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Small claim against large hotel chain

Hi there,

My fiance and I had to commence a claim through Money Claim Online to get our wedding deposit back from our old venue. I won't go into masses of detail, but basically they tried to change our booking to accommodate a larger party and started being increasingly nasty and unhelpful after we said no. We became more and more worried about their ability to host our wedding so we decided to go elsewhere.

We submitted the claim online a few weeks ago and they didn't respond to dispute our claim, so we requested judgement and gave them 14 days to pay. The deadline is tomorrow and they have ignored the claim again.

Seeing as though this is a large international hotel chain, it should not be in any financial difficulty, so do we stand much chance of getting our money back if we request a warrant of execution?
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Comments

  • bod1467
    bod1467 Posts: 15,214 Forumite
    I'm surprised the chain even let it get this far! Sounds like it's been (mis)managed by the hotel's manager and not advised to people higher up in the chain.

    Note however that some of these "chains" are actually franchises, so not actually belonging to said chain. (I think some Marriott hotels fall into this description).
  • baker85
    baker85 Posts: 28 Forumite
    I think it might be a franchise now you mention it - so would that make things a bit more complicated?

    The whole thing (including the wedding booking) has been mismanaged to be honest so I don't know why I'm surprised that they're not responding!
  • What address did you use for the claim? the hotel one or the HQ?
    Thinking critically since 1996....
  • Equaliser123
    Equaliser123 Posts: 3,404 Forumite
    baker85 wrote: »
    I think it might be a franchise now you mention it - so would that make things a bit more complicated?

    The whole thing (including the wedding booking) has been mismanaged to be honest so I don't know why I'm surprised that they're not responding!

    Hope you've sued the right entity....
  • baker85
    baker85 Posts: 28 Forumite
    We went directly to the hotel, not the HQ.

    When we were trying to rectify the problem, head office/customer services said they couldn't help so that's why we went directly to the hotel.
  • vax2002
    vax2002 Posts: 7,187 Forumite
    There is a reason they are ignoring it, usually in such cases you start to look for what error you have made in their favour.
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • baker85
    baker85 Posts: 28 Forumite
    We have had a solicitor and also CAB look over all pieces of correspondence and there was nothing that they could spot that would potentially go in their favour. Well, not that they mentioned anyway!!
  • vax2002
    vax2002 Posts: 7,187 Forumite
    The details of the defendant would be the obvious one .
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • baker85
    baker85 Posts: 28 Forumite
    So you're saying we should have gone to the head office rather than the hotel itself?
  • ThumbRemote
    ThumbRemote Posts: 4,693 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    vax2002 wrote: »
    There is a reason they are ignoring it, usually in such cases you start to look for what error you have made in their favour.

    The reason they are ignoring it is almost certainly one of:
    a) they have no processes in place to handle this event, so don't know what to do and just hope it'll go away
    b) they know they are in the wrong, so have no grounds to contest it

    Never underestimate just how incompetent some businesses are.
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