Hotel cancellation

Tippgirl74

On June 25th we booked a hotel in Killarney via Groupon for this Thursday and Friday night. At 5.30 this evening (Tuesday)we got an email from the hotel to say Groupon had made an error. This deal should not have been available Friday night. We would be refunded our money from Groupon. Our other alternative was their goodwill gesture of having to pay an extra 90euro for Fri night! My partner rang them and the duty manager refused to budge. This is less than 48 hours before arrival. I am shocked that a hotel would treat us this badly! Also by the fact that the mail states they addressed it with Groupon weeks ago (but never contacted us!!). I'd be interested to know how others would handle it!! I copied and pasted the mail below.

I do apologise as I know the following may be frustrating for you to read, However, the fault with this booking lies with groupon, I have contacted groupon and they have confirmed same.



Please allow me the opportunity to explain where the fault lies with them;


We have been waiting a number of weeks for groupon to modify the terms and conditions our hotel has agreed with. We have informed groupon and they are aware that we will not honour any bookings which are outside the terms and conditions we have agreed with them.
It is our confirmed agreement with groupon that once a guest has selected a date, That date cannot be modified. This is our agreement as with groupon offers we have very limited availability due to the low rates
The package you purchased with groupon is a package for Sunday – Thursday only. As you are paying a Sunday to Thursday rate we will not be able to accommodate on that package for a Friday night (I have since contacted groupon, They confirmed this and they will be happy to refund you as the error is on there end)


As a gesture of good will, I would be able to offer you the following option with ourselves:

should you wish to book directly for the two nights, I would be able to offer you a discounted rate of €230, Normally a direct booking for Thursday & Friday would cost €270.

Again, I do apologise for the frustration that this booking has caused you however, the error is on groupons end.



Kind Regards,

august12

Tippgirl74 wrote: »

On June 25th we booked a hotel in Killarney via Groupon for this Thursday and Friday night. At 5.30 this evening (Tuesday)we got an email from the hotel to say Groupon had made an error. This deal should not have been available Friday night. We would be refunded our money from Groupon. Our other alternative was their goodwill gesture of having to pay an extra 90euro for Fri night! My partner rang them and the duty manager refused to budge. This is less than 48 hours before arrival. I am shocked that a hotel would treat us this badly! Also by the fact that the mail states they addressed it with Groupon weeks ago (but never contacted us!!). I'd be interested to know how others would handle it!! I copied and pasted the mail below.

I do apologise as I know the following may be frustrating for you to read, However, the fault with this booking lies with groupon, I have contacted groupon and they have confirmed same.



Please allow me the opportunity to explain where the fault lies with them;


We have been waiting a number of weeks for groupon to modify the terms and conditions our hotel has agreed with. We have informed groupon and they are aware that we will not honour any bookings which are outside the terms and conditions we have agreed with them.
It is our confirmed agreement with groupon that once a guest has selected a date, That date cannot be modified. This is our agreement as with groupon offers we have very limited availability due to the low rates
The package you purchased with groupon is a package for Sunday – Thursday only. As you are paying a Sunday to Thursday rate we will not be able to accommodate on that package for a Friday night (I have since contacted groupon, They confirmed this and they will be happy to refund you as the error is on there end)


As a gesture of good will, I would be able to offer you the following option with ourselves:

should you wish to book directly for the two nights, I would be able to offer you a discounted rate of €230, Normally a direct booking for Thursday & Friday would cost €270.

Again, I do apologise for the frustration that this booking has caused you however, the error is on groupons end.



Kind Regards,

I would be fairly annoyed as well but I would have thought Groupon would need to compensate the hotel, not you, have you read Groupon's terms and conditions.

antix80

I'd say Groupon have it written into their t and c's.

Obviously, t and c's don't supercede statutory rights.

If you're still getting an ok deal from the hotel, just go and enjoy your night.

Try to recover a bit more cash from Groupon.

