Hotel gave old price on website, turned up and refused room despite paying deposit

stressedstudent

Not sure if this comes under consumer rights.

Last year hotel advertised single rooms for £35 a night inc breakfast on their own website which let you book and third party ones like Laterooms, this year all the third party websites have £45 for single rooms.

I was checking hotels to stay in and its still £35 on there and booked I didnt realise at the time it was more on others as first checked the booking sites and couldnt find one under £45 then I put "hotels in area" and went through every one.

When I turned up at hotel I was denied a room saying it was a error despite booking room 5 weeks ago, they tried to say no contract was in place because I did not pay for the rooms in advance, though they took 50% of the amount for a "deposit" that they haven't refunded even now nor any emails from them.

What rights do I have as I would of thought taking a deposit and not contacting me saying there was price error would be enough to say they accepted the contract as it would be different if no deposit was taken and I just turned up.

Caz3121

stressedstudent wrote: »

Not sure if this comes under consumer rights.

Last year hotel advertised single rooms for £35 a night inc breakfast on their own website which let you book and third party ones like Laterooms, this year all the third party websites have £45 for single rooms.

I was checking hotels to stay in and its still £35 on there and booked I didnt realise at the time it was more on others as first checked the booking sites and couldnt find one under £45 then I put "hotels in area" and went through every one.

When I turned up at hotel I was denied a room saying it was a error despite booking room 5 weeks ago, they tried to say no contract was in place because I did not pay for the rooms in advance, though they took 50% of the amount for a "deposit" that they haven't refunded even now nor any emails from them.

What rights do I have as I would of thought taking a deposit and not contacting me saying there was price error would be enough to say they accepted the contract as it would be different if no deposit was taken and I just turned up.

what does their website say about pricing errors?
when you say they denied you a room, did they not give you the option to pay the correct price or receive refund?

stressedstudent

Nothing at all, its a bare minimum website and I was told the room was rebooked to someone else (so they basically gave it to someone else )all it says for terms are

A non refundable deposit equal to 50.00% of the stay is required.
Full booking balance is due on the day of arrival.
Payments by cash, and the following cards:
Visa Debit / Delta, Visa Credit, Maestro / Switch, Mastercard - no charge.
In the event of a no show or booking reduction (after arrival date) the full cost of the booking is charged.

DCFC79

Is it a national chain ?

stressedstudent

Just a small local one family run.

lucy03

stressedstudent wrote: »

Not sure if this comes under consumer rights.

Last year hotel advertised single rooms for £35 a night inc breakfast on their own website which let you book and third party ones like Laterooms, this year all the third party websites have £45 for single rooms.

I was checking hotels to stay in and its still £35 on there and booked I didnt realise at the time it was more on others as first checked the booking sites and couldnt find one under £45 then I put "hotels in area" and went through every one.

When I turned up at hotel I was denied a room saying it was a error despite booking room 5 weeks ago, they tried to say no contract was in place because I did not pay for the rooms in advance, though they took 50% of the amount for a "deposit" that they haven't refunded even now nor any emails from them.

What rights do I have as I would of thought taking a deposit and not contacting me saying there was price error would be enough to say they accepted the contract as it would be different if no deposit was taken and I just turned up.

A contract has potentially been formed here IMO taking into account the time scales - what did you do when turned away from the hotel? Did you occur additional expense?

DoaM

stressedstudent wrote: »

A non refundable deposit equal to 50.00% of the stay is required.

That is legally dubious at the best of times ... when THEY have cancelled the booking (breached the contract?) then it is an unenforceable term. Contact them and demand a refund; if they don't comply, contact your card issue and raise a chargeback claim.

timbstoke

DoaM wrote: »

Contact them and demand a refund; if they don't comply, contact your card issue and raise a chargeback claim.

Slow down. Hotel accommodation has a nasty habit of incurring additional expenses if it falls through at the last minute. There's a good chance the hotel are liable for the difference in cost between their room and whatever alternative arrangements OP made, or for other incidental losses such as travel costs. In which case, a chargeback would be the wrong way to go, and OP would be better writing to the hotel with a view to initiating proceedings against them.

bris

There is also a chance no contract was formed as the op didn't get any confirmation so no acceptance took place. When you book something you get confirmation, lack of would have me chasing it up to confirm the booking.

neilmcl

So where did you actually stay?

timbstoke

bris wrote: »

There is also a chance no contract was formed as the op didn't get any confirmation so no acceptance took place. When you book something you get confirmation, lack of would have me chasing it up to confirm the booking.

They can either claim that no contract exists, or they can claim that the deposit is not refundable. They can't have both.