Originally Posted by
barafear799
Sorry to repeat my question from a few posts back - some of the t&c of the BRG are (as usual) marginally confusing:
The rates covered by the Best Price Guarantee must be accessible to the general public and available for reservation; expressly excluded are:
- group rates
- corporate rates
- conference and seminar rates
- specific promotional offers granting an additional discount after the booking is made (i.e. promotional codes supplied further to the registration in a newsletter)
- members rate under Accor's loyalty programs such as the Accor Favorite Guest Business, la carte ibis and Accor Advantage Plus.
- rates granted to Accor partners and their employees
- rates granted to Accor employees
I always assumed that this referred to the lower rate you found on a competing website...
I have just had a rejection citing this.
29 Jan: Booking made for Mercure Manchester for £102.00 for the cheapest rate on accor.com which had description "Up to 40% off + £10 Le Club points" and was room-only non-cxl & prepaid.
29 Jan: BRG submitted for competing prepaid non-cxl rate for same room type at hotels.com of £81.60.
31 Jan: Claim rejected because the rate I booked includes a promotional discount.
It's quite clear the "rates covered" condition relates to the competing rate, not the booked rate. Any other interpretation makes no logical sense.
The earning of 575 additional Club points cannot be regarded as making the room package different, else every stay on which you earned points/benefits as a club member would invalidate a claim.
I've challenge the rejection and will see what comes back. But if rejected again, I shall be reporting the page at
http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/garantie/conditions.shtml to the ASA. Since the BRG is an intrinsic part of the terms of the contract, I shall also be challenging with Amex under Section 75, and with the general manager when I stay.
This experience will guarantee I avoid Accor in the future.
4 Feb update: Accor now say that the hotels.com rate doesn't include VAT. This is simply untrue. The screenshot I sent them shows "including all taxes & fees", and a dummy booking shows this is the amount on the final payment screen. When it comes to BRG, looks like Accor is trying to rival IHG for the biggest scam artist. Only Starwood seems to operate this fairly and in line with published terms.