Overcharged by hotel website?

adocholiday · 22-07-2014 10:21am #1

Hi all,

I won't name and shame just yet but a reputable international hotel vendor has overcharged me. I'm just wondering what my options are?

I picked a hotel which was advertised with a 20% discount and the price with the discount was 800. I also had a 10% discount voucher from them. On the payment screen it asked me to enter a voucher code. I did and it applied the 10% discount giving me a total of about 720. I completed the payment and then on my receipt it said that the card was charged the full price of 800. The 10% discount wasn't applied.

The T&C's of the 10% voucher say "You'll be able to check that it's still valid before completing a booking. There's a limit of one coupon per booking, and it can't be combined with other offers".

It's possible that the voucher was not valid due to the already 20% discounted, but surely I shouldn't have been able to apply an invalid voucher code at the payment screen? There is no other payment summary before paying for the hotel so I wasn't warned of being charged the full price until the payment had actually been made.

I'm very annoyed because the hotel was cheaper on other sites if you don't take the 10% discount into account. I would have booked with another provider instead.

I've emailed them to see what they say but I'm not hopeful. What do you think my options are here?

ben.schlomo · 22-07-2014 10:56am

adocholiday wrote: »

Hi all,

I won't name and shame just yet but a reputable international hotel vendor has overcharged me. I'm just wondering what my options are?

I picked a hotel which was advertised with a 20% discount and the price with the discount was 800. I also had a 10% discount voucher from them. On the payment screen it asked me to enter a voucher code. I did and it applied the 10% discount giving me a total of about 720. I completed the payment and then on my receipt it said that the card was charged the full price of 800. The 10% discount wasn't applied.

The T&C's of the 10% voucher say "You'll be able to check that it's still valid before completing a booking. There's a limit of one coupon per booking, and it can't be combined with other offers".

It's possible that the voucher was not valid due to the already 20% discounted, but surely I shouldn't have been able to apply an invalid voucher code at the payment screen? There is no other payment summary before paying for the hotel so I wasn't warned of being charged the full price until the payment had actually been made.

I'm very annoyed because the hotel was cheaper on other sites if you don't take the 10% discount into account. I would have booked with another provider instead.

I've emailed them to see what they say but I'm not hopeful. What do you think my options are here?

You were when it said the voucher cant be used in conjunction with other offers. It shouldnt have displayed that the discount came off but that seems like a website glitch to me.

adocholiday · 22-07-2014 11:05am

ben.schlomo wrote: »

You were when it said the voucher cant be used in conjunction with other offers. It shouldnt have displayed that the discount came off but that seems like a website glitch to me.

That is a fair point and I should have read the T&C's first. Even though it is likely a website glitch it works on multiple browsers and on multiple hotels. I made the booking last night and the issue is still occurring this morning. Very poor practice from what is usually a good company to deal with. They are going to catch a lot of people out with this.

ben.schlomo · 22-07-2014 11:08am

adocholiday wrote: »

That is a fair point and I should have read the T&C's first. Even though it is likely a website glitch it works on multiple browsers and on multiple hotels. I made the booking last night and the issue is still occurring this morning. Very poor practice from what is usually a good company to deal with. They are going to catch a lot of people out with this.

Maybe, but if I have a hotel discount i know before booking that it wont apply with other discounts, its across the industry and other industries too. Strange that the website lets it through.

AdMMM · 22-07-2014 11:13am

I would have at least waited a while to see whether or not they replied to the email before posting here.

If they are a reputable company, then I would imagine they would have no problem applying your 10% discount because of the glitch, and also because you're giving them a substantial amount of business and the 10% discount will cost them very little in the grand scheme of things.

adocholiday · 22-07-2014 11:21am

AdMMM wrote: »

I would have at least waited a while to see whether or not they replied to the email before posting here.

If they are a reputable company, then I would imagine they would have no problem applying your 10% discount because of the glitch, and also because you're giving them a substantial amount of business and the 10% discount will cost them very little in the grand scheme of things.

I posted here to see if my complaint was a valid one and to be informed so I know what exactly my rights are as a consumer in this scenario. Even if they do honour the discount, it's still good to know.

rubadub · 22-07-2014 11:33am

ben.schlomo wrote: »

if I have a hotel discount i know before booking that it wont apply with other discounts, its across the industry and other industries too.

It is very common to see this on vouchers, however I often find I can double up on some offers.

