Premier Travel Inn

[Isiris]

I cancelled a room I had booked with Premier Travel Inn at 1.40pm but because it was after 1pm I have been charged to my credit card £70 (One nights stay)

I telephoned the hotel at 10pm to see if they had 3 double rooms available, which they had so they have not suffered any loss.

Surely this is a penalty charge for breach of contract

[old_andrew2007]

Hi
It does look like that do you have access to their terms and conditions, the charge of Seventy does seem unreasonable

Regards

andy

[Isiris]

4. Cancellations

If you cancel a guaranteed room after 1pm on the arrival date, you will be charged for one night's accommodation per room booked.
A cancellation reference will be given and must be retained as proof of cancellation.
If you decide to shorten your stay you must inform us by 12pm on the day otherwise you will be charged the cost of one night’s accommodation per room booked.

[Chesterexpress]

Originally Posted by Isiris

I telephoned the hotel at 10pm to see if they had 3 double rooms available, which they had so they have not suffered any loss.

As they had rooms available then they have not been able to re-sell the room you originally booked. Had they been fully booked when you called you could have rightly argued that they had not suffered any loss and obtained a refund. As it stands they are perfectly within their rights to charge you as per their T&C's.

[Isiris]

Originally Posted by Chesterexpress

As they had rooms available then they have not been able to re-sell the room you originally booked. Had they been fully booked when you called you could have rightly argued that they had not suffered any loss and obtained a refund. As it stands they are perfectly within their rights to charge you as per their T&C's.

Please explain what there actual loss has been. A penalty for a breach of contract can only recover their actual loss. As their was rooms available as well as mine, what loss have they incurred

[old_andrew2007]

I have to say chesterexpress is correct to refer you back to the T&C, however what can you do you could write and argue that this is penalty charge, ask for evidence of their actual loss.
can I suggest you modify one of the template letters quoting this, you may have to consider going down the small claims track.

Regards

Andy

[Chesterexpress]

Originally Posted by Isiris

Please explain what there actual loss has been. A penalty for a breach of contract can only recover their actual loss. As their was rooms available as well as mine, what loss have they incurred

They gave you the opportunity to cancel without penalty, however you failed to cancel within the timescale given, whilst it may have been only 20 minutes after the cut off time that isn't there problem. Had you not cancelled then they would have had one less empty room.

As an example, they may have turned away a booking for 4 rooms before you cancelled your booking, and had you cancelled sooner they could have accepted this booking and been fully booked. Sorry you will just have to put this down to experience.

[old_andrew2007]

yes it is a pealty charge, the question here is what will you do about it,
I still would write to them, them based on their reply decide what to do.

Regards


Andy

[Chesterexpress]

It is not a penalty charge! They have lost the profit that they would have made had the OP not cancelled, hence the reason they charged you for one night. It is perfectly acceptable, you entered into a contract and they have merely enforced it.

[Isiris]

Chester

Im sorry but that is complete and utterly ridiculous. So they have lost profit so they are claiming their profit by hitting me with a charge for breach of contract of not turning up. So in effect they are maintaining their profit.

They can only charge for actual loss incurred, bot projected profit they could obtain.

[old_andrew2007]

Hi

I must say I agree with you, I feel the next step is to modify one of the temple letters
regards

andy

[Chesterexpress]

Originally Posted by Isiris

Chester

Im sorry but that is complete and utterly ridiculous. So they have lost profit so they are claiming their profit by hitting me with a charge for breach of contract of not turning up. So in effect they are maintaining their profit.

They can only charge for actual loss incurred, bot projected profit they could obtain.

If you think it is ridiculous, then go and see what a judge would make of it. I can guarantee that you will be the loser if you do.

[old_andrew2007]

Hi

There you go in the post by Chesterexpress they state "They have lost the profit that they would have made had the OP not cancelled".
So is Chesterexpress (I believe has legal experience) confirming you view that anything more than an actual loss of profit is a penalty, I think they are.

It is worth sending a pm to a couple of people who have been involved in discussions on penalty charges for help in the construction of your first letter.

Regards

Andy

[old_andrew2007]

Sorry I should have added to send PM with a link to your thread, we should not take advice via PM, it could be simply the person adivsing has not fully understood the question, in addition advice recieved via the forum could be usful to other members.

Regards

Andy

[Chesterexpress]

Hotel/restaurant cancellation charges are not the same as a penalty charge. Banks are profiting from the penalty charges that they impose, however when you book a hotel/restaurant then cancel without giving proper notice and they are unable to resell your booking they will have lost out on the profit they would have made had you not cancelled.

[Isiris]

They didnt have to resell it as the hotel was not at full capacity

[Chesterexpress]

Originally Posted by Isiris

They didnt have to resell it as the hotel was not at full capacity

Thats exactly why they were justified in charging you for one night. Had they managed to resell your room and the hotel was fully booked then you would have had a case against them. As it stands now you have no case whatsoever.

[barracad]

I would agree with what has already been stated - if the hotel was full you would have a stronger argument as they had resold your room and suffered no loss - but as they had empty rooms they could have filled these and potentially turned people away as you had reserved the room.

I notice you use refer to a 'guaranteed room' - I'm not sure exactly if this is how Premier work, but a lot of hotels have two types of room - 'non-guaranteed' and 'guaranteed'. With the former you have to check in by a certain time or else the room will be forfeited, and with the latter you pay in advance or they place a charge on your card and then the booking is held indefinitely.

With non-guaranteed, if they are full to capacity then if somebody wants a room they can put them on a waiting list or ask them to call back after XX in case of any 'no shows' - but if the room is guaranteed they have to turn people away and then have no way of filling the room other than on the off chance somebody rings at 10pm wanting a room like you did.


Anyway, all the above aside I do not feel this would be seen as a penalty for a breach of contract. You booked a room for the night and they provided you with a room for the night - the fact you didn't sleep in it is irrelevant. You do not say how you booked the room but I imagine it wasn't in person, so Distance Selling Regulations would apply - this states that you have no automatic right to cancellation and that's why with services such as accommodation and package holidays you forfeit the whole cost if you cancel.