Moral not to turn up at hotel booking?

danandjens_worldtravels

Booking.com usually do not take payment up front, so all appears normal there, however the could be the reason your credit card was compromised in the first place. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04n23wg . http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/moneybox

PaulC5

Idiophreak - Please go back and re-read my first post, I was under the impression that once a credit card had been cancelled they couldn't take payment. Under these circumstances I was questioning if it was moral to give them new card details or just ignore them and re-book, coincidentally at a cheaper price.

You've made it clear I clearly done understand how credit cards work so as far as I'm concerned thats the end of the conversation because I was wrong.

So please by all means carry on thinking I'm after something for free but as you say I was happy with the original price when I booked it so whats my problem, there isn't one, as simple as that.

Thanks danandjens il take a look at those links later but could well be why I have had the fraudulent payment taken since the booking.

zagfles

danandjens_worldtravels wrote: »

Booking.com usually do not take payment up front, so all appears normal there, however the could be the reason your credit card was compromised in the first place. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04n23wg . http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/moneybox

Interesting though they don't say credit card details were compromised - it seems people were contacted asking to pay up front by bank transfer. But their booking details were somehow compromised...very vague as to how but perhaps hotels' accounts were phished?

notanewuser

PaulC5 wrote: »

Thanks for your advice.

I think it’s obvious I wasn't aware of this otherwise I wouldn’t of thought I could do it, would I!

PaulC5 wrote: »

Will send them an email, it may cause some confusion as it’s a hotel in Phuket and there English wasn’t best in the confirmation email I received.

Ooh, irony overload!!! :rotfl:

George_Michael

Idiophreak wrote: »

Sorry, but that was entirely your intention. You made an agreement with someone (call that a legal obligation, if you will), now you want to get out of that agreement by preventing them from taking the payment you'd already agreed.

Would that be the same agreement that stated payment would be taken immediately yet a few months and at least one reminder later, no payment taken?
The original agreement has already been broken and not by the OP.

danandjens_worldtravels

zagfles wrote: »

Interesting though they don't say credit card details were compromised - it seems people were contacted asking to pay up front by bank transfer. But their booking details were somehow compromised...very vague as to how but perhaps hotels' accounts were phished?

Sorry, I may have got one of the links wrong. As well as the pay up front issues the Moneybox after or one after that spoke about cc's being compromised. I've listened on catch up podcasts and often do a Moneybox marathon in a day so can get confused with the dates. There were definitely tales of two listeners who were certian it was booking. Com that caused their cc problems. One man had three affected!!

I'll try and find the right ones

danandjens_worldtravels

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/moneybox

8/11 the scam
15/11 the cc fraud

I think!!

bairn7

Leaving credit card issues aside for the moment...

Have you checked the cancellation terms? You mention payment was taken in full but this doesn't necessarily mean that you can't cancel. If the terms allow, just cancel and rebook under the new price.

Alternatively, contact the hotel and mention that you notice that the room type you booked is now considerably cheaper for the same dates and could they do anything about your booking. Again, it all depends on the terms of your booking. They may be fully entitled to hold you to the price orignally agreed but, often good customer service will result in some kind of reduction.

Worth a try. As you can see from the other responses...the credit card cancellation is a red herring.

budgetflyer

Dependant on the rate booked it may well be possible to cancel and rebook.

on to the "moral" issue,

When hotels and airlines opperate a dynamic pricing structure thats sole aim is to sqeeze every last £ when demand is high and overbooking policies that bump the lowest paying customers , then really its a dog eat dog world out there.
I would have not hesitation if I could legally dump the booking in favour of a lower rate.

SW17

budgetflyer wrote: »

Dependant on the rate booked it may well be possible to cancel and rebook.

on to the "moral" issue,

When hotels and airlines opperate a dynamic pricing structure thats sole aim is to sqeeze every last £ when demand is high and overbooking policies that bump the lowest paying customers , then really its a dog eat dog world out there.
I would have not hesitation if I could legally dump the booking in favour of a lower rate.

More of an economic issue than a moral one. Hotel revenue management systems base price changes on the bookings they already have and expected cancellation/demand rates.

If too many people cancel and rebook, the algorithm will adjust accordingly over time to set prices/cancellation terms which allow for this and maintain overall revenue. Of course, individuals may manage to "game" the system during this process and obtain a lower rate.

Can't speak for airlines, but overbooking in hotels can be unpredictable, as they sometimes don't know for sure themselves until a few days prior to stay date if they are overbooked, due to the allocations they give out to various distribution partners. They always deny booking out the lowest paying guests, but the suspicion remains and very difficult to prove either way.