It is more usually to be able to combine 2 not so good offers. I would have chanced combining this 20% & 10%. If it was 50% off and a further 40% off you would be being a right chancer trying it.

Last one I double up on was a boots voucher, saying it could not be used on offers but I was allowed buy suncream with a substantial reduction.

dudara · 22-07-2014 11:39am

I agree that generally discounts can't be combined, so I'm not surprised this failed. I am however, surprised that their website didn't tell you this, and that you were charged a different amount to the total displayed on screen.

Email the hotel and give them a chance to resolve. If they can't offer you something, then I'd cancel the reservation (assuming that there are no penalties) and book elsewhere.

adocholiday · 22-07-2014 11:52am

dudara wrote: »

Email the hotel and give them a chance to resolve. If they can't offer you something, then I'd cancel the reservation (assuming that there are no penalties) and book elsewhere.

That's the thing, it was a non-refundable rate. One of the conditions of the initial 20% discount and it says that this reservation cannot be cancelled or changed. They might offer me a refund given the circumstances though. I do understand that I have a responsibility to familiarize myself with the T&C's of the voucher, and to be fair I was just chancing my arm to see if it worked; but there should be at least some sort of check in place on the site to ensure that the customer is made aware that the voucher isn't valid.

In supermarkets etc. the advertised price you see is the price you pay. Doesn't this apply to hotels etc. in a similar way?

athtrasna · 22-07-2014 12:13pm

adocholiday wrote: »

In supermarkets etc. the advertised price you see is the price you pay. Doesn't this apply to hotels etc. in a similar way?

No it's not, it's an invitation to treat. Not legally binding. It's up to shops' own policies as to whether they guarantee that price

adocholiday · 22-07-2014 12:19pm

Thanks for all of the input everyone, I appreciate it. Hopefully I'll get a favourable response from the company. If not, I'll just have to suck it up and treat it as a learning experience.

P. Breathnach · 22-07-2014 12:55pm

I think you were unduly optimistic in hoping that you could combine two discounts.

That said, if you pressed "purchase" at an apparent price of €720 when the true price was €800, then you must be entitled to rescind the contract, even if it was declared as a non-refundable rate.

delahuntv · 22-07-2014 2:22pm

I think you answered your self in the OP.

"and it can't be combined with other offers".

a 20% discount is an "offer" - so terms say it can't be combined with other offers, so therefore no extra discount can apply.

JimsAlterEgo · 23-07-2014 6:46am

does distance selling rules apply to hotel bookings?

Beano · 23-07-2014 11:50am

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

does distance selling rules apply to hotel bookings?

It doesnt apply to the purchase of services. AFAIK.

Beano · 23-07-2014 11:54am

the section headed Other Exceptions in the link below covers hotels

http://www.webmentor.ie/how-to-guides/legals/16-distance-selling-regulations-in-ireland-what-you-should-know

adocholiday · 23-07-2014 11:59am

Just an update here. The company rang me and said while it does appear that there was a glitch in their system, it was their fault and have refunded the discount to my account. No fuss and no fighting over it. Glad to have it resolved anyway. Thanks again everyone for your input.

gozunda · 23-07-2014 12:03pm

adocholiday wrote: »

Just an update here. The company rang me and said while it does appear that there was a glitch in their system, it was their fault and have refunded the discount to my account. No fuss and no fighting over it. Glad to have it resolved anyway. Thanks again everyone for your input.

So you got both discounts? Well done. Happy Holidays

adocholiday · 23-07-2014 12:15pm

gozunda wrote: »

So you got both discounts? Well done. Happy Holidays

Yep! It certainly pays to follow up with these things :cool:

dudara · 23-07-2014 12:18pm

Very decent of them, and well worth following up on. Happy days.

Roddylarge · 23-07-2014 4:16pm

this exact same thing happened to me, i presume it was the same website as i called them up and they refunded the difference straight away like the OP. The code used was 'HSUMM10'.

adocholiday · 23-07-2014 4:24pm

Roddylarge wrote: »

this exact same thing happened to me, i presume it was the same website as i called them up and they refunded the difference straight away like the OP. The code used was 'HSUMM10'.

Yep, I'm assuming that they're aware of the issue so

TheDriver · 23-07-2014 9:17pm

Good result. It is an issue if u were charged a different amount than that on screen and suspect visa etc wouldn't be happy about that. No matter what t&c are, the displayed price is all they should take. Now they may have small print to cancel after but that's a different story

Overcharged by hotel website?

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