Can I get a refund from Travelodge?

bartsimpson

A couple of weeks ago I made a group booking for a Travelodge hotel, 6 rooms at a cost of £115 per room for 2 nights, scheduled for the middle of April. I was under the impression that group bookings were cheaper than single bookings, which is why I did it all in one go.

However, I've just checked their individual rates, and to my surprise it is showing as £70 per room for the 2 nights on the same dates. £45 cheaper per person. This is due to their 'multi-night offer', something I was never offered at any stage of the group booking process.

They also have a 'flexible rate', which means you can cancel at any point up to 24 hrs before your stay, for £115 - the same as I paid. However, I've just discovered that my booking is NOT flexible, and I can't cancel the group booking so that I could book them individually and save £45 per person for my group.

I emailed them asking them to refund the difference, and this is what they've just replied with:

Thank you for your e-mail.

This matter has now been escalated to me to respond to you. I am sorry to learn that you are unhappy with my colleague’s previous response.

I hope you can understand that we put reliance on the customer when booking. They have to agree to the rate and terms and conditions. Once payment is taken, the booking is confirmed and the terms and conditions applicable.

If you were unhappy with the rate at the time, you could have selected a different one.

We regret to tell you that we would be unable to honour any rate shown previously by giving you a refund.

Thank you again for contacting us.

Kind regards

The upshot is that I feel totally frustrated and cheated by Travelodge who never offered this multi-night rate, or flexible rate, on their group booking pages. I can't even cancel and book elsewhere as they will not refund my money.


Can someone please advise me on what I could possibly do in this situation? Can I take it any further or do I just accept that I've been ripped off?

Many thanks

kajstring24

I'm sorry, I think Travel Lodge has a point, you should have shopped around and checked the other rates before you made the purchase. You could try expressing your disappointment to Head Office on the basis that perhaps the website wasn't clear enough, but I think you just need to learn from your mistake and move on.

InsideInsurance

Whilst it is good customer service to advice customers to shop around or that there is possibilities that it can be gotten cheaper elsewhere there is absolutely no obligation for a company to offer the cheapest price to someone unless in some marketing materials you have seen they claim that they do.

Write a complaint, it may get you something but my personal experience with Travel Lodge is that even complaints to the executive simply go into a black hole.

giraffe69

I was under the impression that group bookings were cheaper than single bookings

I'm afraid I think that says it all. You didn't check and Travelodge are within their rights.

ThumbRemote

This is one of those cases where the company is legally in the right, but are ending up providing terrible customer service.

Just remember how they've treated you and take your business elsewhere in future.

System

This is why its always a bad idea to recheck the price of something after you've booked it and you can't cancel! These situations often happen!

bartsimpson

Well they have lost all future business from me, unless they are an absolutely last resort, so it's going to cost them far more in the long run.

System

The thing about travellodge is that they can be so cheap that boycotting them affects you more than them! True they are not the best hotels in the world but if you need a random bed for the night you can often get a room for between £19-29. Similar hotels for that price tend to be of a much lower quality

I get the impression that travelodge don't care much about customer service, their USP is basic, clean rooms at a cheap price. These days you don't even have to speak to any staff when you are there as you use a computer to check in, that gives you your key and you just drop it off when you leave!