Cancelled accommodation/alternatives
Discussion
My wife and three friends had booked a flat on Carnaby Street for 9-11th May.
Booking.com have just cancelled out of the blue today. They reckon staylux, the property owners have ended their relationship with Booking.com and are not honouring their reservations.
Shabby effort from both firms. Booking want my wife to rebook something else (with a bit of discount, I’ll grant them) before they refund the money for the initial booking, but I’m loathe to use them again after being pissed about.
Has anyone had a similar situation? Anyone with any contacts at staylux?
Does anyone have a place in a nice central London location we can have a look at with this late notice?
Booking.com have just cancelled out of the blue today. They reckon staylux, the property owners have ended their relationship with Booking.com and are not honouring their reservations.
Shabby effort from both firms. Booking want my wife to rebook something else (with a bit of discount, I’ll grant them) before they refund the money for the initial booking, but I’m loathe to use them again after being pissed about.
Has anyone had a similar situation? Anyone with any contacts at staylux?
Does anyone have a place in a nice central London location we can have a look at with this late notice?
Bad luck
We had similar with a cottage company we'd used numerous times in the UK
Booked a place with meaning we'd used for a number of significant family events which was cancelled a couple of weeks before as it had been sold. Rightmove history revealed it had been on the market well before the agent had taken a 4 figure sum from me which wasnt exaclty helpful.
Sure I got my money back but looking for a cottage rental in a popular area less than 2 weeks before our holiday wasnt exactly ideal
Spiteful investigation of the small print of this company and their competitors revealed that they hold all the cards. Despicable really that they can cancel up until the day you arrive but thats what you agree to when you hand over your money and commit to the contract.
And who reads the small print?
And who expacts to be scrweed over by the small print?
Not good enough
- rant over
We are on a Euro jaunt soon….a range of different places booked.
Hotels.com contacted last week to say one place was no longer able to accommodate us (due to no longer being let - these things happen), and as well as refunding our money, offered us £27 ‘credit’ towards our next booking.
I thought that was pretty fair (it was only a 2 night stay, & not at a swanky expensive hotel), so we’ve been able to book an alternative.
Interesting that it seems booking.com don’t offer the OP anything.
Very annoying for larger group bookings, of course, but not much anyone can do to cover that.
Hotels.com contacted last week to say one place was no longer able to accommodate us (due to no longer being let - these things happen), and as well as refunding our money, offered us £27 ‘credit’ towards our next booking.
I thought that was pretty fair (it was only a 2 night stay, & not at a swanky expensive hotel), so we’ve been able to book an alternative.
Interesting that it seems booking.com don’t offer the OP anything.
Very annoying for larger group bookings, of course, but not much anyone can do to cover that.
I use booking.com a lot, a lot lot lot. (3 months away at a time, new place every week or less - travelling), plus lots of UK breaks. Never had a cancellation, so its not a common thing I'd say. But of course, it can happen, like with any booking. I had our hotel in Crete cancelled by lastminute.com, at, yes, the last minute.
vladcjelli said:
My wife and three friends had booked a flat on Carnaby Street for 9-11th May.
Booking.com have just cancelled out of the blue today. They reckon staylux, the property owners have ended their relationship with Booking.com and are not honouring their reservations.
Shabby effort from both firms. Booking want my wife to rebook something else (with a bit of discount, I’ll grant them) before they refund the money for the initial booking, but I’m loathe to use them again after being pissed about.
Has anyone had a similar situation? Anyone with any contacts at staylux?
Does anyone have a place in a nice central London location we can have a look at with this late notice?
I can well imagine anyone ending their relationship with Booking. They don't pay properly.Booking.com have just cancelled out of the blue today. They reckon staylux, the property owners have ended their relationship with Booking.com and are not honouring their reservations.
Shabby effort from both firms. Booking want my wife to rebook something else (with a bit of discount, I’ll grant them) before they refund the money for the initial booking, but I’m loathe to use them again after being pissed about.
Has anyone had a similar situation? Anyone with any contacts at staylux?
