Hotel overbooked

narabanekeater

Last weekend my friend and I went to stay in London for a shopping/theatre trip.

We had booked into a hotel 8 weeks before hand and had emails confirming a twin room for 2 nights for 2 guests including breakfast. The hotel was not cheap at almost £150 a night.

Upon arrival (11pm which they knew we would be late arriving )we as were other guests were told they had vastly over booked the hotel and could only accomadate us if we had 2 single rooms but they would be next do each other. They offered us a bottle of wine as compensation. I asked at the time if the rooms had both a bath and shower as I have medical problems from a problamatic pregnancy and only one of the rooms they gave us did.

All we wanted to do was sleep after a long day travelling and we agreed. We really just wanted some sleep. We were told the rooms were next to each other which they wernt. I tried phoning reception but nobody answered so in the end we just flooped into bed
The hotel and staff were wonderful and very friendly however even though we asked for the free wine we never did get it.

I guess im asking if I have grounds for a complaint or am I being petty? They were willing for 2 single ladies to walk out of the hotel at that time of night now knowing London and without a bed for the night.

If so what sort of things should I be saying. Ive never had to complain before?
Many Thanks

tbw

I expect you will now get a shower of replies accussng you of jumping on the bandwagon!!!

However, the hotel was out of order to give your room to somebody else (by overbooking) , they offered you a VERY small 'sweetener' (which, personally, I would have told them was not quite enough), failed to actually provide said 'sweetener' and mislead you over the position of the rooms . In your situation, I would certainly complain by letter, keeping it brief and to the facts (my DH has a tendency to bring i all sorts of extra comments that detract from the main points) and tell them what you expect them to do about it.

I would probably want them to refund a proportion of the room costs - say a third - so would ask for 50% to allow them to negotiate downwards. But then I do tend to be a bit Bolshie with companies that let me down. Good Luck - you have nothing to lose by asking!

dmg24

How far apart were the rooms?

Is there a reason why both rooms needed to have a bath and a shower - did you intend to use both?

You are being a tad dramatic - they did not expect two women to walk the streets of London at night, they offered you an alternative, albeit not what you had booked.

McKneff

Dont waste your time.

I think youre being a bit dramatic too.

Why are you bothered about a bath and a shower.

Why were you bothered that your rooms were not next to each other.

You had a sleep, you had a shower/bath. I presume all the other facilities were okay.

Just move on and get on with your life.

tbw

Its not a case of being dramatic - the hotel made a mess of the booking and then made it worse by not doing what they said they would to make up. They also appeared to be a bit devious over the room descriptions.

Yes, mistakes do happen but the trick is to put the matter right (or at least make the customer feel better about it) - promising a 'sweetener' and failing to deliver and misleading the customers does not quite do the trick. The OP feels justifiably irritated.

dmg24

tbw wrote: »

Its not a case of being dramatic - the hotel made a mess of the booking and then made it worse by not doing what they said they would to make up. They also appeared to be a bit devious over the room descriptions.

Yes, mistakes do happen but the trick is to put the matter right (or at least make the customer feel better about it) - promising a 'sweetener' and failing to deliver and misleading the customers does not quite do the trick. The OP feels justifiably irritated.

So they should complain that they did not get a bottle of wine?

OP, send me your address and I'll send you £5 to get yourself a bottle of wine. Sorted!

spugzbunny

You paid for a service and got nothing like it! Complain - what have you got to lose?

Start your letter stating when you visited, times etc. Stick to the facts. Explain that you informed them you would be arriving late and had confirmation of bookings. State exactly what you were offered (wine, single rooms next to each other, bath and shower). Explain what was not received from this offer.

Then state how you felt. You were dissapointed with the service, inability to adhere to promises. State that you cannot understand how this could happen when you booked well in advance and confirmed you reservation. Explain how it effected your enjoyment of your break. Finish off by saying that you would seriously consider not using the company again.

Personally - I don't ask for a refund or such. I ask for an explanation as to why such events occured and why subsequent promises were not met. I'd also ask why the reception staff were not available when you called. I also use words like 'appalled' 'shocked' becasue I do like a bit of drama (unlike many others here!)

Back your letter up with copies of bookings, emails etc and refer to them in your letter. Also - does thier website have some kind of 'customer service' statement. I know my friend had a terrible night in one of teh big hotels that promises to give you 'the best night sleep' and she made a good point that in no way could this have applied to her stay.

You are not asking for compo - ignore people who say you are being over dramatic! You paid for a service and didn't get what you originally booked with no form of apology. I personally think that if a service fails to provide then you have every right to write and ask for an explanation and an apology. if you don't ask you don't get!

narabanekeater

appologies perhaps I should have given you some more information in my opening post. The need for both a bath and shower is medical between myself and my friend. Friend suffers from a condition which makes standing in the same position for a long period of time hard, and I have to use various prescription creams in daily to help a skin complaint. These need washing off in a hot shower, certainly not a bath else the bath gets almost stained from the creams and I certainly wouldnt want to sit in a bath of emultion cream residue
I did phone the hotel to check this before I even booked and it does indeed state on the website bath and shower.

The rooms we were given were on the same floor but apart.
As for the wine it was a gesture from them which was welcome but was not given.

I did ask at the time what would have happend if I was travelling with my young daughter would they expect her to have a room to herself which of course the answer was no but id have had to have shared a single room and bed with her. So if I was travelling with my daughter and they said no they wouldnt have expected us to share a single room where would they have put us then?

dmg24

narabanekeater wrote: »

appologies perhaps I should have given you some more information in my opening post. The need for both a bath and shower is medical between myself and my friend. Friend suffers from a condition which makes standing in the same position for a long period of time hard, and I have to use various prescription creams in daily to help a skin complaint. These need washing off in a hot shower, certainly not a bath else the bath gets almost stained from the creams and I certainly wouldnt want to sit in a bath of emultion cream residue
I did phone the hotel to check this before I even booked and it does indeed state on the website bath and shower.

The rooms we were given were on the same floor but apart.
As for the wine it was a gesture from them which was welcome but was not given.

I did ask at the time what would have happend if I was travelling with my young daughter would they expect her to have a room to herself which of course the answer was no but id have had to have shared a single room and bed with her. So if I was travelling with my daughter and they said no they wouldnt have expected us to share a single room where would they have put us then?

You were not travelling with your daughter, so that is irrelevant.

How far apart were the rooms? Were you able to get one room with a bath and one with a shower?

There is no question that you should have received a twin room rather than two singles. Other than this, what did you not receive that you booked?

lincroft1710

narabanekeater wrote: »

I did ask at the time what would have happend if I was travelling with my young daughter would they expect her to have a room to herself which of course the answer was no but id have had to have shared a single room and bed with her. So if I was travelling with my daughter and they said no they wouldnt have expected us to share a single room where would they have put us then?

Well you weren't travelling with your daughter so this was irrelevant and did nothing to help your case.

I trust that the hotel charged you for a twin room if this was cheaper than 2 singles.

Ms-Pacman

From what I read, this was to be a nice mini break with a friend at a not cheap hotel being almost £150 night, then because of someone's error the OP and her friend ended up in a less than satisfactory room.

If this had happened to me and I had treated myself to a nice hotel, yes I would be peeved that
a) my room booked 8 weeks ago had been taken,
b) that the room I was given instead did not have the full facilities I had paid for
and c) just to rub it in the sweetener that was offered did not arrive.

I agree with spugzbunny's post above.