UK contract law and hotel rooms??

[Howardh]

If you have booked, and paid in advance, for your hotel room, don't you have a contract with that hotel so they can't say "sorry, overbooked, we'll have to cancel and refund" in which the "overbooking" is a lie as they want to re-sell your room for a higher price as there's a concert in town? I'd be asking not just for a full refund but compensation too?

I've never known a TOC cancel your advance ticket/seat because the train's sold out and they can re-sell for more?

Any legal eagles on here??

 

[87 027]

This came up recently in the consumer section of a national newspaper

My city-centre Travelodge bumped me out of town – now they’re refusing to refund me

The budget chain’s ‘suitable’ alternative was a 20-minute drive from the city centre, where our reader was meeting family for dinner

www.telegraph.co.uk

The full article is behind a paywall but the gist is that overbooking can and does happen

Overbooking at hotels does happen, especially in hotel chains which can suffer from a spate of late cancellations and therefore have a tendency to oversell. That said, you had pre-paid your room which was non-refundable.

The usual policy – and one that is followed by online hotel booking agents – is that if the hotel cannot provide the reserved room it must find a suitable alternative. “Suitable” is open to wide interpretation but, in my view, the alternative should be of a similar or better standard and as close as possible to your original choice.

I could get no clarity on why certain customers are chosen to be bumped, but I suspect it was because you were only staying for one night.

 

[Howardh]

This came up recently in the consumer section of a national newspaper

My city-centre Travelodge bumped me out of town – now they’re refusing to refund me

The budget chain’s ‘suitable’ alternative was a 20-minute drive from the city centre, where our reader was meeting family for dinner

www.telegraph.co.uk

The full article is behind a paywall but the gist is that overbooking can and does happen

Thanks, have a feeling consumer articles will be rather stretched this next few days with this issue! But in this example, it appears that hotels simply aren't overbooked, but being greedy as they can see a new demand.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

But in this example, it appears that hotels simply aren't overbooked, but being greedy as they can see a new demand.

Is this related to the Oasis concerts issues? I'm seeing lots of stuff online about hotels near the concert venues cancelling hundreds of booking and shoving the prices through the roof.

 

[Howardh]

Is this related to the Oasis concerts issues? I'm seeing lots of stuff online about hotels near the concert venues cancelling hundreds of booking and shoving the prices through the roof.

Yes, but I doubt this is unique, Eurovision @ Liverpool was known, what, 9 months in advance so I doubt many rooms were pre-booked that far in advance anyway, but I'm sure there are other examples?

As it happens something has just appeared on the MEN site: looks like they are feeling a bit "embarrassed" at being called out!

Hotel cancels cheaper bookings on same day Oasis gigs announced

The notification from the Maldron in Manchester city centre said the cancellations were being requested due to a 'technical error'

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Guests with bookings at a hotel in Manchester say they received a cancellation notice the same day Oasis announced their huge tour - as room prices skyrocketed across the city.

Those who had booked rooms at the Maldron, in Manchester city centre, reported being sent a message through booking operators informing them their reservations could not be upheld due to a 'technical error'. It comes after some of the most affordable hotel rooms in and around the city swiftly disappeared off booking sites for the dates Oasis were set to return, with others shooting up in price by hundreds of pounds.

After making bookings at the Maldron hotels in Manchester, at both the city centre hotel on Charles Street and at the Cathedral Quarter branch on Chapel Street, shortly after the announcement of the tour dates, many travellers were later told they were being sent cancellation requests to accept and that their bookings could not be honoured.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the hotel said that 'due to a technical error' with the booking system on 26 and 27 August, more rooms were listed to book than were available for the nights of the Oasis concerts at Heaton Park. "As a result, we are unable to honour all bookings made on these dates, and we are actively engaging with customers regarding their bookings", the spokesperson added.

The hotel is now 'investigating the issue' and vowed this was 'not an attempt to resell rooms at inflated prices'. The hotel is 'not taking any bookings' for these dates in the meantime, the spokesperson said, with the chain also looking into an issue that allowed a 'small number of customers to book the rooms at a higher price later in the evening'.