Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/11/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We have a child attending college nearby and periodically book trips to visit. We have a couple of trips scheduled to stay at this hotel: 9/16/23 and 11/11/23. We stay here a few times a year, booking through **********, selecting the “buy now, pay later” option. In all past bookings, the zero penalty cancellation date has always been a few days before the stay, at most. Our 11/11 booking is also showing a zero penalty cancellation date of 11/9, just 2 days before. Our daughter will no longer be in town on 9/16, so we went to our ********** account on 9/10 and discovered that the zero penalty cancellation date was on 9/9. This is vastly different than any other experience we’ve had at this property, booking the exact same way. Today I called ********** and they advised the only way they could cancel with no penalty would be to ask the hotel for a waiver. The ********** rep contacted Dede at the property, who would not agree to a waiver. She said she spoke to her manager, ********, who also would not agree. ********** advised that all I could do is contact Holiday Inn directly. I called and spoke to ********. She advised that the property has a 14 day no penalty cancellation and she would not be able to waive that because we were within that and didn’t book directly through Holiday Inn. I explained that it didn’t match up and gave the info about my past stays and future booking for 11/11, with a 2-day cancellation window. She said 9/16 is special because it was a “game day”. I explained that didn’t make sense because 11/11 is also a game day and that booking has a 2-day window. She said 11/11 is a “bigger game”, which too is arguable. She condescendingly offered to move my 11/11 no penalty cancellation up a week earlier “make it match” the one unusually shorter window. As of today, 9/11, this property has the same room available for 9/16 with a cancellation date of 9/14. If this is still being offered, then why wouldn’t an exception be made for ours 5 days prior?

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/17/2023

  Our card has a pending transaction for $237.09 from this hotel.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/19/2023

  The 3rd party booking at the Holiday Inn Executive Center was reserved with the name ***** ******* through ********** which was *******.com (see screen shots).  From the internal information with the confirmation #*************, the cancellation policy reads more than 7 days prior to the arrival.  Less than 7 days prior to the arrival, the guest will be charged 1-night stay plus taxes (see attached).  We followed all guidelines for this reservation as cancellation policies do in fact differ from 3rd party reservations. 

  Furthermore, the "buy no, pay later" explanation on 3rd party websites explain and encourage guests to "look for free cancellation" policies.   The reservation booking as "If you select the Pay Later option, you must wait until the agreed-upon charge date to pay for your booking. You can not pay prior to that date after you've confirmed your reservation. If you think there's a good chance you'll want to cancel a “Pay Later” booking penalty-free, look for “Free Cancellation” listings."  

  From ********** ********************************************
  

  Cancellation or change by you
  Cancellations or changes (with respect to the travel date, destination, place where the trip starts, property or means of transport) to a booking can be made by contacting us.
  You do not have an automatic right to cancel or change a booking unless allowed by the relevant Travel Provider under their Rules and Restrictions (which are provided to you before you make a booking).
  Travel Providers may charge you fees for cancelling (in full or part) or changing a booking. Such fees will be set out in the Rules and Restrictions. You agree to pay any charges that you incur. Please be aware that for changes, the price of your new arrangements will be based on the applicable price at the time you ask us to make the change. This price may not be the same as when you originally booked the Travel Services. Prices tend to increase the closer to the departure date that the change is made.
  Please read the relevant Rules and Restrictions, so you know which terms apply to your booking. For example:
  
  if you book a stay at a property and you do not cancel or change your booking before the relevant cancellation policy period, you may be subject to the cancellation or change charges as shown in the relevant Rules and Restrictions
  some properties do not permit cancellations of, or changes to, bookings after they are made
  if you make a Pay Later booking and you do not show up or cancel the booking, the property may impose a no-show or cancellation charge as shown in the relevant Rules and Restrictions and you will be charged the property's no-show or cancellation charge, and
  if you do not show up or fail to use some or all of the Travel Services booked, refunds may only be due to you in line with the relevant Rules and Restrictions.
  If you want to cancel or change any part of a booking and such cancellation or change is allowed by the relevant Travel Provider, then, in addition to any charges imposed by the Travel Provider, we may also charge you an administration fee. If such an administration fee applies, it will be notified to you before you agree to proceed with the change/cancellation.

  We encourage all of our guests to book directly through the hotel and/or IHG which has clear and specific cancellation policies.  Since third parties will charge the hotel per the cancellation policy, in this case, the 1st night stay, we follow the cancellation policy attached to their 3rd party reservation.  Also, the guest would need to contact the 3rd party site to cancel not the hotel since it was not direct.