Premier Inn closing during my booking

user1977

ThumbRemote said:

mattyprice4004 said:

Jumblebumble said:

TELLIT01 said:

It's impractical for PI to offer alternative accommodation without speaking to the customer. If the customer takes days to respond to an offer of an alternative, that accommodation may no longer be available.  Depending on how far away the date of occupancy is, all IP may be required to do is provide a full refund.

Why ?
British Airways do this all the time with their flights
If they cancel they will offer a specific flight that the customer might like  to be rebooked on.

Not much use if they've booked the one hotel in Aviemore and the nearest is Inverness, though - it's always best to check with hotel bookings and they can't have a policy for London and another for elsewhere. 

Of course they can have one policy for central London and another policy for elsewhere. Why on earth couldn't they?

And even if they didn't, switching between Aviemore and Inverness wouldn't necessarily be much of an issue if, say, I was just looking for a pitstop on a road trip passing by both places. People could be just as fussy about where in London they want to stay.

lisyloo

They could have a different policy for London but I don’t think it’s simple to guess what people want.
traffic in central London often moves at walking speed I.e. 3mph
so whilst there may be a lot of hotels people might not want to move 1 or 2 miles.
there is good public transport for the ambulance, but not so much for anyone that can’t do steps.
people may have placed themselves close to step free transport or next to a theatre etc.
I know London pretty well and I don’t think it’s safe to assume they won’t mind being a couple of miles away. 

Alternatives could be offered I suppose which might be out of date by the time the offer arrives but so could people also just do a search on the website in real time.

alas post covid customer service pretty much everywhere is reduced.
the only exception I’ve found is the post office.

mattyprice4004

ThumbRemote said:

mattyprice4004 said:

Jumblebumble said:

TELLIT01 said:

It's impractical for PI to offer alternative accommodation without speaking to the customer. If the customer takes days to respond to an offer of an alternative, that accommodation may no longer be available.  Depending on how far away the date of occupancy is, all IP may be required to do is provide a full refund.

Why ?
British Airways do this all the time with their flights
If they cancel they will offer a specific flight that the customer might like  to be rebooked on.

Not much use if they've booked the one hotel in Aviemore and the nearest is Inverness, though - it's always best to check with hotel bookings and they can't have a policy for London and another for elsewhere. 

Of course they can have one policy for central London and another policy for elsewhere. Why on earth couldn't they?

Demarcation. You’ll always struggle to actually differentiate London from ‘outside’ as peoples idea of what is actually London varies so much. 

It’d be a complete nightmare to work with two policies like that, from someone who’s had to set up similar in the past for a large UK courier  

ThumbRemote

mattyprice4004 said:

ThumbRemote said:

mattyprice4004 said:

Jumblebumble said:

TELLIT01 said:

It's impractical for PI to offer alternative accommodation without speaking to the customer. If the customer takes days to respond to an offer of an alternative, that accommodation may no longer be available.  Depending on how far away the date of occupancy is, all IP may be required to do is provide a full refund.

Why ?
British Airways do this all the time with their flights
If they cancel they will offer a specific flight that the customer might like  to be rebooked on.

Not much use if they've booked the one hotel in Aviemore and the nearest is Inverness, though - it's always best to check with hotel bookings and they can't have a policy for London and another for elsewhere. 

Of course they can have one policy for central London and another policy for elsewhere. Why on earth couldn't they?

Demarcation. You’ll always struggle to actually differentiate London from ‘outside’ as peoples idea of what is actually London varies so much. 

It’d be a complete nightmare to work with two policies like that, from someone who’s had to set up similar in the past for a large UK courier  

But this is a ridiculous discussion. What Premier Inn do with existing bookings in the rare cases that they close a hotel doesn't need some blanket 'policy', just common sense. It's a simple case of transfer bookings to the nearest available alternative, let the customer know, and give them an easy method to contact you if that isn't acceptable. 

That's exactly what Travelodge did when they closed down a hotel I was booked into (Heathrow Terminal 5). As it happens the alternative they suggested was fine so I had no need to get in touch. I find it bizarre that Premier Inn haven't done the same here. 

Manxman_in_exile

ThumbRemote said:

mattyprice4004 said:

ThumbRemote said:

mattyprice4004 said:

Jumblebumble said:

TELLIT01 said:

It's impractical for PI to offer alternative accommodation without speaking to the customer. If the customer takes days to respond to an offer of an alternative, that accommodation may no longer be available.  Depending on how far away the date of occupancy is, all IP may be required to do is provide a full refund.

Why ?
British Airways do this all the time with their flights
If they cancel they will offer a specific flight that the customer might like  to be rebooked on.

Not much use if they've booked the one hotel in Aviemore and the nearest is Inverness, though - it's always best to check with hotel bookings and they can't have a policy for London and another for elsewhere. 

Of course they can have one policy for central London and another policy for elsewhere. Why on earth couldn't they?

Demarcation. You’ll always struggle to actually differentiate London from ‘outside’ as peoples idea of what is actually London varies so much. 

It’d be a complete nightmare to work with two policies like that, from someone who’s had to set up similar in the past for a large UK courier  

But this is a ridiculous discussion. What Premier Inn do with existing bookings in the rare cases that they close a hotel doesn't need some blanket 'policy', just common sense. It's a simple case of transfer bookings to the nearest available alternative, let the customer know, and give them an easy method to contact you if that isn't acceptable...

Exactly.  I can't understand why so many other posters seem to find this idea difficult to accept.

Or perhaps I've misunderstood the OP's problem?  As I understand it, PI have simply told him that the booking he's already made is unavailable.  Full stop.  They've not told him any more!