Hotel Booking Cancellation

A question about : Hotel Booking Cancellation

A disabled friend of mine and his carer attended the Wales v England rugby match in Cardiff this month.

Sleeperz Hotel in the City have adapted rooms for disabled persons.

He saw that they were advertising the Wales/Italy rugby match on 18th March 2016 and at the time decided to book 2 rooms - cost Ј390 in total which was paid in full.

He now wishes to cancel the booking but the hotel has refused citing their booking reservation Details.

I have checked this for him and it does say that there is no refund as it is an advanced purchase rate .

I have also checked the hotels web site and spoken to the General Manager who was adamant that there is no refund but that the booking could be changed to another name.

Surely there must be a cooling off period especially when the rooms have been booked and paid for for over a years time.

Can anyone help on this please ?

Many thanks

Best answers:

• Did he book online or by phone, or in person at the hotel? DSR certainly won't apply if he booked in person at the hotel. However, I do not think that DSR applies to 'time specific' purchases such as hotel rooms, travel tickets etc.
  Crucially, on what date did he make the booking? He has 7 working days only if DSR does apply, and if I am correct that time limit has now expired anyway.
  Subject to that, the hotel can impose whatever terms it likes, even if the reservation was for five years in the future. Unfortunately the time to ask is when making the booking, not after the event.
• He shoudl have been told at the time of his booking that the rate he was paying was non-refundable - if it was (did he tick a box saying he accepted their terms and conditions ?), then unfortunately I'm pretty sure that there is nothing he can do about it.
  Given that it's likely to be a popular event, and the offer that name on the booking can be changed his best bet would perhaps be to see if he can find someomne to sell the room on to.
• advance Purchase rates are widely used in the travel business, hotels and airlines alike.
  Surprised the accommodation are being such sticklers over it though, there is adequate time to resell for a key rugby date...!!!! cardiff will be 99% occupied on this weekend, not 10%
  I would write a nice letter, addressed to the GM by name, and respectfully ask for a refund of the advance purchase rate, given there is 13 months to go.
• If he is a no-show but the hotel lets the room to someone else they are legally bound to refund your friend.