Help with cancellation fees!

BellaIM

Any help appreciated!

I booked an apartment in Italy in a small complex for next May through Booking . Com
At the time of booking it did state that the usual check in time was up to 6pm, but booking.com just stated that we could request a late check in at the time of booking.

Therefore I went ahead and booked, with an accompanying message requesting a late check in. In this message I explained that this was because our flight didn't land until 7.15pm. There was no option to message the apartment until booking.

I have since received a message stating that they can't accommodate a check in any later than 9pm, and that they can see, given my flight time, I won't arrive until 10-10.30pm. So they suggested I could cancel the booking but would incur a 30% fee.

I have contacted the apartment complex and booking.com, to explain that I obviously can't arrive any earlier as the flight is booked, and I'm arriving with a 5 year old and therefore can't be left with nowhere to stay the first night! I asked that they waive the cancellation fee given they can't accommodate the check in, but they have refused, and booking.com have said they have the right to refuse check in AND to still charge me a cancellation fee.

All this seems very unfair...is there anything I can do? TIA xx

richardw

Is there a hotel near your arrival airport where you could stay the first night that costs less than the 30% cancellation fee?

leylandsunaddict

If having a much later check in was imperative it would gave wise to email or ring the apartments prior to booking, or to book a refundable room. A request is just that and doesn't form part of a contract so they are within their rights to charge fees in line with the fees stated when you booked.

Westin

I would agree with LeylandSunaddict comments but if BellaIM can either post a link or let us know the name of the apartment complex then perhaps we can look and comment on whether it viewed as fair that a cancellation penalty is waived, or not.

BellaIM

There may be a hotel near the airport we could book, but then we'll have to pay for a room there plus the apartment which they won't let us into!
There wasn't an option on booking.com to contact them beforehand to check, although I guess I could have looked for a private website and tried to contact them that way. You just don't expect these things to sting you when you book through a well known intermediary! Booking.com phrased it as if I just had to request a late check in and all would be fine!
The apartments were Villa Anna in Baveno, Lake Maggiore.

Many thanks.

richardw

BellaIM wrote: »

There may be a hotel near the airport we could book, but then we'll have to pay for a room there plus the apartment which they won't let us into!...

Why won't they let you check in the day after your flight arrives?

Which airport do you arrive at and which airline are you flying on?

Westin

Listed on booking.com under Policies of Villa Anna it states:-

"Policies of Villa Anna

Villa Anna takes special requests - add in the next step!

Check-in
14:00 - 20:00 hours

Check-out
07:30 - 10:30 hours"

From this personally I think the check-in option is clear. It is between 14:00 and up to 20:00.

You may have assumed that you could add a special request at the next stage of the booking process regarding a late check-in but I don't see this linked to any suggestion that a later check-in would be possible, just that any other special requests (room close to...etc., baby cot etc..) could be added at the next stage. In hindsight you probably should have made contact with the property prior to booking if the stated check-in policy did not suit and you wanted to see if a later option was available.

Booking.com is only a booking portal for the accommodation supplier. The accommodation management has the say on if they will waiver the cancellation fee. I think given that it is for May 2018 that they could be a little more flexible and refund your deposit but I think that you also hold some responsibility for booking something when it seems clear what the properties check-in policy is.

Hope it works out for you.

missile

It appears they have reduced their cancellation fee from 50% to 30%.

I try to book accommodation offering free cancellation.

BellaIM

Westin I didn't just assume I could request a late check in, Booking.com clearly stated on their page when I was browsing the property, that if I wanted a late check in I could just request one. Which clearly is misleading and not in alignment with the apartment policy if they can't accommodate that.

And the cancellation fee was actually stated at €180 at the time of booking, not even 30%, but then 30% was in the small print elsewhere...I have an email from booking.com with both figures on. More confusion!

Westin

Perhaps they have since changed this on their web page then as I can't seem to see, when I have tried to replicate an enquiry, any comment about requesting a late check-in.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/villa-anna-baveno.en-gb.html?label=gen173nr-1FCAEoggJCAlhYSDNiBW5vcmVmaFCIAQOYAS64AQfIAQ3YAQHoAQH4AQuSAgF5qAID;sid=7665c9abd584fd818114dbc4617096c3;checkin=2018-05-22;checkout=2018-05-27;dest_id=-111358;dest_type=city;dist=0;group_adults=2;hapos=1;room1=A%2CA;sb_price_type=total;soh=1;soldout=0%2C0;srepoch=1507704313;srfid=44b495c4b7579cd68d397c0cec6825fbea7aaf4aX1;srpvid=f0552f7cf2bc0274;type=total;ucfs=1&

littlereddevil

It does say on that link they take special requests relating to check in and out, so one would assume there will be no problem