Hub by Premier inn non-flex refund

brettstar1976

I was due to travel to France 13/0320 for the six nations but due to COVID-19 the game has been postponed.  I was staying in the Hub by Premier Inn, and I understand the T&C for the non-flex, but sure I should be entitled to move the stay as me staying was for one reason.  

SaverRate

brettstar1976 said:

I was due to travel to France 13/0320 for the six nations but due to COVID-19 the game has been postponed.  I was staying in the Hub by Premier Inn, and I understand the T&C for the non-flex, but sure I should be entitled to move the stay as me staying was for one reason.  

I have booked non-flex Premier Inn before and they let me change the dates. Just give their main call centre a call and explain. Dont bother ringing the hotel direct as they were a waste of time when I called. 

brettstar1976

I did call the call and spoke to the front desk who give me the head office number, but will not able to move the date.  I even got the lady to speck the manager, but they not willing to help.  

p00hsticks

brettstar1976 said:

sure I should be entitled to move the stay as me staying was for one reason.  

It's really of no consequence to Premier Inn what your reasons for staying are.

If you booked a non-flex booking then their terms and condiitons say that there's no refund.

In the current circumstances they're probably being inundated with people cancelling bookings and are unlikely to be able to resell the rooms, so it's understandable that they're far less likely to look favourably on a good will request to switch dates than they might have been previously.

Larches

On the one hand, with a "Non-Flex" booking, the clue is in the name... when I booked it was called a Saver rate, although it was still made pretty clear that it was non-refundable. HOWEVER... many other hotel chains have set a precedent by refunding even non-flexible bookings due to the exceptional circumstances, and presumably because they know a little goodwill goes a long way when it comes to customer loyalty.

Premier Inn seem to have missed that point, and are risking future business for the sake of keeping a bit more of customers' money in the bank right now. Either it's poor strategy, or they believe they really can't afford to lose that cash, whereas the likes of Marriott, Accor (Ibis, Mercure, Novotel, Sofitel etc) and IHG (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza etc) presumably have bigger bank balances and/or better insurance. I still think Premier Inn could have managed this better though - they were incredibly slow to confirm their policy and get a COVID information page up on the website and I've still had no email from them... it's all on the customer to push for info & help, nothing proactive, no message from the CEO like so many other companies are doing. Even now, the page doesn't address questions around safety, hygiene etc but also fails to explain clearly how Non-Flex can be rebooked (I was told that you have to email guest.comments@premierinn.com rather than being able to use the website to amend like you can for Flex). I'm really quite surprised at them.

Meanwhile, those of us with Saver / Non-Flex rates are required to rebook another Non-Flex rate ASAP, but how do you choose a new date in these circumstances? No idea when events will be rescheduled for, no idea what transport services will be available, or what Government advice will be, or how long this whole thing will drag on. Obviously they can't allow rebooking onto Flex rates or people will just rearrange and then cancel free of charge anyway, so all we can do is take a stab in the dark and book something towards the end of the year (270 days in advance seems to be the limit) - the real practical problem is that Premier Inn are not guaranteeing that the replacement booking could be rescheduled again if need be. Yes, I will be thinking hard in future about the wisdom of booking a non-flexible rate, but sadly (and despite being a long-standing PI enthusiast) I will also be thinking hard about whether Premier Inn is really the best choice.

p00hsticks

Larches said:

Premier Inn seem to have missed that point, and are risking future business for the sake of keeping a bit more of customers' money in the bank right now. Either it's poor strategy, or they believe they really can't afford to lose that cash, whereas the likes of Marriott, Accor (Ibis, Mercure, Novotel, Sofitel etc) and IHG (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza etc) presumably have bigger bank balances and/or better insurance.

Marriott have announced that they are putting "tens of thousands" of staff on unpaid leave.

Personally, I'm not sure I'd be entirely comfortable being refunded for a non-flex booking from them knowing this.

Larches

Hadn't heard that. Meanwhile, things change fast just now and Premier Inn (presumably having recognised the discontent among their customer base) have flexed the rules a bit further, so all bookings for stays from 19th March – 31st May 2020 are now refundable if required. But perhaps more important in a way is the fact that they have finally (this evening) managed to send out an email explaining what's going on and have updated their information page accordingly. By doing this, I'm now MORE likely to rebook with them just as soon as I know when the heck we might be able to travel again. Just a shame customers were left in the dark for a week or so since the major disruption (event cancellations etc) started happening. It's a tough situation though, and no doubt they like everyone else (including non-flex bookers) will be learning lessons from the whole debacle.

Ibizafan

We’ve just had two Premier Inn non flex bookings refunded for stays between Sunday and the end of May. Very relieved and pleased that the company has taken this stance.