Locked out of hotel, what to do?

Penny Tration

Hiya, just wondering what, if anything, I should do in this situation. I'm not looking for compo or anything like that, just to clarify!

Stayed in a hotel yesterday with my partner. Tthe hotel was on top of a pub, so no reception desk. They hand you an electric fob for the main door, and a key for your room, on a keyring.

The metal hoop scuring the fob to the keyring wa loose and the fob kept coming loose.

At 4am, we went outside for a smoke. Unfortunately, the fob had fallen off of the keyring, so we were stuck outside. Pub was closed, my purse, jacket, phone and belongings were in the room. After trying unsuccessfully to get in, and calling every phone number listed on the website (my partner had his phone thankfully), we eventually had to leave and call his brother to ask him to have taxi money waiting at his house for us to get a taxi there.

Went in this morning when the pub opened to collect my belongings and told the manager wjat happened. He said the fob was faulty and we shouldn't have been given it.

He was very nice about it, and gave me back the money we spent on the taxi, but should I be looking for a refund for the room I paid for?

I don't want to seem greedy at all, but my line of thinking is, it's their fault we were given a faulty fob, we didn't get the use of the room and had to pay for a taxi to my bf's house (which was refunded and fair play to the bar manager for that!).

What do you think? Leave it be, or email and request a refund?

I don't really mind either way, but my family and bf are all telling me to request a refund. What do the good people kd boards think?

gugleguy

write a review on trip advisor about hotel. I don't care whether or not you proceed to look for money back. Personally, I'd write about it on trip advisor (I know there are a lot of fake reviews on tripadvisor as well) .

Penny Tration

gugleguy wrote: »

write a review on trip advisor about hotel. I don't care whether or not you proceed to look for money back. Personally, I'd write about it on trip advisor (I know there are a lot of fake reviews on tripadvisor as well) .

I'll be writing a review, but I'd prefer to wait and see how the management deal with this issue before writing it.

It's quite lucky I'm from Dublin. A tourist, or someone from another county would have been screwed. I'm just lucky I had a place to go to.

rubadub

I think you deserve a refund, you say he was nice, and admitted it was faulty so I reckon you will get it.

Certainly not greedy.

zetalambda

If you are looking for a refund, you should consider giving the bar manager back the money for the taxi. Next time open a window, Cigarette smoke won't set off a fire alarm or if there's an extractor fan in the bathroom, blow the smoke up it!

Penny Tration

zetalambda wrote: »

If you are looking for a refund, you should consider giving the bar manager back the money for the taxi. Next time open a window, Cigarette smoke won't set off a fire alarm or if there's an extractor fan in the bathroom, blow the smoke up it!

Absolutely, i wouldn't expect taxi fare and the refund!

I wouldn't smoke in a non smoking hotel, not worth the risk.

irish_goat

They knew it was faulty and still gave the key out, I think you're well entitled to a refund, including taxi fare. What if you hadn't had a brother's house to go to? Or were on your own? Seriously bad form on the hotel's part.

Midnight Sundance

I also agree that you should get taxi fare and refund for room. You paid for a room that you were locked out of. They should have offered the money back without you even asking in my opinion. Maybe they don't legally have to but if they'd good customer service then they should. That's just my opinion though.

Penny Tration

irish_goat wrote: »

They knew it was faulty and still gave the key out, I think you're well entitled to a refund, including taxi fare. What if you hadn't had a brother's house to go to? Or were on your own? Seriously bad form on the hotel's part.

I would imagine the girl who gave us the keys didn't realise it was faulty (although she spent ages faffing about with them, so it's a possibility). If I get a refund, I'd be happy to get itminus the taxi fare, bbecause I would have paid for a taxi home had I not booked a hotel anyway.

Tbh I freaked out before I realised my bf had his phone on him. If I'd been alone or not lived in Dublin, I would literally have been walking the streets for the night. I'm hoping they took my words with the manager this morning seriously. He was very apologetic, which I appreciated because hopefully that means it'll be taken seriously.

December2012

Refund for the room definitely!

Penny Tration

I appreciate the opinions and advice, everyone. I don't generally complain or request refunds, but the concensus seems to be (from both here and my own family) that I should request a refund.

