Hotel closure and no refund given

creditcardjunkies

Hi I recently paid for a hotel booking for the easy hotel in Glasgow. I have just received an email saying this is a franchise hotel and that the owner has got into financial difficulties and he has closed the doors.

I have been told I will receive a refund for the booking fee which is £1.95 back on the credit card I used to pay for the booking. I am not getting a full refund of the room payment which is about £56.

Do I have any rights of fighting to get my money back.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards Vikki

Moomum

I believe you can do a chargeback if goods not received, I am not sure if this covers services but am sure someone more knowledgeable will be along in a moment :-)

Slowhand

Has to be over £100 for a s75 credit card claim I believe?

creditcardjunkies

I had heard about the £100 minimum cost also but I wasn't 100% sure if this was true.

lucy03

I don't know the contractual arrangements here, but I hope that someone can help get you a refund. If you booked via easyHotel's web-site the terms and conditions suggest you should be refunded in full if they can't fulfill the contract.

What I find quite astonishing is that easyHotel have seemingly just removed the hotel from the web-site and have made no reference to it. There's no guidance for customers, no information so people know where to get help.

Good luck in getting your money back from this company.

bris

The master franchisor is not liable for a franchisees debt, each franchisee sets up their own ltd co and trades separate from master franchisor.

The franchisee buys the rights to use the company name and receive the goodwill of the brand as well as on going support and advertising. You could say it's like a sister company, separate but associated.

Unless the Master franchisor has issued guarantees to pay any failed franchisors debt (highly unlikely) then the association can be terminated as quick as it's set up.

lucy03

Easyhotel define "we" in the contract as numerous things, including "our operators" and state "in the unlikely event of a room being unavailable for you under clause 3(f) or if the room offered is not acceptable to you, we will credit your Account with the price you have paid for your easyHotel booking".

In the case of someone, as a random example, BSM, their terms and conditions state quite clearly they are not responsible and that the contract is between the individual and the franchise holder. I'd usually expect that to be clarified, as it is also for example with Best Western Hotels in their terms and conditions.

I'd also personally expect to see information about the closure of one of the hotels, given they don't have that many, on the web-site. As it stands, I wouldn't personally consider booking any easyHotel.

unholyangel

Slowhand wrote: »

Has to be over £100 for a s75 credit card claim I believe?

Chargeback is something which applies to mastercard and visa (and amex too I think) via their own policies.

S75 of CCA is about credit lending in general so only applies to credit cards. S75 offers far more protection since it makes them jointly liable, but chargeback can still be useful in certain circumstances.


The lower limit on chargeback is £10 for mastercard i believe, visa has no lower limit. And also as far as I remember, chargebacks can be used for companies going into administration/cease trading.

beecher2

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/city-centre-easyhotel-closes-down-124569n.21100083

It is in administration and according to the article

Steps are being taken to find guests alternative accommodation in Glasgow."

creditcardjunkies

The official email i received from easyhotels does not state this, it only says they will try to re open the hotel via a legal route but this will take some time, so they will refund the booking fee to an easy hotel account (I made a mistake in my original post, the £1.95 is not even getting refunded to my credit card).

Lucy03 I agree with you, I read the terms and conditions I was emailed at time of booking and we is defined as our operators etc as you copy and pasted.

dalesrider

creditcardjunkies wrote: »

Hi I recently paid for a hotel booking for the easy hotel in Glasgow. I have just received an email saying this is a franchise hotel and that the owner has got into financial difficulties and he has closed the doors.

I have been told I will receive a refund for the booking fee which is £1.95 back on the credit card I used to pay for the booking. I am not getting a full refund of the room payment which is about £56.

Do I have any rights of fighting to get my money back.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards Vikki

Nice easy chargeback for non receipt of services.
You may have to wait till day after date of stay.

Give your card provider a ring. Ask for the disputes team... Do not get fobbed off by the front line call center guys.