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Hi,
I have a hotel stay coming up and through communicating with the hotel about mostly other things, I’ve realised that I have been booked into a lower category room than the room I have purchased.
I booked this room through a third party (fairly reputable) months ago, because the price was better, maybe around 20% less than booking direct. So, I don’t believe it was a mistake rate.
The hotel has asked me to pay an additional amount directly to get the room that I had originally booked.
At this point, I can still cancel the booking, but because it’s so near to my stay, rates have gone up a lot and I would have to pay almost double if I were to cancel the booking and rebook directly. Rates at all other comparable hotels have also gone up a lot.
The OTA has been mostly useless so far. If they don’t sort it out soon, what options do I have? I’m also concerned that the room type I want is going to sell out. Would I be able to agree to pay the hotel the extra they’ve asked for (so they reserve the room for me) and then dispute the OTA charge with Amex for the additional amount I had to pay as they hadn’t booked the room I had paid them for?
Thanks!
Get the hotel to email you with details of the room type you are booked in, forward to OTA. If they don’t sort it out chargeback (if Platinum as a charge card) or Section 75 if a credit card for not providing the goods purchased, only after the stay though.
That doesn’t help the OP get the room they actually want, though.
What does it say on your booking confirmation? This should show the room type the OTA booked for you (and what you’ve been charged).
What have you said to the OTA, and what has been the response so far?
On my booking confirmation from the OTA it mentions the correct room (the room I want and booked).
I have spoken to the OTA and they seem to accept they made a mistake and they say they are waiting to hear back from the hotel and their ‘supplier’ who doesn’t work on weekends.
I have also forwarded the booking confirmation to the hotel and I’ve heard nothing from them since yesterday morning.
My main concern right now is that the room I want will sell out before they get a chance to sort it out. I’m thinking of making a refundable booking for the room I want directly with the hotel (which I will cancel later) just to make sure they don’t sell out.
If you have a booking confirmation showing a particular type of room, that forms a contract and the OTA needs to deliver on that. What is the room type and which room is the hotel saying you are booked into?
If you want to make a separate, refundable booking for the preferred room type for peace of mind, then go ahead.
Hopefully this will get sorted out after the weekend and you will get the room you’ve booked, or if that’s no longer available, a better one.
The lesson as always is to book direct and tell us who the OTA is so we can avoid!
I’m thinking of making a refundable booking for the room I want directly with the hotel (which I will cancel later) just to make sure they don’t sell out.
This is really bad form IMO as the OTA is reliant on the hotel to put the situation right and if you take this course of action, the hotel may be less likely to be able to ultimately sell that room through no fault of their own.
You might also want to check carefully the contract terms with the OTA. Having looked at these in the past, they did seem to have the right to move me to another hotel they felt was “equivalent or better”.
They’ve gotten back to me and are willing to offer 20% off my booking to stay in the current room, which I am obviously not accepting. They are not willing to give me the room I’ve actually booked.
At this point I would just agree to pay the hotel the additional sum directly to move to the room I initially booked upon arrival at the hotel and then later dispute the OTA charge with my card company, but now I am worried that they will unilaterally cancel the booking between now and then, which having looked at their Terms and Conditions, they do have a right to do.
Not sure what to do at this point. Take that risk or just cancel the booking and go to another hotel (paying around 1.5x for a somewhat equivalent room).
I will let you know who the OTA is after this is all done, but I don’t want to risk them seeing this now.
So if your booking shows the correct room, is the hotel saying that’s not the room the OTA requested from them? Can they show you what they agreed with the OTA? What is the OTA offering to do at this point?
My booking confirmation from the OTA shows the correct room (the room I want). The hotel is saying a different room is booked in their system, so yeah, I think the hotel is saying that’s not the room the OTA requested from them.
The hotel is telling me the OTA booked a room several categories below.
The OTA has offered 20% off if I stay in the room that the hotel has me booked in, which is completely ridiculous, because at the time I made the booking, I probably could have booked that room for a lot more than 20% off the price I paid.
I agree that is ridiculous, you booked a specific room and the OTA seems to be at fault here so they should really make this right. That’s assuming that the OTA is the one in the wrong, of course, I would be very interested to hear their explanation of how this has happened …
Please tell us the OTA and the hotel when this is all over!
@Sam90 – it’s sadly not so uncommon for room categories not to map correctly between an OTA and a specific hotel. Nice hotels fix these sort of problems and the fact they won’t doesn’t really bode that well for your stay.
I’m not sure your proposal to pay the hotel for the higher category and then dispute the charge with your credit card company is likely to be very successful as by interposing an agent you have broken the debtor-creditor link for the purposes of s75 and a chargeback is very questionable in the circumstances (and if it’s a Visa card, they won’t entertain it at all) plus you still have the agency issue and there is usually a limit of 120 days which may or may not affect you.
The response from the hotel has been quite different from the OTA, however I am not sure how they intend to resolve this issue. Last contact I had from them today they asked me to forward the OTA booking email and said ‘we will contact your travel agency to clarify the situation’, as the booking in ‘our system was made under the wrong room category’.
They end the email by stating ‘we will resolve this matter to ensure you have the best experience during your stay’. Does this imply they are going to put me in the correct room? I am not sure.
The 120 day limit wouldn’t be a problem as it was booked within that time period and I paid with an Amex credit card (not charge card).
Is it worth asking the hotel if they are willing to honour the rate I paid the OTA if I cancel the OTA booking and make a direct booking with the hotel? At this point, it would be a pretty substantial discount.
Is it worth asking the hotel if they are willing to honour the rate I paid the OTA if I cancel the OTA booking and make a direct booking with the hotel? At this point, it would be a pretty substantial discount.
@Sam90 – yes, I think the situation you find yourself in is much more likely to be resolved by playing nicely rather than talk of enforcing some elusive contract or via credit card. The hotel is in a better place to fix the problem at minimal cost to you and them rather than the OTA.You will need to turn on the smarm/charm! Explain that while you understand the agent has made a mistake, they now aren’t too helpful, that you were really looking forward to staying at the hotel because [add a few points] and had carefully selected the room type because [add some points] and you would really appreciate the hotel helping to resolve the problem that isn’t of your making. Say why you booked with the OTA but of course you would rather now book direct which may hopefully save them some commissions. Find a suitable email contact rather than dealing with a reservations clerk.
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