Now, would doing it through private mail to their official Facebook page suffice, or should I email them?

December2012

I would have done it before leaving.

Given that you have left, I would keep it classy, private and polite - definitely not a Facebook issue.

Penny Tration

December2012 wrote: »

I would have done it before leaving.

Given that you have left, I would keep it classy, private and polite - definitely not a Facebook issue.

Tbh I had had 2 hours of sleep, so it didn't even cross my mind, all I wanted was my bed.

I have sent them a private message on Facebook, detailing what happened, adding screenshots of the booking reference, and requesting a refund, minus the taxi fare that was given to me. I have, of course, sent it as a pprivate message!

Penny Tration

Very speedy response and resolution.

The hotel in question (don't know if I can name them) replied to my message within 2 minutes of receiving it, offering to process a full refund onto my card, with an apology.

Very good form from them, I have to say!

December2012

Fair play to hotel!

Penny Tration

December2012 wrote: »

Fair play to hotel!

I'm shocked at receiving such a speedy response, and such a timely resolution at that.

Huge respect to them.

Fieldsman

OP going out in the street at 4am to go smoking ?? I think its your smoking habit was the cause of the lock outy

username123

Fieldsman wrote: »

OP going out in the street at 4am to go smoking ?? I think its your smoking habit was the cause of the lock outy

How is this relevant? If I pay for a hotel room I am entitled to go out and dance a jig on the street at 4am if I wish and still expect to be able to get back into my room.

Penny Tration

Fieldsman wrote: »

OP going out in the street at 4am to go smoking ?? I think its your smoking habit was the cause of the lock outy

If I choose to smoke, that's my prerogative and has absolutely nothing to do with the fob being faulty. I didn't even get back to the hotel til 3am as I'd been on a night out, so going for a smoke at 4am isn't beyond the realms of normal behaviour. It's not like I was getting out of bed togo for a smoke!

dudara

@Fieldsman I fail to see the relevance of your post to the matter at hand. Please post on topic

dudara

Penny Tration

dudara wrote: »

@Fieldsman I fail to see the relevance of your post to the matter at hand. Please post on topic

dudara

I think this thread can be locked anyway, due to a speedy and very satisfactory response from the hotel.

Thanks again for the advice, everyone. Much appreciated.

Midnight Sundance

Fair play to the hotel! Accidents happen and it's always good to see them try to rectify a problem without a delay.

Penny Tration

Hiya, and thanks to dudara for reopening the thread.

So, i never got the refund. They were going to put it on my card. I paid cash. I know it can take a while, but it's been a little over 2 weeks.

How should I proceed with this? Email? If so, what should I say? I haven't really got a clue about how to go about it

December2012

I would email them so you've a record of it.

Mick Murdock

Judging by their response to your previous requests I would assume it was just an oversight. Email is the way to go.

Penny Tration

Any idea how to word it?

I know I sound pretty dumb, but I've never asked for a refund before :pac:

AngeGal

green_screen wrote: »

Any idea how to word it?

I know I sound pretty dumb, but I've never asked for a refund before :pac:

Maybe something like below.

Dear _______,

As you might recall I stayed at your hotel two weeks ago. There was an issue with the fob which resulted in me being locked out on the night and you kindly offered me a refund.

I was just wondering if you could let me know if you have had an opportunity to put it on the card yet? Visa/_________ is often slow with this in my experience so if you can confirm it has been transferred, I can contact them to try and get it pushed through sooner.

Thanks again for your assistance.

Kind regards,

___________

2 stroke

I don't think it's possible for a business to refund to a card, unless there has been a charge to that card originally.

L1011

2 stroke wrote: »

I don't think it's possible for a business to refund to a card, unless there has been a charge to that card originally.

Its possible but I've never, ever seen a merchant agreement that didn't completely ban you from doing it for fraud reasons. Zero fraud protection at all for the merchant if they do it.

Penny Tration

Hmm. Wondering why they offered a refund to my card, if ythat wasn't a possibility, so. I told them I had paid cash.

Odd.

I'll email them tomorrow and see what they say.

L1011

Being told not to do something doesn't mean people don't do it.

