£15 Travelodge Xmas Sale

Babbler

Clowance wrote:

Yes, perhaps someone should take them to small claims.
What would happen if , on being told your "guaranteed" room is not available but you can go to a travelodge miles away (maybe), you say, NO, I want to stay in this area, and you get a refund and stay in a Premier/IBIS/Novotel etc and then claim in small claims for the additional cost?

Any lawyers out there to advise? It hasnt happened to me, but it may have to someone else.

As to the person who said they still have the money for the room so why sell it twice, I thought that but perhaps they make money from breakfasts and extras which they dont want to lose out on. Still, taking money for a service and then not providing it as offered (not miles away) Must surely be breach of contract.

I didnt think they did breakfasts, etc?

As for suing - I bet they have some small print somewhere stating the guaranteed room is for a room in any travellodge within 60 miles or somethink. Need to check their definition of "Guaranteed" first.

They sell the room twice as they have got away with it and no one has taken them to court as yet. That helps their revenues as the staff training video said!

However, it has now backfired on them and will damage their revenue :rotfl:

MyUserNamesTaken

Babbler wrote:

I didnt think they did breakfasts, etc?

They do offer breakfasts.

mirandamayhem

What is overbooking?
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.

Back to questions

What happens if the hotel I am staying in is overbooked?
On rare occassions, it becomes necessary for us to find suitable alternative accommodation for our customers in the local area or offer to refund the room. While we recognise the inconvenience this may cause a small number of customers, we believe that this is outweighed by the added convenience for the majority of customers who are able to find improved availability in hotels as a result of this policy.

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/help/index.php?section=general#question_17
from their website
so they will offer a refund if they're overbooked, apparently.

sandybrag

On rare occassions, it becomes necessary for us to find suitable alternative accommodation for our customers in the local area or offer to refund the room

Thats interesting as it suggests that will refund you or suitable accomodation in local area, but it doesn't state it has be a Travellodge. I wonder how far the term "local area" means?.

I would suggest if this ever happens to you, and they suggest a Travellodge some distance away you argue this is not the "local area", and demand they pay to put you up in a hotel in town?...

If they still refuse, Im sure this would make a good argument in a small claims court when you seek to get the money back, what do you think?

Babbler

I noticed there is no date on that page. I wonder when they added it...

oldrimes

If you don't think the Travelodge policy is fair, why not communicate that to them - they have such a facility on their website.

They've worked quite carefully to create their image - good value accomodation, and this will obviously affect it. Don't just avoid them, tell them why you are going elsewhere.

sandybrag

oldrimes wrote:

If you don't think the Travelodge policy is fair, why not communicate that to them - they have such a facility on their website.

They've worked quite carefully to create their image - good value accomodation, and this will obviously affect it. Don't just avoid them, tell them why you are going elsewhere.

I think the people that have been on the receiving end of this daft policy have made this perfectly clear to the Travellodge and they are more than aware of the distaste around it.

If they still dont get the message after an appearance on Watchdog, they never will... Perhaps a nose dive in profits after this whole saga will finally make them sit up and take note.

haveagoade

MyUserNamesTaken wrote:

They do offer breakfasts.

Yes unless overbooked .....when they then send you down the nearest CHIP Shop!

Mr_Squiddy

sandybrag wrote:

I too saw Watchdog last night and this feature on the Travellodge and was absolutely disgusted. I cannot believe that even if you pay for a room in advance, that room is not guaranteed to be yours, and may be given to somebody else if the Travelodge fills up and you haven't arrived. I assumed this would probably affect people arriving late at night, but one family arrived at just 5pm to find theyre room had been given to somebody else!.
What other business lets you pay for something and then says tough, we cant supply it, and by the way your not getting your money back either.

The icing on the cake is apparently if you dont turn up to take the room, they will actually charge an additional fee for not doing so! (I may have that wrong, but couldnt believe that part either).

It's not right but let's be honest, everyone does it. I worked for Butlins Pwllheli in the accommodation allocation dept over twenty years ago and exactly the same policy of 10% overbooking applied. Towards the end of a Saturday you would be shuffling people and chalets left right and centre. If there was any overflow they got put into local hotels.

Airlines do it too.

haveagoade

Formule 1 in France are the premier Budget hotel chain and they allow refunds on bookings up to 7pm on the day, after which they charge whether you turn up or not, which is fair enough.

Travelodge want to get a double income from the room!