Does anyone have a place in a nice central London location we can have a look at with this late notice?
I had one booking cancelled in Germany a couple of years ago by the accommodation on a booking made through booking.com as they had apparantly overbooked
The accom found us alternative accom nearby which was fine
No issues with booking.com who were quite helpful at the time
We were in the middle of a roadtrip and finding out you suddenly don't have a bed for the night a couple of days before was a bit of a pain
But it all worked out ok
The accom found us alternative accom nearby which was fine
No issues with booking.com who were quite helpful at the time
We were in the middle of a roadtrip and finding out you suddenly don't have a bed for the night a couple of days before was a bit of a pain
But it all worked out ok
We had one of our hotels from Booking.com cancel on part of our upcoming French road trip “because the hotel is now unable to accommodate you”. Really annoying as it was the only sector we’d be at for a week and the hotel had already taken full payment directly (the terms of booking allowed the hotel to take part payment at an unspecified point before the stay).
For our convenience, booking.com suggested another completely unsuitable hotel that was 50% more expensive and that we “may” be able to recover the difference following the stay. It was unclear what form of recovery this may be, or indeed if it was likely to actually occur. Just for our further convenience, the original hotel wouldn’t answer either emails or telephone to us to obtain a refund. We ended up having to do a chargeback.
Having never had these problems previously in all the years we’ve been using booking.com, and now having several such cases appear from other people we know, I do wonder whether booking.com has unfavourably changed the terms with suppliers such that some are just not dealing with them anymore. I hope not, as we have a number of upcoming reservations booked through them and need no more last minute searches for accommodation.
For our convenience, booking.com suggested another completely unsuitable hotel that was 50% more expensive and that we “may” be able to recover the difference following the stay. It was unclear what form of recovery this may be, or indeed if it was likely to actually occur. Just for our further convenience, the original hotel wouldn’t answer either emails or telephone to us to obtain a refund. We ended up having to do a chargeback.
Having never had these problems previously in all the years we’ve been using booking.com, and now having several such cases appear from other people we know, I do wonder whether booking.com has unfavourably changed the terms with suppliers such that some are just not dealing with them anymore. I hope not, as we have a number of upcoming reservations booked through them and need no more last minute searches for accommodation.
FlyVintage said:
We had one of our hotels from Booking.com cancel on part of our upcoming French road trip “because the hotel is now unable to accommodate you”. Really annoying as it was the only sector we’d be at for a week and the hotel had already taken full payment directly (the terms of booking allowed the hotel to take part payment at an unspecified point before the stay).
For our convenience, booking.com suggested another completely unsuitable hotel that was 50% more expensive and that we “may” be able to recover the difference following the stay. It was unclear what form of recovery this may be, or indeed if it was likely to actually occur. Just for our further convenience, the original hotel wouldn’t answer either emails or telephone to us to obtain a refund. We ended up having to do a chargeback.
Having never had these problems previously in all the years we’ve been using booking.com, and now having several such cases appear from other people we know, I do wonder whether booking.com has unfavourably changed the terms with suppliers such that some are just not dealing with them anymore. I hope not, as we have a number of upcoming reservations booked through them and need no more last minute searches for accommodation.
This is what happens when a platform like Booking pisses off the properties that use them.For our convenience, booking.com suggested another completely unsuitable hotel that was 50% more expensive and that we “may” be able to recover the difference following the stay. It was unclear what form of recovery this may be, or indeed if it was likely to actually occur. Just for our further convenience, the original hotel wouldn’t answer either emails or telephone to us to obtain a refund. We ended up having to do a chargeback.
Having never had these problems previously in all the years we’ve been using booking.com, and now having several such cases appear from other people we know, I do wonder whether booking.com has unfavourably changed the terms with suppliers such that some are just not dealing with them anymore. I hope not, as we have a number of upcoming reservations booked through them and need no more last minute searches for accommodation.
