Time for me to move on - charged a cancellation fee after being told I wouldn't
Apr 14, 2019, 5:07 pm
#61
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Apr 14, 2019, 7:00 pm
#62
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I wouldn't be so sure of that anymore, Hilton seems to be joining the bandwagon: Hilton confirmations no longer include cancellation terms
Free cancellation before 11:59pm local hotel time on 25 Sep 2019.
Free cancellation before 11:59 PM local hotel time on 19 Apr 2019.
Apr 14, 2019, 7:41 pm
#63
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I was thinking of this earlier. It's come up once or twice in re Delta (which has a midnight cancellation deadline, but where that can be a bit problematic if one booked from Los Angeles but is flying out of New York...does midnight New York or Los Angeles govern?).
Starwood was also local hotel time; i have found this to be the case with Marriott as well, and if the app ever threatens a cancel fee, I abandon and call either Marriott or the hotel to ensure it is properly waived
Apr 14, 2019, 8:31 pm
#64
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Edit: For comparison, the confirmation emails used to be clear like:
Last edited by Beltway2A; Apr 14, 2019 at 8:46 pm
Apr 14, 2019, 9:53 pm
#65
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That's how I read it. Before coming across this thread, in all its glory.
Now I'm not so sure. If I'm on road trip with a teenager and say, for example "You're legal to drive until Nebraska" doesn't that mean "up to"? Wouldn't the equivalent in time mean "up to Tuesday"?
More to the point, isn't it a certainty that if the hotel decided to interpret it that way, Marriott corporate is just going to shrug and take the position "yep, whatever they say" (as long as doesn't directly cost Marriott any money)?
Now I'm not so sure. If I'm on road trip with a teenager and say, for example "You're legal to drive until Nebraska" doesn't that mean "up to"? Wouldn't the equivalent in time mean "up to Tuesday"?
More to the point, isn't it a certainty that if the hotel decided to interpret it that way, Marriott corporate is just going to shrug and take the position "yep, whatever they say" (as long as doesn't directly cost Marriott any money)?
As to the teenager example (it is a decent example, btw), I could see that as being "You're good to drive until [we get to] Nebraska". Or I could see it as "You're good to drive [through Illinois and Iowa and] until [we get [i]through] Nebraska[, but you're going to need to hand over the wheel before we enter Colorado]." Brackets being the implied text. Context would be key. The problem is that a whiny teenager being unexpectedly told to hand over the keys at Council Bluffs because Dad phrased things badly isn't someone who is entangled in a contract with a hotel that might try to hose him for an indefinite amount of money by being deliberately ambiguous.
Edit: To be fair, there are other times when signs of this neglect shows up, such as "The time for cancelling this reservation has passed" with a non-refundable reservation. Well, no .... Sherlock...it's a non-refundable reservation, why don't you just say "As a non-refundable reservation..." rather than using arguably irrelevant boilerplate language?
Apr 14, 2019, 11:01 pm
#66
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I did some research on the Marriott cancellation policy and you have until 11:59 pm HOTEL TIME, on the date identified in the cancellation verbiage. My friends and I also did some research on when the date rolls over for prepaid rates when you have to cancel by end of next day. For properties in Europe, ME, Asia and Oceania, the date seems to roll over at 00:00 GMT. For the Americas, I haven't bothered to see whether it's eastern, central, mountain or pacific time, but I'm guessing it's one of those.
Apr 14, 2019, 11:35 pm
#67
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Again, so what? If my online reservation and the app both show the specific cancel time (which they do), I really don't care whether that detail is also in the email confirm. If I need a writing, I'll just print the online reservation or screenshot the app.
Apr 15, 2019, 2:09 am
#68
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I did some research on the Marriott cancellation policy and you have until 11:59 pm HOTEL TIME, on the date identified in the cancellation verbiage. My friends and I also did some research on when the date rolls over for prepaid rates when you have to cancel by end of next day. For properties in Europe, ME, Asia and Oceania, the date seems to roll over at 00:00 GMT. For the Americas, I haven't bothered to see whether it's eastern, central, mountain or pacific time, but I'm guessing it's one of those.
Apr 15, 2019, 4:27 am
#69
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I agree with everyone here, there is no need for Marriott to make it so confusing. Starwood always specified the date and cancellation time (4 pm or 6 pm).
Apr 15, 2019, 4:45 am
#70
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The problem is that Starriott reservations can change in the website/app version, but your reservation's terms should be those at the time you booked.
For example, I recently had a reservation for a stay during a particularly busy time and it was the usual refundable up to 2-3 days before arrival terms. At some point within a couple months of making the booking (I didn't check it regularly on the Starriott website) but more than a month before my arrival, I noticed that the terms that appeared when I looked at the reservation online, while logged into my account, had drastically changed and it now said that it was nonrefundable a day after the reservation was made. I had a normal rate plan that didn't use nonrefundable terms, but apparently the property decided that all of their reservations during the busy time would be unilaterally declared to be nonrefundable. It could have been a big expensive problem if I hadn't had the email confirmation detailing the cancellation policy that was in effect at the time that I made the reservation.
For example, I recently had a reservation for a stay during a particularly busy time and it was the usual refundable up to 2-3 days before arrival terms. At some point within a couple months of making the booking (I didn't check it regularly on the Starriott website) but more than a month before my arrival, I noticed that the terms that appeared when I looked at the reservation online, while logged into my account, had drastically changed and it now said that it was nonrefundable a day after the reservation was made. I had a normal rate plan that didn't use nonrefundable terms, but apparently the property decided that all of their reservations during the busy time would be unilaterally declared to be nonrefundable. It could have been a big expensive problem if I hadn't had the email confirmation detailing the cancellation policy that was in effect at the time that I made the reservation.
Apr 15, 2019, 8:47 am
#71
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And though there are ways of working around it, having the email have the details means that I don't have to go chasing up that screenshot if things go haywire.
Apr 15, 2019, 8:51 am
#72
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I asked once on Twitter and this was their answer:
Hello, thanks for reaching out. We just had a look at we found the cancellation policy. This says that you may cancel your reservation for no charge until January 13, 2019 . More specifically at 00.01 AM hotel time on January 13th.
Hello, thanks for reaching out. We just had a look at we found the cancellation policy. This says that you may cancel your reservation for no charge until January 13, 2019 . More specifically at 00.01 AM hotel time on January 13th.
Apr 15, 2019, 9:31 am
#73
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It is relevant insofar as if I book by some method other than my laptop I might not have the ability to store that (or, if I book over the phone, I might not even have anything that I can take a screenshot of). And yes, if the website is acting up, this is sometimes necessary. Ditto if I'm stitching together parts of a reservation while at an airport or somewhere else that the laptop doesn't quite work for.
Apr 15, 2019, 10:01 am
#74
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I asked once on Twitter and this was their answer:
Hello, thanks for reaching out. We just had a look at we found the cancellation policy. This says that you may cancel your reservation for no charge until January 13, 2019 . More specifically at 00.01 AM hotel time on January 13th.
Hello, thanks for reaching out. We just had a look at we found the cancellation policy. This says that you may cancel your reservation for no charge until January 13, 2019 . More specifically at 00.01 AM hotel time on January 13th.
Apr 15, 2019, 10:18 am
#75
Join Date: May 2015
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sorry I didn’t specify before. I was asking when EXACTLY a cancellation policy was ending (what time) .. as it wasn’t clear from the cancellation policy (same as OP) and that was their answer. I imagine it’s the same policy for all the hotels