Hotel Rates Inflation During the Galway Races

mk7775

This probably comes up every year but I thought id throw in my own story and and ask for any feedback regarding my situation.

Yesterday I rang a well know Galway city hotel looking for accommodation for Wednesday and Thursday night of Race Week in Galway. After a bit of looking around I was delighted to hear the reasonable price for the two nights compared to other hotel rates I was quoted. So I confirmed verbally to book the room.

Anyways, roll on this morning and I receive a call from the hotel informing me there had been a mistake. And in more or less words they told me they didn't realise the dates I had booked for were during Race Week and the prices more than doubled.

Just looking for any feedback or if there is any comeback on this as I am a bit peeved! Thanks

Fey!

Try contacting Paul Gill from the Irish Hotel Federation.

tommy21

mk7775 wrote: »

This probably comes up every year but I thought id throw in my own story and and ask for any feedback regarding my situation.

Yesterday I rang a well know Galway city hotel looking for accommodation for Wednesday and Thursday night of Race Week in Galway. After a bit of looking around I was delighted to hear the reasonable price for the two nights compared to other hotel rates I was quoted. So I confirmed verbally to book the room.

Anyways, roll on this morning and I receive a call from the hotel informing me there had been a mistake. And in more or less words they told me they didn't realise the dates I had booked for were during Race Week and the prices more than doubled.

Just looking for any feedback or if there is any comeback on this as I am a bit peeved! Thanks

Unfortunately not. Until they accept your money it's what they call an "invitation to treat" I think. If they tried to charge you after you paid it might be different, but unless you have like an email or writtent confirmation of the original rate, impossible to prove. Only thing you can do is name and shame. In fact a thread on that in the Galway forum might be an idea?

Bazzy

supply v demand

Cabaal

Unless they've taken the money already then things can change sadly...perhaps book in a B&B?

P. Breathnach

mk7775 wrote: »

... So I confirmed verbally to book the room...

That would create a contract on the terms that you had discussed. The fact that the hotel had recorded your name and phone number suggests to me that both parties were participating in a booking process (as it happens, I also phoned a Galway hotel yesterday, but simply to make an enquiry about availability and price; they didn't ask for my name and number). But I suspect that the person with whom you spoke might have a slightly, but significantly, different recollection of your conversation. Then it would become a matter of what a court would believe.

I wouldn't go the legal route on this because of the risk/return involved. If I was really confident that I had made a definite booking, I would get my satisfaction by letting as many people as possible know what the hotel had done.

Head The Wall

It's supply and demand unfortunately. Same way that flights on a friday evening cost more than midweek. It's not just an Irish thing it's global. If you were to go to the Ryder cup in the US the hotels in the surrounding area do the same thing.

TheDriver

same with Killarney and hence why I have no pity when hotels fed complain about no business when they screw us when they can

antoinolachtnai

Legally they've agreed to supply you the service for the price they offered and which you accepted and they can't go back on this. The fact that money hasn't changed hands changes nothing.

In practice, what can you do about it? I suppose you can go to small claims, and if it's a lot of money, it might be worth your time.

You could find yourself having to make a trip to Galway in relation to the claim. You would have to make the claim to the court there.

The first thing to do would be to write to the hotel recounting the events (their offer, your acceptance, then their claim that they had made a 'mistake'), asking for them to honour their booking, and see what they say in response.

It will be difficult enough for them to dispute the facts, but they might. (It will be difficult because they would have to explain why they made the call back to you.)

If they respond accepting the facts, but still claiming mistake, then you have what looks to me like a pretty straightforward claim, without a lot of risk. Anything can happen in the small claims procedure, however. But your exposure is limited.

jahalpin

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

Legally they've agreed to supply you the service for the price they offered and which you accepted and they can't go back on this. The fact that money hasn't changed hands changes nothing.

In practice, what can you do about it? I suppose you can go to small claims, and if it's a lot of money, it might be worth your time.

You could find yourself having to make a trip to Galway in relation to the claim. You would have to make the claim to the court there.

The first thing to do would be to write to the hotel recounting the events (their offer, your acceptance, then their claim that they had made a 'mistake'), asking for them to honour their booking, and see what they say in response.

It will be difficult enough for them to dispute the facts, but they might. (It will be difficult because they would have to explain why they made the call back to you.)

If they respond accepting the facts, but still claiming mistake, then you have what looks to me like a pretty straightforward claim, without a lot of risk. Anything can happen in the small claims procedure, however. But your exposure is limited.

No contract has formed between the hotel and the OP as no consideration has been recieved by either party (ie it DOES make a difference that no cash has changed hands)

As the hotel informed the OP that they had made a mistake as soon as possible, the OP has not suffered any financial loss and so would not be entitled to claim against the hotel for financial loss etc. If the hotel had only informed the OP of the price difference when they went to check in, the OP would have suffered a financial loss and would be entitled to insist that the hotel honour the original price.

antoinolachtnai

Cash does not have to change hands to make a contract. A consideration only needs to be agreed.

P. Breathnach

jahalpin wrote: »

No contract has formed between the hotel and the OP as no consideration has been recieved by either party (ie it DOES make a difference that no cash has changed hands)...

I think it is reckless to dispense such ill-founded advice.

cson

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I think it is reckless to dispense such ill-founded advice.

You might care to read that to yourself. The poster you quoted is correct; for a contract in a common law jurisdiction like Ireland the following seven are required to create a contract.

Agreement (Offer & Acceptance)
Capacity to contract
Consideration
Legal purpose
Legality of form
Intention to contract
Consent to contract

It fails on consideration; nothing was exchanged between the parties that could enable a contract to come into being. It could fail on other grounds too if you pushed it; mainly offer and acceptance. If you took it to court a judge wouldn't look at that for more than 2 minutes before he'd throw it out.

I sympathise somewhat OP; your only real avenue you can pursue is through writing to the relevant bodies - IHF as mentioned; the hotel manager, the chain headquarters if it is a chain hotel. Possibly use the media but I doubt you'll get any change out of them - it's race week and everyone knows what prices are like.

Cabaal

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I think it is reckless to dispense such ill-founded advice.

You might want to stop for a second before you start attacking other users over the correct advice they've given out, had the OP atleast paid a deposit then the hotel couldn't have done what they did.

However as no money had changed hands no contract was formally created

P. Breathnach

Cabaal wrote: »

You might want to stop for a second before you start attacking other users over the correct advice they've given out, had the OP atleast paid a deposit then the hotel couldn't have done what they did.

However as no money had changed hands no contract was formally created

I am sorry for the tone of my last post. I intended it as a criticism of the post rather than the poster, but my choice of language was poor.

Yes, consideration is an essential part of a contract, but an agreement to provide consideration is sufficient to create the contract. The business and commercial world would come juddering to a halt if the only enforceable contracts were those where at least one party had at least partially performed. Consideration that has yet to be delivered is termed "executory consideration"; it's not a one-sided thing: both parties to a contract can give executory consideration.

From http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Difference_between_executory_executed_and_past_consideration

Consideration is executory when there is an exchange of promises to perform acts in the future. For example, A promises to deliver widgets to B at some future date and B promises to pay A for the widgets when he receives the shipment. If A does not deliver the widgets to B, B can sue A for breach of contract.

DoMyBooks

Heres a really good explanation why prices SHOULD increase with demand.

http://www.thebigquestions.com/2010/05/07/mamas-dont-let-your-babies-grow-up-to-be-journalism-majors/