Bookassist charges

RedBern

Hi

I've booked a hotel in Madrid via the hotel's own site, and been charged the agreed amount, plus £25 'bookassist' charges? There's no mention of these on the original booking, and I thought they'd be absorbed by the hotel rather than the customer?

Westin

Which hotel was this for?

If the fee is not mentioned then I would agree that this is a poor practice by the hotel and their reservation partner. Is the reservation refundable and cheaper to book via someone like booking.com?

RedBern

thanks for the response Westin.

It's for Regina Hotel. We got a good deal (I booked 3 rooms) and it was cheaper with the hotel direct rather than booking.com . I can't see anything on the site which mentions the fee... may have to write it off to experience.

pogofish

You should double check your booking with someone at the hotel directly.

The times I've heard of this lot before are all of the - "when we arrived at the hotel, they had no knowledge of our booking whatsoever" variety.

As far as I can see, Bookassist are some sort of third-party website/booking management provider. However, charging customers per booking was not something they offered to former customers when Visit Scotland shut down their booking service.

http://www.theclaymoreproject.com/uploads/associate/1/file/Open%20Rooms/Bookassist%201314%20Commission%20Free.pdf

blindman

Book assist T&C's

Looks weird that you go the the Hotel home page and book "direct" only to find that is through "Book assist"

I can't see anywhere it mentions a fee either, only that there seems to be a non refundable cost even on "free" cancelation rooms!

By completing this Reservation Process, you the Customer authorise the Accommodation Provider to debit your submitted credit card for the sum of any cancellation costs owed, as set out above.

IMHO I'd email Book assist and ask what the charge is for and where it is stated on the website.

RedBern

thanks for all your help guys.

Have e-mailed the hotel, and the deposit I paid is shown as 'bookassist' and forms part of the overall price (which it does, allowing for the Euro/£ conversion. They've taken the full amount now.

peachyprice

Booking fee (where applicable): As this is a live transaction system, all credit/debit cards are checked directly with the banking system. The bank levies a fee against Bookassist to cover the cost of each and every credit card verification check, whether a card is deemed valid or not. Bookassist may add a booking fee charge to your deposit to offset this bank charge that we incur and if so, this will be clearly indicated to you.

I can't believe your bank has charged them £25 for card verification. I think they're taking the pee.