Hotel Refund - Help!
 

Any tips on getting a hotel refund? The hotel claims that I did not cancel within the certain time period. I disputed that the email confirmation letter did not clarify if the cancellation for the full refund was 14 days prior to the arrival date or 14 days after the day the reservation was made. Please help!! I will loose about $800!!

You pre-paid? Can you handle it through your charge card issuer as a dispute?

The hotel charged my credit card the day I made the reservation. Can I dispute this to my credit card? If so, what's the strategy?

Write to the credit card company explaining what happened. Tell them when you made the res, when you cancelled, who you spoke to when you cancelled, and send a copy of the confirming email. Usually, though, a 14 day cancellation policy would mean you have to cancel 14 days prior to arrival. That's pretty standard.

provence97: does your credit card have, like, a 1-800 number on the back for 24-hour customer service that you could call and just *ask* them their procedure for disputing a charge instead of asking us?<BR><BR>Andrew<BR>

Appreciate all the valuable advice. I could not directly speak to the reservation manager yesterday, but left her a lengthy voicemail message. Turns out they were originally going to credit me, but at the last minute changed their minds. They didn't even contact me about this change!!! I contacted my credit card company today and was informed to fill out a dispute form..The customer rep told me that I'd have a good chance of my full refund, but how true is that? It's the same &quot;guarantee&quot; they gave me when I cancelled my hotel and they reservation manager told me I'd get the full refund.

The CC company will start an investigation after you submit your dispute form. They'll weigh things like the cancellation policy that was sent to you, what is normal and reasonable (i.e. if the hotel did not go out of their way to let you know their policy is unusual for a hotel, at which you can normally cancel up to 4PM on day of check-in), etc. Also, they'll consider whether you dispute things every month or this is your first time. And, is this hotel often disputed?<BR><BR>So they'll perhaps want a copy of the email confirmation, want to know how you contacted them to cancel and when, etc.<BR><BR>If the policy was not clear or unusual, I'd say you have an excellent chance of getting a full refund.<BR><BR>Andrew<BR>

Mmm...hotel reservation manager has not returned my two calls. I wonder if they realize that they are wrong and that they need to give me my full refund....<BR><BR>So, I have a good chance of getting a refund from my credit card company instead of the hotel? Should I just stop communicating with the hotel?

Provence, how far in advance of your *arrival date* did you actually cancel? Is this hotel a &quot;resort&quot;? Because they usually have much longer cancellation lead times. Mind telling us which exact hotel this was? Also, how many nights? I've not heard of a hotel charging the full amount upon reservation, perhaps a night or two.

Yes, don't waste your time with the hotel. Just deal with your bank.

I booked a Holiday Inn in San Diego thru their web site which has a no change/cancel policy. I realized that I booked the wrong Holiday Inn from the rest of my group. I called the hotel manager and he said that he would refund my credit card charge if I booked at the other Holiday Inn. He didn't have to, but he did -- it took several phone calls though.<BR><BR>If it is a reputable chain, the hotel manager should refund you -- call the corporate office.

In response to Joan's email - <BR><BR>- I cancelled Mar 21, my arrival date is April 25. <BR><BR>- The hotel is La Quinta Inns in New Orleans.<BR><BR>- Three nights. <BR><BR>

I think I found the problem:<BR><BR>I went to the LaQuinta website (there are 7 in the Nola area, I chose downtown location) and put in your dates, and at the bottom of the res page, the following was posted:<BR>********************<BR><BR>Cancellatio n Policy<BR>This stay occurs during a special event. Full prepayment withcredit card required.Cancel 60days prior to arrival for refund<BR><BR>*******************<BR>I cut and pasted this from the website...don't know what the &quot;special event&quot; is but it seems like they gotcha. Apparently this special event is the reason they also required full prepayment. I tried alternate dates in June, and the cancellation is 6PM date of arrival. Sorry!

provence97, at this point I would just deal with your credit card company. However, it's very important to document the contacts you *have* had with the hotel, even if they are no longer responding to you. Your CC company will want to know you made an attempt in good faith to obtain a refund. Having specific information like &quot;I spoke with John Smith in customer service on 3/21/2003 at 5PM EST and he refused to offer a refund&quot; will be very helpful.<BR><BR>Andrew<BR>

I'm affraid JOAN is right. The dates at the downtown NO location CLEARLY state that it's a special event and fully pre-paid and 60 days cancellation notice to get a full refund. Sorry!!!<BR>You could try with the CC card, but based on my previous experience working in a resort, the CC company will not be able to do very much.<BR>Maybe you should reconsider and actually take your mini-vacation after all. It would be a shame to loose all that money for nothing.<BR>Good Luck!<BR>Did you book this through the website(no refund) or did you call(possible refund - if the policy was not clearly stated)?

