Hotel charges after emergency cancellation

Surfangel1974

Hi there, apologies if I have posted in the wrong place, I am new to this! I was hoping for some help and advice.

Last week my parents booked a 4 night stay at a hotel in Blackpool, the purpose of this mini break was for my mother to have some R&R after her recent battles with cancer, also combining that with a my parents meeting with my dads brother and his wife. Any way to cut a long story short, my parents were due to go on on this trip yesterday (Monday 9th Sept 2013) but unfortunately my mother took very very poorly over the weekend and was in hospital, and again yesterday back in for emergency treatment, so they called the hotel and rang to cancel, the hotel had reserved the booking and taken a deposit of £60 on my dads Credit card, my parents are in there 70's and not au fait with the internet, so had to rely on the receptionist for help and info on terms, the hotel said the would post out their terms and conditions, of which has still NOT been received. My parents were informed by the hotel that the FULL balance of £300 plus the deposit will be taken from my dads credit card, and that there is nothing they can do about it, by way of gesture the hotel said the would offer a voucher but this has to be used within 3 months, of which would still be impossible for my mother to recover as she is still very poorly and doubtful she will make a full recovery in time for the 3 month period! The hotel will not budge on this, even though we have explained my parents are pensioners and that my mother is very poorly, the simply said they require a 28 day notice period when cancelling, errr not sure how this works as they cancelled two days before, the hotel manager was very very rude and even though we said he would not only have re-booked that room he took my parents FULL balance so the hotel were quids in, is this ethical?? Can they get away with this? is it law??? can they shaft OAP's in this way??? It all seems rather harsh. I am hoping someone can shed some light on this for me, as my parents are deeply upset and for OAP's to lose that much money that they had saved it so very harsh. Many thanks for reading :-)

jacques_chirac

Did they book a non refundable rate? They would have been told this when booking - did they book online or over the phone?

Did they not have travel insurance?

I hope your mother is on the road to recovery soon.

Surfangel1974

Hi there, my parents are in their 70's and not very good on the internet, so booked over the phone! The hotel said they would post out the terms and conditions asap, but nothing received! And no sadly no travel insurance.

19lottie82

Hi OP - There are usually two types of room rates, one that you can cancel for a full refund, and one that you can't cancel. If your parents deal was the latter then there is nothing they can do to force a refund I'm afraid.

If they had travel insurance they could maybe have claimed on that but as they didn't that's a no goer as well.

I understand your point, but there is nothing "ethical" about business I'm afraid.

Voyager2002

It is highly unlikely that travel insurance would have been offered: the OP's mother, sadly, was already ill and suffered a recurrence of an existing problem. Insurance companies are not usually helpful in this situation.

Note that the hotel cannot charge the full price of the stay as well as the deposit.

Hotel reservations can generally be cancelled, unless they are at exceptionally cheap rates in which case the customer should be made aware that they are being offered a good deal in return for having to commit themselves. Since your parents apparently had no idea that their reservation could not be cancelled, it is possible that the hotel failed to make them aware that they had chosen this kind of deal. In which case, the hotel could not legally insist on full payment.

What you could do is check the advertisement that led your parents to make the booking. If the conditions (that it is non-refundable) were not made clear there, then they might consider instructing the credit card not to allow the payment and invite the hotel to sue them. Doing this would force someone senior in the hotel to consider the case and decide whether or not to proceed. The downside, of course, is that the matter might then be settled in court, which some elderly people find to be an unduly stressful experience. If the case were to come to court it is quite possible that the judge would rule in favour of your parents, but they lost they might then have to pay legal fees as well.

lisyloo

It sounds like they don't have a leg to stand on.

You could check the advert they booked, the information they have been sent and if they record calls you could ask for a SAR under the data protection act. This might include a transcript of the phone call if it was recorded and your parents know the date and time they booked.

But sound to me like they are stuffed by the Ts&Cs - sorry.

magpiecottage

Voyager2002 wrote: »

If the case were to come to court it is quite possible that the judge would rule in favour of your parents, but they lost they might then have to pay legal fees as well.

Unlikely if the dispute was only £300.

It would also probably be heard in a court local to the OP's parents, which I suspect is not particularly convenient for a business in Blackpool.

Wywth

magpiecottage wrote: »

Unlikely if the dispute was only £300.

