potential overcharging for stay at youth hostel, what can i do?

donnajunkie

hi,
i recently booked a stay at a youth hostel in may this year. it is on a friday and saturday night. the saturday night however is on a bank holiday weekend.
the youth hostel in question is trying to charge me an extra £3.80 per night saying it is because it is a bank holiday weekend. well for starters the friday is just a normal weekday isnt it so it definitely shouldnt apply to that night.
despite this i am suspitious because the person i spoke to when booking didnt seem to have a clue because they said they didnt have room for the nights i originally wanted but when i looked online afterwards it said there was plenty of room on those nights.
i have stayed at many youth hostels before including this one and they have all always charged the same amount for a nights stay no matter whether it is on a bank holiday or not. i am staying at another on the sunday and monday of the bank holiday and that one isnt asking for an extra amount per night.
there is nothing at all on their website about varying overnight rates.
if you go through the motions to book on their booking website and stop just before the page that requires your details, the price it gives does not include any £3.80 that they are trying to get off me.

i paid them the price that is stated on the website and asked (in my letter) if i could pay that extra amount when i arrive even though i dont think i should be paying it at all. in the letter from them confirming the booking it states that all amounts due should be paid 56 days in advance or i may lose my booking.
so i am worried, should i just pay the extra or can i do something about it?

o_t_e

Is this an official YHA youth hostel? In your position I would be thinking of bypassing the manager of that hostel and speaking to yha customer service

0870 7708868 or 01629 592700 or 0800 0181 930 ext 700/708
(numbers from http://www.saynoto0870.co.uk)

{edit} Just in response to your message below donna - I have found the english and scottish hostel asociations very slow to respond to e-mails so if they don't respond to your second e-mail within a couple of days I'd call them

donnajunkie

hi,
yes it is. i didnt confirm it was a yha hostel or the name of the hostel incase for some reason that meant the thread would be removed.
i did email customer services more than a week ago and have not got a reply yet. i didnt go into detail like i have here, i just asked about whether any hostels varied their prices. i think i will try again and be more specific and even though the same people probably see it i think i will try their reservations email address instead.

thanks for that say no to 0870 thing as well. thankfully i still have one of my old guides with all the regalur numbers in it.

donnajunkie

o_t_e wrote:

Is this an official YHA youth hostel? In your position I would be thinking of bypassing the manager of that hostel and speaking to yha customer service

0870 7708868 or 01629 592700 or 0800 0181 930 ext 700/708
(numbers from http://www.saynoto0870.co.uk)

{edit} Just in response to your message below donna - I have found the english and scottish hostel asociations very slow to respond to e-mails so if they don't respond to your second e-mail within a couple of days I'd call them

hi,
yeah thanks, i will do that.
i am thinking they will need to get in touch with the hostel in question first so i think i will give them a week before phoning.
do you have any advice on what to do if i get no joy from them?

donnajunkie

well i got a reply today and they fobbed me off. so what next? i have emailed watchdog but i get the impression that unless thousands of people complain about the same thing that they arent bothered.

alison74

How did they 'fob you off ?' Have they explained why they are charging more for the weekend yet ?

donnajunkie

alison74 wrote:

How did they 'fob you off ?' Have they explained why they are charging more for the weekend yet ?

hi,
they have just given the answer someone would give to try and bulls**t their way out of it.
they claim that it is policy for all hostels to vary their prices depending on the time of year. that is either total rubbish or they simply havent done what they should when implimenting such a change. they have not notified yha members and they have not put any information about it on their website.
it does say ''prices from'' but it has always said that because there are different packages depending on what you want, for example meals. they have not explained why the price online does not increase for those dates. they dont vary prices depending on how you book so someone booking over the phone is not supposed to be paying more than someone booking online.