Even if you dispute it with your CC company, the hotel can also dispute you not paying. <BR><BR>It looks like you don't have much recourse and will end up having to pay.<BR><BR>Ask the hotel if they resell the rooms if you will get a refund.

This was what my guest confirmation email stated, &quot;Charge CC at time of booking. Cxl within 14 days **NO REFUND** 3 NIGHTS stay required!!&quot;. <BR><BR>I call the hotel directly for the reservation.

It's still not clear if you had to cxl within 14 days of res or 14 days before arrival. You may actually have a case here, but at this time it's up to CC company. You have to understand that even though they promise to work for you in their adds, and they do, they don't have some super legal power over any charge that gets disputed. They will look at all the documetation and 'testimony' from both sides and they will help you if there is any sign of something illegal, but if everything was spelled out right, it does not matter what your thoughts or impressions were, it will stand up. Now, I'm not saying that this is the case here, I'm just letting you and others know that you can't just dispute a charge and think it will work everytime just because you want it to.<BR>Anyways, Good Luck, hope it works for you, let us know!<BR>

Since it is a chain and the information you received seems to indicate that you should receive a refund, I would still try to work it out with the hotel (and the CC as well). Try looking up a number for the hotel chain central office instead of the hotel itself. Once you get a person of authority on the phone, I think you have a good case and should get a refund. Good Luck.

Unfortunately for provence it is clear.<BR><BR>Cancel WITHIN 14 days means just that...within 14 days of making reservation.<BR><BR>HAd it said cancel AT LEAST 14 days, it would have meant at least 14 days prior to arrival.<BR><BR>Sorry.

Well get this... I contacted the main reservation line and was transferred to the Guest Services dept. The guy at that dept said that I did get a full refund! He was going to fax me the refund receipt.. I'll believe it when I see it coz my credit card still doesn't reflect the refund. The hotel gave me the full refund March 24, but it's already May 7... How come the CC doesn't see this credit?

I know we jumped an hour ahead over the weekend, but it looks like you did a whole month :-)<BR>Hope it did workout for you, but this is a good lesson for others, ALWAYS read the CXL policy, before you commit, and if there is something you don't understand, ASK!

The hotels need to make sure they are more explicit on their cancellation policies. Like I have said before, it could have meant 14 days prior to arrival or 14 dayas after reservation. <BR><BR>Two other things I learned from this whole experience is not to cancel any trips. AND never be the one to make reservations for your group of friends. I ended up being the one going (and still am going to go thru it coz I haven't seen my $$$$$$) through this ordeal...

Provence,<BR>The website clearly states the cancellation policy. Even if you dispute with the cc, they will come back to you eventually. <BR><BR>Face it, you lost.

That's Jazz Fest weekend here in NO...as with most special events here, there is a minimum stay and a pretty tight cancellation policy. Rooms are tough to get...hotels don't want last minute cancellations that they could have sold. If you did get a refund, consider yourself very lucky!!

&quot;Cxl within 14 days&quot; clearly means &quot;within 14 days OF YOUR ARRIVAL.&quot; I've never, ever heard of a hotel reservation cancellation being tied to the time you actually booked it.<BR><BR>Regardless, I'm sure any CC company will stand by you if you show documented proof you attempted to cancel your reservation within 14 days of your arrival. I would call someone higher up at customer service at La Quinta and explain that you will be disputing the charge unless they take it off - so either they can deal with you now or deal with the company later. If that doesn't work, I'd go as far as sending a registered letter to the hotel itself stating your desire to cancel. Then you have documented proof you tried to cancel before 14 days of arrival. (though you'd better make sure it arrives by April 11). Or, call your CC company once more and ask them what is required of you.<BR><BR>Shoot, if that's Jazz Festival weekend and hard to get a room, they could probably sell your room, especially this far in advance. Perhaps hotel business is slow in NO as everywhere else and they are trying to take advantage of you.<BR><BR>Andrew<BR>

