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1800Hotels Cancellation Policy

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  • 09-01-2010 9:57am
    #1
    lyndonjones
    Registered Users Posts: 177 ✭✭


    Morning all,

    So here is my situation...

    I have booked two nights in a Manchester hotel for Monday and Tuesday night through 1800Hotels.ie, booked them back at the start of December.

    As we all know the weather has been deplorable and my chances of getting to Cork airport and flying to Manchester on Monday afternoon seem pretty slim.

    I contacted 1800hotels.ie on the customer support line to enquire about cancellations, contacted them on Thursday evening and then again on Friday morning and they referred to their T&C's -

    Quote:
    Cancellations: All bookings which are cancelled within 0-3 days before arrival will be charged at 100%
    If the booking is cancelled outside 3 days of arrival all such bookings are subject to a 20% cancellation fee. Clients who do not arrive at their hotel will be subject to 100% cancellation fee and will not receive any refund. For bookings made over the phone for a travel date over 6 weeks away, we can take a 20% deposit, with the balance payable 6 weeks before arrival, at the latest. In case of cancellation, please note that this deposit is kept in lieu of cancellation fee and is not refundable. Deposits are non-transferable between new and existing bookings.
    Unquote

    I have not come across this before where they will charge 100% if I cancel within 72hours.

    I have come across the situation where I would lose the cost of the first night if I cancel within 24 hours.

    I discussed this issue with the customer support staff at 1800Hotels and was informed that I should have read the T&C's to which my reply was "do you read ALL the T&C's for bookings that you make online" - he couldn't say that he did.

    my argument here is that - This T&C is not a standard condition that I am aware of (unless wise readers of Boards.ie threads can educate me) and because of this should be explicitly highlighted to the customer.

    So if I don't travel I am out of pocket for the full amount, as you can appreciate I am trying to wait as late as possible in the hope that the weather won't impede my travel plans!!

    http://static.boards.ie/vbulletin/images/icons/icon11.gif


    What are peoples opinions on this?

    I would be wary of booking through this website again.
    Tagged:


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    lyndonjones
    Registered Users Posts: 177 ✭✭lyndonjones


    bedlam wrote: »
    Consider giving the National Consumer Agency a call to find out about your rights and then take it from there.

    Wil do that, Obviously am hoping to make the trip but the Mayans are right but they were two years out in the estimation of the catastophe!! :D


  • Options
    #3
    mikedragon32
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,939 ✭✭✭mikedragon32


    If you booked online, you would not have been able to proceed without clicking something to confirm that you have read the T&Cs. If you did this without reading them you have no recourse as you told them by booking that you accepted the T&Cs.

    It can never be stressed enough that when using a site for the first time it's vital that you read up before completing your transaction.


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    #4
    shanagarry
    Registered Users Posts: 599 ✭✭✭shanagarry


    Nope, agree with 1800. You should always read the T&Cs. Chalk it down to experience.


  • Options
    #5
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 50,630 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    1800 have to pay for the rooms within that period. That's the contract they have with the hotels. Hence the really cheap prices.

    You agreed to the T's & C's when booking so there nothing you can do about. If you have travel insurance you may be able to claim it back.


  • Options
    #6
    BuffyBot
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 24,924 Mod ✭✭✭✭BuffyBot


    Please tell me you're kidding?

    When booking accomodation, always check out the cancellation policy before making the reservation. Just because you haven't seen something before and made an assumption, doesn't meam it's either dishonest or misleading. It's different than many other booking sites, but that doesn't mean you have a leg to stand on. (I find their terms generally more restrictive than other booking sites, which is why I don't use them). They don't have to highlight anything, it's your job to go look. You might think it unfair, but that's how it is with most purchases.

    Unless your flight is actually cancelled, I can't see your travel insurance shelling out because you decide not to take the trip (even in the current weather).


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  • Options
    #7
    lyndonjones
    Registered Users Posts: 177 ✭✭lyndonjones


    BuffyBot wrote: »
    Please tell me you're kidding?

    When booking accomodation, always check out the cancellation policy before making the reservation. Just because you haven't seen something before and made an assumption, doesn't meam it's either dishonest or misleading. It's different than many other booking sites, but that doesn't mean you have a leg to stand on. (I find their terms generally more restrictive than other booking sites, which is why I don't use them). They don't have to highlight anything, it's your job to go look. You might think it unfair, but that's how it is with most purchases.

    Unless your flight is actually cancelled, I can't see your travel insurance shelling out because you decide not to take the trip (even in the current weather).


