Non refundable hotel booking - what are my ACTUAL rights?

jax1701

Hi.

What are my ACTUAL consumer rights on this?
Booking made via 3rd party. Choice of rate X at lower price. Non refundable cancellation.
Rate Y, over £100 more, fully refundable.

I understand that there should be a reasonable fee added for admin in the event of cancellation, but moreso if there is little notice as hotel wouldn't be expected to fill the room at last minute.
But the hotel was advertising the room as 'last one available'. Hurry!’ and I was unable to afford the extra £100 for the fully refundable room.

I am disabled, and require assistance and, as such, I thought that I would take out the cancellation insurance. I have since read the very small print about no cancellation due to medical reasons.

The hotel are not willing to refund the room as it was 'prepaid, non refundable rate' whatever that means legally. They could easily cancel and resell the booking. It was made 6 weeks in advance. If the room is regularly filled, surely this means they can refund me?

I won't go into the ins and outs of why I cannot travel, just to say that my disabilities make it a logistical nightmare, and I am unable to travel alone.

I have explained this but the hotel are sticking by their guns.

What are my ACTUAL consumer rights in regards to non refundable room payments? I haven't just changed my mind, I simply am unable to travel and stay.

Please be gentle!

born_again

Where is the hotel?

Travel insurance?

Ayr_Rage

You are bound by the contract you entered into by getting a room at a discount on a non-refundable basis.

Your personal circumstances are unfortunate but irrelevant.

TELLIT01

As you purchased through a 3rd party, the display of 'last one available' mean last of the rooms they had allocated to them, not the last one the hotel had available.

If unable to travel through illness any claim would be on your travel insurance.

Alderbank

TELLIT01 said:

If unable to travel through illness any claim would be on your travel insurance.

Are you sure about that?

I ask because the OP says their chosen travel insurance specifically excludes cancellation due to medical reasons.

DullGreyGuy

jax1701 said:

What are my ACTUAL consumer rights on this?
Booking made via 3rd party. Choice of rate X at lower price. Non refundable cancellation.
Rate Y, over £100 more, fully refundable.

I understand that there should be a reasonable fee added for admin in the event of cancellation, but moreso if there is little notice as hotel wouldn't be expected to fill the room at last minute.
But the hotel was advertising the room as 'last one available'. Hurry!’ and I was unable to afford the extra £100 for the fully refundable room.

I am disabled, and require assistance and, as such, I thought that I would take out the cancellation insurance. I have since read the very small print about no cancellation due to medical reasons.

The hotel are not willing to refund the room as it was 'prepaid, non refundable rate' whatever that means legally. They could easily cancel and resell the booking. It was made 6 weeks in advance. If the room is regularly filled, surely this means they can refund me?

I won't go into the ins and outs of why I cannot travel, just to say that my disabilities make it a logistical nightmare, and I am unable to travel alone.

I have explained this but the hotel are sticking by their guns.

What are my ACTUAL consumer rights in regards to non refundable room payments? I haven't just changed my mind, I simply am unable to travel and stay.

So presumably this hotel is in the UK? 

Generally, your cooling off rights are explicitly excluded for things like hotels, cinemas, flights etc where the booking is for a specific date/time. It's not clear however from your post if you think you are in the cooling off period or not. 

Your rights are to use the room if you want it. 

CliveOfIndia

jax1701 said:

Please be gentle!

OK, so putting aside any emotion or any arguments relating to "what seems right or wrong or morally correct" ... you agreed to a contract that stated no refunds if you cancel.  You chose not to stay, so you forfeit the payment, in line with the contract you agreed to.  If you weren't happy with the terms of the contract, you shouldn't have agreed to it.

To clarify, I don't mean you just arbitrarily decided not to go - what I mean is, you initiated the decision not to go, rather than the hotel or the booking agent breaching their side of the contract.

I'll apologise if this comes across as being rude, that's not my intention at all.  What I'm trying to clarify is the simple black-and-white legal situation.

jax1701 said:

I thought that I would take out the cancellation insurance. I have since read the very small print about no cancellation due to medical reasons.

This is the part I'm a little unclear on - who provided the insurance?  Actually, I guess it doesn't actually matter in reality.  For any situation such as this, the usual reply is "The hotel are not at fault, they had the room available, it's down to you if you 'choose' not to use it, that's what insurance is for".  And for the common scenario such as going to Spain for a week's holiday, that's why the esteemed Mr. Lewis himself emphasises the importance of getting insurance as soon as you book - being unable to go due to medical reasons is a classic example of why insurance is so important.

But if your insurance policy specifically excludes cancellation on medical grounds, I fear you're on a hiding to nothing (again, not wishing to sound judgemental, but it really is so important to read the T&Cs of insurance policies before you buy, not just when you need to use them).

jax1701 said:

What are my ACTUAL consumer rights on this?

Not a lot, to be blunt.  They have not breached the terms of their contract with you.  You might possibly be able to get a goodwill gesture of a partial refund from them, although this would be totally down to their discretion, they're not legally obliged to do so.  If it's part of a chain (as opposed to a privately-owned small hotel), maybe a very politely-worded email to their head-office customer service department?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

Hotel can claim costs or loss of profit, not both, if loss of profit they must mitigate by trying to find another customer. 

Terms stating non-refundable are likely to be viewed as unfair under the CRA, supported by CMA guidance.

You need to argue higher, front line staff are unlikely to understand much of this and stick to policy. 

Alderbank

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Terms stating non-refundable are likely to be viewed as unfair under the CRA, supported by CMA guidance.

...but this was not a 'take it or leave it' no choice contract.

The OP had the option to either pay the full rate and the business would stand the full loss if they cancelled, or alternatively pay a discounted price where it was very clear that in return for the lower profit the contract would not entitle the OP to a refund.

A contract should be fair to both parties.
Choosing the discounted deal and also demanding a refund would in my opinion have been unfair to the trader.

If the hotel offers 2 and 3 star accommodation, is it fair to pay 2 star price and insist on a 3 star room?

TELLIT01

Alderbank said:

TELLIT01 said:

If unable to travel through illness any claim would be on your travel insurance.

Are you sure about that?

I ask because the OP says their chosen travel insurance specifically excludes cancellation due to medical reasons.

Just to clarify my statement - I don't think there would be any other potential route for recovery of cost.  Claiming from the insurer doesn't necessarily mean they would pay out.  My point would have been clearer had I omitted 'your'.

photome

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Hello OP

Hotel can claim costs or loss of profit, not both, if loss of profit they must mitigate by trying to find another customer. 

Terms stating non-refundable are likely to be viewed as unfair under the CRA, supported by CMA guidance.

You need to argue higher, front line staff are unlikely to understand much of this and stick to policy. 

I nearly always book non refundable rooms . If I end up not being able to go I would forfeit the charge, are you saying we could all book non refundable rooms and then decide not to go and claim a refund ?

the end result in that would be no cheap rooms for anyone as the hotels would only have the dearer refundable rate