Venice - Urgent help required re cancellation

dragona

My son and girlfriend booked a few days in Venice, due to fly out Monday.

Venice is flooded, so no go,Hotel has been paid IN FULL. They cannot cancel which is fair enough, so they want to book somewhere else and keep the flight.

They have been informed that if they don't show, they will be charged a fee, Is this correct? The room is paid for regardless! They can't possibly go to Venice and are resigned to having lost the hotel money, but can't afford to book somewhere else and be charged for not showing up!

They booked with Hotels.com who apparently can't help.

weisses

dragona wrote: »

My son and girlfriend booked a few days in Venice, due to fly out Monday.

Venice is flooded, so no go,Hotel has been paid IN FULL. They cannot cancel which is fair enough, so they want to book somewhere else and keep the flight.

They have been informed that if they don't show, they will be charged a fee, Is this correct? The room is paid for regardless! They can't possibly go to Venice and are resigned to having lost the hotel money, but can't afford to book somewhere else and be charged for not showing up!

They booked with Hotels.com who apparently can't help.

Why No Go? Hotels are still open.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-flooding-latest-weather-rain-water-italy-travel-tourists-a9201501.html

Seems that they can go but dont want to now, correct ?

o1s1n

weisses wrote: »

Why No Go? Hotels are still open.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-flooding-latest-weather-rain-water-italy-travel-tourists-a9201501.html

Seems that they can go but dont want to now, correct ?

Did you even read your link?


'The city’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, declared it a disaster zone and is asking the government to call a state of emergency, which would allow funds to be freed to address the damage'

My sister and her boyfriend are in the exact same position, meant to be heading next week and are being told they can't cancel their accomodation.

dragona

They want to fly in anyway, and get a train to somewhere else. The hotel is going to CHARGE them if they don't show, which is insane as they have already paid. Don't know what to do.

o1s1n

dragona wrote: »

They want to fly in anyway, and get a train to somewhere else. The hotel is going to CHARGE them if they don't show, which is insane as they have already paid. Don't know what to do.

The more you describe your situation the more I think we're actually talking about the same people :eek:

endacl

Get onto the CC company and put a block on the payment.

dragona

o1s1n wrote: »

The more you describe your situation the more I think we're actually talking about the same people :eek:

oh yes? J and C ?

o1s1n

dragona wrote: »

oh yes?

Sister's name starts with a J and her boyfriends name starts with a C.

Either we're talking about the same people or we've both got family in exactly the same situation on Monday trying to cancel accomodation in Venice

o1s1n

dragona wrote: »

oh yes? J and C ?

Haha bingo! That's mad!

2smiggy

dragona

o1s1n wrote: »

Haha bingo! That's mad!

Yep then! small world :cool: I'm getting annoyed about it. charging for no show is beyond ridiculous. To cancel is one thing, but to charge them for not turning up???

Jaden

Just go, it doesn't look that bad: https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/veneto/venezia/piazza-san-marco.html

marcos_94

dragona wrote: »

Yep then! small world :cool: I'm getting annoyed about it. charging for no show is beyond ridiculous. To cancel is one thing, but to charge them for not turning up???

not sure who they booked with but normally with hotels.com when i book there are two prices options, one which is the cheapest but offers no free cancellation and a second option which offers free cancellation but is slightly more expensive.

They should be able to get the full price refunded back minus the cancellation fee. Sadly, it is part of booking the cheapest hotels/rental cars/flights/etc.

If they have travel insurance, it may be worth calling them and seeing what they can do considering the circumstances in Venice

touts

So Dragona & O1s1n now that you know each other did you find anything juicy in the other's post history because we all know that's the only thing you've been doing for the last 15 minutes.


And tell them to go to Venice. By Monday the water will have subsided but thousands of other tourists will be skipping the place so that makes it an ideal time to go without the crazy hoards.

o1s1n

Jaden wrote: »

Just go, it doesn't look that bad: https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/veneto/venezia/piazza-san-marco.html

The particular hotel that was booked flooded and the hotel owner was completely honest on the phone and said it might actually flood again.

Jeshoca

Hi all,

This is J. I called the hotel yesterday and they told me they were still open but the that they ground floor had been flooded and the streets outside have been flooded. They then lied to hotel.com and said they had been unaffected by the flood and hotel.com seem to believe them.

We've been looking a lot into it may not let up by Monday. The locals are trying to get the tourists to stay so they won't lose money.

I'd rather go see Venice when it's not in a state of emergency. Or stay in a flooded hotel as it doesn't sound the safest.

Jeshoca

Also hi dragona and o1s1n

Jeshoca

marcos_94 wrote: »

not sure who they booked with but normally with hotels.com when i book there are two prices options, one which is the cheapest but offers no free cancellation and a second option which offers free cancellation but is slightly more expensive

There was only one price for this listing unfortunately.

Duane Dibbley

Venice is currently a mess under a state of emergency.

