[Misc] Hotel non-refund

[fork me]

We had a hotel booked the night before Marseille on our way to the game.

The hotel was booked and paid for in full, in advance, on Accor's website.

When we arrived at the hotel we were told that there were no rooms available, and they had been given to other people. We were told we had to find another hotel.

It took quite some time and a fair bit more money on a taxi and a new hotel booking in order that we had somewhere to sleep that night.

I assumed it would be an easy exercise to get a refund, at the very least, from Accor for our initial booking. I was wrong.

Accor themselves are refusing to refund me. Instead they are saying it's up to the hotel. I didn't book with the hotel, I didn't pay the hotel, I have no relationship with the hotel directly and have hand communications with them at all.

Their last email said:

Thank you for your return,​

​

We have been asked to respond to your request regarding your reservation XXXXXXXXX for a stay from 04 Oct 2023 to 05 Oct 2023.​

​

Following your initial discussions with our services, your file has been reviewed by our expert team. The conclusion of our investigation unfortunately does not allow us to provide you with a response different from the one you received previously​

​

Since the refund can only be made by the hotel, therfore if you have not received any reply please do not hesitate to contact us again.​

​

We remain at your service should you require any further assistance.​

​

Am I going mad - are they being reasonable here?

It depends on Accor's terms and conditions. The have been reasonable in saying if you don't get satisfaction from the hotel them contact them again. From what you say this is what they told you first time as well. Did you contact the hotel at that point?

At the end of the day, online booking sites do only handle the booking they are not responsible for the hotel making mistakes, the hotel themselves are liable. I normally use booking.com for hotels and I just checked their T&C and the hotel is liable not them. Again though, they do say to contact them if the "service provider" doesn't fulfil their obligations. I use them because they are pretty good at resolving issues and because they're the biggest online platform hotels don't want to be delisted so normally respond quickly. Some people have pointed me in the direction of cheaper booking websites, but (a) they don't have the power of booking.com anyway, and (b) booking.com pricematch anyway. So if you book with them and then contact them with a lower offer elsewhere they refund the difference. I also now have quite a healthy genius level on booking which gives me decent discounts as well.

 

[fork me]

That's the thing - if I'd gone to an intermediary I'd expect it to be trickier to resolve.

Accor is the owner of the hotel - they have numerous chains under their umbrella.

I hadn't realised they're the owner, they should be able to handle the refund then. Even so, I'd contact the hotel themselves first if you haven't already, they may just refund immediately.

 

[fork me]

Not sure if this applies (from Accor website) ... but maybe the hotel should have taken the responsibility of finding you suitable accommodation and paying for it.

"In the case of a force majeure event, an exceptional event or impossibility to carry out the Service and, in particular, making the room of the Establishment available to the Customer, the Establishment may reserve the option of providing accommodation to the Customer, in whole or in part, at an Establishment in the equivalent category or perform a Service of the same nature, subject to the prior agreement of the Customer. The reasonable expenses relating to the transfer (additional cost of the rooms, transportation and a phone call) between the two Establishment shall be payable by the concerned Establishment in accordance with the existing standard procedure of the said Establishment".

Obviously too late now. Have you approached the hotel directly about a refund?

I had this happen years ago in Athens (I was there for a Slayer gig) (with a booking.com bookinh). The hotel I'd booked told me they had no space when I arrived (it was reasonable, the cleaners has discovered the shower was broken that morning when preparing the room and they had no other space). They'd rebooked me into a higher standard hotel (4*, a much more expensive hotel than the one I'd booked!) at no extra cost and paid for the taxi to take me there.

 

[Weststander]

It depends on Accor's terms and conditions. The have been reasonable in saying if you don't get satisfaction from the hotel them contact them again. From what you say this is what they told you first time as well. Did you contact the hotel at that point?