And write a short, honest one-star review for the hotel, saying it would be a 5 star review only for the extra charge. Facebook, google and tripadvisor.

Darc19

Looks like it's Groupons fault. Your issue should be with them as they write the terms and conditions and you bought from their site.


Having dealt with them a few years ago, they do make errors and they don't give a damn. They have a huge staff turnover and this causes the problem.

august12

https://www.groupon.ie/legal/termsofsalelocal

These are their terms and conditions, agreement is between you and merchant i.e. hotel in this case, something fishy about all this I think, you should have got an email from Groupon if there was some error in the booking,

antix80

antix80 wrote: »

And write a short, honest one-star review for the hotel, saying it would be a 5 star review only for the extra charge. Facebook, google and tripadvisor.

Why would you do that if it wasn’t the hotel’s fault and they are offering a discounted rate? It’s groupon that should get the bad review.

Darc19

Also, I've never seen a Groupon hotel deal that allows a Friday or Saturday night especially in peak season.

antix80

Dav010 wrote: »

Why would you do that if it wasn’t the hotel’s fault and they are offering a discounted rate? It’s groupon that should get the bad review.

Hotel should honour the deal with any company they're using an an agent under the advertised terms. Hotel should have been onto Groupon daily until the listing was fixed, and hotel should have informed the customer immediately of any problems.

I'd say a few weeks ago it suited the hotel to accept groupon rates, and a sudden uptick of business and they're gouging.

antix80

antix80 wrote: »

Hotel should honour the deal with any company they're using an an agent under the advertised terms. Hotel should have been onto Groupon daily until the listing was fixed, and hotel should have informed the customer immediately of any problems.

I'd say a few weeks ago it suited the hotel to accept groupon rates, and a sudden uptick of business and they're gouging.

You’ve pretty much just made all this up.

antix80

Dav010 wrote: »

You’ve pretty much just made all this up.

That's how opinions work, duh.

And that's my justification why I'd write a bad online review.

Tippgirl74

Thank you so much for all your replies. Yes just went through the Groupon t&C's and contract now seems to be with merchant as we redeemed the voucher when booking. Clearly if the hotel identified an issue with Groupon weeks ago they should have checked their Groupon bookings. It is the timeframe that I find particularly distasteful. I'd started to pack lol!! Yes I think 1star hotel reviews is the best course of action!

antix80

antix80 wrote: »

That's how opinions work, duh.

And that's my justification why I'd write a bad online review.

You should give it more thought, blaming the wrong person is never just.

jimmycrackcorm

august12 wrote: »

https://www.groupon.ie/legal/termsofsalelocal

These are their terms and conditions, agreement is between you and merchant i.e. hotel in this case, something fishy about all this I think, you should have got an email from Groupon if there was some error in the booking,

It's been a while since I bought something with Groupon so I've forgotten. But the contract is with whoever you pay. Open to correction but AFAIR you pay groupon who give you a voucher to redeem with the hotel. In that case it's groupon who need to remedy it.

Tippgirl74

Darc19 wrote: »

Also, I've never seen a Groupon hotel deal that allows a Friday or Saturday night especially in peak season.

True, but this was booked just before the lockdown ended so they may have been glad to see bookings at that stage. We booked via the Groupon site, where you select dates on a calendar. Hotel confirmed these dates. I really feel that they should have honoured it at this late stage.

Tippgirl74

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

It's been a while since I bought something with Groupon so I've forgotten. But the contract is with whoever you pay. Open to correction but AFAIR you pay groupon who give you a voucher to redeem with the hotel. In that case it's groupon who need to remedy it.

We redeemed the voucher on June 25th when we booked online using Groupon site. You enter your voucher code etc. As I understand it from then on the merchant is responsible?? I will email Groupon tomorrow. Doesn't seem to be a number, but I'm not very hopeful of any change!!

august12

Tippgirl74 wrote: »

True, but this was booked just before the lockdown ended so they may have been glad to see bookings at that stage. We booked via the Groupon site, where you select dates on a calendar. Hotel confirmed these dates. I really feel that they should have honoured it at this late stage.

