50 for breakfast, I would have made sure before going for breakfast the other two days, but that depends what they said on the first day.

downshifter

They should have permanently masked your credit card details on their system immediately your booking was fully paid up, it isn't allowed to keep credit card details. Even if they need to return say a refundable damages deposit at the end of your stay (assuming you haven't damaged anything!!) they need to ask again for your details to refund to your account.

No idea about the legality of it but where I work, if our computer system had made a mistake we would have honoured it for the period of your stay as long as you're absolutely sure you were told in writing (email is fine) that you wouldn't be charged before you came. Verbal from a member of staff after you're there isn't much good, specially if someone else tells you different. The only odd thing is that it was self catering - breakfast isn't usually included as self catering means just that though I can see they make a big thing about offering hotel services as an extra! It isn't usually the computer system anyway, but the person who input the data!

I wonder what system they use? Seems very poor to me and no excuse. And rudeness is totally inexcusable! Sounds like Fawlty Towers! We rely a lot on Tripadviser reviews and wouldn't take a risk in getting bad feedback for the sake of £119.

jazabelle

On their website it says a cooked breakfast is £11.95, so are they saying why they are charging what they are?

4743hudsonj

jazabelle wrote: »

On their website it says a cooked breakfast is £11.95, so are they saying why they are charging what they are?

5 people maybe?

Kayss2000

RadoJo wrote: »

When they said they would honour breakfast on the first day, did they actually say that they would offer you free breakfast for the other two days as well? To be honest, at £59.50 for breakfast, I would have made sure before going for breakfast the other two days, but that depends what they said on the first day.

They said that they would honour the error ???? did not say just for 1 breakfast or all 3 ???

Kayss2000

Kayss2000 wrote: »

They said that they would honour the error ???? did not say just for 1 breakfast or all 3 ???

But they also let us straight in on the next day. no questions?

dmg24

**Please remove the names from your post.**

There appears to be confusion on both sides, but your email will get their backs up even more. I would call them and try to discuss the situation calmly and politely.

RadoJo

Ok - I think you might be better off including some information about the letter they sent you on here as your response seems very emotional and I can only assume that this is in response to the contents of their letter asking for payment.

Either way, with regards to your response, I would lose all the stuff about having the conversation in front of other guests - it's not really relevant if all you're asking for is the cost of breakfast to be paid, and it clouds the issue of whether you were in fact told that they would honour their mistake. Your letter further demonstrates the lack of clarity about what they agreed to - was it that they agreed to include breakfast on the first day as you had actually turned up for it, or was it an agreement to include it every day - as you say, it wasn't made clear, and from the sounds of it, the subsequent discussions implied that they thought that they had only agreed to include breakfast on the first day.

Either way, I would have thought that they would write it off to retain your custom, but it sounds as though they think you were trying to pull a fast one by using your incorrect confirmation to gain entry to the breakfast room when you knew it wasn't supposed to be included - is that the basic implication of their letter?

Laz123

I would go for a charge back on your cc if they've deducted without your permission. It isn't your fault they are inefficient and can't get their act together. When you checked out they legally finalised the contract between you and them.

It's rather like going into a shop, paying for goods, leaving the premises and then the owner chasing you down the street to say they've made a mistake and you still owe them money.

It's not on.

Mark_Hewitt

I wouldn't send that letter. The tone is very harsh and it's overly long. Even if they are jumping up and down and acting like children because of it, it's still best to write a very calm and measured letter, sticking to the absolute facts and clearly state your course of action.

And yes, I would agree with your assertion that your confirmation email with breakfasts does constitute a contract.

As the above poster said, once you've checked out and left the hotel, that's it, they can't come back to you again.

Also, the small claims court is the last resort. If they do decide they are going to charge you card the order of events is.
* You send them another recorded letter saying that you give the 7 or 14 days to refund the money to your credit card.
* If the money is not back by then, you complain to the credit card company.
* If no joy there *then* you take it to SMC. If you go before they will ask you why you haven't done the above first.