At the end of the day, online booking sites do only handle the booking they are not responsible for the hotel making mistakes, the hotel themselves are liable. I normally use booking.com for hotels and I just checked their T&C and the hotel is liable not them. Again though, they do say to contact them if the "service provider" doesn't fulfil their obligations. I use them because they are pretty good at resolving issues and because they're the biggest online platform hotels don't want to be delisted so normally respond quickly. Some people have pointed me in the direction of cheaper booking websites, but (a) they don't have the power of booking.com anyway, and (b) booking.com pricematch anyway. So if you book with them and then contact them with a lower offer elsewhere they refund the difference. I also now have quite a healthy genius level on booking which gives me decent discounts as well.

I really like booking.com as well, it has the best travel booking website.

But something I spotted (just in time with a particular NYC hotel in 2022, Val Thorens in 2023) was that they can be significantly more expensive than hotels.com [Expedia]. It saved us £3k. So always worth checking that, after using booking.com’s user friendly site.

 

[Flounce]

It depends on Accor's terms and conditions. The have been reasonable in saying if you don't get satisfaction from the hotel them contact them again. From what you say this is what they told you first time as well. Did you contact the hotel at that point?

At the end of the day, online booking sites do only handle the booking they are not responsible for the hotel making mistakes, the hotel themselves are liable. I normally use booking.com for hotels and I just checked their T&C and the hotel is liable not them. Again though, they do say to contact them if the "service provider" doesn't fulfil their obligations. I use them because they are pretty good at resolving issues and because they're the biggest online platform hotels don't want to be delisted so normally respond quickly. Some people have pointed me in the direction of cheaper booking websites, but (a) they don't have the power of booking.com anyway, and (b) booking.com pricematch anyway. So if you book with them and then contact them with a lower offer elsewhere they refund the difference. I also now have quite a healthy genius level on booking which gives me decent discounts as well.

No terms and conditions cover for not issuing a refund or finding you an alternative hotel if you are told on check in that they have no space, if you have pre booked and paid on booking. Most hotels would rebook you at an alternative and pay for the taxi transfer and replacement hotel. I’d say Accor don’t have a leg to stand on

 

[Hamilton]

Accor have just gone on my list of providers not to buy from.

This is the same argument Uber tried to put up when refusing to give any of their workers rights. They claimed they were not a taxi company but just a platform putting customers in contact with drivers. In the meanwhile they make a packet off the driver and customer and can ignore their obligations. And if, like a well known online retailer, from another country they franchise the right for Uber to operate in this market at a vastly inflated cost, they can make a loss and not pay any tax.

Most of these digital companies are they same greedy fat cats we had before the online revolution, they just don’t wear ties.

Accor, your ‘experts’ are legal ones designed to fleece the customer when you can. Bad bad stuff.

 

[peterward]

Usually the card have internal limits as to what they will pursue with the vendor, anything below that they write off. They also look at the customer’s standing (which is IMHO wrong)

I have no idea the exact mechanics, but I'd hazard a guess that many in the cards/banking sector will have secondary insurance policies to underwrite such events?

 

[jcdenton08]

I have no idea the exact mechanics, but I'd hazard a guess that many in the cards/banking sector will have secondary insurance policies to underwrite such events?

Definitely. Either way, they have no case, one side completely at fault.

 

[Robinjakarta]

I normally use booking.com for hotels and I just checked their T&C and the hotel is liable not them. Again though, they do say to contact them if the "service provider" doesn't fulfil their obligations. I use them because they are pretty good at resolving issues and because they're the biggest online platform hotels don't want to be delisted so normally respond quickly. Some people have pointed me in the direction of cheaper booking websites, but (a) they don't have the power of booking.com anyway, and (b) booking.com pricematch anyway. So if you book with them and then contact them with a lower offer elsewhere they refund the difference. I also now have quite a healthy genius level on booking which gives me decent discounts as well.

Agree about Booking.com. I too use them a lot for accommodation, and on the few occasions that I've had problems found they resolved them quickly and effectively. However, they didn't show any interest at all in taking any steps with the errant providers to avoid the same thing happening with future customers.