FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Issue with a booked (wrong) rate - help needed
Old Nov 8, 2018, 12:42 pm
  #1  
Andaz
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: Hyatt
Posts: 75
Issue with a booked (wrong) rate - help needed

Hello everyone!

I need some help with a situation.
Hotel involved: COUNTRY INN & SUITES BY RADISSON, VERO BEACH-I-95, FL

In April, 2018 I made a few bookings at this property (all of them for stays during 2019).
Since it was flexible bookings, I booked a few because I was not sure in April how my family was scheduled during that period in 2019. The price was really low so I decided I could investigate what date would fit the best for us at a later point.

(I wanted to bring my parents, sister and her kids on a trip to Florida and found this really good rate.)

Room type: 1 King Bed-Non-Smoking-Sofabed-Studio Suite-King Bed
Price: 15$ per night / room. (We booked 3 rooms)

Remember, this was booked in April 2018.
Since the price was really good I did wait a few months before I made other plans because if it was a mistake price I wanted to make sure the hotel was given some time to get back to me and tell me so.

After not hearing from the hotel for 4 to 5 months, in September I decided to book some other hotels for this trip. Non-refundable ones because of better price.
I thought If the hotel does not contact me within 5 months, surely it must be a done deal. From my experience after booking mistake rates the hotel usually reach out within 2 weeks and that is absolutely fine for me. I can even wait 1 month. That is acceptable from my p.o.v.

So my bookings were between March to - May. (different dates)
11 nights = 165$ x 3 rooms = 495$ for all three rooms for 11 nights.
Sure, this is a steal and a great price but I have seen Hyatt honoring way lower/better deals than this and since I did not hear a single word within 5 months I expected it was all green.

But October, 24 this year (about 6 months after booking) a guy emailed me about this rate, saying it's a mistake and they cant honor the three bookings.
I told him first of all that I only need one booking and you may cancel the other ones since I had no arrangement around these.
But I also told him that it's not acceptable to just cancel the bookings six months after booking.

We sent a few emails back and forward between each other and I started calculating how much I would need in compensation to break-even from this hassle.
Since I already booked hotels I would need a compensation of about 130-150.000 Radisson Points. (I said 140.000 to him in the email).

Here is the first email I got:

"My name is Ryan and I am contacting you from the Customer Care department at Radisson Hotel Group regarding reservations you made at our Country Inn & Suites by Radisson in Vero Beach, Florida for stays Mar through May 2019.
Unfortunately, we experienced a technical issue with our rates for this hotel and the rate of $15.00 per night you booked online was populated incorrectly. If you would like to keep your reservations, we are happy to help get you re-booked at a new rate per night (rates are subject to change)."


One of the emails I sent them:

Hello!
I have now checked more into this matter and as I mentioned previously.
I would have agreed to cancel this date also if you would have contacted me within a reasonable timeframe. Let's say within a month or so.
Now 6 months have passed and we have already booked other hotels for this stay.
The absolute best I can do in this matter, without losing to much money is to agree that you cancel this booking if I get compensated with 140.000 Radisson Rewards points which is equal to what we have spent on other hotels during this planned stay.
I will await your reply in this matter and wish you a pleasant day.
Regards, Andaz with family.


Today, November 8 - 2018 they simply just changed the booking for all three rooms to 1.777$ per room.
1.777+1.777+1.777 = 5.331$
My initial price was 495$ so they raised the price with around 1000% and offers me 28.000 points in compensation.

I told them I would not accept this since it would result in giant loss for me.
I would need 130-150.000 points.

My questions for experts are:
1. Are they allowed to cancel a confirmed booking after half a year? Without a proper compensation?
2. What are my rights? Do I have any at all? (I live in Europe, not America).
3. Any other help or advice you can give to me?

Sorry if my vocabulary is not the best. I'm not a native english speaker but hopefully you understand my situation.
Andaz is offline