They have become too big, too greedy and there is virtually no customer service (as a property owner). You can spend a lifetime going over the same things, time and time again, with people for whom English is their fifth or sixth language. Our property manager summed it up as she left us (due to Booking.com) "
s. They gave me high blood pressure they did".Zio Di Roma said:
This is what happens when a platform like Booking pisses off the properties that use them.
They have become too big, too greedy and there is virtually no customer service (as a property owner). You can spend a lifetime going over the same things, time and time again, with people for whom English is their fifth or sixth language. Our property manager summed it up as she left us (due to Booking.com) "s. They gave me high blood pressure they did".
Are Airbnb better to deal with than Booking.com? They have become too big, too greedy and there is virtually no customer service (as a property owner). You can spend a lifetime going over the same things, time and time again, with people for whom English is their fifth or sixth language. Our property manager summed it up as she left us (due to Booking.com) "
s. They gave me high blood pressure they did".The G Kid said:
Zio Di Roma said:
This is what happens when a platform like Booking pisses off the properties that use them.
They have become too big, too greedy and there is virtually no customer service (as a property owner). You can spend a lifetime going over the same things, time and time again, with people for whom English is their fifth or sixth language. Our property manager summed it up as she left us (due to Booking.com) "s. They gave me high blood pressure they did".
Are Airbnb better to deal with than Booking.com? They have become too big, too greedy and there is virtually no customer service (as a property owner). You can spend a lifetime going over the same things, time and time again, with people for whom English is their fifth or sixth language. Our property manager summed it up as she left us (due to Booking.com) "
s. They gave me high blood pressure they did".But they became worse during the time when we used them.
The issue with them all is the attitude that your properties are THEIR product.
Their customers are THEIRS.
They want the customer to book again, so whatever happens they side with the customer when a problem arises.
By the time we stopped using them, we had thousands in unpaid damage claims. Probably 90% of them they said they would pay, but never did. They just didn’t send the money. And you cannot speak to their finance department, only a Filipino in their spare bedroom who promises to pass on a message.
Zio Di Roma said:
Marginally.
But they became worse during the time when we used them.
The issue with them all is the attitude that your properties are THEIR product.
Their customers are THEIRS.
They want the customer to book again, so whatever happens they side with the customer when a problem arises.
By the time we stopped using them, we had thousands in unpaid damage claims. Probably 90% of them they said they would pay, but never did. They just didn’t send the money. And you cannot speak to their finance department, only a Filipino in their spare bedroom who promises to pass on a message.
This seems to be a problem with all the major platformsBut they became worse during the time when we used them.
The issue with them all is the attitude that your properties are THEIR product.
Their customers are THEIRS.
They want the customer to book again, so whatever happens they side with the customer when a problem arises.
By the time we stopped using them, we had thousands in unpaid damage claims. Probably 90% of them they said they would pay, but never did. They just didn’t send the money. And you cannot speak to their finance department, only a Filipino in their spare bedroom who promises to pass on a message.
I had a disaster in Barbados where I had a booking cancelled (VRBO) as I arrived, leaving us without accommodation on Christmas Eve.
Having sorted a temporary hotel I booked an "instant book" with Airbnb, paid thousands up front, and when I got there it was locked up. Apparently it was an error and it wasn't available. I found a hotel on booking but went to the reception and paid for the rooms directly.
I was many thousands out of pocket for about 10 days and never did get a full refund from VRBO as they ground me down and I gave up. A bargain trip to a rough and ready beachfront house turned into an absolute wallet raping.
Like alot of online stuff it's all great when it works but a nightmare when you fall off the conveyor belt.
I use Booking.com a lot.
I booked 2 nights in a hotel in Japan but couldn’t get there because the trains were cancelled.
I informed the hotel and didn’t think anything else of it, just wrote the cost off. I was surprised to get the second night refunded without asking.
I booked 2 nights in a hotel in Japan but couldn’t get there because the trains were cancelled.
I informed the hotel and didn’t think anything else of it, just wrote the cost off. I was surprised to get the second night refunded without asking.
Edited by Drawweight on Wednesday 14th May 12:01
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