If the hotel confirmed these dates, then I would expect this to be a binding agreement. Did you show them the booking confirmation.

Rows Grower

Just go there anyway and after breakfast on Friday morning put the "Do not disturb" sign on the door and don't leave the room until Saturday.

That'll soften their cough.

*bring sandwiches and extra tea bags*

Tippgirl74

august12 wrote: »

If the hotel confirmed these dates, then I would expect this to be a binding agreement. Did you show them the booking confirmation.

I apologise I'm wrong. Just checked confirmation and it was issued by Groupon.

Darc19

antix80 wrote: »

That's how opinions work, duh.

And that's my justification why I'd write a bad online review.

Opinion is normally based on knowledge / facts

Jim_Hodge

Tippgirl74 wrote: »

I apologise I'm wrong. Just checked confirmation and it was issued by Groupon.

Don't crucify the hotel over Groupons mess up.

antix80

Darc19 wrote: »

Opinion is normally based on knowledge / facts

Please address any further concerns to the op and stop derailing the thread with nonsense. I have nothing further to discuss with you.

opinion
/əˈpɪnjən/
noun
1.
a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

august12

So no correspondence from hotel until today, that's not very professional, I still believe you shouldn't have to pay this, but that's just my opinion, if you argue it, you might get the worst hotel room, you could ask for an extra package if you have to pay extra money, a complimentary meal, a room upgrade, if you don't ask, you won't get.

Darc19

Tippgirl74 wrote: »

True, but this was booked just before the lockdown ended so they may have been glad to see bookings at that stage. We booked via the Groupon site, where you select dates on a calendar. Hotel confirmed these dates. I really feel that they should have honoured it at this late stage.

The industry knew in early June that it was likely staycations would be allowed from end of July (the early start was a bonus), so I can't see any hotels offering Friday in August on a cheap deal.

Possibly they should have honored it as a goodwill gesture, but they probably can't afford to do so

antix80

Jim_Hodge wrote: »

Don't crucify the hotel over Groupons mess up.

Op is giving the hotel the opportunity to put things right. The hotel chose to sell through Groupon and were aware of Groupon's incorrect advertising. The hotel told groupon they would refuse to honour the booking and ignored the op until the last possible minute.

antix80

antix80 wrote: »

Op is giving the hotel the opportunity to put things right. The hotel chose to sell through Groupon and were aware of Groupon's incorrect advertising. The hotel told groupon they would refuse to honour the booking and ignored the op until the last possible minute.

Which all points to Groupon being at fault. The hotel are offering a discount on their normal rate as a gesture of goodwill.

Tippgirl74

Jim_Hodge wrote: »

Don't crucify the hotel over Groupons mess up.

You know I did stop and think when a previous poster reminded us that it's never just to blame the wrong person. However i find it difficult to absolve the hotel from all blame seeing as they have left it so late, when they clearly state they identified an issue several weeks ago. I feel they should have checked all their bookings then!!

SweetCaliber

When you booked through Groupon did you get a voucher to input on the hotels website or did you give the dates to Groupon that you were to stay?

august12

Dav010 wrote: »

Which all points to Groupon being at fault. The hotel are offering a discount on their normal rate as a gesture of goodwill.

And the Hotel waited over 6 weeks and 2 days before the event to inform the OP, not all Groupon's fault, if hotel knew this week's ago as they've already confirmed, they should have informed the OP,

Tippgirl74

august12 wrote: »

So no correspondence from hotel until today, that's not very professional, I still believe you shouldn't have to pay this, but that's just my opinion, if you argue it, you might get the worst hotel room, you could ask for an extra package if you have to pay extra money, a complimentary meal, a room upgrade, if you don't ask, you won't get.

