Room Rate Not Refundable , What Says The Law In Thailand About This?

[Sandman77]

Hello Pattayadingo!

Your calculation is wrong, i Lost nearly 8000 Bath for One week allready paid and not only the 100 bath each day!

When I book a hotel For a longer time in the meantime do it over the travel agency in my homecountry and never with book by myself then the customer have 0 rights in Thailand

When something noisy broken or food not good!

Under eu law, when there are some noisy constraction near your room, I can

Complain and travel agency must give the price around 50 procent back!

When there is a time delay of your airplane or you got your league to late

One time a read a report that someone pay only 75€ euro for his Thailand holidays in a noisy room!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[Scottythai]

Hello Pattayadingo!

Your calculation is wrong, i Lost nearly 8000 Bath for One week allready paid and not only the 100 bath each day!

When I book a hotel For a longer time in the meantime do it over the travel agency in my homecountry and never with book by myself then the customer have 0 rights in Thailand

When something noisy broken or food not good!

Under eu law, when there are some noisy constraction near your room, I can

Complain and travel agency must give the price around 50 procent back!

When there is a time delay of your airplane or you got your league to late

One time a read a report that someone pay only 75€ euro for his Thailand holidays in a noisy room!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

This is far from EU, 8000 baht is what 180ish Euro's? Thats cheap as hell for a week anywhere. If you are on such a budget and worried about trivial costs why not stay in EU and travel there? If you come to another part of teh world you will normal never have the same rights as home. Most hotels will state there is a non refund pollicy. And lastly even if there is somewhere then the whole its not in Thai so we did not understand it can come into play. Best forget your 180 Euros and hopefully you got out of the hospital and are fine

[joepattaya1961]

You pay for a room, you stay in it. You paid for it. If you don't want to stay its because your stupid. If you're not stupid, you won't pay for a room you don't want to stay in. If you're stupid, thank you for your money.

Stupid reply. OK, the guest who cancelled has to suffer, but no reason to call him or her 'stupid'. There are obvious reasons to cancel a room, leave early or don't show. It totally depends on the hotel-policy, booking-site-policy or whatever other policy, you get a refund or not.

Of course, there's hotels and hotels........Rattanakarnamanoon Mansion with 4 rooms @THB 400/night may be reluctant to give you any refund and they make up the policy in your presence, but hotels as Marriott, Dusit and similar may allow you a refund although not guaranteed.

Usually, a travel-insurance covers it.

[candypants]

Maybe you should be thinking more about getting your pregnant girlfriend, if she's still around, back to Austria instead of wondering about possible hotel rip-offs ?

http://www.thaivisa....-in-a-airplane/

Loony tunes...or the longest running troll on TV.

how can it be the longest running troll at a mere 21 replies?

[Swiss1960]

Hello Pattayadingo!

Your calculation is wrong, i Lost nearly 8000 Bath for One week allready paid and not only the 100 bath each day!

When I book a hotel For a longer time in the meantime do it over the travel agency in my homecountry and never with book by myself then the customer have 0 rights in Thailand

When something noisy broken or food not good!

Under eu law, when there are some noisy constraction near your room, I can

Complain and travel agency must give the price around 50 procent back!

When there is a time delay of your airplane or you got your league to late

One time a read a report that someone pay only 75€ euro for his Thailand holidays in a noisy room!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Your examples are irrelevant and a mess up of different things:

First of all, when you book a hotel (directly or through a travel website), you sign a refund and cancellation policy. Depending on the price (i.e. special offers) you might well sign a policy that says "no refund at all". So why should anybody give you money back? You signed it, that's the end of the story.

Second, if you have a medical emergency, it is up to you to reclaim the money from your travel insurance. That contract will say whether or not the give you money back for the unused room. It is not the problem of the hotel, if you decide (can not) not to use the room. If you decided to NOT sign a travel insurance, it's up to you, you signed it, that's again the end of the story.

Third, if the room does not fit the description of the website, it is up to you to make a claim and ask for money back. But again, you do that with the company through who you booked the room. And looking at your price description, it seems you really booked cheap rooms, so you get for what you paid...

Sometimes I have the feeling that too many people come to Thailand and because they heard and read about others being ripped off, everything that happens to them is a rip off by the Thai people / hotels / companies... even though the same things happen / apply worldwide, i.e. cancellation policies of hotels...

[Stradavarius37]

Such a wonderful informative discussion....

[pattayadingo]

Hello Pattayadingo!

Your calculation is wrong, i Lost nearly 8000 Bath for One week allready paid and not only the 100 bath each day!

When I book a hotel For a longer time in the meantime do it over the travel agency in my homecountry and never with book by myself then the customer have 0 rights in Thailand

When something noisy broken or food not good!

Under eu law, when there are some noisy constraction near your room, I can

Complain and travel agency must give the price around 50 procent back!

When there is a time delay of your airplane or you got your league to late

One time a read a report that someone pay only 75€ euro for his Thailand holidays in a noisy room!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

We are not in the E.U. here, thankfully, in many respects.

You paid for a month and got a 100 Baht discount per night. Not their fault you could not use the room for the last week.

In future, pay by the week and many places will still give you a discount. Also if you have problems with construction, parties, noise or whatever you can move out at the end of the week to another place.

[GrantSmith]

Hahaha.. What a great read this is!

Great to see some fellow past and present hoteliers..

The the OP needs to ask the doctor for some HTFU tablets whilst he's in hospital definitely at least the 1000mg variety, remember to take each morning before breakfast...

Travel insurance is your only way of re-couping the costs associated with your issue..

Was the OP traveling by himself?

And as for those wondering about common sense, it's a well known fact that said 'sense' is not at all common..

[chrisinth]

So most hotels want the passboard copy, for any damage in the room!

I never heard or read a story a hotel will complain any damage, after customer go back to the home country!

When the value is to low!

I did not find any room in Thailand during

My travel where everything is 100 procent okay!

Noise aircon broken shower or heater etc!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

even with holding the passport, hotel can not do much, because passport is property of a country, then need to call the police(usually cost money) and so on.

pay upfront and deposit.

passport copy is for immigration reporting and in case something happens or as some do, try to file for charge backs on the card claiming they never stayed at hotel.

I do not think any hotel would charge you for noisy aircon, but will charge you for broken remote or lost remote cover.

In my hotel we give air remotes to guests on check in, so can see nothing is broken. When they checking out and LCD screen is cracked, or cover missing or buttons covered in beer, they can not claim it was like that

Always found that losing 15 minutes while first checking in to a room saves so much hassle later on, or rather, has the potential to save the hassle. In certain hotels visited through the course of work around Thailand, take as many photographs as you can of things you think are wrong and email them to the hotel in question at that time. At least this way you are on record and have a certain traceability of timescale.

Certainly, hotel guests should not have to do this, and I would only do it if I was ignored by verbal complaint but for me anyway, it is piece of mind.

BTW, this is not every hotel, just a few that could cause problems.............

[lemoncake]

So most hotels want the passboard copy, for any damage in the room!

I never heard or read a story a hotel will complain any damage, after customer go back to the home country!

When the value is to low!

I did not find any room in Thailand during

My travel where everything is 100 procent okay!

Noise aircon broken shower or heater etc!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

even with holding the passport, hotel can not do much, because passport is property of a country, then need to call the police(usually cost money) and so on.

pay upfront and deposit.

passport copy is for immigration reporting and in case something happens or as some do, try to file for charge backs on the card claiming they never stayed at hotel.

I do not think any hotel would charge you for noisy aircon, but will charge you for broken remote or lost remote cover.

In my hotel we give air remotes to guests on check in, so can see nothing is broken. When they checking out and LCD screen is cracked, or cover missing or buttons covered in beer, they can not claim it was like that

Always found that losing 15 minutes while first checking in to a room saves so much hassle later on, or rather, has the potential to save the hassle. In certain hotels visited through the course of work around Thailand, take as many photographs as you can of things you think are wrong and email them to the hotel in question at that time. At least this way you are on record and have a certain traceability of timescale.

Certainly, hotel guests should not have to do this, and I would only do it if I was ignored by verbal complaint but for me anyway, it is piece of mind.

BTW, this is not every hotel, just a few that could cause problems.............

I do not think there are too many hotels around who would try to scam, though guesthouses is a different story, because they do not have a 24 hour reception, so anything can happen.

Also keep in mind that people who own and work in the hotel are human also so genuine mistakes are possible.

For example, in my hotel i have a full mini bar with almost 40 bottles, sometimes maids or other staff may make a mistake and stock the mini bar wrong.

It is wise to check, what the paper says and what is in the fridge.

Personally when mistakes do happen, i always assess it case by case, because sometimes and sadly more than often people try to scam the hotel, ie will open some drink, close it and then claim it was open.

Drink the water, and fill it up with water from tap, drink beer and then buy from shop and restock it, open condom(from the minibar) from one side, then put it back with sealed side up and the list goes on.

What people need to understand is that most hotels do not run scams, but make genuine mistakes, HOWEVER when that person gets rude and abusive, naturally hotel will hold its ground and charge accordingly.

I have had people steal towels and stand their ground that the did not, so when asked to check their bags, as they possibly packed it by accident-miracle happens and towels are nicely packed.

People break cups and mugs but claim its not their fault, must have been the boogie man.

Some bring a "friend" who happen to have monthly periods, naturally bed lined is stained, though they do not believe they would be liable.

Anyway, if there was a thread from hotels point of you, i think many would be shocked at what people do and what they expect.

I have had customers tip me 25 satang, and tell me i could go shopping.

Customers who come alone and are lonely, so i offer to take them out to show the town(free) and they EXPECT me to buy them drinks.

The list is just endless.1 thing i found in common is the cheaper the room the more of an asshol_e the guest is with demands

Edited February 20, 2013 by lemoncake

[robblok]

Lemoncake what is wrong with drinking the beer then restocking it ? If this is done before you check i don't see the harm (if its the same beer)

Other stuff your 100% right.

[TommoPhysicist]

As long as they keep the room available for me, keep the money no problem.

If they rent it to somebody else, keep the money problem.

[lemoncake]

Lemoncake what is wrong with drinking the beer then restocking it ? If this is done before you check i don't see the harm (if its the same beer)

Other stuff your 100% right.

not sure about your hotel(i assume you have one or work in one) but in mine we check mini bar daily and restock it, so when 2 beers are missing and its restocked, but then guest claims he did not drink it, because he bought new one, it is a problem for a number of reasons, main one being is that i run a hotel not a 7-11 store, rooms have a mini bar with reasonably priced drinks.

IF one does not wish to pay little extra for having their fridge already stacked with drinks, and ready for consumption, they can always go out and buy their own drinks and carry it back. instead of using hotels mini bar and then restocking it themselves.

[mrtoad]

Unfortunately because there are a few that will abuse the situation and not pay up front, hotels get burnt. They also have the room blocked off, so they may well have turned people away from booking. Whilst its not perfect, I do understand where the hotels are coming from.

[robblok]

Lemoncake what is wrong with drinking the beer then restocking it ? If this is done before you check i don't see the harm (if its the same beer)

Other stuff your 100% right.

not sure about your hotel(i assume you have one or work in one) but in mine we check mini bar daily and restock it, so when 2 beers are missing and its restocked, but then guest claims he did not drink it, because he bought new one, it is a problem for a number of reasons, main one being is that i run a hotel not a 7-11 store, rooms have a mini bar with reasonably priced drinks.

IF one does not wish to pay little extra for having their fridge already stacked with drinks, and ready for consumption, they can always go out and buy their own drinks and carry it back. instead of using hotels mini bar and then restocking it themselves.

You must have misread what i typed, i said before you check it. I can see the problems arising after you check it, and I don't work at a hotel.

I often take things from the 711 and drink them at my room if they are taking the piss price wise in hotels. Its not like you have to walk far to find a 711. I was recently in Pattaya and ordered some drinks in the hotel bar, i was shocked how reasonable the prices were. Usually they charge you an arm and a leg.

[Scully]

Most hotels have 2 fees, 1 for free cancellation and 1 for tough crap if you miss the deadline.

The free cancellation is surprisingly expensive but hey that's business.

[lemoncake]

Lemoncake what is wrong with drinking the beer then restocking it ? If this is done before you check i don't see the harm (if its the same beer)

Other stuff your 100% right.

not sure about your hotel(i assume you have one or work in one) but in mine we check mini bar daily and restock it, so when 2 beers are missing and its restocked, but then guest claims he did not drink it, because he bought new one, it is a problem for a number of reasons, main one being is that i run a hotel not a 7-11 store, rooms have a mini bar with reasonably priced drinks.

IF one does not wish to pay little extra for having their fridge already stacked with drinks, and ready for consumption, they can always go out and buy their own drinks and carry it back. instead of using hotels mini bar and then restocking it themselves.

You must have misread what i typed, i said before you check it. I can see the problems arising after you check it, and I don't work at a hotel.

I often take things from the 711 and drink them at my room if they are taking the piss price wise in hotels. Its not like you have to walk far to find a 711. I was recently in Pattaya and ordered some drinks in the hotel bar, i was shocked how reasonable the prices were. Usually they charge you an arm and a leg.

sorry if i misunderstood

I agree with you, when i stay in hotel where prices are outrages, i would go to a store and stock up.

If i drink something from the mini bar, personally i would not try to scam the hotel by bringing back same drink, just as i would never bring my own drink when coming for a meal into a restaurant, yet you will be surprised how many do. Not only drinks, but some would even bring their own food and want to sit and eat it in your aircon restaurant.

[robblok]

Lemoncake what is wrong with drinking the beer then restocking it ? If this is done before you check i don't see the harm (if its the same beer)

Other stuff your 100% right.

not sure about your hotel(i assume you have one or work in one) but in mine we check mini bar daily and restock it, so when 2 beers are missing and its restocked, but then guest claims he did not drink it, because he bought new one, it is a problem for a number of reasons, main one being is that i run a hotel not a 7-11 store, rooms have a mini bar with reasonably priced drinks.

IF one does not wish to pay little extra for having their fridge already stacked with drinks, and ready for consumption, they can always go out and buy their own drinks and carry it back. instead of using hotels mini bar and then restocking it themselves.

You must have misread what i typed, i said before you check it. I can see the problems arising after you check it, and I don't work at a hotel.

I often take things from the 711 and drink them at my room if they are taking the piss price wise in hotels. Its not like you have to walk far to find a 711. I was recently in Pattaya and ordered some drinks in the hotel bar, i was shocked how reasonable the prices were. Usually they charge you an arm and a leg.

sorry if i misunderstood

I agree with you, when i stay in hotel where prices are outrages, i would go to a store and stock up.

If i drink something from the mini bar, personally i would not try to scam the hotel by bringing back same drink, just as i would never bring my own drink when coming for a meal into a restaurant, yet you will be surprised how many do. Not only drinks, but some would even bring their own food and want to sit and eat it in your aircon restaurant.

To be honest i don't see it as a scam if you bring it back before or if you just use the fridge to store your own drinks. You are renting the room and the fridge so putting some drinks in there is not a crime.

The bringing of alcohol into a bar and then asking for cola or ice is a Thai thing its often accepted. Back home i would never do it, actually i don't do it in Thailand either. There are times though that i thought about it as the hotel or resort that we stay at often does not have gin something my mom likes.

Anyway i feel its a scam if you use something and not change it before you check it else nobody is the wiser and there is no problem.

[taninthai]

Another favourite is the customers stealing the batteries out the remote controls.

[utalkin2me]

I would not be surprised if there was no Thai equivalent to refund. And even if there is, I don't think the word would get used much, if at all.

[lemoncake]

I would not be surprised if there was no Thai equivalent to refund. And even if there is, I don't think the word would get used much, if at all.

you would be wrong, because i have been refunded on a number of occasions(not hotel related)

[Sandman77]

One fact maybe some people not see!

The hotel did not loose any money on a earlier check out, the rerent the room to another person and win double!

It has something to do with loyalty ,but maybe this in the south tourist areas not have, maybe in the north better ?!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[lemoncake]

One fact maybe some people not see!

The hotel did not loose any money on a earlier check out, the rerent the room to another person and win double!

It has something to do with loyalty ,but maybe this in the south tourist areas not have, maybe in the north better ?!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

and how do you know what hotel rented?

let me ask you this, did you offer hotel to pay back the discount you received to get a refund for cancelled nights? the answer is NO

Was there anything wrong with the room besides your health problems which is not hotel related at all? the answer is NO

It is not your business what hotel did with the room after you checked out, because simply it is not your business at all.

Hotel may of had customers who wanted to book for 3 months stay, but were unable to do so because you booked 1 month

Hotel could have charged higher rate for the room, renting it nightly.

Stop looking for scape goat, you would not be refunded back in EU also, if you made a booking with no cancellation policy.

[LawrenceChee]

For a hotel owner nothing is more annoying than a refund or a claim.

U committed the sale, you paid and you should live with it if you have personal circumstances.

Hotels are not charity houses and like any business is operated for profits and they run risks mgt that on some occasions they get the really loyal guests who spend a lot in their hotels and its in their best interest to keep these guests happy and on occasions they get the worst guests on earth and have to live with it.

[Scottythai]

One fact maybe some people not see!

The hotel did not loose any money on a earlier check out, the rerent the room to another person and win double!

It has something to do with loyalty ,but maybe this in the south tourist areas not have, maybe in the north better ?!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

If you don't like Asia then and the way things are done here leave. No one is holding a gun to your head saying you have to stay. Maybe Asia is not for you

[rinteln]

Answer is simple. If they give you the refund and then they cant fill the room for the remaining duration then they have lost money. This ofcourse works within reason, if we were talking about a long period remaining then its different as they should have the ability to fill the room for some of the time but with only 1 week remaining its no guarantee for them to get it filled. Hotels have to have policies to protect their business.

If you were hospitalized then your insurance should pay.

Edited February 21, 2013 by rinteln

[harsh4]

There's a milion stories about hotel owners and guests.

I spent 80% of my time for 10 years in and out of hotels all over Asia, finished that project about 10 years back.

Worst experience was a 5 star hotel In Pattaya, company booked 5 rooms for a meeting, 3 night stay. All booked about 5 or 6 weeks in advance on Agoda or similar (Agoda just an example).

After check in the duty manager came to my room and said that there was a mistake in the room rate when the rooms were booked and he wanted 400Baht more per room per day.

I told him to wait and I checked online, in fact the rate was cheaper than the rate we had already reveived weeks earlier. I refused to pay and got every excuse in the book how the extra money would be deducted from his salary.

One morning one of my colleagues was workling in his room and the room maid asked if she could clean the room, he agreed. He noticed that the maid took one of the unused white towels to finish cleaning the bathroom, to dry the floor.

An hour later the duty manager knocked on my door and said he wanted 200Baht reimbursement to replace the towel my colleague had ruined. I called my colleague and he was shocked and informed me about the maid using the towel. I refused to pay.

More hassles on check out so I called the hotel management company in Singapore, they apologised and told the cashier to drop the extra charges.

My assumption (repeat assumption) was that the duty manager was trying a scam to gain some extra s[ending power.

Never ever had anything like this before or again.

amazing story... goes to show the sloppiness and perhaps the pressure some of the hotel employees are under... once the room was prepaid via an OTA like Agoda and booking confirmed...it's a done deal...there's no avenue to say that the rate was wrong... this type of pressure to maximize revenue depending on wayward occupancy is a hotel industry malady... and the intense pressure the employees can be subjected to can result in bizarre behaviour from some of the less mature ones... if this was indeed a 5 star property then what you describe is a failure of leadership and appropriate training within the said hotel. The creative way of gettng back at you by trying to charge for a soiled towel says it all... the brand suffers as a result..and clearly you came away with a pretty poor taste in your mouth... I find it very odd that a duty manager would plead with a guest to pay more (or lose part of his salary) when the guest has prepaid for the room via a verifiable channel and has documented evidence and confirmation from the hotel... what kind of 5 star is this ?

[GrantSmith]

Being a hotelier I have no problem if a guest replaces the consumed drink with the exact drink from a 7/11 or other such convenience store..

The other BS tricks such as tea in the scotch, water in the vodka and gin is annoying and almost unavoidable..

Minibars are the bane of an F&B managers existence!

[h90]

For a hotel owner nothing is more annoying than a refund or a claim.

U committed the sale, you paid and you should live with it if you have personal circumstances.

Hotels are not charity houses and like any business is operated for profits and they run risks mgt that on some occasions they get the really loyal guests who spend a lot in their hotels and its in their best interest to keep these guests happy and on occasions they get the worst guests on earth and have to live with it.

and to add all that booking/cancel etc makes the rooms for the honest guests more expensive....

[KBAA]

Now we got all the stories !!!

There is laws that state what can be done etc. it is not up to the hotel to decide what they want !!

Of course theyt have to refund !

But as it started, he got discount because he booked 1 month, now he want only 3 weeks, then no discount, so 3 weeks cost the same as the month !!!