uk hotel will not give me money back i booked direct with hotel

Rosemaeie

i booked a uk xmas break for me and my disabled son, it was expensive as it was for xmas but he was suffering mentally with the lock down. i booked it early on in the year and rang the hotel direct as i needed to make sure they had a room suitable for my son.

so Christmas cam and we were in a lockdown the hotel also.

i have asked for my money back they won't give it to me stating deposits paid will go towards another holiday and states on there web page Tiffany hotel Blackpool       Our Coronavirus Guarantee   so i wasnt worried seeing it said that i just thought i would get a refund.

i paid in full on my debit card i didn't pay a deposit of £300 ,    after reading the small print i can understand them keeping 300 but not the full amount of £1,257.00 on the 28th aug 2020 can you help i have asked the quite a few times and all i keep getting back is we keep all deposits paid but i pain in full. We cannot afford to lose such an amount of money my son is disabled so doesn't work and i am his carer.

YOU'RE COVERED AGAINST

Government reimplementing a full UK Lockdown or a localised ban (not just advisory) on travel in our area or yoursYou are unable to travel due to sickness related to CoronavirusThe hotel is forced to close due to Coronavirus

At any point between 28 days and 3 days prior to arrival you can: 

1. Transfer your break to a new date in 2020 or 2021, free of charge
2. If you don’t know your new dates, we will credit your guest account with any deposits made which you can use against a future break (within 12 months from original arrival date), again free of charge
3. Cancel your booking and receive a Gift Voucher equal to the deposit amount paid to redeem against a future stay to be taken within 12 months from the original arrival date.

[Deleted User]

Well it looks very much like you booked and agreed to the terms and conditions which do not include a cash refund?   Just going with what you have copied and pasted.   Have you received a credit towards the cost of a future holiday?  Or have you refused so far? 

You could try a chargeback from your bank on the basis the hotel was in lockdown at Christmas and unable to provide “the goods” but not sure which way they will look at it as the t’s and c’s seem pretty clear.  Good luck. 

MattMattMattUK

Rosemaeie said:

i booked a uk xmas break for me and my disabled son, it was expensive as it was for xmas but he was suffering mentally with the lock down. i booked it early on in the year and rang the hotel direct as i needed to make sure they had a room suitable for my son.

so Christmas cam and we were in a lockdown the hotel also.

i have asked for my money back they won't give it to me stating deposits paid will go towards another holiday and states on there web page Tiffany hotel Blackpool       Our Coronavirus Guarantee   so i wasnt worried seeing it said that i just thought i would get a refund.

i paid in full on my debit card i didn't pay a deposit of £300 ,    after reading the small print i can understand them keeping 300 but not the full amount of £1,257.00 on the 28th aug 2020 can you help i have asked the quite a few times and all i keep getting back is we keep all deposits paid but i pain in full. We cannot afford to lose such an amount of money my son is disabled so doesn't work and i am his carer.

YOU'RE COVERED AGAINST

1. Government reimplementing a full UK Lockdown or a localised ban (not just advisory) on travel in our area or yours
2. You are unable to travel due to sickness related to Coronavirus
3. The hotel is forced to close due to Coronavirus

At any point between 28 days and 3 days prior to arrival you can: 

1. Transfer your break to a new date in 2020 or 2021, free of charge
2. If you don’t know your new dates, we will credit your guest account with any deposits made which you can use against a future break (within 12 months from original arrival date), again free of charge
3. Cancel your booking and receive a Gift Voucher equal to the deposit amount paid to redeem against a future stay to be taken within 12 months from the original arrival date.

Have you asked them for a refund based on the terms and conditions that they sent you? Have you stated your case specifically, citing the relevant part of their terms and conditions. you may be able to claim a refund as they were unable to provide you with the service, but that might be uncertain due to the terms and conditions you agreed to and also the current economic climate means that they are unlikely to be cooperative. 

Unfortunately if you can afford to spend the money on a hotel, you can afford to lose it, that is not relevant to your rights to a refund or not.

sheramber

if you had been able to go you wouldn't have the money now so you are no worse off  financially. It  s just that you  haven't had the holiday.
You could try a chargeback through your bank but the hotel are able to challenge that and say you are able to transfer your booking to a new date .

DW190

What the Hotel have done is add the Corona virus Guarantee to the bottom of their general terms and conditions.  There general terms and conditions state:
CANCELLATIONS/BOOKING CHANGES BY US:
The Hotel will endeavour meet guest requests, however any failure to do so will NOT constitute a breach of contract. Room requests can be guaranteed by securing them with the reservations team. Charges apply. During peak times the Hotel reserves the right to amend bookings to maximise occupancy. In the unlikely event that we have to cancel or change your booking, we reserve the right to do so and appropriate refunds will be issued.

You paid this over the phone without site of their terms.  Was you told or sent a copy of the terms with your booking confirmation? and, was you given a period of time to cancel once you had read them?  If not the terms are possibly unfair.

Rosemaeie

i paid over phone and didn't receive any term 

MegaJewels

I know that everybody needs money nowadays, but that's a really terrible behaviour from the hotel... 

Rosemaeie

they added the corona guarantee months after i booked

macman

Rosemaeie said:

they added the corona guarantee months after i booked

If so, it's invalid. The contract you agreed was the one in force at the time of booking, which you will be deemed to have agreed to when you paid. Any subsequent changes they might make are not enforceable to your contract.

If they won't play ball, I'd send an LBA or simply do a chargeback. If the booking was for Christmas 2020, you still have time to do the latter, as the limit is 120 days from the scheduled date of the event.

eskbanker

Rosemaeie said:

i booked a uk xmas break for me and my disabled son, it was expensive as it was for xmas but he was suffering mentally with the lock down. i booked it early on in the year

Exactly when did you make the booking?  They state that their coronavirus guarantee "applies automatically to any booking made direct with ourselves after 1st April 2020", i.e. about a week after lockdown was introduced, although as above their ability to apply it retrospectively is debatable, to say the least.

Rosemaeie said:

they added the corona guarantee months after i booked

Did they notify you of this, advising you that the terms of your booking were being adjusted (whether or not this would be enforceable), or did you find out some other way?

Edit: looking a bit more at the Ts & Cs currently available, they don't look promising at face value, although might be considered unfair if challenged in court, and the CMA may also have something to say about rigid enforcement:

The hotel shall not be liable for any failure to provide accommodation contracted for hereunder in the event of it’s being prevented from doing so as a result of fire, storm, acts of God, civil disturbance, riot, industrial action or any other cause beyond its control or closure by order of the Government. In this instance deposits/payments received will only be transferred to an alternate date.

CANCELLATIONS:
Should you need to cancel or change your booking in any way please advise the hotel immediately.
You will be sent an invoice to pay the cancellation costs as listed below, which will be due to payable within 10 days.

CANCELLATION TERMS (EXCLUDING CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR):

[...]

CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR CANCELLATIONS:

Less than 4 weeks notice: 100% of Total Cost

sheramber

Ist post states he booked in August.