When my partner rang to discuss, he was pretty much told 'take it or leave it'. The email was sent at half 5 this evening! I also think the timeframe is very unprofessional!

Tippgirl74

SweetCaliber wrote: »

When you booked through Groupon did you get a voucher to input on the hotels website or did you give the dates to Groupon that you were to stay?

It was booked on Groupons own website. Their calendar shows the available dates.

august12

august12 wrote: »

And the Hotel waited over 6 weeks and 2 days before the event to inform the OP, not all Groupon's fault, if hotel knew this week's ago as they've already confirmed, they should have informed the OP,

As the booking was done through groupon, the hotel would have been communicating with the site, they have confirmed this. As far as I am aware, you pay groupon who then book the room in your name, giving the hotel a lower fee than the customer pays. The voucher groupon give you can only then be redeemed with the hotel. The hotel in this case has confirmed they were in contact with groupon about this for some time, I really think that groupon are getting off a bit lightly on this thread and the hotel is getting blamed unfairly.

august12

Tippgirl74 wrote: »

When my partner rang to discuss, he was pretty much told 'take it or leave it'. The email was sent at half 5 this evening! I also think the timeframe is very unprofessional!

I would be very interested to know how much they are charging for these nights, I know you have quoted figures in the first post but have you checked online, I would imagine they are charging more, they don't need your business, hotels are fleecing people at present, I know someone who booked a 2 night stay for a family of 4 in the west of Ireland for 610 euro, was booked last January, same two nights if booked last week were over 1300. Personally, unless you can get reasonable accommodation elsewhere, I would hold this reservation but request some additional benefit for the inconvenience and email rather than ring, nothing like a written trail if disputing anything later.

pauldavis123

The fact the hotel left it so long to tell you about a known problem would be justification for hanging them out to dry in my book.

Google, TripAdvisor, Trivago and Facebook would all get it.

Disgraceful behaviour.

Tippgirl74

Dav010 wrote: »

As the booking was done through groupon, the hotel would have been communicating with the site, they have confirmed this. As far as I am aware, you pay groupon who then book the room in your name, giving the hotel a lower fee than the customer pays. The voucher groupon give you can only then be redeemed with the hotel. The hotel in this case has confirmed they were in contact with groupon about this for some time, I really think that groupon are getting off a bit lightly on this thread and the hotel is getting blamed unfairly.

Yes there is likely a shared responsibility here. I will see what Groupon advises tomorrow.

SweetCaliber

pauldavis123 wrote: »

The fact the hotel left it so long to tell you about a known problem would be justification for hanging them out to dry in my book.

Google, TripAdvisor, Trivago and Facebook would all get it.

Disgraceful behaviour.

I agree. In my opinion I'd say the hotel knew about it and kept it quiet until now to see if they can pull the extra money out of you last minute knowing you wouldn't want to cancel.

While I agree that this is between the OP and Groupon, the hotel could have easily contacted the OP themselves when they became aware but chose not to.

Pretty shoddy imo.

Tippgirl74

august12 wrote: »

I would be very interested to know how much they are charging for these nights, I know you have quoted figures in the first post but have you checked online, I would imagine they are charging more, they don't need your business, hotels are fleecing people at present, I know someone who booked a 2 night stay for a family of 4 in the west of Ireland for 610 euro, was booked last January, same two nights if booked last week were over 1300. Personally, unless you can get reasonable accommodation elsewhere, I would hold this reservation but request some additional benefit for the inconvenience and email rather than ring, nothing like a written trail if disputing anything later.

I haven't checked online what their rates are. The Groupon was a great deal. It's about 2 miles outside Killarney so paying an extra 90euros for the Friday night isn't worth it. My OH found the manager pretty dismissive and not that interested in reaching a satisfactory solution so I can't see him agreeing to give them his business. I agree with you about a written trail. Have found out the hard way over the years!!!

Strumms

Whoever fûcked up, it 1000% wasn’t the OP.

This should NOT be on them to fix.