    I agree with your comment and as a previous poster has mentioned put it down to experience.

    I will be very reluctant to use 1800hotels again, tbh


  • Options
    #8
    undo
    Registered Users Posts: 860 ✭✭✭undo


    In *Germany*, a court just decided the other day a 100% cancellation penalty is too high and unjustifiable. I do not know whether this is specific to German law or related to one of the myriad EU regulations affecting Ireland as well. If it is the latter, there might be a legal route. But saying it is an unexpected clause in the T&Cs is certainly not going to cut it... By the way, there are plenty of booking websites out there with 0 cancellation fees up until the very first day of your stay. It pays to shop around :)


  • Options
    #9
    ArmaniJeanss
    Registered Users Posts: 13,293 ✭✭✭✭ArmaniJeanss


    mikedragon32 wrote: »
    If you booked online, you would not have been able to proceed without clicking something to confirm that you have read the T&Cs. If you did this without reading them you have no recourse as you told them by booking that you accepted the T&Cs.

    This is very very wrong.
    If their T&Cs clash with local statutory rights and laws then the T&Cs will be null and void.

    Though in the OPs case I suspect it will be a valid condition.


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    #10
    SmoothOperator
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6 ✭SmoothOperator


    Iv had nearly the exact same experience today too, my gf booked us a trip to new york for 6 days leaving on monday, she booked it through a travel agent shop, first problem was they gave her flights to philadelphia then newark and leaving la guardia to philadelphia to dublin, absolutely disasterous, i dont know how someone in the travel business could recommend these flights when direct one's to JFK were available. The problem is she paid there and then in full for it so when i rang up to change the flights of course i got cant be done, so i let that one sit. Then with the weather the way it is i told the gf to call the travel agent and find out what the story is if the flight is cancelled on monday as the weather is to be at its worst then, she was told act of god we would loose it all. So then i decided as it was two days before hand that we would cancel the accomodation as at least we wouldnt loose that too if the flight got cancelled, we could book when we get there, so gf rang and asked could we cancel accomodation and of course we were told we couldnt as it had to be 72 hours before hand which i couldnt believe so at this stage i had to get involved. I called the hotel in New York and asked them the cancellation policy, they were very nice and said no problem cancelling once it was within 24 hours like every other hotel in the world. So i called the travel agent and asked had they spoke to the hotel regarding the cancellation and they said yes 72 hours so i said i just spoke to them and they said it was 24. Then they told me that was there terms with who they booked it with which was 1800 hotels, so as i couldnt get talking to a manager on the phone i had to call into the shop and be treated like a dog, left waiting then been handed a phone with the manager on it only to give me cheek and say that no way was a getting the money for the hotel back and that if i had a problem to ring 1800 hotels, he said it was nothing to do with him even tho he booked it and got paid for it, it said nothing anywhere on the paperwork anywhere about 72hours if it had id have cancelled it on friday. So i called the hotel in NY again and asked if there cancellation policy was different dealing with travel agents and they said no, the worst experience ever will never deal with a travel agent again :(


  • Options
    #11
    mikedragon32
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,939 ✭✭✭mikedragon32


    ArmaniJeanss wrote: »
    This is very very wrong.
    If their T&Cs clash with local statutory rights and laws then the T&Cs will be null and void.

    Though in the OPs case I suspect it will be a valid condition.
    So, it's not so very very wrong at all then.

    Please don't muddy the waters. We're talking about a specific instance here of an Irish company's website, subject to Irish laws.


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  • Options
    #12
    lyndonjones
    Registered Users Posts: 177 ✭✭lyndonjones


    SmoothOperator wrote: »
    Iv had nearly the exact same experience today too, my gf booked us a trip to new york for 6 days leaving on monday, she booked it through a travel agent shop, first problem was they gave her flights to philadelphia then newark and leaving la guardia to philadelphia to dublin, absolutely disasterous, i dont know how someone in the travel business could recommend these flights when direct one's to JFK were available. The problem is she paid there and then in full for it so when i rang up to change the flights of course i got cant be done, so i let that one sit. Then with the weather the way it is i told the gf to call the travel agent and find out what the story is if the flight is cancelled on monday as the weather is to be at its worst then, she was told act of god we would loose it all. So then i decided as it was two days before hand that we would cancel the accomodation as at least we wouldnt loose that too if the flight got cancelled, we could book when we get there, so gf rang and asked could we cancel accomodation and of course we were told we couldnt as it had to be 72 hours before hand which i couldnt believe so at this stage i had to get involved. I called the hotel in New York and asked them the cancellation policy, they were very nice and said no problem cancelling once it was within 24 hours like every other hotel in the world. So i called the travel agent and asked had they spoke to the hotel regarding the cancellation and they said yes 72 hours so i said i just spoke to them and they said it was 24. Then they told me that was there terms with who they booked it with which was 1800 hotels, so as i couldnt get talking to a manager on the phone i had to call into the shop and be treated like a dog, left waiting then been handed a phone with the manager on it only to give me cheek and say that no way was a getting the money for the hotel back and that if i had a problem to ring 1800 hotels, he said it was nothing to do with him even tho he booked it and got paid for it, it said nothing anywhere on the paperwork anywhere about 72hours if it had id have cancelled it on friday. So i called the hotel in NY again and asked if there cancellation policy was different dealing with travel agents and they said no, the worst experience ever will never deal with a travel agent again :(

