Hotel Reservation Cancel Policy

I have a reservation for a Best Western that I made 331 days out for a conference that I am going to with girlfriends. My reservation clearly states that the rooms (we have 3) can be cancelled up to 4:00 pm the day of check-in. The hotel is overbooked, and called to say that they require a 30 day notice for a cancellation. Can they change their policy and do that? 30 days ahead is quite far ahead and things can change. What if someone in my group gets sick and can't come? One year someone in our group cancelled at the last minute because her daughter-in-law had her baby early. Opinions?
Darlene

I'm assuming you have something in writing with the original cancellation policy? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. If you have to cancel and they charge your credit card, I'd first approach the hotel. If they don't respond, I'd go to Best Western corporate. If that didn't work, I'd dispute it with my credit card company.

If they're overbooked, you'd think they'd appreciate a cancellation!!

Darlene

Before I'd ignore the phone call, I'd take a look at the fine print on the confirmation. In particular, I would want to make sure that there isn't something that allows them to change the cancellation terms during "special" events.

If the place really is overbooked, it sounds like there might be something special going on and that perhaps there was an error in not indicating the 30 day cancellation notice on the original reservation.

The problem you have now is that you have been notified on the 30 day cancellation notice, probably in time for you to say that it is unacceptable and that you are canceling now, outside the 30 day time frame. Of course, that is what they want. However, why should the hotel risk an empty room from a last minute cancellation when they could be guaranteed sold-out?

The fact that you have been given ample notice of the change means that it will be much harder to undo a charge to your credit card.

Art

Art said:

Before I'd ignore the phone call, I'd take a look at the fine print on the confirmation. In particular, I would want to make sure that there isn't something that allows them to change the cancellation terms during "special" events.

If the place really is overbooked, it sounds like there might be something special going on and that perhaps there was an error in not indicating the 30 day cancellation notice on the original reservation.

The problem you have now is that you have been notified on the 30 day cancellation notice, probably in time for you to say that it is unacceptable and that you are canceling now, outside the 30 day time frame. Of course, that is what they want.... The fact that you have been given ample notice of the change means that it will be much harder to undo a charge to your credit card.

Click to expand...

I'd also take that phone call seriously. You haven't yet incurred any expenses from staying at this property, so it would seem to me that they could as easily cancel you (lose your reservation) as you could cancel them, finding the new terms unacceptable.

If you want to run the risk of cancelling late and dispute the inevitable CC charge, you'd likely find yourself in little more than a pissing match with the merchant (as I am now with Embarq).

I do have a copy of my reservation from when I booked the rooms. The hotel changed the policy after the reservation, but even now when I look-up my reservation online, it still says that the room can be canceled up until 4 pm the day of arrival. It makes me think that the hotel is telling people there is a 30 day cancellation requirement, but that it really does not exist. It is their way of trying to scare people into canceling.
Yes, there is a big conference at BYU that Thursday and Friday, and they would easily be able to re-book the room even on the day of the event, at a much higher price than I booked the room. Regular rates at this hotel are about $80 a night, but the rate for this event is $124 a night. Now any available rooms are being booked at $159 a night. We used to stay at the Courtyard. The rooms there have gone from $109 a night to $250 a night. We are talking about Provo, Utah, not Las Vegas or NY. :hysterical:
Darlene

The internet site cancellation time of 4 PM is sort of a general thing for all the Best Westerns. Every hotel chain has a similar cancellation time posted on its site. Unless it is an all the time deviation from the corporate standard, a different local policy is not going to be posted on the internet.

As an example, we just booked a park and fly package at the local LaQuinta. This was not available on the LaQuinta site, and it is specifically not on the list on the site of hotels that offer the package; I had to call the hotel itself. In other words, your phone call from the local hotel takes precedence since it is from whomever actually owns and operates that Best Western.

I agree with the previous response; you probably would win the argument, but it won't be fun (especially now that you have admitted to the world that you know about the 30 day cancellation policy).

Art

Essentially this hotel is trying to get you to cancel your reservation so they can jack up their rates. But it really depends on your comfort level. Me, I'd not give it a second thought and deal with it if I had to. If I had to cancel, I'd do it online, which normally will give a written confirmation of the cancellation. If that didn't work, I'd take the steps I initialloy stated.

But not everybody is comfortable with the potential hassle that might incur. I'd be much more nervous if a hotel was saying I didn't have a room for some reason - that's outside my comfort zone completely.

I will definitely be using two of the rooms. I have already registered for the conference, and have a commitment from a friend for one of the other rooms. The third room is the problem. Only one of my friends has commited, her roommate has definitely said she is not going. So I am trying to help her find a roommate or we will have to move her into our room.
So I will definitely not be giving up two rooms unless there is an unforseen emergency at the last minute. I think the biggest problem the hotel has is with some people grabbing 5+ rooms, and then canceling the day of the conference. While this may be an inconvenience to them, they can always fill the rooms. They used to keep a cancellation list, but don't anymore. They don't need to.
I did ask the hotel to e-mail me their cancellation policy. I haved not received anything.
Darlene

I ran into a situation once when I almost didn't get a seat on a plane - due to the airlines cancelling one leg of my flight. My initial thought was, where am I going to sleep tonight, but also, am I responsible for the hotel that I had booked for that night that I couldn't get to due to the airlines? I don't know if hotels are lenient in that case or if the airline would pick it up, or am I just screwed? Luckily (sort of), the airlines squeezed me into 1/2 a seat, the other 1/2 occupied by a huge man that needed the arm rest up to fit into his and 1/2 of mine. Luckily, I'm small.

I actually think a no show the day of a hotel reservation, if they have your credit card, would get charged to you. It just depends how understanding they would be about refunding you the charge. If you had not made it on the plane, I guess they would expect you to call and cancel.
The bigger question here is why was a passenger allowed to fly who could not fit in the seat? Had he paid for 2 seats? I have seen SW measure people and if they can not fit in the seat, they have to purchase another seat, or it's a no go.
Darlene

Nice of you

to reserve for colleagues, but I would notify them of the "new" cancellation policy and tell them that you cannot risk being charged for the room if they back out and that you are so sorry. If they insist they will go, but you have concerns that they will not, ask them to give you cash for the room, just-in-case....

I wouldnt worry about the call. This is a case of the hotel franchisee trying to change the posted Best Western corporate policy on cancellation.

If you were to be charged according to the new policy you would have two ways to get the charges reversed. The first would be to contact the hotels GM and explain that you have the policy in writing that was in effect at the time of your reservation. If he/she would not reverse the charges you would then ask for the number to the Best Western regional manager who would then certainly honor the original policy. Its very unlikely that the GM would even let it get that far. Changing the policy likely would be a violation of the franchise agreement and could land the GM a headache.

Second option would be to dispute the charges with your credit card. since you have written proof of the policy at time of reservation it is pretty much guarranteed that you would win the dispute.