Question: What if you prepay for a hotel but there’s no room for you when you get there? I recently made a reservation through Priceline.com using the site’s “Name Your Own Price” feature, and got a room at the Howard Johnson Express Inn — New York City.
At least that’s what Priceline claimed. When I arrived at the hotel, I was told that it was overbooked and there was no room for me. I was directed to another hotel. I assumed there was some sort of partnership between the two hotels and that payment at the second hotel had been taken care of.
But when I checked in at the second hotel, I was told that I would have to pay full price for the only room available, which cost $115 more than the Priceline room. It was late, I had a lot of luggage, and I felt that I had no choice but to pay.
I contacted Priceline after my stay and it agreed to refund the original booking. But it would not cover the cost of the new hotel. I think Priceline should refund the money I spent on the second hotel, since that was the unexpected cost I incurred as a result of my room not being available. Is there anything I can do?
– Colin West, New York
Answer: That shouldn’t have happened.
Hotels routinely accept more reservations than they have rooms. Their reservations systems calculate the number of likely “no-shows” and then permit them to oversell, which usually works.
Every now and then, everyone who books a room tries to check in, and then the property has to turn people away. It’s called “walking” the guest in industry-speak, and as someone who’s been walked a time or two, I can tell you it’s never a good thing.
Normally when a guest is walked, the occupied hotel covers the room rate at the new property. But when you prepaid your room through Priceline’s “Name Your Own Price” feature, you probably got a good deal. It’s easy to understand why the oversold hotel would want to give you a refund instead of paying for the new hotel. That could be costly to the hotel or to Priceline, depending on who gets stuck with the bill.
You shouldn’t have left the Howard Johnson Express Inn so quickly. Instead, you should have phoned Priceline from the lobby. The online travel agency could have sent you to another property where your credit could be applied. It appears the folks at Howard Johnson just recommended another hotel, which wasn’t helpful.
At the very least, you should have asked whether the hotel with which you had the original reservation would cover your room at the next place. Never assume anything when you travel, especially when something unusual happens, like an overbooking situation.
I reviewed your correspondence with Priceline. At first it appeared that the company’s policy is to offer a refund, but nothing more. “Under the circumstances it is our policy to refund the reservation that we made for you,” a representative from Priceline’s executive offices wrote in an e-mail.
But after I contacted Priceline on your behalf, it became clear that this wasn’t the way the company does business. “The customer should not have been charged [for the new hotel room],” said Priceline spokesman Brian Ek. “We’ve apologized to Mr. West and have issued a refund.”
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
It is a good idea to call the hotel direct to be sure they have you registered. People do make mistakes and priceline may have forgotton to make the reservation.
As long as the new hotel was reasonable in light of all of the circumstances, priceline would owe you the difference between the cost of the first and second hotels. If you booked a Motel 6 level hotel and ended up at the Four Seasons you may have some trouble, but otherwise, priceline is legally responsible.