The hotel should be trying to deal with Groupon to recoup any lost revenue and put in a check whereby this error cannot be repeated.

The OP should not be...

1. Made carry the can by having to pay more money.

2. Even have to negotiate with the hotel having made a transition through a third party in good faith that the hotel initially honored until changing their minds.

Strumms

Strumms wrote: »

Whoever fûcked up, it 1000% wasn’t the OP.

This should NOT be on them to fix.

The hotel should be trying to deal with Groupon to recoup any lost revenue and put in a check whereby this error cannot be repeated.

The OP should not be...

1. Made carry the can by having to pay more money.

2. Even have to negotiate with the hotel having made a transition through a third party in good faith that the hotel initially honored until changing their minds.

The hotel hasn’t lost revenue though, they also apparently did contact groupon about the misleading advertisement of the terms agreed.

I do agree with you though that this is not the ops fault, groupon should be the ones stepping up here.

extra gravy

antix80 wrote: »

Op is giving the hotel the opportunity to put things right.

You were encouraging him to leave a one star review before he even sets foot in the place, how is that giving them the opportunity to put things right? My advice OP as someone who works in the industry, ask to speak to the general manager when you get there, make them aware of your dissatisfaction and give them a chance to offer their explanation. These situations can more often than not be resolved by a frank discussion.

I think you need to use more exclamation marks!!!!!!

Tippex

My 2cent from over 15 years in travel on this.
The way reservation systems works (i would be 99.9% certain that when u book on groupon they to not book with the hotel system) I would be certain that groupon essentially had an allocation for dates and had ballsed up the booking form on their own site.
When you booked the hotel on the groupon site you formed a contract with groupon (they are the merchant).

The hotel noticed that groupon had ballsed up and had notified groupon of this. For whatever reason groupon dismissed the issue and did not inform OP.

Usually how allocations work is that you send the reservations on to the hotel 48/72 hours prior to arrival, so it is likely that the hotel knew nothing about your booking until they got notified of your details today. Hence this triggered the email to OP.

The contract is with Groupon not the hotel you need to deal with them directly (should the hotel be accomodating Possibly yes but if they have had a lot of bookings like this incorrectly booked by groupon I can understand their own frustration)

Tippgirl74

extra gravy wrote: »

You were encouraging him to leave a one star review before he even sets foot in the place, how is that giving them the opportunity to put things right? My advice OP as someone who works in the industry, ask to speak to the general manager when you get there, make them aware of your dissatisfaction and give them a chance to offer their explanation. These situations can more often than not be resolved by a frank discussion.

That would also have been my past experience, i.e. that hotels would show a willingness to find a satisfactory solution. However, my partner phoned yesterday evening and spoke to the duty manager, who apologised but was quite dismissive, and advised that she could offer no further solution other than pay a 90euro excess or accept a refund. He felt she was quite unempathic, defensive and dismissive, but I suppose that's an opinion rather than a fact. He asked was it possible to speak to the hotel owner and was told no they're busy. I emailed Groupon just now, so look forward to hearing their side of the story.

Rows Grower

Tippgirl74 wrote: »

That would also have been my past experience, i.e. that hotels would show a willingness to find a satisfactory solution. However, my partner phoned yesterday evening and spoke to the duty manager, who apologised but was quite dismissive, and advised that she could offer no further solution other than pay a 90euro excess or accept a refund. He felt she was quite unempathic, defensive and dismissive, but I suppose that's an opinion rather than a fact. He asked was it possible to speak to the hotel owner and was told no they're busy. I emailed Groupon just now, so look forward to hearing their side of the story.

In all fairness the owner employ's a manager to deal with these kind of scenario's.

Tippgirl74

Rows Grower wrote: »

In all fairness the owner employ's a manager to deal with these kind of scenario's.

Absolutely true. He should have asked for GM, but not coming from a hotel background I think he just assumed that the owner would have a managerial or hands on role. Crucially i think he felt that as the duty manager was not dealing with it effectively he wanted to escalate it. It was the curtness of her reply that I wanted to highlight! He felt that was characteristic of her approach.

Rows Grower

Tippgirl74 wrote: »

Absolutely true. He should have asked for GM, but not coming from a hotel background I think he just assumed that the owner would have a managerial or hands on role. Crucially i think he felt that as the duty manager was not dealing with it effectively he wanted to escalate it. It was the curtness of her reply that I wanted to highlight! He felt that was characteristic of her approach.

To be honest with you I think the majority of Hotel managers are ruthless and are chosen by the owners for their ability to display a lack of empathy when it comes to contentious issues with customers.

The job title seems to bestow a false sense of grandeur and an attitude of thinking they are above reproach. There are lots of exceptions though thanks be to God.

Best of luck trying to get a satisfactory outcome.

antix80

Tippgirl74 wrote: »

Absolutely true. He should have asked for GM, but not coming from a hotel background I think he just assumed that the owner would have a managerial or hands on role. Crucially i think he felt that as the duty manager was not dealing with it effectively he wanted to escalate it. It was the curtness of her reply that I wanted to highlight! He felt that was characteristic of her approach.

This is what people aren't getting. You're the customer, you have a grievance, and you have a shift manager who fobbed you off.

It is the hotel's choice to use that manager and that method of delivery (groupon). How's your experience as a guest of this hotel?

I'd escalate with groupon and the manager. If you decide not to go to the hotel just write a review briefly outlining your experience.

Tippgirl74

Rows Grower wrote: »

To be honest with you I think the majority of Hotel managers are ruthless and are chosen by the owners for their ability to display a lack of empathy when it comes to contentious issues with customers.

The job title seems to bestow a false sense of grandeur and an attitude of thinking they are above reproach. There are lots of exceptions though thanks be to God.


Best of luck trying to get a satisfactory outcome.

Thank you!!I think you could be right re. lack of empathy. I suppose we have been pretty lucky so, in that we have generally had issues resolved in a reasonable manner, and even in the absence of empathy, managers have been solution focussed and professional. We are both mid 40s so have logged a good few hotel nights between us over the years.

Dempo1

Tippgirl74 wrote: »

On June 25th we booked a hotel in Killarney via Groupon for this Thursday and Friday night. At 5.30 this evening (Tuesday)we got an email from the hotel to say Groupon had made an error. This deal should not have been available Friday night. We would be refunded our money from Groupon. Our other alternative was their goodwill gesture of having to pay an extra 90euro for Fri night! My partner rang them and the duty manager refused to budge. This is less than 48 hours before arrival. I am shocked that a hotel would treat us this badly! Also by the fact that the mail states they addressed it with Groupon weeks ago (but never contacted us!!). I'd be interested to know how others would handle it!! I copied and pasted the mail below.

I do apologise as I know the following may be frustrating for you to read, However, the fault with this booking lies with groupon, I have contacted groupon and they have confirmed same.



Please allow me the opportunity to explain where the fault lies with them;


We have been waiting a number of weeks for groupon to modify the terms and conditions our hotel has agreed with. We have informed groupon and they are aware that we will not honour any bookings which are outside the terms and conditions we have agreed with them.
It is our confirmed agreement with groupon that once a guest has selected a date, That date cannot be modified. This is our agreement as with groupon offers we have very limited availability due to the low rates
The package you purchased with groupon is a package for Sunday – Thursday only. As you are paying a Sunday to Thursday rate we will not be able to accommodate on that package for a Friday night (I have since contacted groupon, They confirmed this and they will be happy to refund you as the error is on there end)


As a gesture of good will, I would be able to offer you the following option with ourselves:

should you wish to book directly for the two nights, I would be able to offer you a discounted rate of €230, Normally a direct booking for Thursday & Friday would cost €270.

Again, I do apologise for the frustration that this booking has caused you however, the error is on groupons end.



