Lastminute.com AGH!

arthurp8

Ok - I booked a night in a nice hotel at the start of December for a night on the 2nd Jan. Booked over 3 weeks in advance.
I received a phone call on the 30th December saying that the standard of room I had booked and paid for was not available and that I was going to be placed in a lesser quality room. Obviously not impressed. They offered me free breakfast as compensation. I contacted LM.com to complain and they said I would be contacted within 12 hours with a solution. I did not receive a reply and I contacted them to state that I was not happy - however because of the late information I had no option but to use the inadequate hotel room. Which I had to do - I then contacted them afterwards to complain again as I was not happy with the room quality as I had booked a v plush room - and ended up with a very average room - but couldn;t book another at such short notice.

Are LM.com liable at all - I know I took the room however I had complained prior to using the room - but want to know whether I can hold them to any form of compensation at all??

Thanks in advance

dmg24

As you used the room then you will be deemed to have accepted the alternative, so you would not be able to claim compensation. The only thing you would be able to claim for is the difference in the cost of rooms, if this is more than the cost of the breakfast.

Sorry can't give you more positive news x

DrFluffy

dmg24 wrote:

As you used the room then you will be deemed to have accepted the alternative, so you would not be able to claim compensation. The only thing you would be able to claim for is the difference in the cost of rooms, if this is more than the cost of the breakfast.

Sorry can't give you more positive news x

That is not true - the lack of notice would get round that.

Have you checked out the lastminute.com small print to double check that they do not exclude liability for such things?

arthurp8

I can see nothing in their T&C's - other than that LM.com will levy a 20GBP charge if I amend my booking in any way - surely I can do the same to them then? lol.

Anyhow I am waiting to see what they will say - however they have stated that they will investigate and get me a response within 28 days - I guess this is standard practice.

dmg24

A lack of notice would not override the fact that the OP accepted the room, the only way that this would come into effect is if the OP was not informed until they turned up at the hotel (and even then they would have to prove that it was near impossible to find somewhere else to stay). Though it would have been difficult to get another hotel, it would certainly not have not been impossible.

I have nothing but sympathy with the OP. I went to check in at a hotel with a male friend, we had booked a twin room, and they had allocated us a double. He was only a friend! It would have been endless hassle (and a lot more expense) to find another hotel, so we ended up taking the room. The hotel refused to reimburse us anything. (The only positive was that it was easier to kick him when he started snoring!).

On a positive note, I have always had good experiences when dealing with Last Minute, so hopefully they will come back with a positive response. Let us know x

DrFluffy

I've had a 50% refund on a late change (notified the day before) from lastminute before...

arthurp8

Finally got a response from Lastminute and they basically said that since they are merely an intermediary that they are not at fault in any way, and that they are not prepared to offer me any kind of partial refund, discount for future orders or anything.

Terrible - I wrote back politely and told them as much and again received nothing yet.

Also I have not yet received anything from the hotel.

I am definitely put off ordering any hotel breaks through LM again.:mad: