Cancellation Hotel Question

[Soulwy]

5 hours after I made a hotelreservation (Sawadee.com) I wanted to cancel the reservation. The room is absolutely not as described on the website and really dirty. As soon as I saw the room, I called the reservation center to cancel it. I really can't stay there.

I was offered 2 choices:

-I can cancel the reservation but have to pay the first night

-or stay in a nicer room, but I have to pay more (double the price)

I feel trapped and mislead.

What can I do?

Is there an organization I can turn to with this?

And: I paid with a credit card: can I undo this payment transaction somehow?

I can't believe this is happening....

[fred2007]

5 hours after I made a hotelreservation (Sawadee.com) I wanted to cancel the reservation. The room is absolutely not as described on the website and really dirty. As soon as I saw the room, I called the reservation center to cancel it. I really can't stay there.

I was offered 2 choices:

-I can cancel the reservation but have to pay the first night

-or stay in a nicer room, but I have to pay more (double the price)

I feel trapped and mislead.

What can I do?

Is there an organization I can turn to with this?

And: I paid with a credit card: can I undo this payment transaction somehow?

I can't believe this is happening....

I am not sure about paying for the first night but if you don't turn up the the first night

and come a day later the rules are, you have to pay for the first night.

If the room is not as they advertised they must organize another hotel for you at the same price

at theyre own expensive. Now I am running a home stay, I had many bookings and some of them

did not even bother to cancel or turn up.I bought all the food for theyre breakfast and so on.

So where does that leaves me? I am not taking sites with them, if the room is dirty I would

not pay either. I think just forget about it try booking with hostelworld.com or hostelbookers.com

Cheers Fred

[jingjingna]

Did you not read the 'Terms and Conditions' before pressing the 'confirm' button?

You could try and contact you credit card company and explain to them that the room isn't how it was desribed and perhaps they might be able to sort something out though I doubt it will be resolved immediately.

Worth a try!

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Did you not read the 'Terms and Conditions' before pressing the 'confirm' button?

You could try and contact you credit card company and explain to them that the room isn't how it was desribed and perhaps they might be able to sort something out though I doubt it will be resolved immediately.

Worth a try!

If you do decide to go the credit card route, see if you can get photos of the room as it is and included with your letter requesting cancellation of the charge. Be sure to include a screen shot of the ad to illustrate what the hotel said it was, and turned out not to be.

Depending on what credit card you have, and issued by what bank in what country, you'll have a good change of canceling.

Mac

[fred2007]

Did you not read the 'Terms and Conditions' before pressing the 'confirm' button?

You could try and contact you credit card company and explain to them that the room isn't how it was desribed and perhaps they might be able to sort something out though I doubt it will be resolved immediately.

Worth a try!

If you do decide to go the credit card route, see if you can get photos of the room as it is and included with your letter requesting cancellation of the charge. Be sure to include a screen shot of the ad to illustrate what the hotel said it was, and turned out not to be.

Depending on what credit card you have, and issued by what bank in what country, you'll have a good change of canceling.

Mac

I don't think you have, ones you booked you hooked, the website who ever it is, does not like to loose the 10% deposit which the hotel never get"s anyway

[Wee Jimmy]

Did you not read the 'Terms and Conditions' before pressing the 'confirm' button?

You could try and contact you credit card company and explain to them that the room isn't how it was desribed and perhaps they might be able to sort something out though I doubt it will be resolved immediately.

Worth a try!

If you do decide to go the credit card route, see if you can get photos of the room as it is and included with your letter requesting cancellation of the charge. Be sure to include a screen shot of the ad to illustrate what the hotel said it was, and turned out not to be.

Depending on what credit card you have, and issued by what bank in what country, you'll have a good change of canceling.

Mac

I don't think you have, ones you booked you hooked, the website who ever it is, does not like to loose the 10% deposit which the hotel never get"s anyway

We are having the same broblem with a room we booked through AGODA. We cancelled the seconed night for the same reason you cancelled and they are reluctant to refund the money. I've given them until Friday and if I don't get a refund I'll blacken the name of AGODA and the hotel on every website I can.

The answer is to go look before you pay, i have certainly learnt this by my misstake...

[ClaytonSeymour]

Never had a problem with either Sawasdee, or Agoda, would the OP & WeeJimmy kindly disclose the hotels in question.

Edited March 17, 2009 by ClaytonSeymour

[machlad]

Maybe you should name and shame the hotel?

[peter991]

Maybe you should name and shame the hotel?

If it was me I would definitely name and shame and write up my experience on Trip Advisor. Millions of people use that website every month when planning their holiday. I know I am guided by their comments - taking into account how recent the comments are.

Also, I would not hesitate to contact my Credit Card issuer and dispute the charge(s).

Peter

[theoldgit]

As Wee Jimmy says look before you pay is a good idea, but not always possible when travelling great distances.

[SomchaiCNX]

First step is to take your complaint to the front office manager (and up) and try to find a solution.

Inform the company who booked the room for you.

If the room is dirty it is the hotel who has to react first.

You would be suprised what kind of B..S.. and mistakes these sites make about their room descriptions.

Most use pictures of suites instead of standard or suprior rooms. (same like the hotels do)

And off course the flowers and champagne in the picture are not included.

In most cases they even don't have direct contracts with these hotels but work together (or joint venture) with the big touroperators who get better deals but can not work under their own names.

[Soulwy]

Thanks all for the comments. You know, it is always better to check first, but is not always possible.