It would also probably be heard in a court local to the OP's parents, which I suspect is not particularly convenient for a business in Blackpool.

Whilst not wishing to pre-judge the outcome of any possible court case, I agree with what you say about the location of any such hearing.

Depending on the size of the hotel (if it's a big establishment, they'll just send their lawyer/barrister to defend any claim) it may well be inconvenient for the hotel to attend. It could, for example, involve a very expensive train fare and possible overnight stay in a hotel local to the court (depending on timings of trains and court hearing)

These reasonable travel expenses costs could be awarded against the claimant if the matter does go to a hearing and the claimant loses.

custardy

I suppose it hinges on whether they would have turned away bookings on the room as to whether they are 'quids in'
on the flip side. They havent had to change the bed linen or provide breakfast if it was inclusive
nor any power etc being used
Might be worth firing a letter off and asking for a part refund?
However I agree its short notice and likely to be in the hotels favour

Wywth

Surfangel1974 wrote: »

Hi there, apologies if I have posted in the wrong place, I am new to this! I was hoping for some help and advice.

Last week my parents booked a 4 night stay at a hotel in Blackpool, the purpose of this mini break was for my mother to have some R&R after her recent battles with cancer, also combining that with a my parents meeting with my dads brother and his wife. Any way to cut a long story short, my parents were due to go on on this trip yesterday (Monday 9th Sept 2013) but unfortunately my mother took very very poorly over the weekend and was in hospital, and again yesterday back in for emergency treatment, so they called the hotel and rang to cancel, the hotel had reserved the booking and taken a deposit of £60 on my dads Credit card, my parents are in there 70's and not au fait with the internet, so had to rely on the receptionist for help and info on terms, the hotel said the would post out their terms and conditions, of which has still NOT been received. My parents were informed by the hotel that the FULL balance of £300 plus the deposit will be taken from my dads credit card, and that there is nothing they can do about it, by way of gesture the hotel said the would offer a voucher but this has to be used within 3 months, of which would still be impossible for my mother to recover as she is still very poorly and doubtful she will make a full recovery in time for the 3 month period! The hotel will not budge on this, even though we have explained my parents are pensioners and that my mother is very poorly, the simply said they require a 28 day notice period when cancelling, errr not sure how this works as they cancelled two days before, the hotel manager was very very rude and even though we said he would not only have re-booked that room he took my parents FULL balance so the hotel were quids in, is this ethical?? Can they get away with this? is it law??? can they shaft OAP's in this way??? It all seems rather harsh. I am hoping someone can shed some light on this for me, as my parents are deeply upset and for OAP's to lose that much money that they had saved it so very harsh. Many thanks for reading :-)

It may be harsh business in your eyes, although the hotel did offer a goodwill gesture of a voucher.

Why do you think your parents should be entitled to any refund?

Think of it from the hotel's viewpoint. They took a booking in good faith and reserved the room for your parents (and therefore also possibly turned away other interested parties). Now your parents are not going, so no chance of upselling anything (e.g. a meal, refreshments, etc) and you expect the hotel to lose the cost of the room too. Why?

Surfangel1974 wrote: »

Hi there, my parents are in their 70's and not very good on the internet, so booked over the phone! The hotel said they would post out the terms and conditions asap, but nothing received! And no sadly no travel insurance.

It's unlikely travel insurance would have helped on this occassion, as it sounds like a recurrence of a pre-existing ailment.

I hope your mother recovers soon, and god-willing, she'll be able to then take advantage later of the R&R break purchased thanks to the generosity of the hotel offering a voucher, thereby effectively allowing a postponement of the booking.

duchy

The hotel had no obligation to offer such a gesture and if it goes to court that will very much count in their favour.

I don't think the hotel shafted your parents (not impressed at you pulling the "poor old pensioners" card )- if they were incapable of understanding the implications of booking a hotel they apparently have at least one adult child who could have ensured they had insurance or were at least aware of the implications of booking a non refundable rate over a refundable one.

If they like to take little breaks in the UK it might be worth finding them an insurance policy -often cover is available provided they are not booking against medical advice. Depends on age of course but pensioner can mean anything from sixty to over a hundred so cover is possible. A UK annual policy even if loaded for age could be economic.

An expensive lesson - but it isn't a strong case so before committing them to more expense in going to court it might be worth a rethink.