Is it possible to cancel hotel booking regardless of hotel policy.

dakan

Hi Folks

This might be a case of buyer's remorse but maybe some of you might have some helpful info. Long story short, I booked a hotel in Reykjavik for August 2013 on booking.com. The hotels were all booked up so as soon as I found one available for the dates I am there, I booked it.

The reviews weren't too bad on booking.com but only a few were in English. But then I read the reviews on Tripadvisor and they are all bad. I thought that if I cancelled the booking I would loose no money or at most 10%. Turns out there is no cancellation policy (never saw that before on a hotel) and you loose 100% of the money.

So my question is, is there a way of cancelling the booking with BOI who issue the card? Or even some insurance for cancelled purchases. I'm grateful to anyone who gets back to me with info.

Thanks.

Paulw

If the hotel policy is no refund and you cancel, then you get no refund.

You should have checked reviews and all such before you booked.

xpletiv

Well, to be of a bit more use than previous poster, I believe that all hotels in the EU must have a cancellation policy. However it could be that you get no refund, but Id be very surprised.

Block the payment from your card or something, has it gone through already? I would question if it is legal to hold on to your money when you want to cancel this early on. Maybe say you were just browsing and accidentally booked it?

EDIT: Editted post, as this is bad advice from me, I apologise. Iceland not in the EU, and its change of mind so wouldnt be covered. Only chance is saying it was accidentally booked or something.

theteal

would it not be similar to a "change of mind" policy in a normal retail store i.e. change of mind entitles you to nothing unless the shop are good enough to have an obliging policy?

NinjaTruncs

Was the rate you got a reduced rate? often hotels offer a reduced room rate but usually there is a no cancellation policy. I'm not sure if it's legal or not but it's common.

Paulw

xpletiv wrote: »

Well, to be of a bit more use than previous poster, I believe that all hotels in the EU must have a cancellation policy. However it could be that you get no refund, but Id be very surprised.

Block the payment from your card or something, has it gone through already? I would question if it is legal to hold on to your money when you want to cancel this early on. Maybe say you were just browsing and accidentally booked it?

Well, Iceland is not a member of the EU so that requirement doesn't apply. The OP stated that they do have a cancellation policy, and the policy states no refund.

It is legal for them to take payment or to put a hold on the payment once the booking is made. You have entered in to a contract, so change of mind does not require them to make any refund, since their policy states no refund on cancellation. Claiming that you were just browsing or accidentally booked doesn't matter. There is no legal requirement for them to refund.

If the OP contacts the hotel directly, they may give some refund, but they have no obligation to.

Grandpa Hassan

I travel at least once a month for a long weekend, and usually book hotels through lastminute.com, bookings.com, trivago etc. Rooms are almost always at a reduced rate, very often 50% off the price quoted on the website of the actual hotel, but the quid-pro-quo is that you pay 100% up front at the time of booking with no refund (though you can normally change dates).

To be honest, I'm glad that people can't get a refund if they change their mind when booking discounted rooms through a broker. If you could cancel and get your money back, then those very cheap rooms would never exist in the first place.

xpletiv

A good point Grandpa.

And apologies Paulw, didnt actually realise Iceland werent in the EU, just natually assumed.

In this case, not sure what you can do OP other than try cancel the payment or something?

BuffyBot

So my question is, is there a way of cancelling the booking with BOI who issue the card? Or even some insurance for cancelled purchases. I'm grateful to anyone who gets back to me with info.

No and no.

Buyer's remorse isn't a factor in trying to claw back funds through your bank, and I've yet to hear of any insurance policy (which you couldn't take out after the fact, anyway) which covers a change of mind.

I believe that all hotels in the EU must have a cancellation policy

As pointed out, Iceland isn't an EU member per-se, but either way I'm unaware of any EU directive that forces hotels to offer complete refunds for non-refundable purchases.

In this case, not sure what you can do OP other than try cancel the payment or something?

The bank has no grounds to make a chargeback in this circumstance. The customer purchased a product, which is available to him to make use of.

ncmc

Just to re-iterate what the others have said, the hotel is under no obligation to give you a refund because you changed your mind. I was surprised when booking hotels in Italy last year that a lot of them had very penal cancellation charges or charge the full stay, especially some of the smaller, family run businesses. I suppose they have been burned in the past with people cancelling at the last minute and leaving them with empty rooms. You can’t appeal with your credit card company, there has been no fraud at play, you agreed the charges and cannot expect them to refund the charge just because you changed your mind. This is why I am very slow to book anywhere that has a penal cancellation policy or demands full payment upfront. I’d personally rather pay a little extra and have the option of changing my mind.

You have two options, either just suck it up and stay in the hotel and expect that it is not going to be good (you may be pleasantly surprised though, Trip Advisor isn’t always 100% accurate) or you could send a grovelling email or phone call to the hotel. Come up with a plausible excuse and hope that they will offer you at least some of the money back as a goodwill gesture. They are really the only options that I can see I’m afraid.

sandin

Don't believe everything you read on trip advisor. Mostly its stupid brits that don't understand thry are in a different country and can't understand why thise countries dont converse in english, serve english food, english beer and treat them like royalty.

