Help Needed - ruined wedding night

Ms_Chocaholic

So ..... the Hotel was "only yards from the ceremony" which started at lunchtime and there was no opportunity between lunchtime and 12.30 am (12 hours) to go back to the Hotel to check in?

paddyrg

What could the hotel have done differently in the circumstances? You left 30 mins to check in which coincided with a busy time of day, they tried to contact you, then they remedied the situation with a different hotel and taxis.

Do they owe you the difference between what you paid and the cost of the holiday inn? I would say so. Do they owe you £500 for compo? I really can't see it - they did do everything they could to remedy things on the day, it is not their fault you chose to give them a useless contact number - I would say you need to accept some of the blame.

And at least you had a hotel room, my wedding night was in a collapsed tent! But it was about being there with my beloved, not the surroundings.

Edit - ahh I see you actually ended up not paying for the room and getting a free night elsewhere - your proveable losses seem to be negative. They are already out of pocket and have acted well. I can't see the franchisee wanting to pay for a weeks holiday for you when you actually gained in monetary terms already. Sorry

BristolDavid

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

So ..... the Hotel was "only yards from the ceremony" which started at lunchtime and there was no opportunity between lunchtime and 12.30 am (12 hours) to go back to the Hotel to check in?

Correct. As soon as the ceremony had finished and photos were taken we all got on a boat which took us to our reception destination. We were on a tight time schedule. There is nothing in their T & C's which stipulate when one needs to be checked in by.

Forwandert

BristolDavid wrote: »

I feel that as this was our wedding night it should count for a hell of a lot more. They don't seem to agree.

There is no way you can enforce this 'value' onto the hotel i can see. They haven't charged you for the room, paid for alternative accomodation and travelling between and offered another nights free stay. I think your as far as your going to get. Maybe put a bad review and information on tripadviser but they have clearly not left you out of pocket in anyway to require that level of compensation. The £500 as you say yourself was an example not a legal fixed rate of compensation.

Forwandert

paddyrg wrote: »

Do they owe you the difference between what you paid and the cost of the holiday inn? I would say so.

The OP wasn't charged for the room.

BristolDavid wrote: »

The room was £180 which didn't get charged and they paid for the Holiday Inn.

BristolDavid

Thank you all for the advice. Please keep it coming if you have anything to add.

This is the first time I have told this story and not been met with similar outrage to mine!

Torry_Quine

Has the different views here made any difference to your views on the situation.

Ms_Chocaholic

I do think by allowing this situation to drag on you are continuing to marr what appears to have been a wonderful wedding day for you both. If I were in your shoes I would go down the route as suggested by CoolHotCold above and accept a stay at the hotel on the night of your 1st anniversary.

BristolDavid

I won't be accepting the offer of a stay at the hotel. My wife wouldn't stay there and I don't think I want to either. I am less angry than I was but feel that I still need to pursue it. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't really tainted the wedding day and prolonging the complaint will not marr further. When I think of the wedding I don't think of the hotel.

What winds me up is the thought of my wife in tears.

Loanranger

You are over reacting, IMHO. You failed to check in and were not available for them to check with you. They are running a business and needed to fill the room. You got a free room and a taxi. If you had been left without a room for the night I would be outraged but you weren't.
Why is your wedding night so important when you already have a toddler?