I go every year but there is no way I would be going now.

Shops , Restaurants and attractions are nearly all flooded or damaged.

Hopefully one way or another you they get a refund.

Jeshoca

Duane Dibbley wrote: »

Venice is currently a mess under a state of emergency.

I go every year but there is no way I would be going now.

Shops , Restaurants and attractions are nearly all flooded or damaged.

Hopefully one way or another you they get a refund.

I've reached out to hotels.com multiple times and it looks like a refund isn't going to happen. We may just have to count it as a loss. Going to try get a hotel in Verona instead.

ted1

dragona wrote: »

My son and girlfriend booked a few days in Venice, due to fly out Monday.

Venice is flooded, so no go,Hotel has been paid IN FULL. They cannot cancel which is fair enough, so they want to book somewhere else and keep the flight.

They have been informed that if they don't show, they will be charged a fee, Is this correct? The room is paid for regardless! They can't possibly go to Venice and are resigned to having lost the hotel money, but can't afford to book somewhere else and be charged for not showing up!

They booked with Hotels.com who apparently can't help.

Do they have travel insurance?

And Force Majure should allow them to cancel without penalty

sweetie

Jeshoca wrote: »

I've reached out to hotels.com multiple times and it looks like a refund isn't going to happen. We may just have to count it as a loss. Going to try get a hotel in Verona instead.

Sorry for your trouble, Verona is lovely. Stayed in Artpop hotel a bit outside the town on our Honeymoon

zzdp

Contact hotel directly if the hotel is closed ask them for an email to confirm. Then contact hotels.com. they will then have to refund you or offer another hotel. This happened to me when a hotel failed to reopen 9 months after a hurricane(400 euro a night). Hotels.com had to give me another hotel that cost 2500 euro a night. As your booking is guarenteed with hotels.com they have to sort u if the hotel is closed. I was also in Venice a few years ago when the whole place flooded the water went very quick and the place was u and running the next day.

dragona

Jeshoca wrote: »

I've reached out to hotels.com multiple times and it looks like a refund isn't going to happen. We may just have to count it as a loss. Going to try get a hotel in Verona instead.

What about the no show charge? That really annoys me!

Stevieluvsye

What a bizarre thread, we just need the boyfriend now

Gavlor

Has somebody hacked a family WhatsApp and is redirecting messages to boards?

Ficheall

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

What a bizarre thread, we just need the boyfriend now

I'll volunteer, contingent on pics.

Jeshoca

dragona wrote: »

What about the no show charge? That really annoys me!

Still working on that one! We're about to go out for lunch I'll give the hotel another call when we get back . I'll keep you updated

Jeshoca

Gavlor wrote: »

Has somebody hacked a family WhatsApp and is redirecting messages to boards?

Haha my brother told me about the thread when he found out it was about me

Doop

Get someone else to contact the hotel (by email) asking if they are open for bookings as you want to book for tomorrow.... ie trick them into answering that they are in fact closed? send the answer to hotels.com

Jeshoca

Doop wrote: »

Get someone else to contact the hotel (by email) asking if they are open for bookings as you want to book for tomorrow.... ie trick them into answering that they are in fact closed? send the answer to hotels.com

They said they're still taking reservations, even though they're flooded. That's the problem.

Jeshoca

zzdp wrote: »

Contact hotel directly if the hotel is closed ask them for an email to confirm. Then contact hotels.com. they will then have to refund you or offer another hotel. This happened to me when a hotel failed to reopen 9 months after a hurricane(400 euro a night). Hotels.com had to give me another hotel that cost 2500 euro a night. As your booking is guarenteed with hotels.com they have to sort u if the hotel is closed. I was also in Venice a few years ago when the whole place flooded the water went very quick and the place was u and running the next day.

The hotel states it's still open even though its flooded.
And this isn't one of their usual floods, it's the second worst recorded ever and the city is shut down. It probably won't recover as quickly.

I’d ring your insurance and ask what happens when a city official declares a state of emergency.

KevRossi

Take the flight. Show up to the hotel. If it’s open and running then check in and avoid the excess charge.

If not, take photos of how unusable it is and go to another hotel in another city, or get an Air BnB.

Bound to be cheap right now due to a lot of cancellations.

Jeshoca

KevRossi wrote: »

Take the flight. Show up to the hotel. If it’s open and running then check in and avoid the excess charge.

If not, take photos of how unusable it is and go to another hotel in another city, or get an Air BnB.

Bound to be cheap right now due to a lot of cancellations.

Good advice but The hotel is 2 hours from the airport and we'd have to go through the most affected area to get there. The plan is to avoid Venice all together.

We're going to go to Verona instead which is also 2 hours from the airport.

TheValeyard

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

What a bizarre thread, we just need the boyfriend now

Right now they are reading each others post history.

Stevieluvsye

TheValeyard wrote: »

Right now they are reading each others post history.

We all are!