I'm with those who recommend dealing with your credit card provider and submitting all your documentation along with your written dispute. Usually, if your documentation seems to be in your favor (the cancellation policy was unclear, not stated, etc. when your reservation is confirmed and/or stated prior to booking), your card will be credited and the establishment must successfully argue otherwise to have the dispute reversed. And, you can appeal that, if it happens.<BR><BR>I booked a room on Nantucket once. No mention was made of the cancellation policy when I booked (this was before I had learned to make careful note of cancellation policies when booking), though they did require one night in advance to reserve. We had to cancel. Not only did they resist refunding the one night, they had the audacity to charge us for the other two nights reserved, after I phoned to cancel, but before our scheduled arrival date. My credit card company reversed all the charges with the explanation that the inn in question could not &quot;document&quot; that I had been advised of the cancellation policy. Curiously, the inn, in their response, stated that their &quot;cancellation policy is clearly stated in our brochure&quot;, yet I never did receive a brochure, even with the confirmation, though I did request it (so as to have a driving map to the place). <BR><BR>But, everything depends upon who can better document their argument.

Andrew: That doesn't make sense...within 14 days of arrival? That implies 14 days or less would be acceptable. Dick has it right: &quot;within 14 days&quot; means within 14 days from making res. They would've said &quot;at least 14 days&quot; if they were referring to arrival date.<BR><BR>The bottom line is, they can and will resell her room if it truly is a special event week - it's still a few weeks away. And therefore, they should definitely return Provence's deposit (even though they aren't required to)! After all, she cancelled over a month in advance. Good luck, Provence! And be sure to check cancellation requirements next time, OK?

You need to give this some time to make it through the system. It takes time to process this at both the hotels end and the credit card company. It can take time for a credit to appear on your statement.<BR><BR>You cancelled March 21 and it is only April 8. Credits can sometimes take over one billing cycle to appear.

Not sure why Leona is so negative. In any event, it looks like provence is going to get the money back and for good reasons:<BR>1. The cancellation policy is at best ambiguous. Typically a 14-day cancellation policy means 14 days before arrival. <BR>2. La Quinta will probably be able to re-book the room. &quot;Double-dipping&quot; is not favored.<BR>3. La Quinta is a reputable company and wants to avoid disputes where possible. Provence is right to seek assistance from someone at corporate HQ. <BR>It does take time for the credit to go through. Your credit card company should allow you to deduct the charge while there is still a dispute.

Cancel within 14 days is clear.<BR><BR>La Quinta may, solely at its option, give a &quot;goodwill credit&quot;.<BR><BR>When you dispute a bill, the CC comapny is required by law to to temporarily deduct the amount from you current bill. They may , of course, add it back in later.<BR><BR>In my experience, the only reason that it takes a while for the credit to show up, is that the credit wasn't put through in a timely manner. Call you CC company to see(or go obnline) and see if the credit has been posted.<BR><BR>If I were you ..and wanted to &quot;pressure&quot; them into a refund( to which you really aren't entitled)..I'd tell La Quinta corporate that I had posted the situration to a travel BB( don't tell them which one). Then I'd tell them how many people are waiting to hear how La Quinta handles it.<BR><BR>While they may not care about an individual who is upset because they didn't understand the cancellation policy....they may do something knowing a larger audience will be watching to see how they handle it.<BR><BR><BR>

Just an FYI for those that like to patronize customer friendly hotels. I made a similar mistake recently when booking at the downtown Radisson hotel in St Louis. I booked the room, and although I knew that they were charging my credit card at the time of booking, I did not realize that there was a no refund/cancellation policy. When our travel plans changed and I attempted to cancel the room I was upset to see the cancellation fee! So, I called the corporate customer service and explained that I was unaware at time of booking of any cancellation fee, the rep promptly called the hotel and all charges were dismissed. I then told the rep that I would not hesitate to make a reservation w/ Radisson in the future knowing how understanding they are and considerate to their customers. <BR><BR>I honestly think the key was being civil and explaining my confusion. I plan on keeping my word and am looking at Radisson in Memphis, just because I thought this WAS going to be a battle!<BR>