hotel room cannot be cancelled?

WhiteWalls · 14-04-2016 6:03am #1

I have booked a room in Edinburgh for 3 weeks time and now I can't go. Website won't seem to let me cancel it however. It clearly says no cancellation. Is this common?

CarrickMcJoe · 14-04-2016 6:09am

Yes, it's very common. Sometimes if you pay a slightly higher price' you can cancel up to the day before. Might be no harm to ring the hotel direct as talking to a human always beats a computer screen.

lc180 · 14-04-2016 10:05am

A lot of hotel booking sites will have a non refundable rate per night and a more expensive but refundable rate. Like the poster above said, give them a call, they might be flexible with you.

Also If you have travel insurance you may be able to claim back the money depending on your situation.

ProudDUB · 14-04-2016 10:15am

Yep. It is very common. As others have said, a lot of hotels third party sites or the hotel websites themselves, offer a refundable rate, and a cheaper non refundable rate. Some don't offer any and if you cancel, you lose your money. It varies, from hotel to hotel and. There is no one set policy that they all abide by. I use booking.com and hotels.ie for their generous cancellation policy, of being able to cancel up to midnight on the day before you arrive. Give them a ring and ask if you can get a refund, it can't hurt to ask, but if they don't agree, you don't really have any come back, if the booking terms and conditions aren't on your side. It can't hurt to dig those out and have a look at them.

Yamanoto · 14-04-2016 11:01am

Sell it at a discount to recoup some of your outlay.

www.roomertravel.com

WhiteWalls · 14-04-2016 12:36pm

Thanks for the replies. I haven't actually been charged for this, its just been reserved on my card. It was through booking.com. what about contacting the hotel?

Miaireland · 14-04-2016 12:40pm

It would worth contacting the hotel alright. Edinburgh is a busy City so they might be glad to resell it. However, they may not particularly as it was booked through booking.com and they say no cancellation. The Hotel pay booking.com a fee for every room booked through them and your case would probably still have to pay it even though you cancelled.

coylemj · 14-04-2016 4:39pm

I can't see any point in contacting the hotel if you've booked through a third party. The OP gave his credit card number to booking.com, the hotel can't give him a refund. Even if the hotel agrees to cancel the reservation, the OP's contract is with booking.com and if their Ts & Cs say that he can't cancel and get a refund then that's the end of it.

If you book direct with the hotel then as others have said, you can agree a higher tariff with a cancellation option but taking a discount rate from the hotel itself usually involves a 'no refund' clause for a cancellation and doing the booking through a third party almost always involves no refunds.

Strumms · 14-04-2016 5:29pm

I don't really understand the OPs surprise at not being given the option to cancel a non-refundable room. I use booking.com for 90% of the hotels I book and it's absolutely clear as day, could not be any clearer in fact when they show you the room types, beside the price and the type of rate (refundable or otherwise) and cancellation policy, all listed there. Nothing ambiguous in it at all. The only way out of it is to contact booking.com and hope you find a sympathetic ear. Unlikely to be honest. Either that or travel insurance. Both unlikely to be of any help unless there are some circumstances such as medical etc. that means the OP cannot travel.

WhiteWalls · 14-04-2016 6:11pm

I don't have time to be reading T&C's

Xcellor · 14-04-2016 6:15pm

If your credit card really hasnt been charged you could report it as lost and then your bank will block transactions on it... Bit inconvenient tho. Alternatively max out your credit card so no more credit on it... Also inconvenient.

Im surprised they haven't taken the money already tho

bee06 · 14-04-2016 6:20pm

It says it right by the price!

Strumms · 14-04-2016 6:32pm

ohh really ? :pac: You'd have read the T&Cs a hell of a lot quicker then it will take you to negotiate your way out of paying for the room. Anyway as I explained as did the other poster, the rate type and cancellation policy are listed next to the price, You cannot but read it. It's not 'small print'. it either says 'Non-refundable' or to the effect of.. 'FREE cancellation before 27 Apr 2016'. It's not hard. :eek:

Blackdragon · 14-04-2016 6:49pm

As others have said - its right there by the price, as clear as day

They have put a hold on the funds though as the OP admitted, and the whole point of a hold is to avoid such a thing from happening.

To agree with the advice given so far, no harm giving bookings.com a call to see if they will waive it - but its highly unlikely seen as the conditions were clear as day.

BuffyBot · 14-04-2016 8:03pm

Eh, no. The authorisation would show the time/date the booking was made, and it would be hard to retro-claim the hotel booking was a result of the loss.

Also, even if maxed out the card issuer would most likely honour the charge, placing the OP over their limit and subject the OP to additional charges..so bad ideas all around.

Xcellor · 14-04-2016 8:11pm

Oh well OP you're ****ed so.

Xcellor · 14-04-2016 8:12pm

Though if it was me id be on the phone to the bank to confirm the hold... Its possible they didn't apply it.

ProudDUB · 15-04-2016 10:12am

Seriously? Then you have only yourself to blame, if you wind up having to pay for the hotel stay. The T&C's of an online hotel booking, generally take a very short time to read. They aren't War and Peace. You'll save yourself a world of money & trouble, if you make the time to read them in the future.

finbarrk · 15-04-2016 12:47pm

Unless you are almost blind you should see the terms of the booking beside the room price on booking.com. It's as plain as day. Call the hotel anyway. They should sort it.

SteM · 15-04-2016 12:53pm

But you have time to come onto boards.ie and ask a question after you booked.

You need a lesson in time-management OP. Or a trip to specsavers.

munchkin_utd · 15-04-2016 12:54pm

same on hotels.com and pretty much every other hotels website.

its most likely to save labour costs in manning call centres to deal with people who mistakenly somehow book a non cancellable room thinking its a flexible reservation.

stephenmario · 18-04-2016 10:29am

I own a B&B and deal with Booking.com a lot. The hotel can agree to accept the cancellation for a non refundable booking. I've done this before for customers. You will need to ring the hotel and booking.com

coylemj · 18-04-2016 12:39pm

Twelve posts since the OP said he didn't have time to read Tc & Cs - thread should have been closed right there and then.

Lemsiper · 20-04-2016 9:29am

Eh, actually I've done this on a number of occasions.

Cancel card, receive replacement card with unique details which the hotel does not have so therefore cannot charge you.

Simple.

kerry4sam · 20-04-2016 2:56pm

& we are done! Please read the t&c's for future bookings and you'll save a headache.

Thanks,
kerry4sam

hotel room cannot be cancelled?

Comments