Hotel Refund/Policy confusion

bangarang86

I booked a hotel online for one night and put down a 10% deposit

Upon arrival we paid the balance (on a different credit card) and booked in. Unfortunately the accommodation was below standard and not what we expected.

After speaking with the lady at reception she hesitantly agreed to a refund (not including the deposit) and we left and booked in elsewhere.

A few days later after checking my bank statement I noticed the hotel had charged the balance onto the card that I paid the deposit on.

I rang them up and they said that they have a 48 hour cancellation policy which I was aware of and that they had charged for the first night as per the cancellation policy terms.

My argument it that I did not cancel; I booked in, was not happy with the accommodation and a refund was agreed.


Where do I stand and what can I do from here?

hcb42

write a letter to the hotel manager. Or an email, Get his or her name, address to them, and outline the facts calmly.

bangarang86

thanks for your reply, I emailed the manager stating what I have said in this thread and received a reply this morning.

In short he has said that "according to the agreement we were entitled to take the full amount as you had checked in to the hotel already"

I am assuming the agreement he is talking about is the cancellation policy:

**Cancellation Policy**
Customers can cancel their reservation free of charge up to 1 day before arrival. After this date, charges will be applied by the property up to the full cost of the reservation. Deposits paid are non refundable.
**Important Information**
The cancellation of this property is 48 hours before arrival,in case of no-show or late cancellation the property will charge your credit card for the first 2 nights.


my argument is that we never cancelled and paid in full. It was agreed that we would get a refund as we were not happy with the accommodation which was given back to the card the balance was paid on.

regardless of the agreed refund they have charged the card the deposit was paid on for the full amount.

DVardysShadow

The point you should be making is that you agreed <xyz> with the reception staff and on that understanding the contract was terminated and you left to seek accommodation elsewhere.

If they are not happy to refund money taken in excess of that agreement, you could possibly make a case for a refund of all money paid plus any extra for the alternative accommodation. Or you could go back to your credit card company and ask for a chargeback as the transaction is unauthorised.

fluffnutter

They're just trying to fob you off. This wasn't a cancellation; it was a refund (minus the deposit) in acknowledgement of the below-par standards. Write again, explaining just that and include that Person X agreed to a refund. If they don't reply or maintain their 'but you didn't follow our cancellation policy correctly' stance, write again advising they have 14 days to refund you, or you'll pursue them via the small claims court.

I don't suppose you took the receptionist's name? It shouldn't matter. Just give the date and time - they should know who was on the desk at that time.

Flyboy152

They don't even have the right to keep the deposit. The services they provided were not fit for purpose, so you would be entitled to a full refund, including the deposit, less anything you used, e.g., minibar, food etc.

Hintza

bangarang86 wrote: »

Upon arrival we paid the balance (on a different credit card) and booked in.

Surely you can point to the fact you paid and were refunedd to help your case.

bangarang86

thanks for the replies I am feeling more confident that I actually can get my money back. I have replied back to the manager outlining that

• There was no failure to pay or cancellation of booking as one of our party paid in full - therefore the cancellation policy does not apply
• A refund was agreed with the receptionist and was paid back to the card we paid it

basically he had no right to charge my card as the matter was concluded by giving the refund.

Hopefully he will refund the card if not I may have to go down the small claims court route

Flyboy152

bangarang86 wrote: »

thanks for the replies I am feeling more confident that I actually can get my money back. I have replied back to the manager outlining that

• There was no failure to pay or cancellation of booking as one of our party paid in full - therefore the cancellation policy does not apply
• A refund was agreed with the receptionist and was paid back to the card we paid it

basically he had no right to charge my card as the matter was concluded by giving the refund.

Hopefully he will refund the card if not I may have to go down the small claims court route

I would recommend you discuss this with your card issuer first. Under section seventy-five of the consumer credit act, they are jointly responsible and as such are just as liable for any refund (presuming the total cost was more than one hundred pounds).