Go stay and enjoy yourself.

dakan

Thanks for the replies. I have sent an e-mail to the chargeback section of BOI explaining the situation so maybe something will come of that.

Grandpa Hassan

dakan wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I have sent an e-mail to the chargeback section of BOI explaining the situation so maybe something will come of that.

On what basis did you argue that you should get your money back?

keithclancy

dakan wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I have sent an e-mail to the chargeback section of BOI explaining the situation so maybe something will come of that.

Nothing will come of that:
https://www.bankofireland.com/fs/doc/wysiwyg/18-594r-boi-credit-card-transaction-dispute-form-18052012-v2-2.pdf

You authorized the transaction, agreed to the terms and conditions at the time and now have changed your mind.

The bank will not get involved in this case.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

+1. People are too quick to jump in on any payment issue and scream about refund via you credit card company. This is not a legitimate case. You want to kill the contract and you changed your mind
No grounds for any CC claim at all to state otherwise is to show complete ignorance of the scheme.

the_syco

dakan wrote: »

Turns out there is no cancellation policy (never saw that before on a hotel) and you loose 100% of the money.

So there is a cancellation policy, that if you cancel you don't get a refund, or there is no cancellation policy, and you now realise if you don't go you don't get a refund? Please be a bit more clear. Also, what is the hotel? The cancellation policy may be hidden.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

the_syco wrote: »

So there is a cancellation policy, that if you cancel you don't get a refund, or there is no cancellation policy, and you now realise if you don't go you don't get a refund? Please be a bit more clear. Also, what is the hotel? The cancellation policy may be hidden.

I think it has nothing to do with the policy of the hotel but rather the terms with booking.com

K.Flyer

Your best and maybe your only option is to contact the hotel directly yourself, but dont tell them you dont want to stay there because you found some negative reviews, tell them its family or work issues that prevent you from travelling.

Paulw

Yehuda Tasteless Shortstop wrote: »

I think it has nothing to do with the policy of the hotel but rather the terms with booking.com

No, booking.com only refer you to the hotel's policy. I have used booking.com and had to cancel and received the appropriate refund as per the cancellation policy of the hotel I had booked with.

http://www.booking.com/faq.en-gb.html?dcid=1&sid=4f648e507c2e48c07fcfeae84fb4b9bc

Grandpa Hassan

General rule of thumb is that if you got a good deal there is probably no refund upon cancellation. That's how they've given you a good deal....it's not out of the goodness of their heart!

donalh087

Bet you anything if you wrote a nice letter to the hotel and said you couldn't come for personal reasons they would refund you straight away.

mrsbyrne

donalh087 wrote: »

Bet you anything if you wrote a nice letter to the hotel and said you couldn't come for personal reasons they would refund you straight away.

Absolutely the only thing for you to do OP.

goz83

xpletiv wrote: »

A good point Grandpa.

didnt actually realise Iceland werent in the EU, just natually assumed.?

They burned their bond holders remember? Make a contract, keep a contract. I bet their hotels are the same.

sandin wrote: »

Don't believe everything you read on trip advisor. Mostly its stupid brits that don't understand thry are in a different country and can't understand why thise countries dont converse in english, serve english food, english beer and treat them like royalty.

Go stay and enjoy yourself.

My sis in law works in a Dublin hotel and every now and then she goes on a rant about past guests who left negative, or false reviews with no foundation to the reviews. If the reviews are honest, they are helpful, but so often they are just lies. Some of the positive reviews are total BS too.

dakan wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I have sent an e-mail to the chargeback section of BOI explaining the situation so maybe something will come of that.

That won't get you anywhere. Don't be surprised if you get charged an admin fee from whoever you are charging back when you lose the claim. The vendor has to spend time disuting charge-backs and the vendor may be entitled to levy a fee for disputing the claim after they win.

K.Flyer wrote: »

Your best and maybe your only option is to contact the hotel directly yourself, but dont tell them you dont want to stay there because you found some negative reviews, tell them its family or work issues that prevent you from travelling.

Yeah, go ahead and lie your way out of it and see where that gets you. Or, ignore the BS reviews you have looked at and enjoy yourself. Most people only write reviews that are negative unless they are prompted elsewhere to give a review. Oddly enough, people can be spiteful and tell venomous lies. I have personally experienced this, but thankfully I document and record everything (with consent) to avoid problems with the very few who would try to cause trouble.

donalh087 wrote: »

Bet you anything if you wrote a nice letter to the hotel and said you couldn't come for personal reasons they would refund you straight away.

I work in the service industry. Most common excuse I get from people who cancel last minute, or fail to show up for their appointment is "there was a death in the family". I'm sure the hotel staff have heard it all before. If I think there is any truth in what the customer says, I will be lenient, but I have learned not to let people off the hook so easily.