Stevieluvsye

TheValeyard wrote: »

Right now they are reading each others post history.

I'll say one thing OP seems like a lovely woman going on some of her latest/previous posts

Jeshoca

TheValeyard wrote: »

Right now they are reading each others post history.

Nah, I wouldn't go through them if they didn't want me to.

Also I've known my brother's username for years have had ample time to snoop already and haven't. Probably just about Airsoft, games and Akira cels

Jeshoca

Jeshoca wrote: »

Nah, I wouldn't go through them if they didn't want me to.

Also I've known my brother's username for years have had ample time to snoop already and haven't. Probably just about Airsoft, games and Akira cels

You haven’t seen his MSPaint drawings!

dragona

TheValeyard wrote: »

Right now they are reading each others post history.

Life is too short for that. I have other stuff to do

SusieBlue

I got caught with something similar when the Beast from the East happened in 2018.
I was supposed to be going to Rome, but all Irish airports were shut, and all Italian airports were shut. Most of Europe was on lock down, and both Ireland and Italy had red weather warnings in place.

I had already paid the hotel in full, so I contacted both them & hotels.com pleading my case. I asked for a refund, then a partial refund, and then asked could I transfer the booking to a later date. None of my requests were granted. I made the point that even if my own airport was open, their local one in Rome wasn't, so how could I be expected to travel from Ireland when all flights were grounded?

They said if I didn't show up, I would be entitled to nothing back, but that if I cancelled my booking (this was the day before we were due to fly) they would offer 20% off a future booking as a token of kindness. I grudgingly went with the second option, thinking it was the best choice in a bad situation.

Lo and behold, the next day the hotel ended up closing. And I had no booking (because I had cancelled the day before). If I had held tough I would have probably gotten a refund, or at least a partial one.

I was absolutely disgusted, both the hotel and booking.com couldn't have been less helpful. I wouldn't get my hopes up, OP.

Stevieluvsye

It's a general Italian trait though i think, well in my experience anyway and especially the Venetians.

Stick to Iberica

o1s1n

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

You haven’t seen his MSPaint drawings!

Haha! I've to sit down and do one of them again this evening before I run out of time :eek:

anacc

If hotels.com won't refund you then contact your bank and start a chargeback process. You'll need proof that the hotel isn't fit for purpose due to the flooding and proof that hotels.com refused to refund you. Even if it's a 50/50 case the bank will generally side with you because you are the customer and hotels.com are not, so don't be afraid to go for it. The only thing is that if hotels.com challenge it, the process can take some time to get the money back.

rivegauche

Looks OK to me.
https://www.skylinewebcams.com/de/webcam/italia/veneto/venezia/piazza-san-marco.html
Piazza San Marco isn't under water.
Bring their best Dunlop Wellies and they'll be grand.

Hoboo

Jeshoca wrote: »

They said they're still taking reservations, even though they're flooded. That's the problem.

Have you tried emailing them from a fake account to try to make a reservation to see if they actually are? They might be just hoping you don't show.

rivegauche

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster_tourism#:~:targetText=Disaster%20tourism%20has%20been%20defined,the%20areas%20surrounding%20volcanic%20eruptions.
I'd almost welcome this to avoid the crowds.
Go, could be fun.

dragona

Hoboo wrote: »

Have you tried emailing them from a fake account to try to make a reservation to see if they actually are? They might be just hoping you don't show.

Apparently if they don't show they will be CHARGED a fee

dragona

dragona wrote: »

Apparently if they don't show they will be CHARGED a fee

That’s ridiculous if they’ve already paid for the total cost of the hotel.

I can’t see that you would be charged an extra fee for not using hotel accommodation, that doesn’t really add up. I can understand the hotel not giving a refund, but charging extra? It’s a win win situation for them, they have their money and are saved a couple of nights laundry, and if somebody wanted the room last minute then they have even more profit. I’ve booked through hotels.com and had to cancel last moment due to illness. No refund, of course, but I wasn’t charged extra.

Personally I would go, flood and all, and bring a pair of wellies. For me, one of the interesting things about travel is seeing how locals live, and seeing how Venice comes in such a situation would be a unique insight and photo opportunity. The probable lack of other tourists would be a bonus too. Of course it depends on whether the hotel is actually operating, its particular location (can you reach it by vaporetto etc, and if you can get food locally. Padua is the nearest city of interest, and it should be possible to get a bus there from Venice. Verona is another option. Or stay on a hotel in the area between airport and Venice city, to be able to go into city but retreat to warm hotel and restaurants at night.

I tend to book accommodation plus hotel via an online Irish travel agent like Gohop, as when anything goes wrong, if you have queries, a reputable agent like the one mentioned has a good backup service. Recently the airline pulled out of a destination I had booked, and very quickly the travel agency made sure to book me on an alternative suitable routing. Had there been no alternative way of getting there the agent would have made sure I got full refund for all parts of the trip.