Kind Regards,

Whatever about the right and wrongs of this the hotel is at fault here, they've essentially admitted there was issues with Groupons terms and conditions and they were fully aware of said issues. To put this in context, Hotels use various booking engines to drive sales, they allocate a certain amount of rooms to each booking engines at a discounted price and it is they that have to monitor availability, prices etc, they in turn reduce or remove availability as rooms sell. Whilst Groupon are not essentially a booking engine, they work much the same. Notwithstanding this, most hotels have an in-house bookings system, reservation management etc which talk to / manage availability and pricing with 3rd party sites, maintaining a core amount of rooms they sell directly , it is simply bizzare that so close to the booking, this error showed up, dare I say they got a better booking perhaps and have shifted the less profitable booking down the pegging order.

Ash.J.Williams

Tippgirl74 wrote: »

On June 25th we booked a hotel in Killarney via Groupon for this Thursday and Friday night. At 5.30 this evening (Tuesday)we got an email from the hotel to say Groupon had made an error. This deal should not have been available Friday night. We would be refunded our money from Groupon. Our other alternative was their goodwill gesture of having to pay an extra 90euro for Fri night! My partner rang them and the duty manager refused to budge. This is less than 48 hours before arrival. I am shocked that a hotel would treat us this badly! Also by the fact that the mail states they addressed it with Groupon weeks ago (but never contacted us!!). I'd be interested to know how others would handle it!! I copied and pasted the mail below.

I do apologise as I know the following may be frustrating for you to read, However, the fault with this booking lies with groupon, I have contacted groupon and they have confirmed same.



Please allow me the opportunity to explain where the fault lies with them;


We have been waiting a number of weeks for groupon to modify the terms and conditions our hotel has agreed with. We have informed groupon and they are aware that we will not honour any bookings which are outside the terms and conditions we have agreed with them.
It is our confirmed agreement with groupon that once a guest has selected a date, That date cannot be modified. This is our agreement as with groupon offers we have very limited availability due to the low rates
The package you purchased with groupon is a package for Sunday – Thursday only. As you are paying a Sunday to Thursday rate we will not be able to accommodate on that package for a Friday night (I have since contacted groupon, They confirmed this and they will be happy to refund you as the error is on there end)


As a gesture of good will, I would be able to offer you the following option with ourselves:

should you wish to book directly for the two nights, I would be able to offer you a discounted rate of €230, Normally a direct booking for Thursday & Friday would cost €270.

Again, I do apologise for the frustration that this booking has caused you however, the error is on groupons end.



Kind Regards,

check the small print, i bought one recently and went to book and found out it wasn't valid until Oct.

Tippgirl74

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

check the small print, i bought one recently and went to book and found out it wasn't valid until Oct.

Good advice thank you. If you are within 14 days of the purchase Groupon are good at refunding. In our case there was a booking calendar in Groupon that allowed us to book those dates and confirmed same.

Tippgirl74

Dempo1 wrote: »

Whatever about the right and wrongs of this the hotel is at fault here, they've essentially admitted there was issues with Groupons terms and conditions and they were fully aware of said issues. To put this in context, Hotels use various booking engines to drive sales, they allocate a certain amount of rooms to each booking engines at a discounted price and it is they that have to monitor availability, prices etc, they in turn reduce or remove availability as rooms sell. Whilst Groupon are not essentially a booking engine, they work much the same. Notwithstanding this, most hotels have an in-house bookings system, reservation management etc which talk to / manage availability and pricing with 3rd party sites, maintaining a core amount of rooms they sell directly , it is simply bizzare that so close to the booking, this error showed up, dare I say they got a better booking perhaps and have shifted the less profitable booking down the pegging order.

Your last point is unfortunately exactly what we suspect. Hotel rooms are at a premium in Killarney due to the staycation summer! I'm hoping Groupon will cast further light on how this operates. Will post their reply.