brusselschap

I've been using Asiarooms to book hotels in SE Asia for at least four eyars now and have never had a problem.

Now however...

I've just written to cancel a booking for 11 August (today is 29 July). The terms and conditions state clearly that cancellation up to 7 days before is $20, cancellation within the last 7 days is one night accomodation. All of this is superseeded by the hotel's rules IF these are stated clearly in the confirmation email from Asiarooms.

In the past I've kept most of my reservations (and enjoyed the hotels) and the few times I've had to cancel I got the reimbursement no problem with the $20 penalty.

Now the confirmation email i received on 23 july made no reference at all to any specific hotel rules. None at all. Today I wrote to cancel and Asiarooms writes back that they need to check with the hotel to see what the hotel's rules are. I wrote back referring to their terms and conditions and they repsonded to wait 24h.

Am very irritated and also a tad bit sad that if this problem continues it will be the end of a long (good) relation with asiarooms...

IF the outcome is positive I will of course report back but am interested to know if anyone has, recently, had problems with them.

rhkkmk

BC--many of us have warned in the past that when you use these discounters do so with caution if you think there is a possibility of a change or cancellation.....many have reported problems.....and often refunds are very slow...

they are a good outfit, imo, and i think you will find they come through for you.....but you would not expect them to take a loss because you changed your mind would you?

brusselschap

> you would not expect them to take a loss because you changed your mind would you?

Hi Rhkkmk,
no i don't -) ) but I DO expect them to stick by their own terms and conditions. Also, as I say, i've used them for years with no problems and the few times i've had to cancel i've never had a hitch. This is why it is all the more frustrating..

At any rate, will keep you posted

Kathie

Let us know what happens.

brusselschap

... maybe i'm misreading.. http://www.asiarooms.com/terms-conditions/#cancel_modif

brusselschap

at least asiarooms is not owned by xxxxx travel on connaught place otherwise i'd have karen on my case...

Kathie

Hmm... it does sound like it depends entirely on the hotel's policy. So it seems their answer to you was correct.

I've used asiarooms before without probelms. The only problems I've heard from others has been regarding charges for cancellations. Since I use a number of booking services that require pre-papy, I do always make sure I'm certain about the hotel, dates, etc., before I book, assuming that any change will mean my money is gone.

brusselschap

but hold on, it does say "Any cancellation policies dictated by the hotel will always supersede the typical cancellation policy stated above and those hotel policies will be set out in the confirmation email that you receive from AsiaRooms".

Now the confirmation email from AsiaRooms made no reference at all to any cancellation policies....

As mentioned earlier I have had to cancel with Asiarooms before (once in 2008 and once in 2006) and both times was refunded no problem.

Anyway, as mentioned earlier. Will let you know tomorrow

Gpanda

bc-we're counting on you to defend the collective cash of Fodorites everywhere.

bonnieheather

We've used them several times as well, and been very happy. However, not sure you have much basis for complaint as their "fine print" for cancellations quite specifically states ..."AsiaRooms will refund you the amount paid under the contract minus any cancellation charges incurred by the accommodation provider." We were stung once as well by another hotel consolidator. Since then I've always contacted the hotel directly to see what their policy is. btw- it can work in reverse - don't try to cancel through the hotel. The booking agency needs to be your point of contact for changes within the specified time window (their time zone, not yours). I could go on and on about the reasons not to use consolidators. It can sometimes be a lot of work to find the phone number for the hotel or guesthouse, but the bottom line is that it's worth the effort. I generally get the same rate or better when I call the hotel directly and ask for a matching rate- often with no penalties , plus I get a feel for the staff up front.

brusselschap

i know of a few fodorite lawyers i could unleash onto AsiaRooms..

brusselschap

Thank you Bonnie
the sentence you refer to, though, is followed by the typical cancellation policy and mention that it is superseeded by the hotels policy IF this is mentioned in the confirmation email and in this case it wasn't...

Anyway i don't want to start a debate on this here!

Will continue my contacts with AsiaRooms and let you know.

Guess my lesson is now learnt!

kuranosuke

i had a similar situation with agoda a week ago. i had booked a hotel in penang for oct. i got the dates that i wanted, however, since i didn't have a printer, i just bookmarked the confirmation page

a week after i made the res. i checked with agoda, and found that my res. was changed for arrival a week before my planned date. i know that i did not make this error, as i would be in tokyo on those dates, so i went to my bookmarked page, but it was just a link to agoda, that showed the wrong booking dates.

i went online for a live chat with agoda, and i asked them to change the dates. they told me they had to contact the hotel to see if i could change the dates. i waited online for about 5 minutes, and was told the hotel agreed to the change, and my voucher reflected the change.

i now have a printer, so i printed the new voucher.

btw, i had booked my air travel on tiger air from sin to pen prior to booking the hotel on agoda, and i found out that my departure date on tiger had changed to a day earlier. so two errors right after another. i suspect the stars were misaligned and my posting for reservations got mixed up in la la land. in the end though, no problem.

Kathie

I had a funny problem with agoda recently. I used them to book the Novotel at the BKK airport, it all went through nicely, but the hotel voucher had my first name and Cheryl's last name on it. I knew that wouldn't work. I emailed them, they said they would get back to me, but no response after a week. So I got on the online chat and we discoverd they had corrected it but without telling me.

By the way, Bonnie, I always check both the hotel and the hotel booking sites. Sometimes one is better, sometimes the other is better. Sometimes if you find a better rate on a booking site the hotel will match it, but usually not in my experience. There seems to be no hard and fast rule.

Nywoman

Bonnie if you can get better rates going directly to the hotel that is great.

My experience has been that if you use a hotel booking site, that is cheaper than the hotel's regular rate they will not match it.This is true in Asia as well as Europe, as far as I know.

rhkkmk

remember this is not the EU... its thailand and they have their own rules....some that change minute by minute...

also remember most of these discount sites are merely reps....they offer a price that has been agreed to under certain conditions by the hotel, but each res must be accepted by the hotel before it is final...that is where the hotel rules come in...

brusselschap

... the call centre is in Thailand, yes, but the company is a Singapore based subsidiary of a very large UK travel operator.

At any rate... still no joy. They claim they're still waiting (2 days later) for a reply from the hotel to decide upon my faith.

Lesson well and truly learnt

rhkkmk

true, but essentially you are dealing with thailand...

brusselschap

Just back from Bali... trip report to follow

After several email exchanges with Asiarooms they ended up providing a full refund. So all is sorted out.

I guess I should have this thread removed now...

Kathie

Actually, your experience should prove instructive to others, brussels.