Mick Murdock

You could supply them with bank details if it's a hassle to collect cash.

Penny Tration

No reply to the email I sent.

I'm going to be in the area today, so sent a follow up, asking if it's okay for me to drop in to collect it.

No reply yet, but I only sent it a while ago. We'll see what happens when I drop in.

Thanks for all the advice.

Penny Tration

I dropped in, and was told there was nobody there to authorise a refund.

I never received a reply to my email, either.

Think i may just give up at this point tbh.

Sadderday

green_screen wrote: »

I dropped in, and was told there was nobody there to authorise a refund.

I never received a reply to my email, either.

Think i may just give up at this point tbh.

Dont give up !!!

You paid for a room and you were left out on the street with no phone or money and the hotel accepted responsibility for it... take your money back - you didnt get what you paid for !

Penny Tration

Sadderday wrote: »

Dont give up !!!

You paid for a room and you were left out on the street with no phone or money and the hotel accepted responsibility for it... take your money back - you didnt get what you paid for !

I might email again, and include my bank details, but there's not much I can do bar keep emailing, I suppose. Just a pain in the backside that they accepted responsibility, offered a refund, and now nothing.

Sadderday

green_screen wrote: »

I might email again, and include my bank details, but there's not much I can do bar keep emailing, I suppose. Just a pain in the backside that they accepted responsibility, offered a refund, and now nothing.

I wouldn't be emailing my bank details just yet.

Give them a bell and ask if the manager is there? they can bank draft ya, they are a business they know what they are at.

Careful with the bank details you dont know who has access to their emails

username123

green_screen wrote: »

I might email again, and include my bank details, but there's not much I can do bar keep emailing, I suppose. Just a pain in the backside that they accepted responsibility, offered a refund, and now nothing.

Phone them up and ask to speak to whoever is responsible for issuing refunds. Tell them that you will be taking a case with the Small Claims Court unless a refund is issued immediately (give a time frame).

Penny Tration

I rang up twice last night, but no answer. I'll try again this evening.

So much more hassle than I was expecting :pac:

Sadderday

green_screen wrote: »

I rang up twice last night, but no answer. I'll try again this evening.

So much more hassle than I was expecting :pac:

Well, it doesn't matter if the room was €30 a night or €130 a night its your money and unless your flush, I wouldnt be giving up.

You must have got your rocks before you got locked out, you're too calm about it !

Penny Tration

Sadderday wrote: »

Well, it doesn't matter if the room was €30 a night or €130 a night its your money and unless your flush, I wouldnt be giving up.

You must have got your rocks before you got locked out, you're too calm about it !

:pac: I didn't!

Penny Tration

Well, I got my money back.

I happened to be transferred to work nearby the hotel today, so dropped in. Manager was on a break, so I left my number.

Manager didn't call back (never received any replies to my emails either), so I went back in.

Same barman said he still wasn't back. He was extremely apologetic, asked me how much I'd paid, and just took it from the till and said he'd sort it, and kept apologising.

So, done and dusted, but my god, it wasn't as simple as I thought it would be after their initial email!

rhapsody

Wuhoo! Glad you finally got it sorted, but god they didn't make it easy! Well done for persevering

Penny Tration

rhapsody wrote: »

Wuhoo! Glad you finally got it sorted, but god they didn't make it easy! Well done for persevering

It came at a handy time, I'm broke this week :pac:

The barman was really lovely and kept apologising. I kept telling him there was no need, it wasn't his fault at all, and he went above and beyond. He also said to feel free to call and make an official complaint over it.

Just for him alone, I won't be writing nasty reviews online. At least they have one gem of a staff member.

fleet_admiral

was the hotel in south wicklow?

Penny Tration

fleet_admiral wrote: »

was the hotel in south wicklow?

No, Dublin City Centre.

Chattastrophe!

Glad you got sorted.

2 stroke wrote: »

I don't think it's possible for a business to refund to a card, unless there has been a charge to that card originally.

Of course it's possible. I do it myself at work on a daily basis; in fact, when doing a refund, I'm given the option to refund above and beyond what the person originally paid! (I've never personally had to do so, but the option is there!)