superchromix

hi,

I am a regular user of Booking.com. Today, I made a booking through Booking.com for a free-cancellation room at a hotel, for a one-night stay. I received the normal reservation confirmation, etc.

About one hour later, I received a telephone call from a booking.com agent, who left a message saying that the hotel had made an error in their listing. They stated that the room rate should be ~50% higher than it was, and that it is non-refundable.

They later emailed me and offered to give me a non-refundable reservation, with a rate 25% higher than the rate I paid. They are awaiting a response from me.

Does this make sense? If the hotel made an error in their listing, then so be it. I have booked the room and I expect booking.com to honor this contract, with the rate and conditions that were agreed at the time of booking.

In the reverse case, if I had booked a non-refundable room and then later decided that I wished to cancel the booking, I am sure that I would still have to pay the first night of the reservation, as per the terms and conditions.

Can Booking.com force me to accept this change?

thanks.

wharvey

No, they cannot force acceptance of the rate... but they can cancel the "error" reservation. Guess you have to decide whether the offered discount is worth it.

superchromix

Out of curiosity, if I were to call Booking.com and tell them I made an "error" in reserving a no-cancellation room, would they cancel my booking?

mikew99

Unfortunately, short of legal action, I don't know of any way (at least in the U.S.) to force hotels to honor a confirmed rate. Of course, if you had booked a non-refundable room and then posted that you wanted to cancel, you would have to endure a chorus of blame and accusations from FTers. Gotta love the double standard here.

superchromix

their email:

Dear XXX,

Thanks for choosing Booking.com.

We tried contacting you by phone to discuss an error in the rates and policy for your booking with XXX, but weren’t able to reach you.

We apologize on behalf of Booking.com and XXX for this error. The actual rate for XXX is 150 EUR, and not 108 EUR as stated on your reservation.

We ask for your understanding in reaching a middle ground. The property has confirmed that they will offer you 125 EUR with a non refundable condition..

Please consider this offer, and contact us at your earliest convenience to confirm your acceptance. We thank you for your understanding and are available 24 hours a day to help find the best solution.

Thank you again for choosing Booking.com.

Sincerely,
XXX

--------------------------

my response:

Hello,

I will keep my existing reservation, at the rate that was originally advertised on booking.com and for which I received a booking confirmation. I will also keep the original terms and conditions of the booking, as stated on the booking.com website, and also stated in the confirmation email which I received from booking.com. These terms include a free cancellation option up to 48 hours before check-in.

I am sincerely sympathetic with the hotel, that they feel they should change the rate and the terms after the booking contract has already been made. However, all parties (the hotel and the customer) are of course expected to honor existing contracts. It goes without saying that if I were to book a no-cancellation room rate at a hotel, even if this was my own error, I would be legally bound to honor this contract and pay the cancellation fees were I to decide to cancel.

In summary, I do not agree to make any changes to my existing booking with XXX. I have already made other plans which are contingent on this booking, and to change it now would be problematic and costly.

with best regards,
XXX

tatterdema

Booking.com/priceline is notorious for this. Expedia group is better. I have replied to booking.com with a letter similar to yours a couple of times. You might win, you might not. I disagree that there is a double standard with FT'ers. I really doubt anyone here will say Booking.com is in the right.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onlin...oking-com.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onlin...servation.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onlin...oking-com.html

superchromix

Just as an update, a couple of weeks after my reply booking.com and the hotel backed down, and decided to honor the rate and terms as originally booked.

Thanks everyone for the replies.