This is what I was talking about

http://www.sawadee.com/hotel/chiangrai/wangthong/

The room I booked is not shown on the website. And I found out that it is not in the same building as the hotel. Although the hotel hasn't good reviews, I chose this hotel because of its safety. I am female, travelling alone, and I need to sleep safe.

The entrance to my room is a shared entrance with other shops. There is no security, and the rooms look like cheap motel for one-night-stands.

Btw, after the arguement with the reservation center I also emailed my complaint.

Sawadee won't charge me anything. So although this experience is a bad one, I feel confident about using Sawadee for an other booking.

[phetaroi]

This is what I was talking about

http://www.sawadee.com/hotel/chiangrai/wangthong/

The room I booked is not shown on the website. And I found out that it is not in the same building as the hotel. Although the hotel hasn't good reviews, I chose this hotel because of its safety. I am female, travelling alone, and I need to sleep safe.

The entrance to my room is a shared entrance with other shops. There is no security, and the rooms look like cheap motel for one-night-stands.

Btw, after the arguement with the reservation center I also emailed my complaint.

Sawadee won't charge me anything. So although this experience is a bad one, I feel confident about using Sawadee for an other booking.

After reading the reviews on their website, I would have to say that you forgot an age-old maxim -- let the buyer beware. Most of your complaints were covered in the reviews.

I think you have to remember that Mae Sai is a very "upcountry" location. When I travel in semi-rural areas of Thailand, I know what to expect. I recall being surprised a bit at an up-market hotel in Sukhothai once. It was okay, but not what a westerner is used to. Another time "Lonely Planet" sure steered me wrong. The hotel in Phetburi (the "best" at the time) was clearly a house of prostitution. I managed to see most of what I wanted in one day, checked out the same afternoon, and caught a train south to Hua Hin. When I checked out they actually said, "We didn't think you would stay here." But it is good to remember that even good hotels in Thailand often offer "massage", and I think the "massages" are rather thorough, shall we say!

I am glad about Sawadee making things right, at least after the fact.

[Wee Jimmy]

Never had a problem with either Sawasdee, or Agoda, would the OP & WeeJimmy kindly disclose the hotels in question.

I don't think it appropriate to give this info on an open forum at themoment. The situation might yet be resolved if AGODA repay the money for the night which we didn't stay. However, if you are keen to know you can PM me and I will give you the name of the Hotel.

Wee Jimmy.

[Soulwy]

This is what I was talking about

http://www.sawadee.com/hotel/chiangrai/wangthong/

The room I booked is not shown on the website. And I found out that it is not in the same building as the hotel. Although the hotel hasn't good reviews, I chose this hotel because of its safety. I am female, travelling alone, and I need to sleep safe.

The entrance to my room is a shared entrance with other shops. There is no security, and the rooms look like cheap motel for one-night-stands.

Btw, after the arguement with the reservation center I also emailed my complaint.

Sawadee won't charge me anything. So although this experience is a bad one, I feel confident about using Sawadee for an other booking.

After reading the reviews on their website, I would have to say that you forgot an age-old maxim -- let the buyer beware. Most of your complaints were covered in the reviews.

I think you have to remember that Mae Sai is a very "upcountry" location. When I travel in semi-rural areas of Thailand, I know what to expect. I recall being surprised a bit at an up-market hotel in Sukhothai once. It was okay, but not what a westerner is used to. Another time "Lonely Planet" sure steered me wrong. The hotel in Phetburi (the "best" at the time) was clearly a house of prostitution. I managed to see most of what I wanted in one day, checked out the same afternoon, and caught a train south to Hua Hin. When I checked out they actually said, "We didn't think you would stay here." But it is good to remember that even good hotels in Thailand often offer "massage", and I think the "massages" are rather thorough, shall we say!

I am glad about Sawadee making things right, at least after the fact.

With my experiences of the last month, i now know better what to expect. Still, you automatically expect "what you see is what you get". From now on deprogramming makes sense.

[Carmine6]

With my experiences of the last month, i now know better what to expect. Still, you automatically expect "what you see is what you get". From now on deprogramming makes sense.

Asiarooms.com and Agoda.com usually have more reviews of hotels. So even if you book through another site, you may want to check to see if there are reviews on these as well. Asiarooms has more hotels covered, but there was a point where they seemed to not post negative reviews, or edited them. That seems to not be the case anymore.

The place you booked did have an abnormally large share of negative reviews and more importantly negative comments on the physical condition. About half negative is pretty bad. Reviews where someone complains about a rude employee or not enough food selection at breakfast aren't that much of a concern unless there's a lot of them. But negative comments on physical condition like stained sheets, moldy smell, weak water flow, etc. are a red flag. There are plenty of hotels that are a little old or have worn out facilities, but also are clean.

[forqalso]

We are having the same broblem with a room we booked through AGODA. We cancelled the seconed night for the same reason you cancelled and they are reluctant to refund the money. I've given them until Friday and if I don't get a refund I'll blacken the name of AGODA and the hotel on every website I can.

The answer is to go look before you pay, i have certainly learnt this by my misstake...

I've never had any problems with Agoda, in fact, during the airport problem last year Agoda emailed me to offer to cancel my room I had reserved in Bangkok for our return from Chiang Mai.

Sometimes, you can't go look before you pay - most times, really when you reserve on line. My last trip started with a flight from San Francisco and ended with a six hour van ride to Phitsanulok. No way to look first. You have to trust the reviews of the hotels on multiple sites and the recommendations of friends.

Edited March 22, 2009 by forqalso