Hotels.com Dispute - help!

l_mk

Hi there,

I booked a hotel through hotels.com which had free cancellation. I tried to reduce my stay, from 3 nights to 2 nights, a few weeks in advance of my stay - completely within the free cancellation period.

The 'change booking' tool on the site wasn't working that day and I was told to contact a hotels.com advisor. Their advisor contacted the hotel directly and was told they couldn't change the booking as they were too busy to handle it. The advisor then told me that, because I chose to pay at the hotel, I could check out a day early and would not be charged for the third night.

On arrival at the hotel, they wanted payment for the three nights up front. I explained the situation and was told I had to pay all three nights, then go through hotels.com for a refund. This is because if they only took 2 nights' payment, they would still be charged commission on the 3rd night by hotels.com.

Since the day I checked out, I have been chasing this refund. Hotels.com are saying the hotel is refusing to give me the refund and they are taking no responsibility. They keep telling me to contact the hotel directly, which I have and the hotel keeps telling me he won't refund it as he'll still be down the commission he paid.

I even asked Hotels.com would they agree to refund his commission if he agreed to refund my unused night, and they refused to answer.

Hotels.com have admitted that their site was down that day and said I should have contacted them directly. When I explained I did, they said their online chat advisor wouldn't have been able to change the booking and I should have phoned - which (a) I think is a lie and (b) the online advisor did not mention this.

I've now been emailing them for two months, speaking to different advisor each time, and getting the same standard, unhelpful responses.

A couple of weeks ago I was told my case was being passed to a 'specialised team' to deal with. When I asked who the specialised team are/what they do, I couldn't get an answer. Today I've been told this team won't be contacting me as there's nothing they can do.

I'm so frustrated and still out of pocket. Do I have any rights here? If I went to Small Claims Court, would it be hotels.com or the hotel I'm claiming against?

Any advice appreciated!

visidigi

credit card payment? Contact your provider.

l_mk

Debit card.

always_sunny

You could ask Hotels.com if they recorded your call with customer service...
If the site wasn't working that day, why didn't you try later? It does sound odd that the hotel was too busy to handle the change.

Read the T&C: https://uk.hotels.com/customer_care/terms_conditions.html

If you select the "pay later/pay at property" option, the property will charge you in the local currency of the relevant property at the time of your stay. Where the "pay later/payat property" option has been selected, the property makes the service available to you directly. For these transactions, you will enter into a contract with the property and we will act solely as an intermediary between you and the property (but not as a payment intermediary), transmitting the details of your reservation to the relevant property and sending you a confirmation email for and on behalf of the property.

Without knowing the full details, it's hard to say.

l_mk

I took photos of my conversations but I know they keep records too.

I tried a few times over the course of the day but it wasn't working. The site also wasn't obviously 'down', it just said there was a problem with changing my booking and to contact customer services, which I did. (they have since said it was 'down') He told me I could check out early at the hotel and not pay for the third night, and I took his word for it. Which I'm now annoyed at myself for.

You're right about it being odd. And now having met and dealt with the owner, I think he just didn't want to lose the money.