    As your experience has shown you and mine also - T&C's can be set by the company even though it is well outside the normal practices.

    My flight was cancelled on Monday at 8:50am, we were due to fly at 13:30hrs! I had to phone my father who was traveling to Cork by bus and send him home. Aer Lingus canceled the flight so I was entitled to a full refund and Manchester City honoured the special tickets I bought, they cost €213, and so now I have rescheduled for the end of March.

    1800Hotels on the other hand are sticking to their T&C's and will not refund so I will now be telling all and sundry to be very aware of this website and to think long and hard before booking with them.

    The irony of it all is that the airport opened again at 14:00hrs, the buses were running and the match went ahead.

    A I have since learned that there are other websites that do not have a 72 hour cancelation policy so I will be booking the rooms again but I will do some searching for a better website with more lenient T&C's

    1800Hotels can keep the money and all the bad that goes with it!


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    #13
    COYW
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,930 ✭✭✭COYW


    Having an awful time with the irish side of this operation. Submitted a request to cancel my booking over a week ago in writing and subsequently via their online form, as per their T&Cs. I have had absolutely no response, so I tried to call them yesterday but got put on hold for 10 mins and then through to an automated service. Left a message for them to call me back as per their instruction but have had no such response.

    I called the american side of the operation this morning and they said that the booking status is still "confirmed". Unfortunately, they are unable to cancel the booking for me.

    Any ideas? I am nearing the 3 day window for my booking and according to their T&Cs, I will lose my money if they have not received a written (via email, fax etc) cancellation request which they havent according to the American side.


  • Options
    #14
    another native
    Registered Users Posts: 308 ✭✭another native


    "They are unable to cancel for me."

    Don't quite understand this, if you have followed their terms and conditions. Have you, perhaps, booked accommodation, which was on a "non-refundable, no cancellation basis?

    Though sometimes tempted, I haven't used this particular company myself. Prefer the system whereby you pay later at the end of the hotel stay. Booking.com works well on that basis. I have cancelled and altered bookings on a couple of occasions up to 48 hours before travel (ie 10.59 pm Saturday night for a Monday booking) without incurring any charge or penalty whatsover. Don't want this to sound like an advert for them, but until they give me grief, I will happily use them.

    I would also be inclined to put your dilemma on Tripadvisor Forum. You deserve better service than you appear to be getting!


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    #15
    proverbials
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭proverbials


    To the original Post: none of us should EVER use 1800hotels.ie for booking hotels as they have a completely unjust cancellation policy. Use their competitor BOOKING.COM instead - way better and cheaper hotels AND you can cancel without penalty (have a look at their T&Cs). 1800hotels.ie I am taking to Court on this matter and another. All of todays hotels have reasonable cancellations policies it is ONLY 1800hotels.ie that are making these rules NOT the actual hotels. I booked 5 days in a hotel, checked ind it was a dump and 1800hotels.ie still kept ALL the money for all 5 days. Unreal. When they go bust I will laugh.


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    #16
    another native
    Registered Users Posts: 308 ✭✭another native


    Have a look on 1800 Hotels Facebook. People have posted their issues and the company has replied.

    Anybody booking should also be aware that if you susequently cancel a one-night stay, you will lose the full amount paid for that particular night.


    This company was founded by Dubliner Graham Peakin. I, for one will not be making any travel plans with 1800 Hotels, because of their current unfavourable terms and conditions. Read them carefully and decide for yourself!


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    #17
    insular
    Registered Users Posts: 30 ✭insular


    Hey Guys

    Does anyone have any info/know anyone who has filed for the refund from 1800hotels to the bankruptcy court in Florida ?

    ...booked through my laser so unfortunately cant charge back!


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