Lastminute.com say overbooked, hotel says untrue and plenty of space.

OhJustSomeGuy

We've been in Marmaris for almost 3 weeks, and in 2 days time will change to a new hotel which we booked with Lastminute.com in March. Yesterday Lastminute sent a strange email saying we requested a change. So we went to the reception of our next hotel and spoke with the supervisor who said our booking was cancelled due to bankruptcy of Lastminute's partner. He said they have plenty of availability. He suggested we book again direct and reclaim the cost from Lastminute.com when back in the UK.

This morning I was finally able to contact Lastminute for a proper reply but they claimed the hotel was "overbooked" which we know to be absolutely untrue. They promised to get back to us later.

If we pay the hotel directly (matching the original booking) it's likely to be a lot more expensive now than when we originally booked and paid. So my question is, if we do that are we in our rights to reclaim the full cost to Lastminute.com?

Hoenir

OhJustSomeGuy said:

If we pay the hotel directly (matching the original booking) it's likely to be a lot more expensive now than when we originally booked and paid. So my question is, if we do that are we in our rights to reclaim the full cost to Lastminute.com?

Suggest you read LM's terms and conditions thoroughly. They'll most certainly cover all eventualities. As yet the full story most likely isn't known. LM are simply reacting to events outside their direct control.  Front line customer facing staff will know little. 

TELLIT01

I suspect your options are extremely limited.  Either pay for the accommodation direct and try to recover it from LastMinute, or don't have the other accommodation.  There isn't time to fight LM at the moment.  LM, or their 3rd party, would have an allocation of rooms which is no longer available.  That doesn't mean the entire hotel is full.

born_again

Go back to hotel & ask just which partner it is that has gone bankrupt. Then ask last min who informed them it was overbooked.

Bet Q1 goes unanswered & Q2 is hotel.

Hoenir

Hotel is the partner in trouble.   Overbooked suggests that the deal has been pulled and there's no longer any avalabilty on LM's system at the original price. 

If the hotel has plenty of rooms available. Then you'd thought that they would welcome your custom and not offer you a hiked room rate to stay. Sounds like commercial suicide. Or possibly a business teetering on the brink of going under. With no alternatives left in an attempt to survive. 

Westin

born_again said:

Go back to hotel & ask just which partner it is that has gone bankrupt. Then ask last min who informed them it was overbooked.

Bet Q1 goes unanswered & Q2 is hotel.

Go further.

Ask if it was “You Travel” that your booking was through. They were part of the large German travel firm FTi which has recently gone bankrupt. The bankruptcy has also impacted Lebranda Hotels.

If it was You Travel and you want to continue to stay at the hotel as planned, ask if they will honour the You Travel contract rate for your stay. If they agree I would probably accept that, pay the hotel and make a claim with LM when back in the U.K.  make sure you get an invoice from the hotel.

OhJustSomeGuy

We booked and paid for the hotel in March, after several weeks of research and cross-planning. We will be meeting relatives there from a third country. So we won't be happy about alternative hotels (the alternative LM suggested was even in a different town).

We have budget travel insurance. Would that compensate us if we had to pay to rebook the original hotel ourselves?

OhJustSomeGuy

On the LM booking it says: 

Hotel provider HotelBeds

Supplied by HOTELBEDS DMCC

Westin

OhJustSomeGuy said:

We booked and paid for the hotel in March, after several weeks of research and cross-planning. We will be meeting relatives there from a third country. So we won't be happy about alternative hotels (the alternative LM suggested was even in a different town).

We have budget travel insurance. Would that compensate us if we had to pay to rebook the original hotel ourselves?

You will need to read your travel insurance policy.  See if there is anything about supplier failure cover.

If booked as a package holidays the package provider is ultimately responsible.  However if LM come up with an alternative hotel of similar or higher standard in the same general resort area then there obligations are fulfilled.

OhJustSomeGuy

I've checked the travel insurance document. It's called Leisure Guard 'Flexi'. It's a bit hard to get my head round but it doesn't mention "supplier failure" and under a section entitled "What's not covered" it includes:

15. Any claims relating to the insolvency of the public transport operator and/or accommodation provider.

OhJustSomeGuy

We went back to the hotel. There was a different shift at reception. They looked up the reservation and without me asking they immediately advised it was cancelled due to the collapse of Meeting Point.

I asked if they will honour the original contract price and showed them the price we paid for the original booking. He said he will ask his manager and we should come back in an hour. Came back in an hour and was told we just missed the manager. Was also told he didn't give a yes/no answer. Will have to go back to the hotel again tomorrow. We have to leave our current apartment on Sunday so there's not much time left.