B&B's and consumer protection ? / Refunds?

dares_uk

Hi

I recently stayed at a B&B for 3 nights, I originally had booked for 4 nights.
I booked over the phone, and had NO booking confirmation etc...
On the website there is no details, no terms and conditions etc.. and the prices are wrong.
I did question the price when i booked.

Anyway, I left one night early, and gave plenty of notice for this and asked for a refund of the 1 night . I was told they have a 'No refund policy'.
I asked where this is, and they just didnt give me an answer. It is not on the website, it is not displayed in the B&B, and was not communicated when i booked either.

Do i have any right to this refund? consumer protection etc.. ?

thanks

wealdroam

dares_uk wrote: »

Hi

I recently stayed at a B&B for 3 nights, I originally had booked for 4 nights.
I booked over the phone, and had NO booking confirmation etc...
On the website there is no details, no terms and conditions etc.. and the prices are wrong.
I did question the price when i booked.

Anyway, I left one night early, and gave plenty of notice for this and asked for a refund of the 1 night . I was told they have a 'No refund policy'.
I asked where this is, and they just didnt give me an answer. It is not on the website, it is not displayed in the B&B, and was not communicated when i booked either.

Do i have any right to this refund? consumer protection etc.. ?

thanks

You paid for a service and then decided you no longer wanted that service.
The B&B proprietor was willing to provide that service. You broke the contract.

I guess your idea of 'plenty of notice' might differ from that of the B&B proprietor.
Out of interest, how much notice did you give?

dares_uk

more than 24hrs notice was given.
no contract was given/signed it was all verbal.
but the fact there was no T&C/Refund policy .... ?

wealdroam

dares_uk wrote: »

more than 24hrs notice was given.
no contract was given/signed it was all verbal.
but the fact there was no T&C/Refund policy .... ?

There is/was a contract in place. You paid some money and they provided a service confirms this. The lack of paperwork just makes it a little more difficult to determine the terms of that contract.

No seller needs to provide a refund policy.
All sales should be considered final unless agreed otherwise at the time.
There are exceptions to this, such as sales 'at a distance', as yours was.

However, Regulation 28 of The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 tells us that the right to cancel is excluded for "the supply of accommodation, transport of goods, vehicle rental services, catering or services related to leisure activities, if the contract provides for a specific date or period of performance".

Thus you had no right to cancel and, in the absence of any refund policy, are totally reliant on the goodwill of the B&B proprietor.

In my opinion, giving 24 hours notice of cancellation is insufficient to expect a refund. Simply, it gives the proprietor little opportunity to re-let the facility.

You decided not to stay for the fourth night. You broke the contract.
You pay for the fourth night whether you used it or not.

However, the seller must mitigate their losses. So if they did re-let the room you should get some money back - less their costs - readvertising etc.
Not sure how you'll find out whether they did re-let it though.

Vectis

So, you expect the B&B owner to find a new guest for your room with only 24 hours notice?

You booked for 4 nights and it's possible that they actually turned away people based on the assumption you would be staying the full 4 nights. Why should they lose out because you changed your mind and only gave them 24 hours notice?