Can I get my money back

marcia_

scottleag said:

marcia_ said:

 I would try everything to get there and get your monies worth of using the room during your booking 

If I could do that I would't have asked to change the booking. However I'm not going to  cancel it as that frees up the room and allows the hotel to take two payments for the one room. 

 But you have already informed them you want to cancel. You need to make it clear you no longer wish to cancel if you do not want them rebooking the room. 

Penguin_

scottleag said:

Penguin_ said:

Presumably free cancellation rooms were more expensive on the Booking.com website? You agreed to the terms & conditions unfortunately. 

Yes, and I offered to pay the difference but they refused.

By which time it was too late.

scottleag

eDicky said:

scottleag said:

But for one of the hotels I had erred and accidentally booked a non-refundable, no change of date hotel. My fault. My laxness. My stupidity. Call it what you will.

Your freely made admission that it was your own mistake adds to my difficulty in understanding your attitude. 

Would you have preferred a less polite reply to your continued insistence? If there was any chance of a gesture of goodwill on the part of the hotel, it would have been given on your first approach to them.

Why would anyone pay a higher price for refundable/changeable terms, if it were not necessary..?

As I've said in another reply I said I would pay the difference. This was ignored in their replies.

scottleag

marcia_ said:

scottleag said:

marcia_ said:

 I would try everything to get there and get your monies worth of using the room during your booking 

If I could do that I would't have asked to change the booking. However I'm not going to  cancel it as that frees up the room and allows the hotel to take two payments for the one room. 

 But you have already informed them you want to cancel. You need to make it clear you no longer wish to cancel if you do not want them rebooking the room. 

They say cancellation is not possible and they have taken payment. Therefore surely they cannot rebook unless I specifically cancel.

eDicky

scottleag said:

eDicky said:

scottleag said:

But for one of the hotels I had erred and accidentally booked a non-refundable, no change of date hotel. My fault. My laxness. My stupidity. Call it what you will.

Your freely made admission that it was your own mistake adds to my difficulty in understanding your attitude. 

Would you have preferred a less polite reply to your continued insistence? If there was any chance of a gesture of goodwill on the part of the hotel, it would have been given on your first approach to them.

Why would anyone pay a higher price for refundable/changeable terms, if it were not necessary..?

As I've said in another reply I said I would pay the difference. This was ignored in their replies.

Isn't it obvious that it doesn't work like that? If it did, everyone would book the cheaper option then pay the extra if they needed to make changes...

scottleag

Penguin_ said:

scottleag said:

Penguin_ said:

Presumably free cancellation rooms were more expensive on the Booking.com website? You agreed to the terms & conditions unfortunately. 

Yes, and I offered to pay the difference but they refused.

By which time it was too late.

Unfortunately yes. The difference between them taking payment five months in advance and free cancellation is just £19

scottleag

eDicky said:

scottleag said:

eDicky said:

scottleag said:

But for one of the hotels I had erred and accidentally booked a non-refundable, no change of date hotel. My fault. My laxness. My stupidity. Call it what you will.

Your freely made admission that it was your own mistake adds to my difficulty in understanding your attitude. 

Would you have preferred a less polite reply to your continued insistence? If there was any chance of a gesture of goodwill on the part of the hotel, it would have been given on your first approach to them.

Why would anyone pay a higher price for refundable/changeable terms, if it were not necessary..?

As I've said in another reply I said I would pay the difference. This was ignored in their replies.

Isn't it obvious that it doesn't work like that? If it did, everyone would book the cheaper option then pay the extra if they needed to make changes...

Which would make more money for the hotel

eskbanker

scottleag said:

They must realise they're going to get really rotten reviews on Booking.com and Tripadvisor and if even just two people change plans to stay with this hotel group as a result they'll have lost more than they gained. I know it won't affect them greatly but even so more or less guaranteeing they'll lose trade seems a bit daft to me.

scottleag said:

eskbanker said:

If the hotel is abiding by its terms, both on changing non-refundable bookings and charging in advance, then you don't have any basis on which to seek any sort of recovery via your bank, and choosing to write bad reviews also seems inappropriate....

Why inappropriate? The hotel could have generated goodwill by changing the booking date by three days. They didn't have to take the money five months in advance. They chose to not do one but did do the other (after not responding to me) Seems to be to perfectly in order to let people know of these practices. 

It obviously depends on how you choose to phrase any reviews - there's no harm in highlighting that the hotel sticks to its published terms, but that's not what was implied by your threat/intention to leave "really rotten reviews" that would be designed to try to lose them business.

born_again

scottleag said:

Obviously I'm aware trains not running have nothing to do with the hotel. What I can't understand is why they refuse to take a common sense approach and change the booking to three days later when there are plenty of rooms available. Cane you tell me what Section 75 is? I don't know anything about claiming back as I've never been in this situation before. 

S75 covers breach of contract &/or misrepresentation.

So as you wanted to cancel, it is you in breach of the contract.

There would also be no chargeback as right, as again it is you who has cancelled.

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but there really is no way to sugar coat it.

scottleag

eskbanker said:

scottleag said:

They must realise they're going to get really rotten reviews on Booking.com and Tripadvisor and if even just two people change plans to stay with this hotel group as a result they'll have lost more than they gained. I know it won't affect them greatly but even so more or less guaranteeing they'll lose trade seems a bit daft to me.

scottleag said:

eskbanker said:

If the hotel is abiding by its terms, both on changing non-refundable bookings and charging in advance, then you don't have any basis on which to seek any sort of recovery via your bank, and choosing to write bad reviews also seems inappropriate....

Why inappropriate? The hotel could have generated goodwill by changing the booking date by three days. They didn't have to take the money five months in advance. They chose to not do one but did do the other (after not responding to me) Seems to be to perfectly in order to let people know of these practices. 

It obviously depends on how you choose to phrase any reviews - there's no harm in highlighting that the hotel sticks to its published terms, but that's not what was implied by your threat/intention to leave "really rotten reviews" that would be designed to try to lose them business.

Pointing out that by sticking to their published terms they will take payment five months in advance, that they will only respond to correspondence by form emails and unsigned, that they will refuse requests to change a booking by three days even though they have plenty of accommodation. And you could omit the word 'threat' from your comment. Poor international hotel group. Threatened by me trying to lose them business.

I sincerely hope you never tick the wrong box in error and find yourself £200 down as a result.