Booking.com room not as described (County Aparthotel, Newcastle)

Alderbank

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

itm2 said:

We were in Newcastle for a funeral.

Sorry to hear OP

itm2 said:

Looking at my debit card statement, the room payment was made to ""Partners on Booking Bv"", but the £50 deposit taken when I checked in was credited to "County". This suggests (to me, at least) that booking.com didn't simply redirect me to the hotel's reservation system.

An agent can facilitate payment, or part of between the parties (i.e you and the hotel). They are sadly just an agent.

I'd be looking at the cost difference back between what you booked and actually received. 

OP said, 'The "small double room" is listed on the hotel website £69. We paid  £72'

So the cost difference is £3.

Okell

Jumblebumble said:

...

Small Double Room

Room

Private bathroom

Flat-screen TV

Minibar

Free WiFi

Room size 8 ft²

1 double bed

...

8 ft² ?            

HillStreetBlues

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

itm2 said:

I was told that the problem was due to me booking via a third party, and that if I had read the "fine print" I would have seen that there was no guarantee regarding the type of room that we would actually be allocated.

Nonsense! trader's right to vary terms is very limited but no one is going to book and pay for e.g a suite and the get stuck in a single for the same price because the terms said so.

OP Booking.com are correct in that they are an agent and the issue is for the hotel to sort.

They appear to be a UK company, what is the difference in room rates and what was the purpose of the stay? 

Booking.com need to supply what was booked. If it was a horrible double room then I would agree take it up with hotel,  as Booking.com supplied the room
Clearly this is a single room with a single bed, no tape measure needed as have a small double in a spare room, it's even set out as a single, so Booking.Com have failed to provide what was booked.

Grumpy_chap

eskbanker said:

itm2 said:

the bed was extremely small (see attached photo)

No kidding, that looks more like a single than a double!  Did you measure it?

I was going comment similarly that the bed looks like a single.

I understand the OP not having a tape measure, but improvisation may have been possible.  I know a single bed is typically 3'-6" and a sheet of A4 paper is fractionally under a foot, so three and a half lengths of A4.  Or whatever similar approximator the OP may have had with them.

In fact, I think the OP was very patient in not going straight back down to Reception and being clear that was a single bed.  The hotel may have had a tape measure.

A "small double" on the JL website is 5'-3".  An obvious difference.

I normally take a fairly lenient and hotel-friendly stance on these room discrepancy type of threads but in this case I think the OP should pursue full recovery of the cost.  There is sometimes an argument around "well, you stayed so got some value" but that really seems moot here.

HillStreetBlues

Grumpy_chap said:

eskbanker said:

itm2 said:

the bed was extremely small (see attached photo)

No kidding, that looks more like a single than a double!  Did you measure it?

I was going comment similarly that the bed looks like a single.

I understand the OP not having a tape measure, but improvisation may have been possible.  I know a single bed is typically 3'-6" and a sheet of A4 paper is fractionally under a foot, so three and a half lengths of A4.  Or whatever similar approximator the OP may have had with them.

In fact, I think the OP was very patient in not going straight back down to Reception and being clear that was a single bed.  The hotel may have had a tape measure.

A "small double" on the JL website is 5'-3".  An obvious difference.

I normally take a fairly lenient and hotel-friendly stance on these room discrepancy type of threads but in this case I think the OP should pursue full recovery of the cost.  There is sometimes an argument around "well, you stayed so got some value" but that really seems moot here.

A small double is normally classed as 4 foot, 6 inches smaller that a standard double.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

HillStreetBlues said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

itm2 said:

I was told that the problem was due to me booking via a third party, and that if I had read the "fine print" I would have seen that there was no guarantee regarding the type of room that we would actually be allocated.

Nonsense! trader's right to vary terms is very limited but no one is going to book and pay for e.g a suite and the get stuck in a single for the same price because the terms said so.

OP Booking.com are correct in that they are an agent and the issue is for the hotel to sort.

They appear to be a UK company, what is the difference in room rates and what was the purpose of the stay? 

Booking.com need to supply what was booked. If it was a horrible double room then I would agree take it up with hotel,  as Booking.com supplied the room
Clearly this is a single room with a single bed, no tape measure needed as have a small double in a spare room, it's even set out as a single, so Booking.Com have failed to provide what was booked.

I think Booking.com will say they processed the booking correctly and the hotel supplied the wrong room.

If you book a suite and Booking.com book you a single with the hotel that is Booking.com's responsibility as the booking forms part of their responsibility. 

If the booking is made correctly but the hotel does something wrong then that is the hotel's responsibility.

I wish it wasn't the answer but as with a lot of booking sites they are just there to facilitate two parties forming a contract, some of them do take certain bookings where the contract is with Booking.com or whoever but it sesems OP has ben advised already that Booking is not a party to the contract for the actual supply of the accommodation  

Alderbank said:

So the cost difference is £3.

Thanks I saw £99 somewhere, must have misread something. In that case up to OP as to whether to press the hotel for "compensation", I guess the situation might have not pressed OP to complain more at the time which would have been best really. 

born_again

HillStreetBlues said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

itm2 said:

I was told that the problem was due to me booking via a third party, and that if I had read the "fine print" I would have seen that there was no guarantee regarding the type of room that we would actually be allocated.

Nonsense! trader's right to vary terms is very limited but no one is going to book and pay for e.g a suite and the get stuck in a single for the same price because the terms said so.

OP Booking.com are correct in that they are an agent and the issue is for the hotel to sort.

They appear to be a UK company, what is the difference in room rates and what was the purpose of the stay? 

Booking.com need to supply what was booked. If it was a horrible double room then I would agree take it up with hotel,  as Booking.com supplied the room
Clearly this is a single room with a single bed, no tape measure needed as have a small double in a spare room, it's even set out as a single, so Booking.Com have failed to provide what was booked.

They did.
They provided a booking for the customer @ the hotel. They do not provide rooms. That is down to the hotel. If the room provided is not what customer ordered, then it is the hotel to sort.

A std hotel pillow is 2' 6", so that would make that a small double 4' 0" at best.

itm2

The hotel told me when I complained in the morning that the booking they had received from the agent was for a "small double room", so told me that it was an issue with the agent. I told them that they should have told me this the night before, when I specifically told them that I had reserved a standard room, not a small one. Instead, they heard what I said but simply ignored it.
I emailed the hotel yesterday to complain again, but have received no reply. It seems that both parties are pointing the finger at each other, when in truth both are probably at fault.

born_again

itm2 said:

The hotel told me when I complained in the morning that the booking they had received from the agent was for a "small double room", so told me that it was an issue with the agent. I told them that they should have told me this the night before, when I specifically told them that I had reserved a standard room, not a small one. Instead, they heard what I said but simply ignored it.
I emailed the hotel yesterday to complain again, but have received no reply. It seems that both parties are pointing the finger at each other, when in truth both are probably at fault.

So what does your booking show on your booking.com account of email confirmation?

itm2

born_again said:

itm2 said:

The hotel told me when I complained in the morning that the booking they had received from the agent was for a "small double room", so told me that it was an issue with the agent. I told them that they should have told me this the night before, when I specifically told them that I had reserved a standard room, not a small one. Instead, they heard what I said but simply ignored it.
I emailed the hotel yesterday to complain again, but have received no reply. It seems that both parties are pointing the finger at each other, when in truth both are probably at fault.

So what does your booking show on your booking.com account of email confirmation?

Here is my booking at booking.com - "Standard Room 1 Double Bed"